Here's what I've learned from experience. Echinacea is good for preempting
an infection - this means you have to start taking the echinacea BEFORE
you get ill. It doesn't do much good once you're infected.
I've found that the combination of echinacea and astragalus (another
immune-system stimulating herb) works even better than echinacea alone.
When I'm in "prevention" mode, I take 2 echinacea caplets and 1 astragalus
capsule with every meal. While everyone I know seems to have come down
with the "crud", I've remained blithely healthy.
Another thing that I started doing when I last had a nasty upper
respiratory infection (pre-echinacea/astragalus) that I've continued, is
to sleep with my head markedly elevated above my chest. I know there are
people who would probably tell me there's something wrong or even
unhealthy about sleeping almost sitting up (which I do), but as someone
who has had CHRONIC problems with post-nasal drip, particularly in my
sleep, and post-nasal drip that always seemed to exacerbate minor sore
throats into major ones, I have not had a "drip" problem AT ALL since I
stopped sleeping "flat", and started sleeping in a way that keeps things
"draining" the way they do when I'm awake. Of course, I make sure I have
plenty of lower back, neck, etc. support (if I could afford a "Craftmatic
Adjustable Bed", I'd probably get one), but it's such a delight to wake
every morning with my sinuses clear, and no residual "crud" in my throat
from a night of "drip drip drip" from my sinuses, I thought I'd just
mention this here for people who have similar problems.
KM
=====
My NEIL SHICOFF Website:
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My Website:
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