Beat Bronchitis & Breathe Easily
Forget cough suppressants and antibiotics:
use homeopathy instead
by Timothy Fior, MD, DHt, ABFP
Last December, fifty-three-year-old Tricia found herself struggling with a nagging cough that developed after a case of laryngitis. The cough kept Tricia awake every night from 11 p.m. until 3 a.m. resulting in exhaustion the following day and hindering her from effectively running her new, high-end pet care business. Tricia gave me a call to see if I could help her.
I diagnosed Tricia with acute bronchitis, a problem that compels more than 14 million people in the US to visit their doctors each year. Acute bronchitis is an infection of the bronchial tubes—the airways that connect the windpipe (trachea) to the lungs. The bronchial lining becomes inflamed and this triggers an annoying cough. The cough may bring up thick white, yellow, or greenish mucus. You may have chills, a mild fever, shortness of breath, soreness or a tight feeling in the chest, wheezing, and a headache.
Antibiotics won't help
Conventional medicine can’t offer much to speed healing for acute bronchitis. More than 90% of cases are viral vs. bacterial, so antibiotics won’t help. Cough suppressants may actually hinder healing because the body needs to eliminate infected mucus from the bronchial tubes.
But who has time for coughs that can last for a week or longer? Not many of us. And if antibiotics and cough suppressants aren’t effective, then what can a person do? Fortunately, homeopathic remedies can treat viral infections effectively. Patients usually start feeling better soon after taking a well-prescribed remedy. Acute bronchitis can be treated safely and effectively by the home prescriber, although persistent coughs may require a homeopathic professional.
A struggle to walk the dogs
Tricia, a driven, hard-working, former corporate executive, kept pushing even though she wasn’t feeling well. She was struggling to walk the dogs in her care, since her cough became much worse out in the cold Chicago air.
When she woke in the morning, she would have a severe coughing fit for at least an hour. The dry cough led to retching. Even so, she couldn’t easily cough up any discharge. While coughing, Tricia would perspire from her neck to her waist. She was also running a low-grade fever.
After a long day at work, she would finally drop into bed around 11 p.m. From that moment until about 3 a.m., the coughing and retching would keep her awake. Then she would sleep from 3 a.m. until her alarm went off.
In deciding on a remedy for Tricia, I considered all her symptoms: she had been overworking; her dry cough was worse at night and early in the morning; worse from breathing cold air; and worse when lying down. All these symptoms pointed me to the remedy Nux vomica. On December 27, 2006, I advised Tricia to take a few doses of Nux vomica 30c—but her cough did not improve.
Upon further study of the homeopathic literature, I found that the time of her cough, 11 p.m. until 3 a.m., was rather unusual. In fact, only one remedy is known for this symptom—Squilla maritima. People needing Squilla often have ailments that take several days to develop, and in this case, Tricia’s mid-December laryngitis had taken awhile to progress to bronchitis. On December 28, I gave her Squilla 200c.
At Tricia’s follow-up call two weeks later, she reported that immediately after taking a dose of Squilla, she had slept through the night for the first time in 12 nights. The retching had stopped. Tricia had taken a dose of Squilla once each evening for three nights in a row, and then she no longer needed to take it because her cough was 90 to 95% better. Tricia was thrilled with these quick results and happy that she could once again devote her full energy to her business and to the animals in her care.
Is that nagging cough bronchitis?
People with acute bronchitis typically have a bad cough that produces mucus. It often comes on after another respiratory infection, such as a cold or flu. To diagnose bronchitis, the doctor takes a history and then listens to the patient’s chest with a stethoscope. Certain sounds, such as crackling, wheezing, and bubbling, indicate narrowing of the airways. Oftentimes the patient with bronchitis has normal breath sounds or only an intermittent crackle, wheeze, or rattle. If the wheezing is more persistent, then other conditions such as asthma might be present. If the doctor hears crackling sounds localized to one part of the lung, then pneumonia must be considered. The doctor may ask about nighttime coughing, which often accompanies bronchitis.
The doctor may test lung function by having the patient breathe into a spirometer, which measures the amount of air entering and leaving the lungs. Lung function of less than 80% may indicate bronchitis or a related lung disease. Many lung diseases like pneumonia, for instance, have symptoms similar to bronchitis. To tell them apart, a doctor may order a chest X-ray (to differentiate pneumonia), an electrocardiogram, blood tests, and tests that measure how effectively the lungs are exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide. Most often, however, the diagnosis is made from a simple history of cough of recent onset and an examination of the head, neck, and chest.
About 50% of people with acute bronchitis have a cough that lasts up to 3 weeks, but another 25% may struggle with the problem for a month or longer. Some people seem to have a susceptibility to bronchitis, like a young patient of mine, Sally.
A wretched, retching cough
I first saw Sally for recurrent asthmatic bronchitis when she was one and a half years old. I’ve been treating her ever since with homeopathic remedies and have never resorted to the steroids and antibiotics that are commonly dispensed for this problem. She’s done very well and her family is happy with the results, but Sally still seems to have a susceptibility to bronchitis.
When Sally, now 11, came to see me in March 2007, she had a constant, irritating cough accompanied by gagging and retching. She had noticed that her cough was better after a bout of diarrhea. I gave her Sanguinaria 200c because it is known to treat retching coughs accompanied by stomach disorders, and the person needing this remedy typically feels better after diarrhea.
Sally’s cough improved slightly, but the next day more symptoms developed. This is common with acute illnesses; symptoms may change quickly, and when they do, a different remedy, chosen based on the new symptoms, may be needed. Sally was now burping and passing gas after coughing, instead of having diarrhea. A deep breath would trigger a coughing attack, as did going from a cold to a warm room or vice versa. She had also developed a slight wheeze on exhalation, indicating acute bronchitis with an asthmatic component.
Sally wanted to be comforted and held by her parents, so I considered Pulsatilla, but she wasn’t tearful or afraid as one might expect in a person needing Pulsatilla, only slightly worried. Sally normally liked fruit, but now that she was sick, she didn’t want to eat it. When going outdoors, she would cover up her mouth and also bundle up in many layers. A person needing Pulsatilla would typically feel better in the fresh, cool air. Sally didn’t, so I considered Phosphorus.
Phosphorus has the keynote symptom: cough that gets worse on going from cold air to warm air or vice versa. But Phosphorus didn’t entirely match Sally’s symptoms either. Rumex, however, is indicated for burping and flatus after coughing, as well as for aggravation from changes in air temperature. Patients needing Rumex may also be averse to fruit. To confirm Rumex, I asked Sally to take a deep breath, then take a shallow breath, then another deep breath, and so on. Sally started coughing after breathing this way. If a cough occurs after this type of breathing, it confirms Rumex, which is indicated for coughs that are worse from irregular breathing.
I gave Sally Rumex 200c to be repeated every two hours as needed. When her mother called two days later, she reported that Sally had slept for 12 hours without coughing and was at least 75% better. Sally continued to improve after that.
Five weeks later, Sally started itching and had a slight cough. Based on these symptoms, I gave her Sulphur, which often helps to fully resolve an acute illness and restore health after a severe illness. Sally quickly improved and has been well since then.
Baby avoids hospitalization
When Kevin, a 4-month-old baby, arrived in my office on March 17, 2006, he was wheezing, had a rattling cough, and appeared very ill. After listening to his lungs and observing his symptoms, I strongly suspected bronchiolitis which is usually caused by Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and occurs in infants and children under two years of age, with a peak incidence at 6 months of age. Bronchiolitis is an inflammation of the bronchiole membranes, the smaller tubes that branch off the bronchial tubes. RSV infections usually occur in the winter and early spring and last about a week, but some cases may last several weeks. The source of the infection is usually another older family member with a relatively minor respiratory illness. The bronchiolar swelling that occurs with this virus goes undetected in older children and adults because of their larger airways.
However, in a 6-month-old, this bronchiolar swelling produces obvious wheezing and respiratory difficulty, which can at times be life threatening. The diagnosis of bronchiolitis is a clinical one—that is, based on wheezing in a small child in the winter or spring following a few days of a mild cold with a fever of 100–102°F. Nasal swab tests can detect RSV, but these are usually only done in a hospital setting.
Little Kevin was on the brink of being hospitalized, but his mother, an ICU nurse, had experience nursing one of her other sons through bronchiolitis at home. She also had access to an oxygen saturation meter, oxygen, and a nebulizer. A nebulizer is a device that makes a cool fog; when inhaled, the fog goes deep into the lungs, hydrating respiratory tissues and moving mucus out of bronchioles and bronchial tubes. Sometimes only a sterile saline solution is used in the nebulizer, other times a medication is added to help open constricted airways.
When Kevin cried, coughing commenced. The cough was better when he sat up. Kevin’s extremities appeared mottled—white and pale with some lacey-reddish blotches. Despite the coughing, this normally good-spirited baby was only slightly cranky and irritable.
I decided to give Kevin Lachesis because he was waking with the cough, had mottled skin, and his wheezing was better when he held his head up—all symptoms consistent with Lachesis. Patients needing Lachesis commonly wake from sleep with an aggravation of symptoms, as Kevin did, and I have often seen Lachesis address cases of RSV bronchiolitis in infants. Patients needing Lachesis develop a constricted feeling in the chest that wakens them after midnight and is accompanied by slow, heavy wheezing; they must sit up and bend forward. Kevin was wheezing and appeared better when sitting up. Kevin’s mother dissolved a pellet of Lachesis 200c in a half cup of water and gave her baby the remedy as needed.
In addition, Kevin’s mother nebulized him with sterile saline solution. Since Kevin responded quickly to Lachesis, he did not need medications added to the nebulizer nor did he need oral bronchiodilator medication, which opens constricted airways.
Kevin took the Lachesis 200c three times a day for three days. He only required oxygen on the first night and avoided a hospital stay. The bronchiolitis resolved within a week.
You have choices
If you see a conventional doctor for a severe cough, you’ll often be given antibiotics, even though most bronchitis is viral and antibiotics won’t help—except in smokers who do develop bacterial bronchitis. If you’re coughing and wheezing, the doctor may prescribe medicines like bronchodilators or steroids to open congested airways and reduce inflammation. The doctor may suggest acetaminophen or ibuprofen for fever and pain, along with a cough suppressant or expectorant.
If a cough is productive (i.e., bringing up phlegm), cough suppressants are not indicated. Expectorating mucus is important because it keeps airways open and rids the body of waste products and harmful materials. People with bronchitis may get relief from expectorant cough medicines, however, which can help to make mucus in the airways thinner and easier to cough up.
In my experience, many of these medications give only minimal support and often weaken the immune system. Homeopathic remedies can resolve a cough, strengthen the immune system, and over time, with proper constitutional care, resolve the tendency to acquire bronchitis or other severe coughs.
Sweet relief
After taking the appropriate homeopathic remedy, people like Tricia and Sally experience relief from their cough, get much needed sleep, and are back on their feet attending to their lives, and some babies like Kevin can avoid the trauma of a trip to the hospital. In the long run, homeopathic care helps a person overcome bronchitis quickly, without unnecessary conventional drugs and their side-effects. Think of homeopathy as your first line of defense!
Home Care for Bad Coughs
In addition to giving a homeopathic remedy, I often suggest the following tips:
* Stay hydrated and run a humidifier.
* Eat foods high in vitamin C.
* Avoid mucus-producing foods, such as dairy products.
* Avoid acetaminophen (Tylenol®) or ibuprofen (Motrin®, Advil®) for fever accompanying a cough. I often see the cough worsen when these medications are used. By suppressing a fever, they weaken the immune response and prolong the illness, in my opinion. A high fever is a sign of a healthy immune response. Fever-reducing medications also mask symptoms, making it difficult to select a helpful homeopathic remedy. (Note: A fever higher than 104°F is cause for concern and efforts to bring the fever down, such as sponging and medication, may be needed; always seek professional help in such cases.)
* Be patient; you may need more than one remedy to completely recover. Sometimes, in order to resolve severe coughs, you will need to repeat a remedy a few times each day over the course of a few days.
For patients under the care of a homeopathic practitioner, sometimes the best treatment for an acute problem like bronchitis is to repeat the chronic remedy; call your homeopath.
Copyright 2007 © National Center for Homeopathy. All Rights Reserved.
Previously published in Homeopathy Today November/December 2007
About the Author
Timothy Fior, MD, DHt, ABFP, has been practicing Family Medicine and Homeopathy in the Chicago area since 1988. He is co-founder, past president, and current vice-president of the Illinois Homeopathic Medical Association. For many years he has taught the homeopathy section of the CAM elective at the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical School and has lectured on homeopathy to medical students at six medical schools in Chicago. His website is www.centerforintegralhealth.com.
Timothy W. Fior, MD
Center for Integral Health
400 E. 22nd St., Suite F
Lombard, IL 60148
630-792-9311
cihlombard@aol.com