The Sick Naturopathic Patient

I have the flu.  I have the blarging flu for the first time in a few years and I am not happy about it. 

Naturopathic physicians will say that catching a bug isn't necessarily a bad thing.  As long as I'm not getting sick every month, this is a good sign that I am not immunosuppressed and it's also practice for my immune system.  This is how my body is supposed to work.  OK fine.  But phooey.  I feel like host to an energy-draining, spunk-sucking organism of unknown origin.

A day in the life.....
4:45AM - If I didn't have dogs, would I have stayed asleep?  Shouldn't some pet-to-master symbiosis prevent them from whining to go out before I've woken up?  My man will surely take care of the pups, but I know I'm not dropping back to dreamland quickly. 

5:00 - Still dry-coughing. "Can I get you anything?"  God, I love this man.  I loved him that much before he offered to mitigate my misery, but I can FEEL that love like an extra quilt right now.  Yes, please.  After 2 tablespoons of my homemade cough syrup & a dose of Oscillococcinum, I wriggled deeper under both the real quilt and the love quilt; I snoozed once more.

7:00 - Given that it is Saturday, I had wanted to let my Sick Self sleep in, but I guess Dr. Birr's adrenal approach is working because I wake up at 7.  Sick or not.  But I dug in my heels and refused the day for another hour.

8:00 - Removed my (dry) warming socks.  Did some dry skin brushing to keep the lymph moving, then drank my giant AM glass of water.  Then coffee, then tea (decaf green and chamomile for this round).  And by gosh, I had been craving blueberry muffins for days.  So, assuming I was about to use up all my allotted umph for the day, I made them.  (Gluten free, dairy free, coconut oil, all that good stuff.  Hurrah.)  Yum.  Time to sit.

11:00 - It's like the couch has its own time zone!  Tea round two: one bag ginger, one bag chamomile.  Plus a protein shake and some nuts since I have been terrible about feeding myself (or asking to be fed).  Duh.

12:30 - Why are we treehuggers again?  Do you have any idea how long it takes two grown adults to get the wires off of 40 feet of real garland?  You're welcome, mother nature and the deer who will nosh on the still soft cedar. 

12:35 - Tea round three: echinacea with elderberry tincture.  Took another Oscillococcinum.  So far I'm hanging there with this @&*^$% flu.  My throat feels so raw from the sneezing and coughing.  (Sigh.)

3:00PM - I really do think this couch has a very unique thing going on here...is it still Saturday?  Thank goodness for all those people out there Hunting Houses & keeping me entertained!  And did you know the Cooking Channel has a show called Grow Your Own Drugs?  How did I not know this?  Today they greatly improved a guy's athlete's foot with some kind of plant-based foot bath.  Nice.  Ate some sunflower seeds and avocado to accompany my tv time.

5:20 - Feeling good about myself.  Used my second (brief) burst of energy to clean the holiday travel detritus from the car (and found my awesome new scarf - thanks mom!).  Made veggie soup, heavy on the antibacterial garlic and onions; lotsa pretty purple cabbage - it's simmering now.  Must sit.  Tea round four: more echinacea. 

6:00 - My guy walks by with a glass of wine and winks.  "Medicine."  Medicine?  What?!  Me too, me too! 

6:05 - My martini contains orange juice left from the holidays and ginger.  Medicine.

6:20 - Sweet couch.  Lovely book: Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behavior.  (Recommend.)

7:00 - Dinner was a very spicy, veg-packed stir fry, heavy on the onions and ginger.  Lots of shrimpy protein because I just feel better that way.  Washed it down with an Emergen-C, from which I intend to get my extra C versus from a string of martinis.  The one was fabulous, but my immune system doesn't need the OJ sugar right now (or ever for that matter).

9:15 Tea round five:  Yogi Soothing Caramel Bedtime.  Antibacterial chamomile & skullcap, anti-inflammatory & anti-viral rooibus, & poppy; all of which will help me get to sleep (like I need help).  This particular tea is so tasty!  It smells like caramel and the flavor is the mildest of spice.  (Also recommend.)

10:00 - More cough syrup and off to bed I go.  A little more dry skin brushing.  Finished Flight Behavior.  Such a good read; the main character makes me think more kindly of my own faults and I feel prouder of my strengths - and Kingsolver clearly loves this earth, which makes me love her.   

9:45AM day two.  Slept very well with the exception of one coughing session, which was quickly quieted with the berry syrup.  Woke up with a head full of snot but I think I'm gonna be ok.

In hindsight, I have to say, this is not as bad as I expected.   My nose is either running or stuffed, my throat hurts, and the coughing bouts are even more annoying than a stubbed toe, but I know it could be way worse.  And I know it's not over.  Even so, I wouldn't allow the news stations to send me searching for shots and pharmaceuticals.  I'm over 40, and have had bad colds and flu often enough to know that symptoms have to run their course; drugs don't stop them.

And has anyone noticed that despite all the increased flu shots & mass-marketing thereof, the flu seems to be more prevalent?  I'm just sayin'...

I'd like to think that my cumulative naturopathic care has set me up to succeed in such circumstances and my immune system is putting up a valiant effort.  Is it the vitamin D my ND prescribes?  The high veggie/high protein diet?  Probiotics & healthy gut flora?  Regular exercise?  Having a naturopath to guide me through the right balance of all those things?  Yes, yes, and yes.  Yep.

 

 

Homemade Cough Syrup

One of the most frustrating things about being a naturopathic patient is knowing so certainly that this kind of medicine is truly effective, yet not being able to convince the universe that it's true.  I don't know why I feel so compelled to do so except that I've struggled so much, and with naturopathic care I'm so much healthier and happier.  I really just want that for everyone.

I'm fully aware that we all have our own set of opinions, beliefs, and backgrounds.  I know that our unique perspectives make us who we are.  And I'm finally learning to leave people alone when they clearly have no interest in naturopathic medicine and my stories of success therewith.  That's actually why I write about it.  My hope is that I can still reach more people who might be prompted to consider more natural means to attain the wellness they seek.

What does all that have to do with cough syrup?  Keep reading...

I come from a diverse family.  But truthfully, "diverse" is a nice way of saying unique.  And "unique" is a nice way of saying eccentric.  This means that not everyone gets us.  I'm fully aware that my naturopathic perspective can seem weird to people who are settled into mainstream healthcare.  So when my mother-in-law got the flu, I reeaaallllly wanted to suggest all the natural things I knew she could try, like warming socks, but they could be too weird for her to "get" so I kept quiet.  I still wanted to help.

Cough Syrup!

OTC and prescription cough syrup makes my MIL feel like crap; it gives her a gut ache like there's no tomorrow.  You'd swear she just drank hydrochloric acid, the pain is so awfully apparent.  So I asked my own ND for a homemade cough syrup recipe and got this link:

http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/newsletter/10/november/elderberrysyrup.php

Since we don't have elderberries handy in my neighborhood, I used a bag of organic mixed berries and followed the above recipe to start out, then ended up doing this:

Boil one bag elderberries or any berries with 3 cups of water until it reduces by about half in volume.  Midway through I used a potato masher to pop any skins that had not already done so on their own.

Add one heaping tablespoon of freshly grated ginger, two cinnamon sticks, and two whole cloves (actual spice cloves - not garlic).  Note: ginger in a tube does not work as well at all; grate it fresh folks!

Once that simmers for...oh.... a good while (maybe 20 minutes with just berries and 10 more with the rest) strain it.  Let it cool about halfway while steeping some echinacea tea in it, then add a half cup of organic honey (cooling prevents the heat from killing the good stuff in the honey).  I added about 30-40 drops of elderberry tincture since I happen to have it leftover from my own treatment plan.   Add a tablespoon of vodka to help it "keep".  Finally, boil a glass jar to sterilize it.  (Tip: buy a small funnel for your kitchen; makes life easier sometimes.) 
 

 

I delivered my homemade cough syrup to my MIL....and she liked it!  And she thinks it helped!!  Shoot - even my husband liked it and he pretty much hates ginger and cloves.  When she first tasted it, she looked up at us, wide-eyed, and said, "It's good!?", surprised and pleased at once. 

The most important thing is that my MIL got some relief.  The other satisfying part was that something that she might normally see as weird became something she could understand because it helped.  A few days later my husband woke me up with a racking cough in the wee, dark hours. I dosed him with some of this & before I knew it, he was snoring.  And that, friends, is why I write.  And why I still talk about it.  Naturopathic medicine works gently, with your body, and without side effects like debilitating stomach pain.  (And it's not even weird.)

You don't have to make your own remedies!  Go see a naturopath for the best treatment for your cough or cold!  And then when you are feeling better, or healing more quickly, or just not dealing with side effects on top of what already ails you, tell people about it!  We can't put the pharmaceutical companies out of business, but we can keep them off our shelves. 

 

Now it's your turn...what natural remedies are working for YOU this cold season?

Parsley Root Soup for the Naturopathic Sort

I know this topic isn't directly about naturopathic medicine, but if you can't share a yummy recipe on a blog, for what reason do you blog? 

Funny enough, my guy just walked in and said, "What is this I'm smelling".  So I told him it was parsley root soup and that I was so jazzed about it that I'm smack dab in the midst of a blog entry thereabouts.  He said, "For your regular blog?"  And I answered by reading the first sentence above.  Blogs are fun.

Sometimes the stars align.  I've had a pile of parsley root waiting around for me to get inspired since the farmers' market closed in mid October.  Then, as Christmas drew near, I had a suspicion that Santa may have been planning an immersion blender upgrade for me.  So I waited until we returned from our holiday travels to apply it to my veg.

Then, my mother-in-law got super flu-sick in the last day or so.  (Here's where the naturopathic part comes in.)  She's been coughing so violently that the poor thing can't even get any sleep.  On top of that, she reacts very poorly to traditional over-the-counter cough medicine; it makes her stomach hurt terribly.  Then her MD prescribed something even worse and it seemed like she had given up on feeling better.  Not only did I make her some homemade cough syrup (which I will write about later) but I decided that she needed a tasty vehicle for the garlic and onions that I know my own ND would "prescribe" if it were me.  Yet another reason to make soup!

And THEN, another star falls into place.  I got the latest email from My New Roots, a blog written by "a holistic nutritionist and vegetarian chef, Sarah Britton (BFA, CNP)".  I love her writing and recipes, which always suit my dietary needs regardless of what I'm avoiding at any given time.  Lo!  A beautiful soup recipe for parsley root with a cheeky little name: Reverse Universe Soup.  Right in my inbox and exactly when I needed it.
http://mynewroots.blogspot.com/

On top of it all, I had celeriac in my larder for the first time in a year...and now I had a place to put it thanks to her creative recipe.  This soup was destined to be made tonight.

Can I just give a shout out to the humble parsley root?  These have been hanging out for almost three months, and they're just as hard and fresh as the day I brought them home.  What a trooper of a veggie!  

Speaking of....they've been cooking for awhile so I need to pause here...

(I wish I knew how to add a sound byte of the Jeopardy tune for you to enjoy while I blend and taste my spoils.)

Oh.  My.  Oh my!  So good!  I can't wait to bring some over to my MIL.  This soup is a bowl of anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-crappiness all swirled together in bowl of nonprescription cold crushing power.  Try this recipe.  Feed it to your loved ones, sick and healthy both.  And then tell your naturopath THANKS for teaching you how to treat yourself with food, just as Mother Nature intended.

PS - I added lotsa white pepper - cuz you can never copy a recipe exactly, right?  yum.