Echinacea - I’m unsure about it

October is bringing in autumn to the UK and it hasn’t taken me long to go down with my first cold.

I’ve spent the last week with a moderate cold, which has been more annoying than debilitating. The trouble is, though, that I seem to be susceptible to colds and I can suffer from quite a few during autumn and winter.

One of my colleagues mentioned that she takes a big dose of Echinacea every day from September onwards until about Easter, and she hardly ever goes down with a cold now, even though she works in an air conditioned office and is susceptible to colds also.

When I worked at the hospital, I remember some of my colleagues swearing by Echinacea saying that this miraculous herb protected them from colds, even when working with ill people every day. I started taking it and thought that it was amazing. I don’t think I went down with a cold once that year.

I continued to take a low strength Echinacea tablet during the last two winters, but stopped last year after I went down with a really bad cold and it seemed to be made worse by the “wonder tablets”. I chucked the remaining Echinacea tablets away, thinking they were a waste of time and money.

The big dosage of Echinacea that my colleague takes has got me thinking again though.

She gave me the web address of a firm supplying large dose tablets so I ordered some. They arrived today.

Maybe the high dosage will be more beneficial. I’m going to try them this autumn and winter. If I don’t get any major colds, I’ll be delighted and they’ll be part of my flu and cold protection from now on.

If I do continue to get colds then that’s it. No more Echinacea for me.

Add comment October 9th, 2006 Written By: chris