I hope none of you are fighting the flu like me right now, with tissues shoved up my nose and blankets tucked up to my ears! As I was talking to Taylor and sharing thoughts about how to best take care of oneself when sick. As adults we aren’t so lucky to have our mothers tuck us into bed, feed us foods and make sure we are drinking enough fluids. While Jerry helps by making sure there is plenty of water in our apartment, I still have to make sure I take care of myself why he is at work. I’m on the mend, but I still will need to take it slow for a few more days. Here is my list of ways to take care of yourself when fighting a cold or the flu!
1: See a doctor if you are really sick. Sometimes, a doctor will just look at you and say “Yup, you are sick. Go home, rest and drink lots of fluids.” Other times, you may be fighting more than a cold or the flu and need a prescription medication. I know that sometimes you can tell if you need to visit the doctor, so don’t delay if you think you need to. Keeping a note book is a helpful way to share information with your doctor about temperatures, consumption of foods or other symptoms.
2: Drink lots of fluids! You body needs the fluids to effectively fight and when you don’t drink enough, you actually can feel worse! Don’t want to drink? Find a way to consume fluids. My favorite beverages include smoothies, Gatorade G2 packets (in Grape), chicken broth and ice water.
3: Sleep. My mom was always strict about me actually sleeping when I was sick. As it turns out, she was right! If you sleep, your body can fight more effectively. If you can, turn off all the lights and sleep. Using the computer, reading a book or watching movies are good for keeping you still, but time spent sleeping is the best time for your body to battle your cold or flu.
4: Lots of tissues. I can’t stress how important tissues are. It really sucks if you run out of tissues and have to use toilet paper to blow your nose. Your nose is easily irritated while you are sick, and painful noses make things harder. If you do have an irritated or chapped nose, I can now tell you that I now prefer the Bottoms Up Day 5 cream for my nose rather than Vaseline like I have used in the past. It didn’t even color my nose and my nose feels much better!
5. Try to keep a clean space. If dirty tissues are tossed in the wastebasket, you lower the chance of making someone else sick. I know that sometimes wastebaskets can quickly become full or even overflowing. I like to keep empty plastic grocery sacks by me for the reason as they can easily be tied shut and prevent someone else from having to clean up after me.
Do you have any tips for taking care of yourself? I would love to hear them!
Andee, I sincerely hope that if you’ve come down with flu you feel better soon! Flu is miserable!
We live in a very small house with a large family, so stopping the spread of anything is always a challenge. I give anyone who’s sick his or her own box of tissues and their own plastic bag for the used ones to help contain the spread of germs. I also make a “shower sachet” for the shower. I put a few drops of eucalyptus eo on the bag, allow it to dry, then put in a tablespoon or two of menthol crystals. When you throw it down on the floor of the shower and the hot water hits it, the menthol and oil is released and really helps with congestion.
We also start a slow cooker pot of chicken broth, into which we throw some spinach and a bit of ginger, then add carrots, peas–whatever vegetables are at hand–and keep that simmering so it’s always at hand for whoever needs it.
Hope you get better soon. With two young kids, you aren’t supposed to use any over the counter cough medicines I’ve learned to use more natural methods. Chicken broth is great especially homemade, instead of straining off the vegetables, I blender it all up. When they don’t want to eat, you can still get quite a bit from the broth in a cup. We also use a garlic tea. I simmer some ginger, cinnamon sticks, and a couple cloves of garlic, and some anise seeds. All have great properties for sniffles, coughs, and fighting off bad germs. A chamomile tea bag, sweeten with honey, the more local the better. We also put spinach in a lot, I keep a bag of dehydrated spinach powder to throw in soups, homemade dumplings, soups, smoothies, you name it I put it in it. The great part is that even my under two year old can have any of these things, and a little goes a long way.
At the first sign of cold or flu symptoms, I drink tea — half peppermint & half echinacea. Peppermint is soothing; echinacea boosts the immune system. My symptoms usually disappear in 3-4 days. That being said, Hubby drinks 2 very dry vodka martinis! LOL Works just as well for him!
We have some type of bug at our house too. Lots of coughing and runny noses. I have several diffusers throughout the house, and I make my own “Four Thieves” oil to put in them. We also use the same oil to disinfect with. At night, I add Eucalyptus oil to the diffusers, it helps a lot with the congestion! Hopefully you, and everyone else gets better soon!