Does anyone take Echinacea?

[IAteMakkaPakka]

I've had enough of feeling crappy! Two weeks ago I had a cold for a few days, shook it off and felt well for a couple of days, by the weekend I was getting tonsillitis, got rid of that midweek and now I have sinusitis (or so I assume - my face hurts and I am producing stunning volumes of luminous green stuff every morning [boak])

Someone has suggested I try Echinacea because apparently it helps keep stuff at bay, but I don't know anything about it.

Quackery or worth a shot?

i have a teaching friend who swears by it... not tried it myself yet though.

not just now, since I am pregnant, but it is my first port fo call when I feel a cold coming on.

I find it very effective - I use the tincture stuff as the capsules (with garlic - boak) kept returning on me!!

get yourself some borrocca and get yourself to the docs . if you have green stuff then thats a sign of infection .. you poor thing . echinecea is good i think when you feel yourself coming down with something, take for 2 weeks then stop.. i think it can lessen the severity and length if started at the beginning. hope you get better soon

Hmmm, I think I shall have to get some. It's gotta be worth a shot. Anyone happen to know if it's OK while BFing?

yes if you feel you are at the start of something then it is very good boost to immune system/ cold flu releif type thang..

No dont take if bf or pregnant

I take homeopathic echinacea 12, and use echinacea 6 for the DCs (aged 1 & 3yrs, and DD has been taking it since she was about 5 months old!). Definitely seems to work best when you feel the first symptoms of something starting rather than once in the full-blown stage of a cold etc.
I never knew about not taking it while pregnant or BF (serves me right for just doing what my Mum told me to and not checking up on it all first...!!)

definitely if you are producing green snot/mucous you are highly likely to have a bacterial infection needing antibiotics- so get yourself to a GP asap! Hope you feel better soon.

By the way I also recommend lots of cooked onions & garlic in foods for helping cure nasty colds etc. and also manuka honey....(spend our lives battling against colds as DD has cystic fibrosis...)

I've tried it on and off and it is totally useless.

Thanks all. I think I am immune to onions and garlic, JumpingJellyfish, because I am incapable of preparing a meal without large quantities of both! So far I am living on honey and lemon in hot water and paracetamol which seems to be helping a bit, and I am sure I have shaken off green-gunge things before. Echinacea is off the cards though as am still BFing so will give it another few days and go and pester GP if no joy. Thanks

Have you tried steaming yourself (e.g. steaming hot water in a bowl, head over steam with towel to further trap the steam)- I usually add a couple of drops of olbas oil to help things shift a bit more... Used to help me a bit when I had sinusitus.
From what I've read echinacea is probably safe to use while BFing but best to check as there are many types available and there are 3 species of echinacea too. I certainly used the homeopathic one (which is very weak) while BFing and all seemed ok but really I guess a GP would know best (or qualified medical herbalist). Hope you are rid of the green gunk soon!

Funny, after posting on this thread this morning, two people i met at church asked me about it! Going to get some this week - apparently it's on offer in Holland and Barratt.