What To Do When You First Feel Sick
Don’t ignore the hints – responding promptly to symptoms even when they haven’t fully settled in yet is how you stay ahead of sickness.
I collected together (and tested) every kind of natural remedy for everyday illnesses over my decades as a homebirth midwife and holistic family health coach. I love sharing the best of this collection with families to help them be empowered and confident when the kids get sick.
But nothing really tops simple prevention and prompt action as our first line of defense. It’s not only simple, cheap, and effective, but it saves massive amounts of time and suffering over the long term. In the short term, though, it’s not what most of us are used to, and it can feel inconvenient and unfamiliar. However, I would say that for my family in the last five years, using these simple, effective responses immediately has prevented us from getting sick about 80-90% of the time.
Here are few core basics to get you started:
Get warm
Viruses like it cool – use scarves, layers, warm drinks, and hot baths to prevent or shorten bouts of illness.
Fresh lemon ginger
This is a powerful immune-stimulating and tummy-soothing favorite. Simmer fresh ginger in water. Strain and add liberal amounts of fresh squeezed lemon and honey. Sip piping hot.
More rest
Be preemptive – doing the impossible and taking time to rest now before you have no choice will often help prevent being sicker and for a longer period of time.
Herbal Boneset
Use this herbal tincture gratefully when you have the chills and ‘can’t tell if you’re getting sick or not.’ It’s wonderfully effective against influenza, and the aching, crushing pain in the bones when illness sets in. Homeopathically it’s known by it’s Latin name, Eupatorium perfoliatum.
Sorry, no sugar
Sugar compromises your immune function within five hours by negatively affecting your white blood cell cells and their immune response to viruses and bacteria.
Vitamin C
The recommendation is to take 1000 mg/hr until loose stools develop, then reduce to a dose every few hours. This supports effective immune function, and perhaps more importantly, to empty the bowels so respiratory gunk has a cleared path to drain ‘down and out.’ To dose children, adjusted their dose by weight; this dose assumes a 150 lb. adult.
Get Well Soon
Understanding lots of different preventative measures, and also how to confidently proceed when they’re not enough, is the basis of my online course GET WELL SOON.
It’s packed with natural alternatives for everyday family illnesses, from puking to pink eye, from fevers and earaches to hand, foot, and mouth disease. Step-by-step information and instructions bring quick comfort and calm through the comprehensive 76-page manual and 7+ hours of step-by-step video training .
“Thank you for the Get Well Soon course update, I’m a student and love the new videos so much that I’ve watched the entire course from the top! So many great things in here. ”
Every type of natural modality is covered in detail, including herbs, homeopathy, essential oils, supplements, stuff in your kitchen, and even what to what to do if you don’t have anything on hand but your hands.
Just this week alone I’ve heard from moms who’ve reported that they’ve successfully used their Get Well Soon manual to help their children through barking coughs, a tummy bug, diarrhea, and Strep Throat. For less than the cost of an urgent care visit, you too can feel confident and be ready to act quickly with the symptoms start with my recently revised 2nd edition. I’d love to have your back this winter!