Legal Implications of Practicing as a Herbalist

Herbs and regulated but Herbalism is not(right now).  Learning Herbs.com has a legal and regulatory video with Roy Upton you can purchase.  I also have some information from a workshop I had a local herbalist give at my school on being compliant with the new laws and regulations just going into effect this year(GMP guidelines) on my social networking site for the school on the spruz social network.

Practicing herbalists, are just that---PRACTICING.  Some herbalists believe that the big pitfall in herbal medicine as a modality is the lack of access to clinical training that herbalists receive if they want to practice and accept money--aka professional.

My Registration is with the only "professional association" of herbalists in the nation.  It means that people I respect went over my qualifications and experience and I answer not only to my clients but to this Guild.  I believe in some ways the Registration does nothing and in others it hold me to a higher level of accountability.  Registration or certification as an herbalist is not necessary and many would like to keep herbalism away from Licensure or any other form of institutionalization. 

It is suggested that those seeking registration with the AHG see clients and practice as herbalists for several years.  There are many different types of herbalists.  Some make medicine, some wildcraft, some see clients, some teach, some do a little of all of it.

If you see clients and take money, I do feel that it is important to have some sort of protocols and scope of practice for yourself.  The AHG suggests an informed consent and full disclosure form when practicing to avoid any miscommunication.  I think that because we are unregulated, and I am one that likes it that way, I am pretty methodical about how I practice since it is publicly on the internet and my community.

As far as selling.  That is an entirely other realm.  There are lots of new regulations.  They pretty much suck to put it mildly.
There is a several hundred page document that was just drawn up on the matter.  Yuck.
Basically if you sell you are supposed to follow a bunch of guidelines and protocols and make sure you document EVERYTHING, oh yes and have a commercial kitchen.

There is an article that a colleague of mine did in Plant Healer Magazine on the subject--Sean Donahue wrote it.

Cedar Fever-sigh

Don't get me wrong.  I love Cedar.  I use it medicinally, I think its beautiful.  In my opinion its only so prolific because we have created a system that is out of balance with overgrazing.  It took me almost 18 years for cedar to begin to affect me.  I sit here, sneezing, heavy lungs, runny, and headachy.  About the same time last year, I was reminded by my husband that I exhibited the same symptoms. I don't want to admit but, I am yet another person in Central Texas suffering through Cedar Fever, or Juniperus spp season.  Here is our pollen count. As the texts, emails, and facebook posts come in asking me if symptoms that folks are experiencing sound like Cedar symptoms, I say yes, it most likely is Cedar pollen.  For images click here.
Juniper or Cedar trees(the common names refer to the same Juniperus spp we have growing all over.  There are several species) are a common shrubby tree growing in Central Texas alongside oaks.  You can find them all over the Southwest and even up in to Yellowstone.  They tend to grow at lower elevations and drier areas.  In Central Texas one of the most common species is Juniperus ashei, or Ball Juniper.  Juniper, or Cedar Trees have both male and female trees, so between Dec -Feb the male trees expel massive amounts of pollen to get to the female trees, who make the well known bluish purple berries I love to use medicinally.
The tree is very aromatic, and the leaves and berries can be used as warming antimicrobials.
Unfortunately the pollen gets into our respiratory tracks and wreaks havoc for many people.  Symptoms can include runny noses, headaches, asthmatics get more asthma symptoms, sneezes, itchy eyes and ears, and a feeling of lethargy and malaise.
So, lets get down to it, what to do.  Everyone has their favorite remedy.  I think you may just have to go through the list until you find what works for you.  One thing you can do is not make it WORSE by eating or drinking things that inflame it or stressing out and lowering your immune system.  Allergic response is an inflammatory response, which means it puts a strain on our immune systems, leading to that run down feeling.  Lack of sleep and stress lower your immune system even more.

• One of the first things you can do is a nasal rinse. Here is a video of how to do it complete with giggles.  Big thing to remember is to make sure the salinity and warmth of the water is adequate.  Also, use purified water. Neti pots or other nasal irrigation devices can be obtained many places and made a daily, or more like 3-5 X a day routine while suffering.  Nasal irrigation gets pollen out of your nose, period.
• Nasal Oil after a nasal rinse will help settle sneeziness.  Drip a few drops of something as simple as olive oil into each nostril and sniff.
• Another thing that happens is that the weather tends to be REALLY nice when the pollen counts get high.  That means, you may open your windows, take long walks.  Close the windows when pollen counts are high.  Get an air filter.  Where a mask if you go outside, yes I know its dorky, but I guess its all about how much you are suffering.  One interesting observation was to make sure and avoid outside air before 10AM because that's supposedly when counts were higher.
• Substances to avoid include ones that have a tendency to inflame and/or cause more mucous production.  Wheat(gluten),dairy, and sugar are some big culprits.  
• Foods/Medicines to include would be spicy and/or pungeant and moist.  Ginger, Turmeric, Chile Peppers, and other warming spices soups and curries.  
• Steam rooms with essential oils on a towel you can inhale to help your lungs open and expel the irritants
• Some people swear by colloidial silver
• Others swear by homeopathic remedies that have microdoses of cedar pollen in them which causes your body to respond against it and build immunity.  Make sure it is the Juniperus pollen for this region if you try that
• Immune building herbs include mushrooms like reishi and shitake(would also be good in food) 
• Other herbs that help with symptom relief include Yerba Mansa, Yerba Santa, Goldenseal, Ragweed Leaf--yes folks it works, Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Osha, and Yummy Elecampane.

Good Luck everyone.  Just wanted to give you some hope, and here is one of my favorite pics 
Warning, its not in good taste but it cracks me up

Digestive Herbs

Herbs can influence digestion in several ways.  Many culinary herbs we use today are thought of as adding flavor but their original inclusion was due to their affect on digestion.

The use of herbs in cooking is usually due to what is termed a carminative effect that their volatile oils have.  Volatile, or essential oils is what give these herbs their flavor and aroma.  Carminatives tend to stimulate digestion and dispel gas, and some can even relieve spasms.  Common carminatives include fennel, dill, ginger, peppermint and cardamom.  Many times if these herbs arent used in cooking, they are introduced afterwards as teas or other alcoholic drinks.

Another way herbs influence digestion is through adding the flavor of Bitter.  The bitter flavor is often ignored in the U.S. and instead sweet, salty and sour is found.  A bitter, as simple as it is, can cause a multitude of effects on the digestive tract, causing a hormonal cascade which results in movement in the digestive tract.  Many of the carminative herbs mentioned before are also slightly bitter.  Bitters tend to drain and move things out of the digestive tract.  as well as stimulating secretions.  Common bitters include dark leafy greens, dandelion, artichoke leaf, and Oregon grape or the Southwest alternative to Oregon Grape, Agarita.

Herbs sometimes contain mucilage causing a demulcent effect in the digestive tract.  The mucilage is slimy and can act to soothe and coat the stomach and intestines.  Mucilage is found in things like flax seeds, marshmallow, and aloe.

Herbs can contain prebiotic and probiotic substances and some can act as antacids.   Some can do very specific things or many complex effects throughout the system.  How the herbs acts depends on so many different things from quality, to dosage, duration of time the herb is used and the body constitution of the person taking the herbs.  Unlike drugs, herbs they are much more personalized in who does best with what for how long.  It is also a common belief among herbalists that whole herbs are best, and splitting them into phytochemicals--similiar to drugs only asks for more side effects to occur.  The herbs come in a complex package of phytochemicals for a reason and have evolved that way for millenia.  If we are lucky we can tap into their offerings, and trigger healing responses or, just better digestion following meals.  

Case Study for the AHG Professional Application Process Nicole Telkes, Practicing Herbalist Austin Texas

In memory of Juliette De Barclay Levy

This case study is offered not only as an example of successful use of holistic therapeutics for pets with extreme injuries but as a guide for others that need help learning how to care for disabled pets or those with chronic illness.  Note Nov 2011.  Mocha is still doing well!

 Well-loved 7 year old healthy dog named Mocha was hit by car Dec 20, 2007. She sustained major injuries which eventually led to major paralysis.  She was  not only able to heal what was thought to be an incurable secondary infection that led to paralysis but then 6 months after healing she began to regain motor function.  Mocha began walking again in March 2009, a year after she was left completely paralyzed in her hind legs.   This is her story of healing herself with some help from her human friends..

Description of initial trauma

Well loved dog was hit leaving lacerations all over her body, broken jaw, and her front right leg crushed.  Minor fracture in spine missed, leading to spine collapsing and cracking completely and rendering dog paralyzed in hind legs.  Secondary infections followed eventually leading to MRSA inside the spine.  Dog was given a 30% chance of making it thru surgery.

Medical History and explanation of emergency medicine for initial trauma

Well loved dog had prior history of demodectic mange as puppy which cleared.  Dog is spayed.  Flea allergy. 

Following accident, well loved dog was immediately put on heavy medication to ease pain and infection.  Veterinarian strongly recommended antibiotics, pain meds, and steroids.  Initial healing was interrupted by spinal collapse.  Paralysis led to a uti from catheter, and on to which led to MRSA(antibiotic resistant staph) crossing the blood barrier into the spinal column.  In total, the well loved dog went through 3 surgeries.  Well loved dog began to lose weight and long term steroid use led to degeneration of muscles.  Antibiotics that were used had chance of causing aplastic anemia. 

Assessment

Due to extremity of situation, herbs and other holistic protocols were employed in conjunction with western emergency medicine. Holistic strategy was to stabilize dog with specialized diet, additional supplementation, and massage.  Adjunct herbal therapies were given to kill infection, tonify various body systems, and calm.  The key methods in assisting her were to do deep immune building to foster strength to heal, and keep system eliminating well.

Later, herbal therapies moved into rebuilding and strengthening neural pathways and regular bodywork.  One major motivator in her rehab was a cat next door I call “Rehab kitty” she would try to chase.  “Rehab kitty” has since moved on since mocha began walking and no longer comes into the backyard.

Formulation and Protocols used

Please see attached sheet for protocols used. 

Time Line of Recovery

Dec 20: Mocha goes to the emergency room and is stabilized after

              being hit by a car

Dec 21: Mocha is tranferred to surgery and receives 8 pins in her leg, 6 staples

              on her side and her lower law is wired together.

Dec 22 Mocha comes home, but has to be carried out to pee and poo, and is on

              a bunch of pills

Jan 4 Mocha is recovering well and she gets her bandage off her leg. Her jaw surgery

              may not hold so she may still lose her lower canine but the vet

              decides to wait to see if it may still take. She is sore but improving.

              Her pins require daily cleaning and she is still on a pain pill

Jan 10 Mocha looks extra tired and can't get up. She is shivering. We carry her

              out to pee. She curls up in the sun and goes to sleep. The next

              thing we know she is sitting up, panting and feverish. She can't

              move. We take her to the vet immediately. She is diagnosed with

              a back injury.

Jan 11 After a bunch of procedures it is determined that surgery is not the best

              option. She has a subluxation/collapsed disc. She is put under observation

              at the ICU for the weekend.

 Jan 12 Mocha is on morphine and groggy but eats wet food from our hands and whines

              when we leave. She is given a prognosis of an 80% success rate if

              she is kenneled for 10 weeks. We will have to express her urine

              from her kennel for awhile.

MAJOR HERBAL PROTOCOLS AND ADDITIONAL SUPPLEMENTATION BEGAN HERE

 Jan 14 Mocha comes home on horse tranquilizers. It sucks. She is a zombie. We

              wait for them to wear off. She cannot hold her head up.

  Jan 16 The tranquilizers have worn off. She is perking up and eating and drinking. We have

              to pick her up to take her outside. She cannot stand up but she

              is in better spirits. Her ribs are very crunchy

 Jan 17 She put  a little weight on her back legs today. She is also being defiant.

              That is a good sign that she is coming back into herself

 February: Mocha is acting tired, she is in more pain and has a low grade fever.

              We take her in and a urinary tract infection is discovered. She

              also seems to have a lot of pain around her injury at the spine

  Mid-February: Mocha is diagnosed with a potential MRSA infection in her spine

              and urinary tract. Her front leg isn't healing due to the extended

              prednisone use and she is losing sensation in her back leg

  Late Feb, a last ditch effort is made to save mocha with a very risky spinal surgery.

              She is given a 30% prognosis of making it.. She makes it through

              surgery but we aren't sure if the antibiotic we are giving her is

              going to even touch the infection. She comes home looking like Frankenstein

 March Mocha is doing fairly well. She is better but still in a lot of pain and

              paralyzed in the back legs. She requires around the clock care.

              We are pretty exhausted at this point. She is getting a little bit

              of pain sensation in her legs and tail but unable to move them.

April. Mocha is turning around. It turned out a UTI infection was complicating

              the situation. We treated her with more yucky antibiotics and her

              spirits greatly changed. She began to get a little perkier. She

              is now paralyzed but the pain is beginning to subside. She receives

              acupuncture and begins to sleep through the night for the first time in 2 months.

              We find a used wheelchair on craigslist and it comes in the mail.

              She DOES NOT like it.

Late April. Mocha barks at another dog for the first time in 4 months, then for the

              first time in 2 months she wags her tail!!! She starts to wag more

              and more. She walk herself with sling support 1/4 of a mile. She

              begins rehab at the pet rehab department

May Mocha is  now in the midst of 3X a week rehab donated by the surgery department

              of Central Texas Veterinary Specialty Hospital. She is practicing

              on her newly healed front paw, getting strength back in her front

              end. In, fact she scooched herself Eddie Murphy Trading Spaces style

              to her dog Bowl one morning before we were awake to get water.

May 4 Mocha learns  to use her wheelchair thanx to the rehab department. She tools around

              for 20 minutes with her tail wagging. She is off most of her meds

              and supplements.

            Summer: Mocha

              is has her ups and downs. Her leg that was broken in 6 places is

              sore a lot but she is tooling around quite well on her chair. Some

              days are better than others. Overall, her spirit is coming back

              a little more everyday. Its a different life but we are very happy

              to have her with us. 

MAJOR PROTOCOLS SCALED BACK BUT I KEEP HER ON WOOD BETONY (STACHYS SP) TINCTURE 1 DROPPERFUL 2X A DAY AND 1 FISH OIL GEL CAP A DAY

Fall 2008: Mocha is in her wheelchair and we notice her back legs are beginning to move. 

Winter 2008: mocha tried to stand up on her back legs, does so and then falls over.  She feels me pinch her back feet and pulls away from the sensation.  The vet doesn’t believe me.  I go back to the pet acupuncturist and keep up her protocols.  She gets another UTI and takes an antibiotic again.  She is not able to clean herself

Spring 2009: Mocha is now walking a ¼ mile by herself without a wheelchair.  She can walk herself outside to relieve herself and she chases cats again

ALL HERBAL PROTOCOLS END EXCEPT FOR REGULAR FISH OIL SUPPLEMENTATION

Summer 2009 Mocha may have hurt herself.  Her left leg is not responding as well so I change her protocol again and put her on supplements.  Another acupuncture appointment is being scheduled

PROTOCOL #2 SEE SECOND SHEET

Evaluation and Special Notes on Caring for Pets:

Mocha is now happy and healthy.  She has regained about 50% use of her back legs and she can wag her tail.  She goes on a short walk everyday and no longer needs our assistance.  Long term care will be needed to prevent UTI’s and stagnation due less movement.  Rehab continues through walking, swimming, supplementation, and massage. 

Because animals cant tell you when they are in pain or how much pain it makes treatment difficult.  Pets also respond differently to herbs and they must be administered in different fashions.  In this situation it is imperative to begin to really read your pets body language, which most of the time is very subtle any change in behavior of lack of interest in eating can signal something is not right. 

Food is very important.  When mocha was very ill I made her homemade dog food, as I did when she was a puppy and had demodectic mange. 

A simple recipe for homemade food is roughly:

50% cooked grains(rice, barley, quinoa etc…no wheat)

20% veggies raw—shredded or chopped in

30% animal protein—it is supposed to be more but affordability makes this difficult.

I also added nutritional yeast and a tspn of yogurt or probiotic powder

I make a batch that was about 1-2 weeks worth and put it  in the freezer, defrosting 3 days at a time. 

When she was very ill with MRSA I added raw liver.

She is now on a NO GRAIN commercial formula.  Both my dogs poo about ½ as much on the no grain formula and have had no digestive problems.  These foods are more expensive but they eat and poo less.  Homemade is best but can get overwhelming

Pet acupuncture and chiropractic treatments from  Dr Van Winkle, helped a lot.  I took Mocha for just a few sessions and immediately saw changes in her behavior as well as improvement in the movement of her limbs

MRSA Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterium that causes infections in different parts of the body. It's tougher to treat than most strains of staphylococcus aureus -- or staph -- because it's resistant to some commonly used antibiotics.(definition from WebMD).  MRSA is spreading rapidly in veterinarian clinics, one reason being that humans are taking less precaution than at a regualar health clinic with regards to hygiene and transferring it to the animals.  MRSA is extremely painful and very difficult to treat once it gets into the bloodstream and into deeper layer of tissue.  Barberry is used as an adjunct therapy in many hospitals in Europe(Michael Moore) when treating staph.  I took this idea and ran with it, using our native species, Berberis trifoliolata as an adjunct therapy when Mocha was fighting the bug.  As in a regular human hospital, vets will take on no liability for secondary infections caught at the veterinary hospital…….

Handicapped Pets Website is an excellent resource for folks dealing with disabled pets http://handicappedpets.com/

Not only did I find a used wheelchair for mocha for 1/3 the price of a new one, but they also have discussions and forums to help you with everything with expressing the bladder to discussion forums on a wide range of ailments

Unique ways to give herbs to pets:

How do you know whether or not to give something to a pet and in what does?

I always drop test my pets before dosing according to bodyweight.  It works out to around 7 drops per 12 pds of weight of tincture.  Water extractions are around 1.5 tblspn per 12 pds of weight. 

Not everybody’s dog will take supplements well.  A few dog friendly ways to give supplements include:

Making meat broth infusions or decoctions of supplements, and then turning those into ice cubes to add to food.  This is a really good menstruum for pets just out of surgery.  My dog would not drink water when she was going through surgeries but would drink beef broth, which I snuck other things into….

If a pill is necessary, ghee is a good medium, it also nourished the nervous system.

To help with upset bellies, frozen yogurt or a tspn of yogurt in food works well.

Thoughts on pain

I thought a lot about whether or not to give the wide range of pain pills to my dog.  I really had to evaluate whether they helped or not.  I am very much against using steroids.  I used them anyway against my better judgement and now really wish I had insisted on taking her off of them after a week or two.  The longterm use was overkill on the vets part and I think led her depressed immune system getting ravaged and leading to MRSA.  Fear based decisions are always prominent when dealing with emergency medical situations.  Remember to listen to your gut no matter what.   The hard part of pet pain is evaluating the situation when something cant tell you how it feels.  At one point I decided, enough with the meds, I will just do herbs.  After carefully watching her, my partner and I decided to put her back on the pain meds.  We weren’t sure but she seemed to be more responsive ON pain meds and more apathetic off of them.  What I have learned most is that pets will NOT complain.  Some may briefly, but it is VERY difficult to tell how much they are hurting.  I feel that it is better to have them on low dose pain meds with some skullcap(skullcap with pain meds strategy in humans according to Adam Sellers) than on just herbs.  One example of how little pets complain just hit home yesterday when one of my friends next door neighbors was abusing an animal with neglect and it literally laid down and died from the pain rather than complain thru whimpering and crying. 

When do you stop trying

Well, most of us stop because of financial constraints or because the animal is going thru too much trauma.  I wasn’t ever sure until Mocha was declared infection free that we were doing the “RIGHT” thing.  I really wanted to do what was best for her. I also felt like it wasn’t fair to allow a hit and run be her last life memory.   .  At one point I even contacted pet psychic to see if she could offer any insight.  I slept with her and watched her closely.  One of my good friends is disabled, and her advice to me is that if it was time to put her down, I would know.  I never did “know” so I kept trying.  I felt that Mocha kept trying and as long as she did, my partner and I did. Luckily I had an empty credit card and refused to look at the balance as we okd surgeries and vet visits.  I felt like her life was more important than debt, and like one of my friends said “lots of people go into debt for stupid stuff, at least you did it to save something’s life”.  I ended up starting a fund for her and a bunch of friends donated what they could.  I looked all over for funding but will tell you firsthand, don’t count on any organization helping My vet clinic ended up donating all of her rehab and call her super Mocha.  She is the inspiration to many others who aren’t sure about whether or not to keep trying. 

Mocha on her first walk in over a year on a road trip to West Texas March 2009

Resources

Pet Remedies 

YouTube Videos showing recovery http://www.youtube.com/user/stikitheclown

March 2009

mocha 2009

Mocha 2011-sunbathing and wise--she is now 10- turning 11

Dosing: Herbs for Dogs

Dogs metabolize meds faster, so therefore I have started with higher dosing of herbs with my animals and am having better results with symptoms being alleviated.
The standard dosage for humans is 30 drops of tincture for 50 pounds of body weight.  I now dose my dogs with 60 drops of tincture for every 50 pounds of body weight.  I also have upped the broths and powders to higher doses based on their faster metabolisms.
As my dogs age, I add most of their supplements into either oil, butter, or a little raw meat treat---

Make sure their food is grain free.  Raw food is obviously the first choice, and homemade second.
If that is cost prohibitive, then at least get grain free and add supplementation.

Inflammation: LOTS of fish oil supplementation
Kidneys: Cranberry Powder in meat---

It is not worth buying dog food with supplementation added.  Thats like buying a Pepsi products that has herbs and hoping that its therapeutic.

We're the Ones

This was shared with me at a full moon spring equinox gathering this year.  The words keep echoing in my head and have ever since I heard this read.  I thought I would post it for folks

You have been telling the people that
this is the Eleventh Hour
Now you must go back and tell the people
that this is The Hour
And there are things to be considered:
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your Water?
Know your garden
It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.
This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast.

It is so great and swift that there are
those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold onto the shore.
They will feel they are being torn apart, and
they will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination.
The Elders say that we must let go of the shore, push
off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes
open, and our heads above the water.

See who is in there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing
personally.  Least of all, ourselves.
For the moment we do, our spiritual growth
and journey comes to a halt.  The time of the
lone wolf is over.  Gather yourselves!
Banish the word "struggle" from your attitude
and your vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred
manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we've been waiting for.

-The Elders
Oraibi, Arizona
The Hopi Nation 

Lungfire Seasonal Remedy

In celebration of the recent cold front, I went to sleep with all the windows in my home open.  In Central Texas, the brutal heat had finally broke and I was looking forward to a couple of nice cool evenings to enjoy.  Unfortunately,  our area was plagued with massive wildfires in the wake of the cold front(brought on from the winds of a nearby hurricane which ironically gave us no moisture).  I woke up several times in the night with phlegm, worried that I was coming down with something.  In the morning, a haze filled the air.  Here is a photo to give you an idea of the extent of the damage There was no doubting the smell, fire.  As one woman said "Should we be wearing masks?  I bet this is what hell must smell like".  We were thick with smoke all over Austin.   Today was the day I was creating a seasonal support syrup to help people transition out of the blazing hot summer and lend a hand to their taxed out kidneys.  The syrup was going to be a base of wild Texas prickly pear tunas, wild Texas mulberry leaf and berries, peaches from my home garden, and a few added extracts.  The seasonal support syrup deserves its own post, so I will let you read more about it there. After experiencing the very toxic smelling and irritating air, I decided to make part of the base into a seasonal lung support formula.  I added into the base extracts of Mullein , Cordyceps, Gumweed, and Bee Balm.
Prickly Pears, Mulberries and Peaches are cooling and moistening.  The prickly pears and mulberries are added support to the kidneys and blood sugar imbalances(though this being a syrup makes that use questionable).  Thankfully, Kiva rose had already written up some ideas for supporting the lungs after wildfires, since she had experienced some recently where she lives in New Mexico.  After looking at her post here http://bearmedicineherbals.com/smoke.html  I got some more ideas for my own remedy.
Cordyceps, a mushroom(ish) extract, was added in because it also strengthens the kidneys and lungs.  It is gently tonifying and nourishes your vital essence, oftentimes it has been used therapeutically as an endurance remedy.
Mullein is one of my first go to's for lung support.  It enlivens the lungs yet relaxes them at the same time.  Mullein is soothing and gently astringent.  I use it in lung remedies to make sure and direct other herbs.  As soon as I take it, I can feel it center in on the lungs.   It is a specific for dry coughs, especially when used in syrup form.
Gumweed, I added this in to complement Mullein and add in some extra "oomph" so that any particulates from the wildfires could be more easily expelled.  Grindelia can relax the respiratory tract, lessening coughs, and also create a situation where when you do cough us is more productive.
Bee Balm is an herb that quells the fire.  It does so by drawing the fire out to the surface and allowing it to burn itself out more quickly.   For sore throats, there is no plant I can think of I would rather use.  As much as Mullein centers on the lungs, I feel Bee Balm centers on the throat.

All in all you've got a nice seasonal, bioregional blend of herbs and berries.  Want some?  We'll be at the Hope Farmers Market in East Austin or email me at wildflowerschoolherbs@gmail.com