Achy eyeballs, headache, feeling cold, lacking in stamina when I work out, itchy nose and feverish feeling. Whenever these symptoms are displayed, I know that fever and a bad cold or throat infections are looming over me. I had these symptoms yesterday and I tried to nip the bud before a full blown flu attacks me. I quickly popped my trusted Esberitox, sipped on lemon juice with Manuka honey a few times a day and popped 2 Panadol Actifast. I am feeling better today, albeit the headache and achy eyeballs are still there. I must have caught the flu bug from my mil. And oh yes, another obvious symptom is that lymph nodes have appeared behind my ears. Each time I have a cold or URTI (upper respiratory throat infection), these tiny lymph nodes which are painful at times would appear and remain there for a couple of weeks until I have completely recovered from my illness.
Ever since Baby was an infant, she never once took any oral meds to treat her cough or runny nose. That’s because since she was 7 weeks old, she had to take oral antibiotics everyday until she was 14 months old (that’s after the Ureteral Reimplantation surgery in May last year). Our paed has all the while been not in favor of her eating too much meds as she already had enough of meds in her body. So each time Baby is down with a flu, stuffy nose and phlegm, I will let her inhale the Ventolin, given through the Aero Chamber. Though very costly, the Aero Chamber is a good investment.
About 2 weeks ago, Baby had runny nose and phlegm. Again, I self treated her with Esberitox and the Ventolin. After 3 days of Ventolin inhalation (2 puffs, 3x a day), she was well again. I never like my kids to take oral meds for runny nose, phlegm and cough. I also kept her free from cow’s milk throughout the period she was unwell. Cow’s milk is known to induce phlegm. Until today, Baby is still drinking organic soy bean milk and organic oatmeal milk. I shall blog about these 2 in my next post.
Today is the first day that Sherilyn and Baby are showing the first signs of a cold. It all started about a week ago when a friend who had her first signs of cold came to our house. She played with the girls and got very near the girls. The 6 days incubation period is up today and the first few symptoms showed up. This morning, Sherilyn’s voice changed a little, her nose was stuffy and she started to cough a little too. Baby was a little cranky, her goo is yellowish and she threw up a lot of phlegm while having her lunch today. Well, dealing with a flu is nothing new to me. After being a mother for almost 7 years, I am now better prepared in dealing with it. I will try to stay away from the doctor as far as possible. Antibiotics will only weaken the body and causes it to be resistant to it. I have already fished out my trustworthy Esberitox and Echinacea tabs and have started feeding Sherilyn and Baby with it. For Baby, I crushed the Esberitox and Echinacea in a pill crusher and added the powder into her drinks. Praying hard that their body will be strong enough to battle with the bugs.
Two days ago, I felt an impending throat infection, cough and runny nose attacking me. My throat felt slightly painful, my voice started to change, nose felt stuffy and the entire body just didn’t feel right. I knew I had caught the bug from Alycia who was having a slight cold. At the immediate onset of the first symptoms, I quickly popped my trustworthy Esberitox, drank apple cider vinegar + honey, drank lots of water, stayed away from fried food stuff, ate lots of fruits and veggie, drank coconut water to cool my body, gargled my throat with salt water 3-4 times a day and banned myself from staying up late, working on my computer. I have been adding new clothes to my blogshop everday, including some hip hop clothes. Getting sufficient sleep is very important so that the body heals faster. Today is the third day and I am glad to say that I managed to keep those pesky bugs under control. Alycia is getting better too, thanks to the Esberitox which she popped 3x a day.
I mentioned in my earlier posts that everyone in the family has been down with chesty cough (with lots of phlegm) and mild runny nose, including myself. Only the hubs went to the doctor’s to get himself meds. For Sherilyn, I used Baby’s old Aero Chamber to administer the Ventolin on her several weeks ago to get rid of her phlegm. She’s getting better now. Thank God Alycia’s immune system has gotten stronger lately and I only gave her several Esberitox tabs (Echinacea) to treat her mild runny nose. Baby is the only one spared from being bitten by the virulent cough and cold bugs, thanks to mummy’s powerhouse milkie enriched with all the supplements that she’s been taking. Maybe I should also give credit to the E.Excel supplements that I’ve been diligently feeding her with.
To cure myself from my chesty and mild runny nose, I popped Echinacea tabs and garlic tabs 2-3 times a day as soon as I felt the slightest symptoms appearing, to ‘nip the bug in the bud’!
I also gargled my throat with salt water throughout the day and night (after I had woken up to change Baby’s diaper). Other immune system enhancers that I’ve been taking as usual include Bragg’s apple cider vinegar, Vitamin ACE and salmon fish oil (to enhance my failing memory after having 3 kids!). Have also been eating green veggie like a rabbit, drinking freshly squeezed lemon juice and apple cider vinegar, eating chopped raw garlic and munching more on fruits and tomatoes for the extra antioxidants and vitamins.
On top of that, I’ve been boiling luo han guo, barley water and chrysanthemum tea everyday for the entire family. These drinks are known by the Chinese to be good for the lungs, expel phlegm and treat cough, remove ‘heatiness’ from the body and boost the immune system. Barley water is boiled primarily for Baby as it is very good in cleansing the bladder and kidneys. My 2 older girls and the hubs drink it too. And I am surprised that Baby has no problem drinking luo han guo and chrysanthemum tea though they have a slightly bitter taste.
Today is around the 6th day and I am recovering well. Really glad that I’ve once again self-treated myself from cough, cold and phlegm without having to pop antibiotics or other meds.
Garlic consumption is very effective for strengthening the immune system and will even help prevent many colds. Garlic should be used as soon as the initial symptoms of a cold are felt. When symptoms first appear, take a garlic supplement, eat raw garlic or make your own garlic tea. I’ve read that garlic tea can soothe a sore throat and cough as well as boost the body’s disease-fighting strength.
On top of the above remedies, you must have enough sleep, drink enough plain water, exercise, keep stress at bay (I know, easier said than done) and eat healthily in order to have a strong immune system. Once your immune system is strong, your body heals easily and faster from illnesses.
Disclaimer: What I’m sharing with you here is based on my own experience experimenting on natural remedies. They work for me most of the time but may not work for you. So, you may want to use this list as a starting place to do more research on your own on any particular supplement/plant/herb/etc. before taking it. If you have any special medical conditions, or are taking any medications, it’s best that you check with a doctor first.
Thanks to everyone who commented in my earlier post – thanks for your advice and suggestions. After popping 2 more Panadol Actifast last night and slept at 10:30pm (which was considered very early for me), the throbbing pain on my head, teeth and jaw is gone today. I could even jog for half an hour and exercise on my fitball this morning. However, I still have phlegm and I hope this will go away by itself in a couple of days.
Though Baby C didn’t get bitten by the cold and throat infection virus, the sad thing is she still has E.Coli bacteria in her pee (urine culture done on Friday, results out today). I’m really upset coz she just had 9 doses of painful antibiotics jabs less than 2 weeks ago. Could it be those virulent bacteria are already resistant to the antibiotics? I wish the surgeons in London could give us an answer by this week. I can’t wait for the surgery to take place coz if it doesn’t, my poor baby would have to endure more pokes and pricks to no end.
…with cough and runny nose. With only 3 more days left before their trip to Hong Kong, I didn’t want to let them heal on their own, so I told hubby to bring them to the paed this morning. Flying with a runny nose can be really disastrous and torturous as the ears will most likely get blocked. My ears got blocked for several days one time when I had the sniffles and boarded a plane for a vacation. Moreover, Alycia has quite a bit of phlegm irritating her throat and has been coughing and throwing up since yesterday. She has no appetite and has not been eating much. Alycia has not been this sick for many months and she must have caught the virulent bug from either one of us in the house as almost everyone is having the sniffles and cough lately. The paed prescribed them with a cough syrup, a cold syrup, fever meds and a bottle of powder antibiotics (not reconstituted yet) to be on guard, just in case their condition worsens. Praying hard that Baby C will not get bitten by the virulent bug too!
It just came all of a sudden yesterday. Either I got bitten by the same bug that bit Sherilyn or Sherilyn got bitten by my flu bug. My nose is now blocked, I can’t smell no nothing and my throat is painful. At the onset of the stuffy nose, I quickly popped some Esberitox N tabs.
Esberitox N is traditionally known to work based on unique combination of herbs which is known for its safety. The tablet contains the herb Radix Echinacea Purpureae (purple cone flower root), Radix Echinacea Pallidae (pale cone flower root), Radix Baptisiae Tinctoriae (wild indigo root) and Herba Thujae Occidentalis (white cedar leaf herb). According to the box, Esberitox is safe for children from as young as 2 years old.
Since yesterday, I have been popping 3 tablets 3 times a day. It’s not as effective as Clarinase but still, it manages to control the bug into accelerating into a full blown flu, minus all the side effects I get when I pop Clarinase. I tend to get heart palpitations and insomnia whenever I pop Clarinase. At least I am not sneezing profusely and my nose is not runny, just stuffy.
As for my sore throat, it’s now under control. I have been gargling salt water the whole of yesterday (day and night). I have also been sucking on some Ernest Jackson MAC dual action lozenges.
I am a WFHM with 3 beautiful girls - Alycia, Sherilyn and Cassandra. I quit the job that I love to stay home with my 3 angels as that's what I've always wanted to do. I am a health freak, fitness freak and a clean freak too. I love to eat and live the clean and healthy way; I want my kids and hubby to do the same too.
I always believe that your health is your wealth and if you have good health, that's the best gift you can ever ask for from God.
I have been writing product reviews, food reviews / restaurant reviews and product advertorials since 2007. Please email Shireen at shireenyong@gmail.com to inquire if you are interested to place an advertorial or review in this blog.
