Winter is upon us and so is flu season. I can’t believe we are already having to talk about the flu, but here we are. The flu, Covid, RSV, and Hand, Foot and Mouth disease seem to be rampant right now in our area. My oldest son, Alex, had a bad case of Hand, Foot, and Mouth a few weeks ago and thankfully everyone else seemed to escape this highly contagious disease.
Whenever someone in our house gets sick, we try to treat it as naturally as we can. This definitely got put to the test last week when my two oldest boys came down with the flu. They had all the symptoms, headache, fever, aches, dizziness, coughing etc. I will be sharing exactly what I did to support their immune systems and get them through this as quickly as possible. Neither one of them have ever had the flu, so they have NO natural immunity built up against it. They do now!
Before I get started, I must disclose that I am not a doctor. Although recently I have second guessed my college degree and wish I would have gone to nursing school! With four kids, it sure would have come in handy! That being said, I am only sharing with you what I did with my family. If you have questions or concerns, I suggest you consult with your doctor. Doctors’ offices have been so overcrowded and ERs are flooded with people, so it is nice to know there are ways to support our family’s though here at home. Here what we used:
Vitamin C
I was gone the first day Elliot had the flu, so I didn’t catch it early enough to start him on this the first day. This may have contributed to his symptoms lasting a little longer than Alex, whom I started right away. We were running low on the Buffered C that I had purchased from Amazon, so I texted my friend Dr. Kristin Mowry to see if she had any of her “Doc’s Original Amazing-C” in stock and she shipped some out to me the next day! It got here even quicker than Amazon and I always love supporting a friend in their business. We took 1,000mg every hour for 6 hours on the first day and then after that we did 1,000mg 3x a day. If you find yourself running low on Vitamin C or need a good one check out her site https://docsoriginalvitamins.com/products/doc-s-original-amazing-c
NAC
NAC- This supplement is a fairly new supplement in our house. I first started doing research on this in the early spring when everyone was talking about getting their Covid booster and someone commented that they got their “booster”, they started taking NAC. I had never heard of it before, so I dug in and quickly ordered some to add to my arsenal. This supplement is great for respiratory support. It helps your lungs in so many ways and can be taken as a daily supplement. This is a great antioxidant and expectorant that helps to reduce inflammation in the lungs and break up mucus and helps with congestion. It also reduces the virus’ ability to duplicate, which helps to reduce the length and severity of the flu. The recommended dosage is between 600-1800 mg a day. They took a 600mg tablet once in the morning and once in the evening.
Quercetin
This supplement is helpful with upper respiratory illness and is a great addition to your flu regiment. It has also been found to help reduce the length of sickness. A good dosage amount is 500 mg per day. This supplement is not just beneficial for immune support but is helpful is so many other ways. Here is an article that outlines some more benefits of Quercetin: https://medium.com/illumination/quercetin-fights-covid-19-and-has-multiple-other-benefits-75297689a91b
Vitamin D
If you live where I do, where the days are shorter, and sunlight is a sweet memory of summertime it is important to think about Vitamin D. This vitamin is critical for many different health reasons but one of the benefits is it helps to ward off infections and illness and supports a healthy immune system. It is important to pair Vitamin D with Vitamin K. Without sufficient amounts of Vitamin K in your system the Vitamin D will calcify in your soft tissue and cause other issues. When you are shopping for a quality Vitamin D, be sure to look for one that pairs with Vitamin K. If you do not have a brand that you love Doc’s Original is a great choice.
Zinc
This little supplement packs a punch! Zinc helps prevent virus cells from duplicating and also has anti- viral properties. It also helps defend the immune system against viral infections and regulates in the immune system in the respiratory tract. You only need 50 mg a day is. This is a good one to take anytime you start feeling like you are getting sick. I don’t have a specific brand that I would recommend, but I’m pretty sure I got mine from Walgreens or Amazon.
Oscillococcinum
This is a great homeopathic option for flu sufferers. Instead of taking Mucinex or Dayquil, this natural option provides flu relief and shortens the severity of the symptoms. This has been used widely for years in Europe and just recently here in the US. The beauty of this is there are no side effects. You simply take one little tube 3x a day. This was an easy one for my kiddos to take because it didn’t require swallowing any pills. They are little dissolvable pellets and don’t have a bad taste either.
Something I might look into if and when we ever have a run in with the flu again is garlic. I have just begun doing research on it, but all things look positive. It may be something you want to look into as well. Although chopping up garlic and down them doesn’t sound very appealing. Maybe if I’m feeling bad enough, I would consider it!
Now I will admit towards Day 3 of me coming into their room with vitamins in my hand, I started to get eye rolls, groans and the complaints of “Why are you making us take MORE!” Such is the life of a mom! In addition to these supplements, we also used a humidifier in their rooms and a diffuser. My dear sweet friend also bought me a facial steamer in July when I got really sick. I made the boys use that a couple times a day too. Lots of water and Liquid IV to keep them hydrated, especially when they had a fever.
My go to essential oil for any respiratory illness is Young Living’s RC and Raven oil. We typically diffuse RC and use Raven on our chest. I did run low on RC towards the end of the week, so I started putting Raven in the diffuser (you can order yours here: https://www.youngliving.com/us/en/referral/11937828).
It felt like a full-time job taking care of those two sickos! I believe that health is a very important thing and I want to do everything I can to help my family stay as healthy as we can while doing it as naturally as we can. The rest of us, who were well, also beefed up our regiment as well. I diffused Young Living’s Thieves oil in the Family Room diffuser. We also increased our Vitamin C to 2,000mg a day and made sure to take Vitamin D and Zinc to help our immune systems. Thankfully the rest of us stayed healthy!
I hope you and your family stay clear of the flu this winter, but if you do not, I hope some of these suggestions and supplements help you and your family