Flu or Food Poisoning?

Two weeks ago Friday I attended my brother-in-law's Friday night dinner party. We had a great time as usual...lots of fun and laughter. Towards the end of the evening, I started feeling nauseous.

By the time we got home whatever was ailing me took over and I spent the night praying to the bathroom gods. The good news is that by Monday I had lost 7 pounds (and I've kept them off)! The bad news is my body ached and I was fatigued. The fatigue and body aches lasted the rest of the following week, and by the weekend I was back to my normal energy level...or so I thought.

Was this food poisoning (that last piece of sushi I ate)? Or was it a mild case of the H1N1 flu. Both my brother-in-law and his wife had just recovered from the flu. Her daughter who was visiting from Canada was sick with a "cold". I'm beginning to think it was the flu. After looking at the CDC website at the symptoms of the flu, I think that's what I have......still.

Starting about Wednesday last week, I started getting body aches. My skin hurts! And my energy level is not what it should be. My husband and I facilitated a 5-hour strategic planning session on Saturday, and I was in physical pain afterwards. Wrong shoes. I was on my feet nearly the whole time. My lower back hurt. I've had a headache off and on, congested sinuses, and yesterday my body vascilated between chills, where I couldn't get warm enough, to being over-heated.

Today, after stretching, I took the dog for a 30-minute walk. In our neighborhood, you can't walk without going up and down hills. I was exhausted when I got back, and my body hurts, even after stretching. A warm shower has helped, but I'm going to see my health practitioner, Dr. Padilla, to see if he can help get me back to optimal health. I need an adjustment, and possibly more.

Sinus Congestion - Gone in 4 Days!

Last week I came down with a really bad case of sinusitis. It started on Monday and by Friday, my sinuses were so inflamed and congested I couldn't breath except through my mouth. I saw my chiropractor, Dr. Padilla on Wednesday, who gave me an adjustment and applied pressure to my sinuses and my entire head.

That helped for awhile, but instead of resting, I continued working at my frenetic pace. I had two facilitation sessions on Friday with two different clients, and I had prep work to do for both on Wednesday and Thursday. And you know the saying, it always gets worse before it gets better? That's exactly what happened. By Friday, the congestion and sinus headache were in full force.

At Dr. Padilla's suggestion, I had started taking Vitamin D twice a day. He informed me that if the congestion was viral, Vitamin D would help to knock it out. I also took two tablets every two hours of Sinusalia by Boiron, a sublingual homeopathic medicine for sinus pain and congestion.

I also invoked the mental affirmations related to sinus congestion and "itis", according to Louise Hays' book, Heal Your Body. I find those affirmations really work for me and help me understand the root cause of dis-ease within my body. Often it's brought about by not paying attention to my negative mental thought patterns, which I tend to push away instead of dealing with them at the moment they occur.

Thanks to the remedies I was taking, by Sunday I was hugely improved, and by Monday, it's almost gone. Here's what worked for me:

• Friday when I got home from my client work I sprayed my nostrils with Ocean sea salt mist several times. I also sprayed my nostrils several times on Friday and Saturday with 2.5 pH acid water, which works as an antiseptic. My friend and coach Timi Gleason, suggested this might help to reduce the inflammation. And as a last resort, I sprayed my nostrils with a Safeway brand nasal decongestant.
  
  
• In about two hours, the congestion and inflammation was reducing so I could breathe a little through my nose. I also started taking Benadryl every 6 hours according to package directions.
  
  
• On Saturday I continued the nasal washes periodically during the day with Ocean Spray and 2.5 pH acid water, as well as the Sinusalia tablets, Vitamin D twice daily, and Benadryl every 6 hours.
  
  
• On Sunday, I backed off on the Sinusalia tablets, taking them about 2-3 times during the day. I also used the Ocean nasal spray only once, and took Benadryl only twice.
  
  
• Today, Monday, I am about 98% cured. I'm still taking the Vitamin D twice daily, the Sinusalia periodically, and drinking lots of fluids - herbal teas and water. I've been ingesting more than 120 ounces of water and about 96 ounces of mostly green tea daily to flush the toxins from my body.

I will continue with my affirmations, Vitamin D, periodic nasal flushes with Ocean spray, and heavy ingestion of liquids for the next few days to be sure the congestion is gone. For the first time, I did not have to get a prescription to fight this sinus congestion, and I knocked it out in about 4 days. For me, that's amazing!

Simple Steps to Avoid Spreading H1N1 Flu

A good friend shared these simple steps for preventing the proliferation of H1N1 flu. While we've heard about some of these in the media, taking all these precautions may ensure you and your loved ones avoid contracting and/or spreading the disease.

These tips came from Dr.Vinay Goyal, an MBBS, DRM, DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist), with over 20 years of clinical experience, who heads the Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W), Mumbai, India . He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital , Bombay Hospital , Saifee Hospital , and Tata Memorial.

In a lecture this past August while visiting Molokai, HI, Dr. Goyal made the following observations:

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

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):

Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

1. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).
   
   
2. *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.
   
   
3. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. *Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but *blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*
   
   
4. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.
   
   
5. *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.