From TSO.
My favorite remedy for the chesty cough remains the hot toddy. A good slug of the distilled liquor of your choice, honey, lemon juice, and boiling water. Serve in a mug. Cinammon stick stirrer is optional.
I had horrible croup as a child. (I probably had asthma, but my mom didn't trust doctors much and in those days asthma was more tightly defined - chronic cough didn't qualify). I remember waking up around 2 in the morning, coughing my lungs out and barking like a seal. First it was a trip into the home made steam cabinet - a bathroom with the shower turned on high and hot - (not to get under, just to breath). Then a liberal application of Vapo-Rub to the chest and back, and finally a couple of table spoons of hot toddy (I think my mom finished off the rest after tucking me in). It probably didn't work as well as today's inhalers and steroids for acute asthma attacks, but it sure felt more loving.
I've been hacking and coughing since the day after Thanksgiving. I think it is time for me to go to my favorite Japanese watering hole for the ultimate cure. Miso soup with a dollop of wasabi added in, Tempura Udon with added red pepper, and hot sake to wash it down. It may not clear my sinuses and lungs, but I will still feel better afterwards!
I remember being a kid and my adopted mom doing the steam, vaporub thing. We all had bronchitis and my kid sister stopped breathing.
Mom didn't miss a beat, just opened the bathroom window and hung her out upside down.
(She'd graduated from nursing before penicillan).
I also remember the hot rum, it tasted way too much like medicine, but who cared?
I think a lot of moms deserved to finish off those toddy's after taking care of sick kids.
Merry Christmas to you Alicia, get well soon eh?
A shot of brandy in your favorite herbal tea, sweetened with honey works well too, if the straight toddy is too raw for your taste.
Get well.
Your fellow wheezer,
Brian