Spent almost $100 on Ma Guang liaoz....still no recovery in sight....everytime after work in aircon room end up bad again :cry:
Hmmm.....very likely one of the following:
1) Post viral hyper-sensitivity cough.
2) Allergic rhinitis with post nasal drip.
Do see a physician you trust for a through check.
May need some anti-sensitivity medication like Singulair, or a short course of inhaled steroids.
Bernard
P.S. No need to get too worried about steroids. It's just another tool in medicine. Like any tool (eg : fire), it's good when used correctly, but has the potential to be troublesome if abused. You would not believe how many lives are saved by steroids on a daily basis.
Most, if not all of Western medicines are actually pure (ie: concentrated) forms of naturally occuring compounds found in plants or animals (eg: snake venom).
For those who believe that folk medicine is "harmless",
Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) may also contain steroids (plant steroids). There have been reported cases of steroidal side effects occuring in patients consuming TCM. This is possible as there is no proper supervision, and there is no way to ascertain the amount of steroids in any one dose of TCM. Prescribing in that field is an imperfect art, at best. Has anybody tried asking the TCM questions like "How much fever medicine is there in this priscription?", or "What are the possible side effects?", or "Does this medicine interact with other medication", or "Is this safe in pregnancy?" and obtained a reassuring (ie: backed by data & experiments), convincing answer?
Throughout the years, I have also heard of anecdotal cases of TCM practitioners crushing Western medicine pills (eg: steroids and pain-killers) and mixing them with their concoction. That's why I personally agree with the recent move by the authorities to regulate and license TCM practitioners. This makes it more difficult for rouge practitioners to peddle their art.
The advantage of taking Western medicine over TCM is you actually know what compound, and how much of it you are taking. This comes with the full knowledge of side-effects and drug-drug interaction profiles of the substance.
The aim of this dissertation is not to dis-credit TCM. TCM has a part to play in medicine. As we have already established, most medicines come from natural products, and a through study of plants used in TCM may yield new treatment options.
If TCM works for you, good, go for it. However, please do not blindly accept the oft heard claim that TCM is harmless simply because it uses herbs. Caveat emptor.