Trapper, that is rather amazing! I have heard of it doing many good things but never have heard it used for lung congestion before. Normally it works gradually on things like cancer, HIV and Hep-C - and has has many other positive "side effects" on other conditions. A great part of that is likely due to the fact that it is the most potent immune stimulator on the planet that I know of (in European studies in 1986-87 it was found to have fully six times the immune stimulating activities of the most potent patented immune stimulators). No one really know exactly how it does all the things it does since there are so many compounds in oleander which work synergistically. Oleandrin and the other lesser cardiac glycosides, quercitin, beta sitosterol, ursolic acid, long chain polysacharrides, and many more. Speaking of cardiac glycosides, one capsule has about the same amount as 1/40th of a dose of digoxin/digitalis.
The max recommended amount is three capsules twice a day. There have been reports of people taking more, but I cannot recommend it. One woman took most of a bottle of extract and ended up being hospitalized overnight to get her racing heart normalized. On the other hand there are a couple of reports of people taking pretty large doses and being quite ill for a few days and then having rather amazing results - such as one woman whose leukemia was gone in a couple of weeks.
Plus the capsule also contain the South Africa Cancer Bush (a bit over 20% in the capsule version), which is pretty amazing in it's own right. Do a search for Sutherlandia Frutescens and you will see why (or just go to sutherlandia.org). Not many plants get their own national postage stamps!
If you continue to have such good results you KNOW you are gonna have to post a testimonial don't you? lol
After a couple of months, maybe sooner, you may notice thicker hair and nails and faster growth. And then there is the increased libido side effect . . . ladies watch out for a thick haired guy with a gleam in his eye!
Trapper, I do not know how much is too much. Instead I rely on what has been recommended by both the makers of the patented drug version, the herbal supplement and the directions for making your own home remedy version. Certainly people who take blood thinners such as Wayfarin/Coumadin and people with high blood pressure and other heart issues should exercise caution since the cardiac glycosides in oleander extract cross assay with digoxin/digitalis (though the total amount as noted above has been estimated to be about 1/40th the amount of a normal dose of digoxin).
On the other hand, the Phase I FDA toxicity trials on Anvirzel (whose purpose is to determin maximum safe dosage) never did reach a limiting toxic amount but instead reached an amount beyond which it was considered impractical to increase via injection (Anivrzel was orginally produced only for injection, but later was administered orally as well).
If I were a foolhardy soul I would likely increase gradually (which is recommended anyway) and stop at the first sign increased pulse or other significant effectsd unless and until the body became accustomed to that amount. As it is, I personally would not exceed the maximum recommended dose of 3 capsules twice a day for the Sutherlandia OPC, nor can I recommend anyone else do so.
The president of the company that made Aniverzel once told me that the dosage amounts were well within safety limits but also cautioned that there were limits and that the bell curve increased rather sharply as one neared the point of demarcation between safe and dangerous amounts.
In other words, my friend, once someone begins pushing far beyond the recommended amount you may get to a point where one amount seems safe and yet just a little bit more is dangerous.
Be careful, o reckless one!