Hidden Underlying Reason for Chronic Allergies, Cough, and Sinus Infection

A few year ago, I started coughing – no other symptoms – and it was really bad.  Like hacking up a lung kind of bad.  

I tried every single herbal remedy and vitamin I could get my hands on.  It would get a little better, but it kept coming back.  There was a rattling noise in my chest.  

Nothing's more embarassing as a health professional than appearing (and sounding) NOT healthy!  

Out of desperation, after a month of coughing, I finally went to a MD.  After glancing at my throat, he gave me a prescription for antibiotics and a cough suppressant.  Which is exactly what I expected him to do.  

And I took them like a good patient does.  Except that inhaler.  It made me feel like I was on crack (not that I know what that feels like, but I could imagine), so I threw that in the trash.

I don’t take antibiotics lightly.  Taking antibiotics is what got me into Chinese medicine in the first place.  In the past – over 22 years ago – I took antibiotics probably every year for various infections and ended up with candida overgrowth and all the fun that entails.

And here I was again.  I was really torn, emotionally, about taking them, but I did.

Did they work?  I’d say ‘no.’  On my last dose, I was coughing so hard that I vomited on my floor.  Right at that moment, it dawned on me what was going on.  

It was not a virus; it was not bacterial; it was a fungus.  

I had done a complete 360 and was right back where I was 22 years ago.  

Duh, Nicole.  I talk to people all the time about how chronic respiratory symptoms are often due to yeast / mold / fungus, but it hadn’t sunk in until that moment.

So I promptly went to my clinic right away (in my pajamas; it was Sunday night) and got the one herbal formula I hadn’t tried yet:  an anti-fungal.  

The cough was instantly better.

MOLD AND YOUR RESPIRATORY SYSTEM:  THE BIG PICTURE

I knew I had this tendency toward fungal infection.  I had a skin fungus – non-contagious and more common in a humid climate than you would imagine – that never 100% went away.  I hadn't thought too much about it because it wasn’t bothering me too much.  Except when I went jogging.  Heat and sweat made it itchy.

In TCM, skin is related to your Lungs.  

This mold is in the air and we’re all breathing it in.  Some things make people more susceptible:  too much sugar or carbs in the diet, stress, antibiotic use (even from years ago), and taking artificial hormones.

Once the mold takes hold in your respiratory system, it attaches to your mucosal membranes.   It drills in.  Your respiratory system includes:  your skin / your nose or sinus cavities / your lungs.  In Chinese medicine, the respiratory system (Lung) is paired with the Large Intestine system, so there could be some symptoms in the lower GI tract as well.  

Any chronic complaint lingering in those areas like

• sinusitis that is year-round,
• a cough that never goes away, 
• a skin rash that never clears up, or even
• digestive weirdness
• recurring UTIs

should be investigated as a potential mold / fungus condition.

Some things that may indicate your health problem is due to mold / fungus:

• it gets worse in the summer
• it gets worse when you’re sweaty
• it gets worse when it rains or the mold count is high
• it never totally goes away, but it ebbs and flows with the above conditions

THE GOOD NEWS

There are herbs that clear this pathogen out of your body!  We use herbal remedies combined with immune-fortifying supplements to get rid of it (for good) and make sure it doesn’t come back.  In my opinion, they work better than medications for fungus because they are non-toxic and have fewer side effects.  

The bad news is that is does take time.  It took a full month to completely recover from my bad cough.  The main herbs that I’ve been rotating are

• oregano oil  
• andrographis
• echinacea
• garlic

Also taking a pre and a probiotic to heal from the “medication”* I got from the doctor.  

*shouldn’t “medicine” make you better and not more sick???