You Can Learn A Lot From A Cold...

As you can see, it's late and I'm up, battling cold symptoms. That's one thing about colds: they totally take over your life and change how you go about business!
I'm no stranger to upper respiratory infections but my decision to tackle them, minus antibiotics has been tough. First of all, I'm tough as shoe leather when it comes to pain so I was up for the challenge but I must say, the thing that is always the most difficult to deal with is the physical sense of weakness. I'm winded. Walking across the floor makes my heart pound. I feel like I'm in slow motion.
At times, I feel weak.
But the thought came to me, "when I am weak, then I am strong". I know this is a slight variation of scripture but I'll explain. As a relatively young and healthy woman, my symptoms are significant and cause me to have to rest and move slowly, but they are all normal for a body doing what it was designed to do. "I will praise you o Lord, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made", comes to mind. My fever has been as high as 101 but that too is also normal. Whereas my body appears to be weak, there's actually a rather elaborate and intense battle being waged against the invading bacteria (or virus) and my immune system. I feel tired but there's a part of my body that is constantly working, sending white blood cells out to attack the invading germ. I may feel sluggish, but there's nothing sluggish about my body temperature that keeps rising and falling to burn away the bacteria that do not belong there.
As I stated previously, you can learn a lot from a cold.
Lord knows I am. So I'm doing my best to send in reinforcements to help my body fight. I'm consuming vitamin C, eating fresh fruits and veggies, drinking liquids, sleeping, etc. There have been a couple of really intense days where I nearly broke down and called a doctor, particularly when my breathing became labored. But the key is to not panic when things get a little rocky. I remind myself that I am young and healthy. My body is doing what it was designed to do. The coughing expels the virus. The runny nose does the same. The fever has the germs in a pressure cooker.
Isn't God amazing?!
I know it's a little weird but I'm actually quite fascinated by this cold. I understand that we live in a fast paced society that only gives you 24 hrs to get over the flu, so that's why we practically drive our cars through the windows of our doctors offices. But the truth of the matter is that with a little discomfort (I've been taking ibuprofen to minimize any major discomfort) the human body was designed to heal itself.
I've also been doing warm salt water nasal flushes. Now THAT is the most unpleasant part. But once I saw what was actually making me so stuffy and contributing to my infection, I GLADLY continued. My sense of smell comes in and out but with the flushes, it relieves the sinus pressure.
So, it's going to take a little time. Upper respiratory infections can take as long as a month to completely clear, however most healthy adults are functional way before then. I'm no medical expert though. Don't sit at home with pneumonia because you claim I said so. No ma'am. No sir. lol! My family is monitoring my health and ask for a daily progress report. We all know that if certain symptoms persist or intensify, medical treatment will be sought. So, for those thinking I'm playing a dangerous game of chicken with my health, I'm not. I've dealt with such infections all my life and pretty much know how it goes. I just got tired of being prescribed antibiotics over and over and then dealing with those side effects! So I'm taking a more preventive, natural approach.
There is a great line of herbal tea called Yogi that I plan to review just as soon as I'm able to make it to EarthFare to buy it. It tastes like liquid dirt but will cure what ails you if you drink it several times a day. I've used it before but I don't have any on hand. But lesson learned. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, right? I decree and declare NOW that my household will make it through the winter healthy and strong. We will have a plan. We will support our immune systems. And what we can't do, GOD HIMSELF will do!
Night night to all my late night readers. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a much healthier day!