The Things You Gotta do to Have the Flu

I have just been through a week of sickness with my husband and daughter.

Husband comes home sick last week "ohhhhh, arrrg I don't feel good" rolls around bed making moaning noises, coughs on everyone, in general is a miserable human being, I was so sorry for him, but with time and care he is now back at work (thank goodness).

Sunday night daughter starts with the moaning, face hurts, fever.... ugh.

Our General Practice Doctor retired last year to do pro bono work at the county clinic, I applauded her for it. She is a fabulous doctor and we loved her. That doesn't help me find a new one though. After many calls to area doctors I gave up. No one, especially during flu season would see a new patient. I wasn't even sure it was the flu. Chloe acted like it was a sinus infection, something she has had in the past but her fever worried me. So it was off to the Take Care Clinic at our local Walgreens. We were on the waiting list for TWO Days! Eventually when we got in the doctor told me she did think it was the flu. One of the strains this year presents as a sinus infection. She did the swab and Yes, it was the FLU. She managed to get us the Tamaflu and wow it is fantastic! Dear Daughter is much better and asking when she can take her flu medicine again!

Well the flu is nothing to mess around with so try to be better prepared than I was! Make sure you have a doctor or clinic you can go to and even if you don't think it is the flu, go to the doctor, drink lots of vitamin C fortified drinks and other fluids, keep happy and healthy this Fall ! A few tips I got while there, I'm sure you have heard most of them.

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 or bathe ).

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 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.

5.*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.

6.* Drink as much of warm liquids 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.

Tips Compliments of Dr. Vinay Goyal