The end of winter 2023 March left me with a bang of Covid19 which felt like all my friends spanning from Spain to Germany to Belgium faced it too. What is it a coincidence or like flu, Covid19 is in the air. Let’s not make this a conspiracy but rather an informative blog on how I contracted Covid19 and got rid of it.
It happened that one starry night when for the first time I finally caught up with Covid19. I was blue or should I say really feverish and red actually because my hypothalamus was increasing the thermostat of the body and trying to fight the infection trying to save me from the devil’s claw (oops…an herb too but pun intended).
I came home after meeting a friend when all the late evening coffee didnt serve its purpose because I felt dizzy, lethargic and feverishly sick. So here we know Covid19 is stronger than a coffee hahaha….
While laying in bed and feeling pukish which was the cherry on the cake, I couldnt nourish myself and started pondering all negative thoughts like the world has turned and left me. But, hey cut me some slack here because I was under the trance of this virus making me think the drawer full of negativity. See another caveat – it creates hatred, depression, seethe, upheavel in one’s heart and mind as I am losing my shen (spirit) from my heart so to speak.
My husband and I thought it was a benign flu that’s just afflicted me as it first took root in my throat in the afternoon like a normal cold and flu.
My husband being my backbone through out the process helped me with continuous cold water fomentations to bring down the terrible fever I got and the accompanied headache for which I also utilized an oil roller made with camphor, menthol, cinnamon, clove, jaifal, eucalyptus, pudina, ginger and sunflower oil. It helped me relax but did not break the fever.
Our body has a very strong thermoregulatory system where the hypothalamus reads the chemical signals throughout the body and set the temperature. I was overheated and shivering at the same time which meant that hypothalamus closed the sweat pores and sebaceous glands in the periphery of the skin so that my body wanted to keep its heat intact inside and it does so by keeping the warm blood in the center also the continuous shivering helped my body to warm itself up. So what we see here my body was supporting my vitality by constraining it inside. Wow thats beautiful isnt it?
In this case I didnot want to use antibiotics or herbs like antibiotics to suppress the fever rather using Diaphoretic herbs that open the skin, start the sweating process to break the fever as the blood moves to the surface also bringing immune cells for active duty. I used yarrow and ginger herbs as they are stimulant diaphoretics that not necessarily lower the fever rather open up the capillaries so that blood can flow to the periphery and cool the blood while returning it back to the core.
Certainly I was still having high fever but accompanied with intense headache and body ache because of which sleep became my foe. It was crappy to be in such a state. So I added on Elderflower which is a classic cold and flu remedy high in Vitamin C and anti-oxidants but also relaxant diaphoretic and nervine which means they relax the the neuromuscular tension that often occurs in the vasculature during a fever when there is a distinct elevation of body temperature, and the person is hot, red, and tense – both physically (muscle pain, discomfort, difficulty sleeping etc.) as well as psychologically (irritable, frustrated).
Thankfully I also incorporated Andrographis an ayurvedic herb that has been well studied for Covid19 and traditionally used for immunomodulation by stimulating lymphocytes, helping in fever reduction, expectorant and hepatic protection via its bitterness.
So these 2 cooling herbs alongwith Yarrow which is cooling energetically as well I could finally bring down the extreme high fever I endeavoured.
With my excruciating body ache, somewhere I knew my muscles were eaten up by my immune cells to get the energy they wanted to fight this war but thats what frenzied me as I couldn’t get my sleep but what actually came to my rescue was Blue Vervain – this one is really bitter but esp with musculoskeletal pain and tension I found it almost curable after having 2 strong cups of it in a day especially my 2nd day. It was almost like stopping the pain in the bones which was beyond comprehension. I slept like a baby that night I was so happy that it finally worked because as soon as those aches abated my eyes fell off to sleep and just like that my sleep gave me so much power, resilience while battling this virus.
I ate less during this whole time because that is what my body wanted to fight the battle rather than digesting and absorbing and bringing all the blood to the core so I respected that and just had bone broths, ginger and yarrow tea. Little by little when I regained my power for hunger I started nibbling on food and thats when I realized I lost my sense of smell and taste which automatically drove me to look at recipes on youtube and depending upon my memories regarding how food taste and trying to foster my appetite with the same and it took time but the power of believe had started the process for me as I am slowly gaining the sense of taste.
I started adding zinc supplement 15mg per day to my protocol because its deficiency causes diarrhea (which I did experience due to the infection), affects digestion and absorption but when chronically low can affect sense of taste, helps with immunity and also hair loss which is one of the symptoms of long haul Covid19 that people have been facing.
Though for Diarrhea in retrospect I do think Yellowdock root and Peppermint leaf would have been so apt as well but I wanted to give my body some herb rest because I couldnt keep micro-managing every symptom which was not right, rather in such acute situations I felt the best choice was to let the diarrhea happen. Fortunately for me, I didnot experience diarrhea so seriously rather this virus attacked my digestive system to lean more towards constipation, now that was awful and what literally helped me was homeopathic Nux Vomica, I knew Yellodock in large quantities due to their anthroquinones would have saved the day but I was lazy for yet another tea and I didnot have the tincture available so I resorted to Nux Vomica 30c 4 pellets 2x/day and yes my body just needed a little nudge and let the free flow happen. Even as herbalists we sometimes do face compliance issues ourselves but then I am glad to know my options in case of emergencies.
Also I included magnesium supplement 200mcg/day as it immensely helps with energy production, maintaining the electrical charge of cells, activation of a number of enzymes, mental confusion, lethargy, muscle cramps, poor appetite and during times of stress there can be excess magnesium excretion also when you are faced with diarrhea so all things ring a bell with magnesium consumption for me.
and I couldnt ignore Vitamin D3 5000 IU/day for me because I knew I wasnt that exposed to sun plus to work up my immune system this was so helpful indeed.
But do take care that when you supplement with Vitamin D3 you have to also supplement with magnesium as activation of Vitamin D3 requires magnesium as a co-factor and we all know our soils are depleted of magnesium so incorporating a supplement is essential over here.
I also incorporated Systemic Enzymes as I knew it would amp up my immune system as well as help in tissue repair during times of inflammation and as we know this virus creates cytokine storm so exactly why I used it. Also these are called proteolytic enzymes that help to breakdown the pathogens like bacteria and parasites, an amazing pain alternative to many autoimmune conditions like arthritis, hashimotos, artherosclerosis, myocardial infarction etc
I had runny nose for almost 2 days and thats when I thought will this ever be over ? but I knew my body was onto something and to support its vitality I had to let that be but I did start with Goldenrod tincture every half an hour to tone and astringe my mucosal membrane because my tissues were relaxed and leaking fluids also drying up with so much agitation so I added little licorice tincture as a hormonizer and particularly demulcent, soothing the inflammation of the mucosal membrane but its a relaxing expectorant to express viscous congestive mucous from the lungs.
Also according to Herbalist Matthew Wood, I took Holly flower essence 2 drops 2x/day because this virus was filling hatred in me so holly helped clear that negative energy.
At the end of this tumultuous ride, I have only this much to say that I am so grateful to God and truly after slowly getting my vitality back I feel I can take up challenges and help others with their healing path and fulfill my true calling in this world. Its a blessing to be healthy and vibrant because there is nothing like home than your own body, right?
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