She woke up coughing, and coughing. Pretty soon she couldn't stop. She couldn't stop to take a drink to sooth her dry throat. She couldn't stop coughing to take the remedy (Causticum) I had in hand. Her eyes were wide with panic and glassy with tears, her face went from red to purple. That's when fear clutched at my chest and wouldn't let go. I ran from the room.

I knew there was a nasty summer virus going around. A neighbour down the street was sick with it last week, 3 members of my dance troupe were battling it, friends and clients had battled it, now I got to see it first hand.

I ran the 5 steps to my home office to grab a different remedy (Aconitum F). This time she wanted to take it. I dripped 5 drops of remedy into her mouth between coughs. Her eyes were still teary but the fear eased. She trusts my remedies as much as she trusts me. 15 seconds later the cough had subsided. She was able to take a deep breath and a drink. Her colour was back to normal and she smiled and hugged me tight. "Thank you Momma." This time my eyes were teary. I knew we'd be on our way to the hospital without my homeopathic remedies. I'm so very thankful I have them.

My daughter didn't miraculously recover after that, her body still had to work through the virus. However she didn't have any more breathless coughing fits. She still coughed, coughed up some mucous, lost her voice a bit and needed extra rest. I gave her a few more remedies to support her body through each of the virus phases, and strengthen her immune system as it processed the virus.

The same remedies will work in a similar situation for acute asthma attack, croup and allergy attacks. ***Breathing difficulties can be life threatening. When in doubt, seek immediate medical attention.***

For more information on the remedies used here and in previous blog posts please subscribe to my monthly e-newsletter.

In addition to Homeopathic Remedies, I use a lot of home remedies when my family is sick.

Extra vitamin D is very important for any respiratory illness. This time of year its easy to get, just go outside, without sunscreen on, with bare arms for at least 10 minutes (avoiding peak sun hours of 11am to 2pm to avoid sunburns).

I like to use raw honey mixed with a bit of cinnamon to soothe sore throats. Raw honey has ton of antibacterial, antiviral properties, and cinnamon improves circulation and oxidization.

For myself and my older kids I will make a honey lemon ginger drink to sip on. It's very simple, juice 1/2 lemon (save the other half for later), grate 1 tbsp of fresh ginger, add both to a mug of warm/hot water and sweeten to taste with raw honey. So soothing and helps decongestion as well.

I also make a homemade decongestant chest rub for my family with essential oils. I mix 1/3 cup of organic coconut oil with 5-10 drops of eucalyptus oil and 5 drops Thieves blend. I will rub this on our backs, chest and feet when ever someone has a cold or cough.

My daughter doesn't care for eucalyptus (it shouldn't be used on infants and small children), so I use a relaxing blend for her. I mix 1/3 cup of organic coconut oil with 10 drops of sweet marjoram oil, 5 drops rosemary oil and a couple drops of chamomile or lavender oil. She loves to have this rubbed on her back and feet before bed, and it helps soothe sore muscles from lots of coughing.

In addition to these home remedies, I encourage lots of fluids, kefir is big in my house, but no juice. We also do no dairy and no sugar while sick. Dairy can be very mucous forming and can cause an inflammatory response in many people. Sugar is an immune suppressant and competes with magnesium and vitamin D uptake.

Proper Chiropractic care is also really important to our family. We know that keeping the neurological system working optimally will help our body recover quickly.

I hope this helps your family stay healthy and happy this summer. Of course if you need assistance, I'm always happy to help.

The information provided here is for educational purposes only. For treatment please seek a qualified health care provider.