The joys of jabs
Essential Oils
As part of our preparation to go to China, the travel doctors recommend you get a few immunizations before you go. Now I’m not a huge fan of injections or needles, although I willingly donate my blood every 3 months to the NZ Blood bank since I’m told my blood is very much needed. And I’m not one to just go out and buy packets of stuff from the chemist every time I get a sniffle. So after researching Travel Doctor, I took myself off the Doc today to get the bare essentials.
Apparently I last had a tetanus back in 2006 so I decided that was a necessary jab to have. And after some research I also felt to get a Hepatitis A jab which incidentally comes with Diptheria vaccine as part of the package. It also comes with a warning that one might have a very sore arm for a couple of days after the injection.
Back in the days when my kids were little, I didn’t ever question taking the boys in to get their regular shots for mumps and measles and every other jab that came up on their health record. I think if I had that time again, I would seriously question whether I would have done any immunisations at all. But back then, I was quite ignorant of such things and just did what the system recommended.
The lovely nurse this morning was keen to give me a few more injections which I politely declined. I could have had a vaccine for rabies, and hepatitis B. TB was covered back when I was in third form. Then there was the option of a flu vaccine… when my boys were at high school they had the option of getting a flu jab every year. Again we declined, believing that they needed to build up their immunity to all the bugs which could be flying around.
I don’t claim to be a know-it-all when it comes to medicine, but I do know that I prefer natural remedies rather than buying over the counter drugs from the chemist.
The past couple of weeks I have had the pleasure of sharing company with someone with the flu, more specifically ‘man flu’. Because I have dosed up on everything almost imaginable I can actually say with some pride that I have not caught the bug and am avoiding getting sick before we leave in 2 weeks by double dosing on natural remedies
Here are a few concoctions which I swear by as soon as a niggle of any sort comes my way
- Fill a vege capsule (available at good health shops) with 6-8 drops of Young Living Essential Oil ‘Thieves’ and swallow once a day
- If bug is still threatening, make the brew stronger! I made up a brew using 8 drops of YL Thieves, 4 drops YL Oregano, and 2 drops of YL Frankincence, and took 1 capsule of this pure ‘antibiotic bomb’ every morning for 4 days.
- The secret is to build up your immunity before you get a niggle. So I try to put a drop of Thieves on each foot at night before I get in to bed, as well as putting a drop on my thumb and sucking it for 10 seconds. The after taste is pretty gross for about a minute but I figure …no pain, no gain!
- Unfortunately my love hasn’t fared so well and has been coughing constantly for 2 weeks, so Doctor Kay has been getting a bit tough. Into a bottle went 15 drops of YL Raven, 15 drops of YL ‘RC’, 5 drops of Lemon oil, and 5 drops of YL ‘Peace & Calming’ – prescribed for a ‘serious cough’. Rubbed on the chest, inhaled by rubbing hands together and having a good sniff, and also by putting a few drops in the diffuser, it is quite a pleasant aroma and seems therapeutic if one is consistent.
- The good old fashioned Rawleigh’s salve is also brilliant rubbed on your chest and your back before sleep. It reminds me of my childhood days when Mum used to rub Rawleigh’s all over our chests and we would go to bed with an old nappy tucked under our pyjama top to keep the liniment smells and heat in under all the wadding.
- One squeezed lemon mixed with 2 tsp glucose, 1 tsp honey in a cup of boiling water works wonders
- A cup of boiling water with 3 drops of lemon oil and 3 drops of peppermint oil will just about knock your socks off the first time you inhale it. It’s an ‘acquired’ taste, but packs a punch to your respiratory system.
- There’s nothing like a good teaspoon of honey to suck on when that cough starts to drive you nuts in the middle of the night.
- And my favourite, which was regretfully declined after said ‘sick person’ got a whiff of the smell…2 teaspoons of honey mixed with equal quantities of cider vinegar. Microwave for 20 seconds and sup by the spoonful, gurgling before you swallow. It tastes disgusting, but it really does ‘soothe the throat and clear the nose’!
My patient actually preferred to drink warmed lemonade taken with 2 paracetamol. This is not a remedy that I had ever heard of before or would necessarily recommend – but each to their own!
Meanwhile I’m walking around with a very sore arm, and on a cold day like today, think I will stick to the warm inside jobs and prepare a few blogs rather than venture out on a cold damp afternoon. I have lamp shanks simmering in the slow cooker and it feels like a red-wine- snuggled-up-by-the-fire kind of night.
If I can get through the next 2 weeks with just a sore arm, then I will be singing praises to the Lord all the way to China. Roll on 30 June – I’m looking forward to some heat and sunshine!
Here is a link to the Young Living Essential Oils website. If you are interested in sourcing products please PM me and I can point you in the right direction
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