Each and every day Dave Ramsey and I go pick up my kids from school. Granted, Dave doesn't know that he's along for this ride, but he is. He rants and raves on the radio and I laugh the entire drive over, the entire wait in the pick-up line, and then part of the way home (when the kids let me listen).
I always get tickled at his disclaimer that plays around 3 each afternoon. It says something about how the host of the show (Mr. Ramsey himself) should not be listened to when it comes to finances and that you should seek the advice "of a competent professional". I realize that Dave (I call him by his first name as if I know him personally) has to have a disclaimer to protect himself legally. However, truth be told, I would trust him before I trust any "competent finance professional" for advice. To me, he IS the competent finance professional!
However, he has to protect himself by using a disclaimer for all the nut jobs out there. Therefore, before I move any further in this post:
Disclaimer: The information in this blog post is not intended or implied to be a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content contained in or made available through this post is for general information only. The author/s of Ivy League make no representation and assume no responsibility as to the accuracy of the information available in this post and you are encouraged to confirm any such information with your physician. NEVER DISREGARD PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE OR DELAY SEEKING MEDICAL TREATMENT BECAUSE OF SOMETHING YOU READ IN THIS POST.
Now that we've got that out of the way, I will share this with you: Yes. It is true. I have killed strep (my own) without an antibiotic and I have shortened my flu duration by what I believe to be half. (And one last disclaimer for the real coo-coo's out there: While I am comfortable using each of these methods on myself and my own sickness, I have never used them on my children and I make no recommendations as to what you do with your own children.)
Travel with me back to 1998. I was a freshman in college and was studying vocal performance. That means I sang from sun up to sun down. That means my mouth was open 24/7. (Yes, I sleep with my mouth open. I'm that kind of attractive.) I caught strep four times that year. This was the beginning of what seemed like a never ending cycle.
I caught it another 6-8 times before I graduated 4 years later. Then, I began a yearly cycle of catching it every single Christmas. This went on even after I started this blog. (2007, 2008)
And every single time I would catch it, they would treat it the same way: antibiotics. They'd slap a prescription on me and away I'd go. However, around 2004 I noticed that every time I had to get on an antibiotic (which was usually only at Christmas when I caught strep) that I then got a yeast infection as well. (I realize that's more information than you wanted, but some woman out there is thanking me for that.) While antibiotics are great for killing the infection inside you they throw off every other part of your body - your stomach (why most people get diarrhea while on antibiotics), your taste (ever noticed that?), your intestines, etc...
It wasn't until 2009 that I learned a way to kill it without the use of antibiotics.
It's called Agrisept. You can google it, but for those looking for a simple answer - it's grapefruit seed extract that works like an anti-fungal medication. It has been proven to kill herpes, influenza, candida, parasites, and yes, even strep.
I would not pretend to know the best way to go about killing strep with Agrisept. However, what worked for me was dropping 5-6 drops into 6 oz of water and then gargling for two or three minutes (spitting out and getting more after 30 seconds). I continued this for 4-5 days and the strep was gone.
As a side note, I would want you to know that if you gargle with Agrisept before going to see a doctor - the Agrisept will throw off the "in house" strep test. It will come back negative and the doctor will just assume you have some other throat fungus. It won't be until they get the test results back from the lab they sent off to that it will show positive.
Also, on one other side note (before I move on to my flu testimony) - I would want you to know that Agrisept is available through one of the websites that my coffee sells through. This blog entry is in no way, shape, or form an attempt to get you to buy Agrisept through me or from me and I am not being compensated for this post. However, in an attempt to be authentic it is important that you know that technically you could buy it on my Asantae website. In all honesty though, many times you can google the city you live in and "agrisept" and find stores or people who sell it locally.
Moving on to the flu ... I believe I shared with you that I caught it about five weeks ago. To answer the question I know is forming in a few minds - no, I did not receive a flu shot this year. I personally think it would be safer to inject myself with rattlesnake venom than with a flu vaccine, but I digress.
I felt it coming on on a Thursday. I got that achy, tired, "something is wrong" feeling. I stopped by Target and grabbed two products that now I would NOT recommend, but they are part of the story (unfortunately). (We'll laugh at my stupidity together.) One was called Cold-Eeze - I got it for the zinc. The other was Emergen-C - got it for the high levels of Vitamin C.
I began taking both of these products that afternoon around 3 p.m. (However, my tongue kept going numb using the Cold-Eeze. I just kept telling myself a numb tongue was better than flu.) That night I had an obligation I had already committed myself to and needed to follow through on and it kept me out from 7 until midnight. (I agree that this was not the smartest move as it lowered my defenses and exposed 4 other people to the flu.)
That night I woke up around 2 a.m. running fever and with chills. It was ON like donkey kong at that point. I emailed our chiropractor and he recommended three KEY things: Vitamin C, Calcium Lactate, and Zinc.
The Vitamin C is obvious - it boosts your immune system. The Zinc has been proven (although controversial) to lessen the severity of flu symptoms. However, the Calcium Lactate was a new one for me.
Apparently, when we have low amounts of calcium in our blood, the white blood cells (the ones fighting sickness) cannot do their job. This is why you get fever. Fever increases the body temperature to heat up the bone thus releasing calcium from the bone. The fever is pulling the calcium out of the bone so that it is available to the white blood cells.
So Friday morning, I began taking Calcium Lactate and Vitamin C every hour on the hour. (The Zinc I threw in the trash can because frankly - I like to be able to feel my tongue. You form your own opinion there. I also threw the Emergen-C in the trash after discovering it contained an artificial sweetener. I switched to plain Vitamin C tablets.) After running fever all night, my fever was gone after 2 hours on the Calcium Lactate. My symptoms (extreme fatigue, achiness, headache, etc...) lasted for 3 days.
Our chiro said that when my body had enough Vitamin C, it would let me know because I would have diarrhea. While this sounded like more of a nuisance than a great "get over the flu" plan, I went with it. However, after taking more than 10,000 milligrams of Vitamin C, I still was not having any stomach problems. So - either my body was extremely low on Vitamin C or I've got abs of steel. (I'll let you draw your own conclusion.)
By Monday morning, I was back at work. Granted, I was still slightly "off" - but able to function normally. And by Tuesday, I was back to my normal self. (whatever that is)
I wish I could say the same for my 3 friends and their kiddo's. They did not get on the Zinc, C, or the Calcium Lactate. The flu took them OUT along with several of their family members and each one was down for 5-6 days. Do you see what you're missing if you and I aren't friends? I'm a giver!
So, how is that different from Tamiflu?
I'm not interested in arguing over which method of treatment you should choose. My mind is made up. However, I would offer two insights into Tamiflu: #1) It is synthetic - chemically produced, man made, and #2) It only lessons the flu by .5 - 1 days (according to their statistical information). My experience with pushing the before mentioned items seemed to lesson mine by at least 3. (Feel free to draw your own conclusion here.)
In summary, what have we learned today? We've learned that I like to sleep with my mouth open and that I'm a giver. However, I hope more than that that you take away a few nuggets of wisdom to use the next time you're feeling a little under the weather.
Stay tuned! Tomorrow I'm going to tell you why you don't need an x-ray if you think your child has broken her face!
No comments:
Post a Comment