Flu Advisory

[morgullord]

I have been in bed with the flu since Wednesday, 10/21/09; today is my first day back on my feet.

I did not have H1N1 flu and I was vaccinated for seasonal flu 5 weeks ago. However, the seasonal flu vaccine covers only 70% of the viruses currently in circulation and I got one of the 30%.

I was more proactive than most when it comes to safe practices during flu season; however, despite my best efforts, I became ill.

If you had the flu and want to post something that you recommend as a comfort food/drink or something else that made you feel better, please do so.

Hot tea (any variety) with honey was a comfort for me; lemongrass soup seemed to ease my headaches somewhat.

Don't be shy about posting something. By about day 3 of the flu you will be looking for something--anything--to break the endless feeling of wretchedness. There is no home-grown cure, just things that make you feel better. What are they?

[demelza]

I recommend going to www.mercola.com. Dr. Joseph Mercola has the #1 health web site in the country. In addition, because I am in the Chicago area, I have been a patient of his and found that his program greatly improved my overall health. While he is definitely extreme in his views, I completely agree with him that taking enough Vitamin D every day may be the single most important thing anyone can do to avoid the flu.

If you get the flu, I recommend Oscillococcinum. It is found in any drug store. It's a homeopathic remedy with no side effects and should be taken as soon as possible after your symptoms start. My neighbor took it a few years back when she got the flu and she felt like new within 2-3 days.

If interested, Mercola has many short webcasts you can watch about the flu, including reasons why he does not recommend flu shots. I am not a doctor, but I play one in the neighborhood.

[noah]

In this order: Green tea, chicken noodle soup, orange juice.

[barkley]

Drinking a tablespn of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water. Using Johnson's Baby Vapor Bath in a hot shower. These always really open my head, which at least makes me think I feel better.

(why does the word for a utensil that is not a knife or a fork come up as thingy?)

[chieftain]

Watch DVDs of the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts and laugh until your sinuses clear.

[Legal Beagle]

I too was home all weekend with something. Besides football (Go TRIBE!), the marathon Cake Boss (where Julia Child meets the Sopranos - or something like that) on TLC was therapeutic.

At Fresh Market, they have honey and honey lemon drops that do help also, as does my grandmother's remedy of equal parts honey (or molasses), lemon and bourbon, with a rock candy swizzle stick - nuked for about 15 seconds to meld them all together (a modern touch since my grandmother did not know what a microwave was and believed the astronauts actually landed in Arizona).

[southerner]

A good old New Orleans response is similar to Legal Beagle's grandmother--use honey (1 tablespoon), sugar (1 teaspoon), and rum or bourbon (3-4 oz.), place ingredients in pot, warm over fire about 10 minutes, stir occasionally, and then sip after a little cooling. The important thing is sipping. It did not occur to me to inform my other half of that on the first occasion I made it and drank it down rather than sipped. Felt much better--maybe the PF point of view.

[southerner]

Why in the world is spoon, I'll try s*p*o*o*n, replaced by thingy? That is silly! Is there some other variation in meaning of which I am unaware. I do note it was not the s-part, but only the final 4 letters. Quite bizarre!

[karaj]

An old fashioned, hot mist (not cool mist) vaporizer that fills the room
with steam; peppermint tea with honey (soothes the tummy; clears the sinuses).

[chinook]

Take an on the rocks glass then fill one-third with Irish whiskey, dissolve 1 to 2 teaspoons of powdered sugar in the whiskey and fill the glass with boiling water -- then sip.

[hldc]

From an office e-mail I received with input from Dr. Vianay Goyal, specializing in nuclear medicine and thyroid (India), with recommendations not usually seen:

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible not coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very
simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):
1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).

3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once
every day with warm salt water. *Not everybody may be good at using a Neti pot, but *blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton swabs dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*

5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C. *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

[ed]

LB, give the candy swizzle stick to the dog, put the honey on the cheerios and add another pint of bourbon that you drink, then you have the perfect remedy.

[Propmaster]

Nov 2, 2009 19:28:02 GMT -5 hldc said:

From an office e-mail I received with input from Dr. Vianay Goyal, specializing in nuclear medicine and thyroid (India), with recommendations not usually seen:

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible not coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very
simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):
1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).

3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once
every day with warm salt water. *Not everybody may be good at using a Neti pot, but *blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton swabs dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*

5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C. *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

Not exactly an accurate chain e-mail...

www.snopes.com/medical/swineflu/prevent.asp

[Legal Beagle]

My question was whether that was an admonition againt slapping oneself, or another co-worker.