Thursday, August 14, 2014

Fighting the good (immune) fight


This Winter has been a good one in terms of illness for me. 
I have managed to dodge the majority of bugs which have come knocking at my door due, in large part I believe, to daily (sometimes twice daily) yoga sessions. 

As those of you with autoimmune diseases can attest, this is no small feat.

However, there is something about the unholy triumvirate of changing seasons + a bit too much dairy + a sugar attack (hello slab of mint Lindt I comfort ate in the time span of a day) which kicked me in the metaphorical nuts. The throat tingle my husband brought home after sharing a classroom with a strep throat sufferer turned, for me, into a raging and lingering sinus/strep/chesty type infection which I am still fighting a week later.

Determined not to hot foot it to the doctor for a course of antibiotics if I can possibly help it, I have chosen instead to turn to the following mini arsenal, starting of course with the age old wisdom of:


  1. REST! Nothing to it but to do it - even when you are an antsy mo fo like myself who struggles to sit still.
  2. GINGER TEA. Fresh ginger. Boiled water. Feel the soothing and burning properties on an inflammed throat.
  3. ACC 200. There's a delicate way to say this, but I'm not going to find it. This stuff loosens up the mucous (aka snot) so that you can hack it out - great, big, green globs of it!
  4. LOCABIOTAL. Anti-bacterial. Antifungal. Anti-inflammatory. Spray the throat. Spray the nose. Hope for the best. Burns like a bastard.
  5. WILD OREGANO OIL. This is a new one I haven't tried. Simmy brought some home for me yesterday, so it is a brand new soldier in my fight. Apparently, it is touted as being nature's antibiotic. We'll see how it goes.
  6. DETOX YOGA. Granted, for the past six days my pressured head has balked at the thought of hanging upside down in downward dog and just having a shower has sent my heart into a frenzied flutter, but no matter. Today I started practising what I preach and incorporated a few detoxing poses into my standing moments, right here next to the bed. Keep the lymphatic system happy and what not.
So there you have it!