Herbal Remedies for Trim Allergies and Sensitivity

Botany and Cultivation
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Hey everyone!

Botany seems like the best category for this subject. As you all may know, cannabis and the airborne dust associated with handling it (trimming, prepping for extraction, packing and unpacking tubes, disposal, etc) can be a real problem for people with severe allergies like me.

My allergies are so bad I need an inhaler, and have even had to go to urgent care to get treatment before when one wasn’t available. They told me I had walking pneumonia and a possible lung infection. I was miserable trying to work in the cannabis industry for far too long, and only stuck with it as long as I did fighting through all that because I love what I do and as far as I can tell I’m not half bad at it.

But that’s all changed now, thanks to medicine from good old mother nature. Being a bit of an ethnobotanist as a hobby, I gathered up as much research as I could on herbal remedies for lung ailments, and found a number of herbs that have all helped me immensely.

Where I used to have a terrible asthma attack just walking in our dust control room in the facility, or even peeking my head in the door for a few seconds and getting a breath full of dusty air, now I was able to walk in the dust area for a good solid five minutes today while trim was being handled and I have ZERO SYMPTOMS. Not even any chest congestion.

This has turned my whole life around and made it so much easier to work in this industry. I even got a few other employees here on the program with me, another asthmatic and another guy with chronic bronchitis.

My favorite blend to date: mullein, ginkgo, hyssop, eleuthero, ashwagandha, astragalus, muira puama, and chaga.

Here’s my list of helpful herbs for anyone with the same problems as me (all of them taste good, too!):

Mullein - Verbascum thapsus (best expectorant by a wide margin).

Yerba Santa - Erodictyon californicum (somewhat of an expectorant, anti-inflammatory, soothes sore throats and dry coughs).

Ginkgo - Ginkgo bilboa (can help prevent lungs bronchospasm / anaphylaxis, mild expectorant).

Hyssop - Hyssopus officinalis (best bronchodilator by far, mild expectorant).

Licorice Root - Glycyrrhiza glabra (promotes healthy mucilage production, soothes sore throats and dry coughs, mild expectorant).

Marshmallow Root - Althaea officinalis (Same properties as licorice).

Slippery Elm - Ulmus rubra (Same properties as licorice and marshmallow).

Eleuthero - Eleutherococcus senticosus (Adaptogen, helps lungs absorb oxygen better, can help prevent anaphylaxis, good expectorant but not as good as mullein).

Chaga - Inonotus obliquus (Adaptogen, very good for preventing histamine reactions like anaphylaxis or bronchospasm).

Astragalus - Astragalus propinquus (Adaptogen, helps prevent asthma attacks / anaphylaxis, and makes lungs more resilient but not the best for acute symptoms).

Muira puama - Ptychopetalum olacoides (Adaptogen, similar to Astragalus for respiratory issues but not quite as good for respiratory issues as some of the other adaptogens).

Ashwagandha - Withania somnifera (Adaptogen, similar to astragalus or muira puama for respiratory issues).

Stinging Nettle - Urtica dioica (good antihistamine, some expectorant properties, anti inflammatory and good for sore throats).

Lungwort Plant - Pulmonaria officinalis (great expectorant, good bronchodilator). Not to be confused with lungwort lichen!

Edit - Some additions!

Reishi Mushroom - Ganoderma lucidum (good expectorant, anti-anaphylaxis and anti-bronchospasm properties, anti-inflammatory, helps lungs absorb oxygen more efficiently). Better as tincture.

Lungwort Lichen - Lobaria pulmonaria (good expectorant, milder bronchodilator and anti-anaphylaxis properties). Better as tincture.

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Fantastic! There are lots of people I’ve met that really enjoy the industry, but, are riddled with allergic symptoms. Thanks for the bio-assay!

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we have dust masks, particulate matter is a serious occupational health risk. the wildfires have been bad over here as well, a freind of mine got back from hawaii yesterday morning he said as the plane approached california you could see the brown smoke cloud hanging over the state.

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I have the same issue my friend! Never had allergies or any lung issues until I started working at a dispensary. Then all the sudden anytime I would trim or handle the flower I would have a sneeze fit, runny nose, and excessive mucus build up forcing me to cough it up. It got SO Bad last December that I acquired a 3 month long fit of bronchitis. It got so bad that now I’m on an 2 inhalers and might have chronic bronchitis which may pop up every winter(ish) as the doctor explained. Even now when i take dabs or smoke a cart i start having those asthmatic symptoms.

Any chance you can share your “Recipe” with weights and how you mix/digest them and if its not to big of an issue or if you have the time maybe the sources that you go to to purchase. If your having this much luck I’d like to go to the same places if possible for best case results.

Thanks

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There site you can go on to see all active and past fires. The whole state is riddled with fires. Its like the apocalypse over there.

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WOW! Thanks so much or this information as i have struggled with this for years. I have a commercial farm and extract on a hobby basis, and my symptoms only arise around processing (harvest, drying, binning up herb, & packing/unpacking tubes). Right now I’m in hell as we are harvesting and are in the middle of the two wildfires of CA. It sucks. Anyways, as @Canna has asked, do you have a recipe for you concoction? I’m ready to head to the herb store! Thanks in advance.

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This is great stuff! Thank You!

I’m wondering if you could do some sort of an alcohol extraction of these to create a concentrate and cut it into a tincture or just throw into a warm oil and strain out later.

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We have dust masks, as well as full-body coveralls. However when you’re in a very high volume facility processing 300-400lbs or more into crude per workday, it still has a way of just getting everywhere. And it’s quite refreshing to be able to just pop my head in the dust area for just a second or two and say something to the tube packers in there without worrying about a couple breaths of dusty air ruining my whole night.

My current favorite recipe is:
Mullein, ginkgo, hyssop, eleuthero, ashwagandha, astragalus, muira puama, and chaga. Heavy on the mullein, ginkgo, hyssop, and on a bad day I’ll add lungwort too, equal parts of each of those. Slightly less eleuthero, ashwagandha, astragalus, muira puama, and chaga, also equal parts of each of those. With those a little can go a long way. The mixture tastes quite good, a little sweet, even without added sugar or honey.

I tend to brew it very strong, putting so much in my jumbo stainless teaball that I can saturate a whole pot, sometimes getting multiple boils out of it, and carry around a jumbo half-gallon thermos of the stuff when I go to work. I never really measure out exact weights when I make my own personal brew though.

That brew is currently working so well, I full-on walked into the dust area last night with no mask on just to see how well I was protected as it already had me feeling fantastic, and still haven’t had to use my inhaler for nearly 24 hours, where normally one breath would put me under.

I think I finally got the right mix for my body, but everyone’s body may react differently so I listed off the full range of ones I’ve found. They’re all useful, but mine is a little more fine-tuned to my symptoms - anaphylaxis, bronchoconstriction, excessive chest congestion. Not as much geared towards dry coughs, or sore throats.

Here’s a favorite source:

All of the ones I have listed off so far blend great into teas.

There’s also two more I’ll edit into the list, Reishi Mushroom, and Lungwort Lichen (Lobaria pulmonaria), which are generally best made into alcohol tinctures.

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Oh man just what I’ve been looking for. I had such similar timeline and symptoms as @Canna, I thought I’d already posted and plum forgot. Been doing this for five years now but this past harvest was the first time I literally got sick requiring a visit To the doc. Can’t wait to start fine tuning this tea for myself. Hopefully I have similar results and can get off the inhaler. Mullein has been helpful for me before not suprised that’s in there. I’ll post my findings as well.

Always Grateful!!!

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Yes mullein is the best expectorant but it is best used in combination with others, like hyssop and chaga, or eleuthero if you have problems with bronchospasm / anaphylaxis (tightening up of airways).

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I just got done with a harvest. One of my many strains always makes me feel like I’m having an allergy attack. I always save her for last. I may have to try a few of these out. I do not have any type of allergies normally.

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I boil water and drop some menthol crystals in it.

I’ve nearly been hospitalized from allergy/asthma attacks before. Menthol works as good, if not better, than my albuterol sulfate inhaler and it costs a metric fuck ton less.

Thanks for the suggestions. I want to try your potion.

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Menthol is good too. For a natural source of menthol, Peppermint is a good option.

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Nice :+1:t4: I forgot all about that. my mum used to make me do that as a kid and I totally forgot about it. Get the water steaming, drop the menthol, or herbal blend, in the water and hover over it high enough you don’t burn your face up with a towel over your head. Not as quick as an inhaler but it works. Can be used to open nasal pathway as well as the chest.

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It’s also a great way to make bugs disperse and get the fuck outside. They can’t stand it

As far as quick asthma relief, sometimes I just huff the bag of menthol crystals if water isn’t boiling. It provides enough short-term relief to feel safe, but not a lot of it.

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This is a great post!! Thank you @GandalfTheGreen I’ve always been a huge fan herbal remedies. Love your breakdown of the useful herbs. For the last 3 + years I’ve been dealing with asthma attacks. Just like everyone here, I love what I do, and I’m not going to let asthma get in the way. Definitey going to try out a variation of your recommendations. Thank you again. It’s great to see I’m not the only one with this struggle.

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Hello friends. I’ve been dealing with these same problems.it started only on trim days and then got to the point I could not be around large amounts of cannabis. I believe they are no simply plant dust we are reacting to. But the mold spores present on the cannabis. My allergies test came back with elevated mold counts and the only thing that seems to help is the anti microbial eddect of a collidal silver sinus rinse. A few articles of intrest

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.sacbee.com/news/local/health-and-medicine/article131391629.html

These fungi have the ability to mutate very fast. Are we testing for these new strains? I doubt it. The government pretends to support legalization. They smile to our face… all while They are destroying our crop and health via lab made fungus. That’s why we distill FO real

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I agree with you, fungi are likely a significant part of the problem, and I definitely do notice the symptoms worsen when I have to deal with batches which are known to have powdery mildew or botrytis, or other non-aflatoxin-producing species which can considered mostly safe for extraction.

On a side note, wanna know the coolest thing about mullein (Verbascum thapsus)? You can actually smoke it. Yes, I’m not kidding, and it really does help remedy many breathing problems when smoked. In a practical sense it’s the equivalent of an inhaler. Whatever is in it, when vaporized and inhaled it quickly opens up the lung passages in much the same way. I’ve successfully used it in place of an actual emergency albuterol inhaler on numerous occasions.

Yeah, the tea brews help a lot, but wow, nothing matches the fast acting effectiveness of smoking mullein. I know it sounds totally counterintuitive to think that smoking something would help open up and sooth the lungs, but I’m serious.

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Your right on about the mullein. When my lungs are a messed up and I can’t smoke anything without hacking up a lung, I can put some mullein mixed with the flower in a joint, or whatever, and it mellows the smoke enough that I can puff. It actually feels like it’s healing when I smoke it that way. Buddy told me about it. I didn’t believe him so I had to try it but it ended up helping. It has a pretty neutral flavor too so you can still taste the herb.

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Mullein mixed with cannabis is highly underrated. It can help open up and relax your lungs, while simultaneously acting as a better expectorant than mullein alone because it stimulates coughing up of mucous more.

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