Fever

I have run into so many people in the past while who have been ill recently. There seem to be various colds and strains of flu circulating. In fact, just last week I went through a flu, having caught it by taking care of my boyfriend. I found myself alone during the fever part of the sickness, and my first impulse, as probably strikes many people, was to take ibuprofen and make the pains and chills and heat go away. I tried it, but this time around it didn't help.

I have often read that the best way to get through a fever is to actually allow the fever to run its course. So alone, my mother calling me and my boyfriend chatting with me online, I decided to allow the fever. If the fever gets extremely high, especially in children, make sure to bring it down in whatever way you can. However, if you can handle it, try some of these recommendations.

1) First, cancel all your plans. No meetings, no homework, no work, no school, no socializing, no shopping, NOTHING. Just you and your bed. You need to rest and sleep and that's it. If you have contact with people, you will most likely get them sick. Let it end with you.

2) At the first signs make sure you have food in your fridge to get you through the next few days. You will usually know a day or so before being ill. Order through an online food delivery service if need be.

3) On a regular basis stock some of the following dry herbs in glass, amber bottles in a cool, dark place. Herbs include: sage, thyme, yarrow, boneset, elderberry. As soon as the fever begins start drinking strong infusions of herbs such as yarrow or boneset to help induce sweat. Diaphoretic herbs help the body sweat, and you want to support your fever, it is your friend! Your fever will help, for lack of a better word, kill the virus or infection and it will cool you down.

4) Tinctures I have found useful include this one from St. Francis Herb Farm. I pour hot water over it and it is so soothing on any inflamed tissues in your throat, sinuses, or chest.

5) Try hydrotherapy. There is the old practice of using wet clothes on the forehead and neck to help moderate the fever. This really helped me the second night I had my fever. I had a horrible headache and just kept laying on a cool, water soaked cloth all night long. It was a life saver for me. Also, wear wet cotton socks, this will bring the heat down from your head and cool you down. A lukewarm bath will help too.

6) Remember to drink lots of water, tea, ginger tea, ginger ale: lots of liquids.

My fever took 48 hours to pass, and it was up and down throughout. At one point I dreamt I was being burned by the sun. I'm really happy I used all the above remedies for the fever, I feel like I allowed the fever to do it's job. Remember the best remedy of all: REST & SLEEP.

Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) in Winter

So of course it happened. I booked some time away from work and I got sick. It started as a hoarseness in my chest and progressed to laryngitis like symptoms (I lost my voice for a couple of days) and ended with my sinuses all plugged up. The worst part was (and this keeps changing in my mind) the tiredness. Although it was hard to sleep, I somehow still managed 15 hours a day at least. That was over a week ago and I am still pooped. I would wake up late, see only 3-4 hours of light, and it would get dark again.

I didn't take any drug store drugs or antibiotics. From the beginning I focussed on herbs, hydrotherapy and essential oils. It still took time for it to move through my system, but I think I am better off afterwards not having filled my body with any drug store drugs. I covered my chest and upper back with a peppermint gel I made, did hot steams with eucalyptus and tea tree essential oils diluted in apple cider vinegar, took hot essential oil baths, drank mullein and sage tea, ate lots of soup, and took an immune herbal tincture daily (I really loved taking a tincture that had cayenne and organically grown goldenseal (don't get wildcrafted goldenseal, it's in danger in the wild), I would pour hot water over the tincture and it felt so good in my throat and in my chest).

Also, I had some mental problems during my sickness. My mind kept wandering and I felt down. Looking back over the past week I feel like I shed a lot, and cocooned myself in a chrysalis. Right now I feel like I am emerging, as one friend put it, coming back from the dead. And strangely much in my life has shifted. I realized that the symptom of losing my voice was a very clear sign telling me that somehow I have lost my way a bit in life. Somehow I have lost a say on where I am in life, and the forces of existence are controlling me, instead of me shaping my own destiny, having a say in what is going on. And I saw how much of my lack of say is rooted in past experiences and fears.

I am glad I got sick on my vacation. It gave me a chance to actually slow down, stay in one place, get grounded in my new home. Gain insight. The next time you are ill, take a look inside. What are your symptoms attempting to communicate?

Apple Cider Vinegar and Magnesium

two things that have helped me a lot. the first is apple cider vinegar, raw, with mother, available at most health food stores ~ a few weeks ago i started drinking the vinegar in a glass of water with a bit of honey three times a day (warm or cool water works); i also started bathing in the vinegar (you can add some lavender essential oil to the vinegar before adding it to the bath to improve the vinegary scent); the reason, you ask?

my main complaint was being overly acidic, which produces a variety of symptoms. within a week, my body was back in balance. i first heard of apple cider vinegar as a cure years ago from reading the book Folk Medicine by Dr. Jarvis, here is an article about his life. he also recommends adding lots of seaweed (saying that many of the minerals from our fields have run off into the ocean) to the diet, the apple cider vinegar correcting the ph balance of the body and the seaweed adding essential minerals: he likens the human body to soil, and writes that just like soil needs to have an ideal ph balance and nutrients in order to be healthy, so does our body, you can read more about ACV here.

the other thing i wanted to mention is magnesium, i have recently started supplementing with magnesium citrate to help with my leg cramps at night. the first night after starting my leg cramps were about 80% better! magnesium is excellent for cramping and spasming muscles. i tried both a generic magnesium citrate and also a powder called Calm that you can mix into a drink. be careful, magnesium acts like a laxative if you take too much. start with less and see how your body reacts. epsom salts are magnesium, that is why epsom salt baths are recommended after working out or strenuous activity.

Natural Vitality and Juice Feast Blogs

hey there; i wanted to share this great blog and hub; this woman is the vital force behind the dvd 'crazy sexy cancer', her website tells you more about her journey

since we are on the topic of juicing, check out steve pavlina's blog - he is about to go on a juice feast, for the next three months drinking only juice; this may be a bit extreme for most of us, but it will be interesting to see how he makes out

there are great links leading away from both their blogs - i love the web!