So, earlier this week, I awoke in the middle of the night with a sore throat and instantly knew I had COVID. ‘Damn it!’ I thought, as it felt like a stranger had opened a door and walked right on in. So, I spent the next remaining hours awake, planning my next day; 1) wake up, 2) feed kids, 3) make huge amount of soup, and 4) then crash for the week.
I hadn’t been sick in years and could tell it was going to hit me like a ton of bricks.
And it did.
I was not surprised, when a few hours later I tested positive for COVID.
I’m assuming it was Omicron and I gotta say, It’s an interesting virus. A flu like many others you’ve probably had before, but I found it very specific, very targeted, going clearly from one symptom to the next, not vaguely sifting through simultaneous symptoms like most colds and flu’s do that give you a vague impression of everything all at once- aches, headache, sore throat, fever. No, this swept through me like a train rattling my bones.
But five days later, I’m all better and symptom free! Which I thought was pretty good.
So, here’s a few of my health tips, in case it ever helps you.
1) I made a big stew that was packed full of garlic, herbs, mung beans, olive oil, veggies, stock some meat (I didn’t eat the meat myself, but it flavoured the stew, and kept my family from needing to cook much), as soon as I knew I was getting sick. I’m really glad I did, because this soup became invaluable to me and my family through the week. I’ll post the recipe next.
2) I drank water and lots of Nerada organic Lemon and Ginger tea-, which soothed my throat.
3) At day 2-3 the sore throat hurt significantly, and more at night. So, I used a gargle with warm salty water and a drop of thyme essential oil, which did the trick and then used medicinal, anaesthetic lozenges if I needed them.
Thyme is a highly undervalued and incredible herb and while the essential oil should never be ingested, it is a vastly powerful anti-microbial, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-septic externally, including as a mouthwash and gargle, or as an inhalation. It’s great for upper respiratory infections of any kind. It’s great for sore throats of any kind, particularly the COVID one, but also works on tonsilitis, and treats and protects against chest infections, killing the bugs while shaking up any rigid mucous in stubborn coughs, helping it to be expelled if used in an inhalation. You’d use a much smaller dose on a child, checking with either myself or your health practitioner on correct dosing would be good.
4) The other factor that helped me was avoiding dairy. Yep, dairy of any kind. Dairy is infamous for building more mucus. And what often lives in mucus? Microbes, either viral or bacterial. So having less or zero mucus, is ideal in colds and flu situations, particularly if you don’t want them going to your chest.
5) I also ate little to no meat for the week. As I’ve spoken about previously on COVID studies, they’ve found high iron in the body, such as from meat, is used by viruses, (including COVID), to replicate more of itself. Iron is like an ink to the virus. So, less meat =less virus. I had the stew, but not the meat.
6) Good sleep helps, as this is when you heal and recoup. And I slept a lot. I’m not normally one for pain killers, but I did take aspro clear after eating a meal when I needed them. That helped. But you’d have to gauge that with your health practitioner or myself if you’re unsure.
7) To shorten the duration, and help my recovery, I also started taking Vitamin C 2-3 times a day in a powdered high strength form, this helped lessen the fatigue, and is proven to shorten the duration of viruses.
8) And by day 5- I was all better and symptom free.
It goes without saying, that being generally healthy is the best place to be coming from with this one, and I believe for the future, for many reasons. This won’t be the last virus we face, and while I found it intense and I wouldn’t mess around with it, it wasn’t severe. To be honest, it was actually really nice to have the week in bed. I needed it. But I also know I’m lucky, privileged to be living in Australia, healthy and not facing Delta or Alpha anymore.
But it made me realise something. We’ve been so hyped up about catching viruses we’ve forgotten something. Maybe we shouldn’t be anxious about getting sick? Because guess what? We actually need a good, strong virus to fight every year or two, to make us strong. It’s like a cleanse, killing off and sloughing out old cells, to make new ones, while giving us a complete rest we probably never give ourselves. And all the while exercising our immune system, which likes a work out every now and then.
So live healthy where and when you can. And if you get COVID Rest, Rest Rest. Take the time. Don’t try and do too much too soon. Give it and yourself some respect, and contact me if you need more COVID/health related consultation.
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