January 20. 2011
We take a lot of supplements in our house, as you can probably imagine. We got merrily along last week just fine until Thursday when my son suddenly developed a high fever and a back ache. And his feet hurt. Weird symptoms, and when his fever continued through Friday and Saturday, we were pretty sure we were dealing with an influenza virus. It’s Monday, he’s still home, but he is much better. No one else in the family has caught this bug yet, and it usually has a 2-3 day incubation period so I think we’re home free. Here is what we did to avoid getting sick:
Zinc, Vitamin D, Wheatgrass, and Vitamin C every day.
Here is what we have done for Nick…
The first two high fever days…every four hours Zinc and Ibuprofin. Ibuprofin is excellent for reducing inflammation, which is what causes the body aches. It’s also great for fever. And since the flu is a virus, zinc is an important mineral that keeps viruses from invading other cells. In Nick’s case, I believe it helped him reduce the time he would have been sick. Vitamin D 1000 extra IU each day.
Then, on Saturday in the afternoon we added Vitamin C and oscillocollinum, which is a homeopathic product for the Flu that I had never heard of. He has had 6 doses of that and seems to be getting along great. We are officially on day 5 and he doesn’t really have any symptoms except a little bit of a sore throat.
If you happen to get the flu or know someone who does, the most important thing you can do for that person is make sure that they don’t go back to their daily grind to quickly. Influenza can wear down your immune system so much that your body has trouble fighting off other bacteria, and the most common complication from the flu is bacterial pneumonia. I kept Nick home today, and might keep him home tomorrow depending on how he is feeling, just to avoid any further complications while his body is still recuperating.
I’m actually a little surprised that one of us came down with the flu, as I don’t think anyone in our family has ever had the flu. So..this is the first time in forever, which means our odds have been pretty good so far.
To Your Health,
Tracie
