Last week I got a cold. I had been exposed to it for a couple of weeks, and finally got that familiar scratchy throat, sneezing, watery eyes, swollen lymph glands, etc. I woke up and thought uh oh, time to pull out all the stops as I don’t want to be sick for long. The outcome of my self-assigned cold busting protocol? I was over it in 2 days, yes you read that right. Below I will detail all I did and so you too can try this the next time you feel something coming on.
First thing in the morning waking up with throat pain I showered and finished off with a cool rinse. It should be cold enough to make you take a deep breath, but doesn’t need to be icy or terribly unpleasant. I did that only for the last 30 seconds of my shower. This activates your immune system and believe it or not, feels pretty good.
Next I took 2 caps of olive leaf and a tablespoon of elderberry syrup, along with my vitamins and some adrenal herbs that also have good immune boosting properties, and high dose of vitamin D.
I can’t remember what I ate for breakfast, but it probably was oatmeal.
I went to work as usual and took tea with honey and ate a few lozenges with elderberry and zinc during the day. It was relatively slow so I left a little early to go home and rest. More olive leaf caps with lunch.
Rest is exactly what I did the rest of the night, my husband did most of the dinner prep and I found the best recipe for cold-busting, delicious soup ever with a search on Pinterest. 40 Clove garlic soup. Oh yeah, full of garlic (mostly roasted) and delicious! I will post the recipe on Facebook, so you can jump over and find that there!
Sleep – I went to bed early and slept pretty well, though propped up slightly for easier breathing. I also hooked up my warm vapor humidifier and put some eucalyptus and spearmint oil in the cup on the machine. I also took 2 more caps of olive leaf.
Day 2: it was my normal day off of going to the office, and instead of working at home, I sat on the couch and relaxed and napped as much as I wanted to. Drank tea with honey to help my throat and as much water as I could remember to drink. Another round of olive leaf capsules, vitamins and probiotics also. Oh I did do a brief 15 minute workout that morning as I recalled it boosts immunity and I wasn’t feeling too bad, another contrast shower as described above and then a nap as that tired me out!
Lunch was more garlic soup – still delicious the next day! And another dose of olive leaf. I was feeling much better at this point and had moved the humidifier to the living room to continue inhaling the eucalyptus. More rest!
Dinner – I don’t remember, but something good for me, more herbs, probiotic and tea. Sleep with humidifier and….
Next morning I felt totally fine, no more swollen lymph node in my neck, no sore throat, no anything! I went to work and felt fine all day. I did not eat any more garlic soup, it was gone by then, and since I talk to people I thought it wouldn’t be very nice…
I can’t guarantee this will work for everyone or would even work for me every time, but it is possible and you too can try this at home!
Also check out the cold and flu handout as a document on the Facebook page. If you need more than this, call me up and I can help, there are many more tools that I didn’t use on me as I didn’t need them, but still have more tools up my sleeve, not just kleenex =)