Echinacea - Is it all it's cracked up to be?

[VJR]

Feeling the beginnings of a sore throat, children both coughing and snotting DP starting to feel it too (oh no!). Have had Echinacea recommended to me but does it really work?

Also , can you take it when you are breastfeeding? I asked the pharmacist and she had no idea. She actually said that it should be okay as its only herbal! It says on the bottle to be advised be a physician or something, does anyone have any experience of this?

VJR

I swear by it if I'm feeling a bit rundown or have a cold or throat starting, but it may be psychological of course.
I don't know about breastfeeding, best to check with GP surgery

I use it too, when feeling run down etc. and, yes it does work.Give junior Echinecea to dds too when they get snotty/grotty. Check out the b/f thing though.

When ds was younger he caught every bug going, sore throats, ear infections, tummy bugs he caught them all. In desparation I asked my GP whether he could recomend anything, vitamins, a tonic or whaterever, that could help boost ds's immune system. He suggested that I might want to try echinacea as he had seen research on it which looked v. promising. Tried echinacea from a herbalist and since then have seen a tremendous improvement in ds's health. Obviously it's impossible to say for definite that it was the echinacea that caused it but I'm sure that it is and would definitely recommend it.
Don't know whether it's okay to take when breast feeding though.

I now add Dd's to her apple juice or Ribena. I once tried giving it to her on a medicine spoon with a bit of water, but only once !

It is very good - in fact I am just about to go out to the chemist to buy some! However - you are supposed to only take it for short periods - not constantly. I did not think you could give it to small children - will check with my chemist and post later!

Thanks Bron, I have looked at the link and it is very helpful. Still none the wiser about taking it when breastfeeding though. To be honest I don't think anyone, including the health professionals know if you can take it or not and so thry err on the side of caution by telling you not to. Whilst this is a good thing my throat is getting more sore by the day and I would love to find something I can take.

Does anyone know of any other good remedies? 4month old DS has terrible cough but am loathed to take him to doctor as I'm sure they will just try and give him antibiotics. Can you give a baby this young anything or should I just let it pass on its own?

Thought you might be interested in this

Effects of echinacea rubbished

yes I saw that Tinker just now. Was a bit concerned that initial results seem to imply that echinacea prolongs a cold rather than makes it shorter! Bet that impacts profits somewhat...

the only time I tried it I found it revolting. I'm glad it now officially doesn't work..

No, I think its a complete white elephant. A good herbal remedy for viral infections is Elderberry extract - very effective. No idea whether its any good when bfeeding though, which is why I'm not taking it this winter.

I read somewhere that if you take it all the time it can supress your own immune system and if/when you stop taking it you can be hit harder - must admit I suspect this has happened to me.

On the breastfeeding front, I wanted to take it as well, this time last year but couldn't get an answer from anyone - I started drinking those smoothies from Waitrose which contain echinacea - how mad is that? My warped brain thought it was OK as long as I wasn't popping pills. No ill effects with DD though - clinical trial of 1

oooh, they saw me coming!

Not sure the Elderberry extract is doing much good either Enid! ds2 back on antibiotics for yet another chest infection. At least ds1 has stayed off them this time.

Ah, but elderberry isn't preventative, its curative, so it should kill the old viruses rather than stopping him being infected with new ones (you can always argue your way round these herbal remedies I find )

Sorry to hear ds2 is ill again, shall we run away to the Turks and Caicos Islands together?

OOooh... YES perleeease!!

My dp has been taking echinacea continuously (yes, I know they say he shouldn't) for over a year, and has not had one single cold, cough etc. Yes, could be co-incidence, but something is doing the trick.

I've taken Echinachea for about a year now. Followed the advice and took my first course for five weeks and then whenever I feel I'm starting with a cold or sore throat (which I have always suffered really badly with) I start taking them again. I can honestly say that my colds and sore throats are much quicker to improve and it seems to stop the symptoms dead in their tracks. I think it's the same as any of these things - it works for some and not for others. I'm just chuffed that it works for me as I've never been so well - Touch wood!!