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Drugs are everywhere – they are easy to get… they work! Why choose not to use them?
Various pills (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Drugs are synthetic. They are made in a laboratory. When you take them, your body reacts to produce a certain response – but they come with consequences.
You have a runny nose, so you decided to take an antihistamine. It dries up your runny nose, but it also makes you sleepy, gives you a headache, upsets your stomach, give you hypertension…. Hummmm and we were treating a runny nose?
Everyone has heard about antibiotics. You get a cold. You go to the doctor. The doctor prescribes you (and everyone else) antibiotics. You take the antibiotics for the prescribed amount of time. You start to feel better in about a week (the common cold course is about 7-14 days). But now you have the consequences of taking the antibiotics: constipation, diarrhea, yeast infections – all results of the killing of the good bacteria in your gut designed to protect you in the first place.
The common cold is not bacterial in nature – it is viral. Antibiotics only work against bacteria. They are the “go-to” treatment, though. Because of overuse time and time again, we now have anti-biotic resistant bacteria. MRSA, anyone?
Is there another way? Something you can do where you can help you body fight off infection without killing all your good intestinal flora (good bacteria)?
Using drugs is very reactive. I am choosing to be proactive.
When you get sick your body starts reacting naturally to fight off the infection as quickly as it can. By taking medication, you may actually be prolonging your sickness. A fever, for instance, is meant to help your body fight off the infection. It is actually a good sign – it means your body is fighting.
The fever isn’t the enemy – it is your friend going to battle. When your body temperature rises, it changes the environment so that the infection is at a disadvantage. It gives you the advantage over the infection to continue to fight it off.
Our family has decided to put away the OTC meds and use natural remedies to treat and heal us. We want to make our body stronger by learning to react on its own, so then maybe we won’t have to ever take medication. Honestly, when your body is healthy, you won’t get sick. If you get sick often, it is a sign that your body isn’t getting the nutrition it needs.
Aren’t we scared of brain damage with a high fever? A natural fever won’t get to dangerously high levels – the body isn’t going to hurt itself that way. When a fever spikes, it is usually an over-reaction to the use of medication. You get an infection, the body reacts by raising your body temperature, you take medication to lower your temperature, your body is loosing ground against the infection so it raises the temperature more – it is a vicious cycle.
Aidalyn has had a fever maybe twice in her life. The highest it got was 103. We were able to treat it with warm – not hot – baths, peppermint oil, homeopathics… and it came down on its own with time. Her body was stronger after being able to fight off the infection naturally with support than immediately jumping to medication to “fight” the fever.
I am by no means an expert on this, but this is what we do.
We are proactive by eating healthy everyday. We also take our vitamins. I take a pro-biotic for creating a strong good bacterial force in my gut. I take cod-liver oil to strengthen my immune system daily by providing a great source of vitamin D (which most of the population is deficient in to begin with). I am taking several vitamins now from my chiropractor as well.
Now it is game time. You start to feel those tell-tale signs of an infection.
Vitamins. Start by loading up on garlic and vitamin C. I love echinacea too. If our throat is sore – I drink “Throat Coat” tea that I find at my local grocery store. Try to eat as many vegetables and fruits that you can. Put down the dairy – Dairy can worsen colds or allergies because it is “mucous forming.”
My chiropractor just yesterday told me about taking calcium as well when you start to feel sick. So get you calcium in supplement form or from green leafy vegetables, sardines, almond milk, or another non- dairy source.
Essential oils. For headaches, we use peppermint oil mixed with olive oil and rub it into our temples and forehead. For respiratory issues, we use eucalyptus oil and olive oil on our chest or in a humidifier. Tea tree oil is also a great stand by – it is antimicrobial. Local honey, which is antimicrobial in nature, is great for a cough. Warm baths with essential oils in it is great for relaxing and starting to feel better.
Homeopathics. We started using homeopathics with Aidalyn when she is itty bitty because they are safe for all ages. You can do some research as to which ones are right for certain conditions. I bought most of mine on Amazon. They are little dissolvable tablets that you put under your tongue. Hylands is the brand we use the most. Lots of people are aware of Hyland’s teething tablets. Some that I use are: pulsatilla, chamomilla, arnica, and belladonna.
Herbs. I love using Gaia Kids herbal drops for Aidalyn and myself. I found a wide choice at Whole foods and Basic Market in Beaumont, Tx. You can also find them online.
I feel like this can be done in little steps. So the next time you have a headache or a runny nose, think about different ways you can support your body to heal itself rather than putting synthetic drugs into your system that could cause you more harm later on.
What natural remedies do you use? Leave me a comment – I’d love to hear from you!
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Great post with good ideas. There are so many ways to fight a cold naturally that I really can’t imagine ever buying OTC medications! Thanks for commenting.
Love it!! Drug Emporium in Lafayette has a huge selection of Hylands and other natural remedies. Great information Angela!
Could you explain more or refer me to some online resources about the homeopathics you use? In the midst of Sara’s health saga, a friend shared a great home remedy for ear infection. After 4 rounds of antibiotics that did not help long term, I was searching for something else. Sarah Richey shared her tricks with me–you begin by boiling out the ear with hydrogen peroxide. I left the hp in for 10 minutes, then drained it. The next step is to put pure garlic oil in the ear, but I used breast milk and aged garlic extract. Try to make baby/child lie on side for awhile to make sure it goes in. Then, take caster oil, and massage the lymph nodes in front of the ear and down the jaw line in a pulling or milking motion. This called milking the nodes. I did this for a week while fasting and praying for healing. I think God used it to heal her because her ears were clear for the first time in over 2 months at her last check up. In the event of another infection, I will be a bit more hard core. I will use freshly pressed garlic to make an oil. I will crush it with my pampered chef garlic press, and heat the garlic in a pan with pure olive oil. After the oil cools, I will put a few drops of that in her ear. This way, the garlic will have its maximum antibiotic potency.
Anyway, Angela, my entire family is sick with seasonal AND food allergies right now. I’m putting us all on your diet Monday minus dairy and nuts. We are allergic to those, too. I’m sure our meat won’t be grassfed, but it will be a far cry better than our current diets. Anyway, can you refer some sites? I will also be checking your Pinterest recipes.
That was a great method for curing an ear infection! Garlic is amazing. I bought some garlic oil to have on hand just in case.
I have used this website for finding some information on which homeopathics to use when. http://www.abchomeopathy.com/
I also found a lot of my information from the book: Natural baby and Childcare by Feder. And Prescription for Nutritional Healing by Balch.
For recipes: I usually do searches for primal or paleo recipes. If you are unable to find a good grassfed beef or pastured chicken (which we JUST found) Turkey is usually less processed than chicken or beef because the market isn’t as big. Eggs are always a good choice and wild caught fish (which we find pretty easily at our Krogers)
I honestly feel like it is little steps that make the process easier. Even a weekly or monthly goal. I would start with just limiting high fructose corn syrup for sure and try to get in more vegetables and fruit. You are doing a great job!
Thank you! I’ll check those out.
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Thanks for the tips! Will work on this.
[…] Fevers are not something to be scared of, they are actually a GOOD sign that your body is responding and fighting off the infection. By reducing the fever you are putting your all star player on the bench to watch the game. Sometimes the body will respond by raising a fever even higher to counteract the fever reducing medication. […]