Collective non pharma flu remedies 2012/2013 flu season

reply to post by woodsmom


Great idea.

I've recently been taking to using more herbal remedies for the minor health issues, since I've turned away from a lot of more modern industrial body care products and instead started using items which are organically and plant based.

I prefer the approach to aiding our bodies in doing what they need to do.

One of the least discussed things one can do to treat flu or any cold naturally is to allow a fever...it's the body's natural defense mechanism. An elevated temperature makes the body less hospitable to viruses. As long as the side effects of the fever aren't worse than the flu, it's often best to let it play out. It may even lessen the severity and duration of the illness.

Of course you have to strike a balance and fevers can cause a cascade of other issues so caution should always be used when deciding whether or not to use a fever reducer.

I started to catch the virus from my husband and my immune system was low from norovirus and pnemonia.
I woke with fever , sore throat and weak. I took a drop of oregano oil under the tounge every 6 hours, and turned on my ozone machine non stop. 24 hours later, all symptoms are gone. Im keeping this up for the next few days, to insure its gone!!

reply to post by woodsmom


Iodine is rather cheap. I'm using Iodoral 12.5mg. I also have the 50mg for emergencies. I'm going to invest in the Lugol's iodine to store long term. Right now Im experimenting with the whole family. The kids are on 6.25mg and us adults at 12.5mg.(I bumped myself up the last 3 days to 25mg just to help flood my system) Will do this for 6 weeks to see if there is any difference in our health and or if we don't even catch the flu.

THANK YOU for making this thread!!!
Awesome!!!!

I was just wondering what everyone else swears by as far as cold remedies.

Usually, every year, at the first sign of a cold - I take a tablespoon of elderflowers and make a tea with honey, lemon, and bit of iodized sea salt. Did the trick every time.

This year - hasn't worked that well at all. I don't know why.

Another excellent viral preventative is the Chaga mushroom. We harvest it here where we live. (In the woods basically.) We take a chunk of the mushroom and boil it for a while & it makes a nice tea.

With all this said - I'm still sick. Not as bad as it could be that's for sure. My biggest complaint is the severe muscle aches. Anyone got a remedy for those?

Viruses and bacteria multiply best in a high acid environment. When you get ill the viruses and bacteria give off waste that is toxic to the body. To fight this, use sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), 1/4 level measured teaspoon in a glass of water every four hours for the first three days. Then go day by day for up to 14 days. This will neutralize the acid level in your blood and body tissues and allow for your body to rid itself of the infection. It will raise your Ph level and also make it a bad environment for viruses and bacteria to live and thrive. I use this method in addition to anything else. And Sodium bicarbonate won't raise your blood pressure like salt does.

One good thing that is a plus. You won't vomit, not suffer diarrhea to the extent you would otherwise.

Originally posted by nerdyclutzyblonde
THANK YOU for making this thread!!!
Awesome!!!!

I was just wondering what everyone else swears by as far as cold remedies.

Usually, every year, at the first sign of a cold - I take a tablespoon of elderflowers and make a tea with honey, lemon, and bit of iodized sea salt. Did the trick every time.

This year - hasn't worked that well at all. I don't know why.

Another excellent viral preventative is the Chaga mushroom. We harvest it here where we live. (In the woods basically.) We take a chunk of the mushroom and boil it for a while & it makes a nice tea.

With all this said - I'm still sick. Not as bad as it could be that's for sure. My biggest complaint is the severe muscle aches. Anyone got a remedy for those?

The muscle aches are caused by toxin in the tissues. Read my post above, do it, and get to feeling good. You'll even feel more energized.

Good thread. I have nothing to add actually. I use a lot of different herbal remedies for a lot of different reasons. I was going to say the thing about fever being good to make the body kill off the virus, but kosmicjack beat me to it.

We all take a homeopathic flu preventative (one tablet sublingually every two weeks for the duration of flu season). It's called Muco Coccinum (made by Unda labs/Seroyal).

Another old time remedy to try if you know you've just been exposed to sick people is to swab your ears out with peroxide as soon as you can. There are some practitioners who believe that a lot of viruses enter through the ears and not so much through the eyes and nose. I have made a point of swabbing my ears with peroxide after any flights for years (prior to that I would inevitably get sick shortly after any flights) and after exposure to any sick people. It really does head off a lot of problems in my opinion. I even have the kids do it if they come home from school and report that someone was sneezing or snorting near them during the course of the day

I wanted to add that you should run a humidifier during flu season. Not only do flu viruses spread much further in dry air, but it has been demonstrated that using a humidifier helps the body to treat aim moist mucous membranes, which are able to better route out any bacteria and viruses they come in contact with.

I used to have a copy of a study in my files that, in essence, stated that flu season happens in winter specifically because overall humidity was so much lower and suggested that flu transmission amongst school aged children could be cut by over 80% if schools used humidifiers in the classroom and parents used them at home.

reply to post by nerdyclutzyblonde


A very good friend of mine just told me this fall about the chaga mushrooms, they grow in my area as well. A friend of theirs uses it for his cancer as well and swears by it.

I was very happy with the Gelsemium, 30x by Hyland's homeopathics. That worked better on the headache and body aches than anything.

Your Welcome! I hope it helps, we are bombarded by so many chemical remedies that so many people don't want, and yet we are left with few other alternatives. I just thought that I would share a few of mine.

This flu/cold that is going around often relapses and it often has a secondary infection involved, such as bronchitis, ear infection, throat and sinitis, and my 2 sons who have it bad, and relapsed, are only getting better on antibiotics, so just bear that in mind along with other things such as: 10 000 or more iu's of D, 3-10 grams of C, and any other things you use. Colloidal Silver for example. Organic lemon.

My youngest had it bad, and while he had fluid in his ears and the doctor said his lungs were OK, (he was coughing alot and had spiked a high fever for the relapse). Well after a day of antiobics, he started loose coughs, stayed up all night coughing, but his tight coughs, started loosened up.

reply to post by kosmicjack


I am glad you pointed that out!! Our bodies are doing their jobs by fighting off the invaders. We need to let them, that is another reason I prefer the natural remedies, their actions are (typically) gentler as well as supportive to our systems. The chemical remedies we use only work against our system to mask symptoms. Our bodies then have to work harder than in the first place.

reply to post by Unity_99


I hope your little ones feel better, it's harder when they are sick.

I hope you find something in this thread that might work to help you if the antibiotics don't. Take a peek at some of the alternative anti-biotics and anti-virals scattered about.
Best of luck.

I've been looking for a recent thread like this for a couple days. Thanks for bringing it up.

First a little history. I don't think I have ever had the flu but I use to deal with bronchitis that often moved into pneumonia, twice a year for many years... As of now I have not been sick since 2000.

We all know that tickle in the throat, that specific cough or sneeze that tells us we are getting sick. At that very moment I start taking 1000mg vitamin C. Always make sure it is from a food source, not synthetic. If after 2 days it seems to be still trying to kick you. Start in on Osha Root tea. 2-4 cups a day for several days through and after you are pretty sure you stopped it. So far it has worked like a charm for me. I can not promise it will work for others tho. knocking on wood.

I hope it helps others. Oh anyone know how to make a plant domesticated when it does not like to be domesticated. Osha is one of those and I have yet to get a seed to grow

Forgot to mention osha root is not the only thing I put in my tea. They often vary to what i am wanting or have at that time but I always try to put peppermint in it too. Gypsy cold care is another one I often add if I want to cover more bases. if you find it works for you try to stock up on osha root tincture for the times when you are unable to get the root itself.

reply to post by 1YellowRose


I will have to check out the Osha root! I have come across it in my books, but never really researched that one, thanks!! As for getting it to grow, don't try and domesticate it. Try to as closely reproduce it's wild growth cycle as . Does it come from a warm or cold climate? Some cold weather crops need to be properly chilled before cooperating.

reply to post by woodsmom


I think it is elevation more then anything. It grows down in southern Montana around the reservation. I am not high enough in elevation. But it's family member, licorice does grow here at the canadian border but I have not looked for it. And need to. But it is not as strong as osha. And I wnt as strong as I can get.

Gotta step away for a bit...Hope it works for others.

reply to post by rickymouse


Missed the post below.
Curcumin works great for inflammation too

Well, you could eat foods that contain curcumin to help you not get the flu. Eating chili right before the flu season can help because of the curry. Having sandwiches with mustard from that leftover stuff at Christmas and Thanksgiving can help also. Eating pickles helps also, curcumin is found in cucumber, the Alum is an adjuvant, that will help it work. Saffron rolls are another thing that was eaten around this time of the year, real Saffron has good antiviral properties.

People used to pay attention to their ancestors. The ways to not get the flu and colds were built into our traditions. By trusting in science instead of observing our own relatives we have gone astray. Try Saffron tea, it will also help with the diarrhea. Remember to get electrolytes, when fighting the flu we pee more if we don't get the runs. Mineral supplements will help and they will help reduce stomach acid also some times.

Sounds like people are having more than one thing at a time a lot, I had the stomach bug followed by a mild case of the flu. I fought it all right, I noticed that I went through a lot of salt though, that made me feel weak. Eating Molybdenum containing foods can help to get rid of the muscle aches and pains, a little cream of wheat or cocoa wheats works great. This helps us process the increased lactic acid that forms when sick. The lactic acid makes muscles sore.

I don't know much about the herbs other than the ones used as spices in foods. I like the Chaga approach, that helps our body fight invading unknown predators by creating a histamine reaction to fight things. Got to think of that a little. I have a lot of the weaker tinder mushrooms around which also contain some of the Chaga chemistry. It also makes a tasty tea and isn't as strong.

Scanned through the thread again. I found some had mentioned vitamin D.
I found through research sometime back that one of the biggest reasons people get sick is because their vitamin D3 levels are way low. So ya start on that long before the flu season begins. Never synthetic vits/minerals

Just to report. No one in the family got sick!! I work with the public and was exposed to hundreds of sick people coming to me for supplement recommendations for their cold/flu. My wife is a nurse at a community holpital filled with flu/cold patients and not even a sniffle!! I Will have to say I feel this iodine is working. On a side note, I've noticed and increase in my overall well being. The whole family says the same thing about feeling better!!