Your tried and tested medicinal tips!

I thought it might be a good idea for a thread with members tried and tested remedies for various ailments.

I had swine flu four weeks ago :hehe: I can take the jokes :hehe: and since then I have had a stinking cold and cough at night. I still don't feel "right"

I have tried throat sweets, olbas oil, menthol crystals from an inhaler mug but I am still snuffling hardly able to breathe and it's starting to send me nuts.
Any remedies gratefully received thanks :thumb:

 

Hi Jaz..............What you need is 1000 mg of effervesant vitamin C tablets in water every morning for a week and anytime you feel grotty.............you can just feel them doing you good.:gnthb:

 

I'd definitely back Vitamin C in very large doses 1 (or even 2) thou a day until you feel better and then carry on.
If you get too much vit C your body just excretes it it doesn't do any harm but the recommended daily amount is a joke at only 200 mg

 

yup, vitamin C. also Echinacea will boost your immune system.

for sore throats, take one drop of Lavender oil and one drop of Myrrh oil (MUST be the essential oil, NOT fragrance lol) on a lump/spoon of sugar twice a day. Oh and vitamin B's are good for any kind of bad throat, too!

I've just got some Beconase spray from the doc cos my nasal passages are constricted (from a virus) and that's working a treat.

You could try putting some Camphor oil, Menthol crystal and Eucalyptus oil into a bowl of hot water and use it as a steam bath for your face (shove your head over the bowl and hang a towel over your head to keep the steam in)

An apple a day DOES keep the doc away. my son loves them, eats at least 1 a day, usually more and he is rarely ill :gnthb:

I could probably tell you more, but that would mean getting my folk remedies book from downstairs and I'm lazy :lollol: I hope my suggestions help :wink:

 

First up, if you're not breathing right, go back to the doctor. I got a very nasty chest infection last year and like all blokes, ignored it until my legs folded underneath me unable to take my weight. It turned out one lung was completely out of action, and the other was only partially working. Strong antibiotics sorted it out.

For less serious respiritory ailments, Yarrow is a good plant. Either Yarrow tea from the herbalist or if you have Yarrow still in flower nearby, a flower head infused in hot water is good. Apart from helping to clear your airways (better than mint ever could) it induces sweating to help you rid your body of toxins left over from the flu.

Sage, especially Purple Sage is a top herb for respiritory ailments too. Again you just infuse the leaves in hot water for a few minutes and drink it.

As a general pick-me-up, to my mind there is no substitue for Rosemary and Lemon. A spring or two of Rosemary and a slice of lemon infused on hot water. Warning though, Rosemary infusions or anything containing a lot of Rosemary's medicinal compount (Rosemarinic acid) is out of the question for anyone with heart problems or very high blood pressure.

Incidentally, for more run of the mill ailments, the Rosemary one is great when you have a hangover, and the Sage one is great if you get heartburn after being a tad greedy at tea time.

 

This is great..
But a word of warning about Becanase.
I used it for several months during the summer season against rape seed alergy.
I developed a nose bleed, took it to the doctors who told me, "Stop with the Becanase right away"
Seems its a steroid and any bleeding will never heal.
I am now on some other chemical concoction when I need it which is working a treat and all bleeding has stopped.

Have you tried an in house Ionizer? for that fresh mountain stream air?
Works a treat for us with a house full of stuffy air.

 

ooooooo thanks for the Beconase tip. i dont plan on using it for long.

and clueless, give me my book back!! :lollol:

 

Hi everyone and thanks for all your input here A lot of useful tips here - I think an ioniser may be good. I do have a small "thing" that plugs in next to my bed and I pop in a menthol pad and it emits a lovely menthol smell.

I agree with over use of Beconase or Otrivine. I bought an otrivine sharp spray [ a new thing] and boy does it hurt and sting

I really thought I would have to go back to the GP as my chest was getting bad with the coughing but today it does feel easier. I hope it's on its way out at last. Next year I will get the swine flu jab if I can.
I have to say it has been 5 to 6 weeks feeling awful. I hope none of you get it.

 

A mate of mine had it (Swine flue that is, not the jab). The official line in the media seems to be that it knocks you out for a week then leaves as quickly as it came. Not for my mate. He was so ill that at one point he became delusional. He actually believed someone had deliberately poisoned his food and became quite paranoid for a few weeks. He didn't even trust the doctors.

Now he's over it the poor lad is quite embarrassed, although he does acknowledge that it was probably a combination of dehydration, fever, and exhaustion that led to his adversely affected mental state.

I deliberately avoided him throughout his illness (I have a baby son to think about) so it was a bit of a shock when I finally saw him again after a couple of months and he looked like a skeleton. He's pretty much back to his normal shape, size and colour now though. I'm glad that so far our household has escaped it.

 

Hi Clueless, I can quite believe it. I must admit I never expected to feel so ill with it after the media saying it is a "mild" illness.
I was actually crawling on the floor at one point not knowing what I was doing, I remember hitting my poor hubby too but I was so out of it. I don't know it that was a reaction to the Tamiflu though? It certainly knocked the guts out of me too.
I'm glad your friend is better- I didn't go out and nobody came near me but I don't blame them. Tell your friend I went funny too

 

Some tried and tested family tips.
Arnica gel, a topical treatment for bruises, very good for kids. I also used it after my hip operation, reduced a lot of the inflamation. Fit enough to return to golf after eight weeks.

A course of Arnica tablets before major surgery has the same effect, my wife took them earlier this year, had few bruises where other women with the same operation had many.

Teetree oil, for cuts and scrapes, very good anticeptic and excellent bug repellent.
I put some on my face and on the brim of my golf cap in the summer when the midges are about, you can se them execute a "180" as they come towards your face.

 

my eldest daughter (15) had it when it first came about and i must admit she wasnt overly bad with it. we thought she had regular flu, then she went rapidly downhill in a few hours, so i phoned the flu helpline (it was the first day it opened) and got her some Tamiflu and by the next day she was markedly better. No-one else in the house got it tho.

 

Glad your daughter got better.

But Tamiflu?

Isn't that the name of one of Bob Geldof's daughters?

 

" Hope none of you get it"
Yes.. I have. Its been several weeks now with a chesty cough and feeling low. Had the same thing last year and It was weeks before I shifted it. Just plumb out of energy and knackered I guess.

 

Hiya Jaz about 10 years ago I went through a bad time health wise, i was working full time and part time to make ends meet.

I coped for every illness going that year more than once, I seemed to be more ill than well.

My doctor said I had over done things an run my immune system down and advised I took A-Z vitamin and minerals.

So I did what I was told even though i was sceptical. Into the 3rd week I actual started feeling better.

Ive taken them ever since and get very few colds and flu.

I eat fairly healthy so do get a lot of my vitamins from my food but its the minute minerals which are difficult to get from food.

There are many wonder suppliments on the market these days but a lot of them you have to be careful with if you are on prescribed medicine as they can react againt eachother.

My advice would be to check with your doc first to make sure it is suitable to you. Hope you are on back on the road to recovery ASAP. 02 ))