Did you take something for that?

This post has been in my head for a few days but is finally going into draft mode on the computer (as opposed to in my head) so that it has a better chance of ever making it to actual blog publication! I credit the Wellness Bitch for encouraging me to get things off my chest and allow myself to publicly "bitch" about some things that bother me whether of a personal nature or something I've noticed in general.

So, here goes:

The past couple of weeks, the kids have been a bit "off" and have had the snurfles. You know... a bit of a runny nose here and there (but not like a faucet), a cough in the mornings, some sniffles and sneezes. No fevers and no aches (that they've announced) -- so I've chalked it all up to allergies.

So it wasn't much of a surprise to me when I woke up one day last week with a headache with pain in my sinuses. Its just that time of year when certain pollens, molds, humid weather alternating days with frost... its seasonal allergy time.

Now I was once a yellow pill popper. Not sure if you can buy it anymore, but I used to buy BIG bottles of ChlorTremeton (not even sure if I spelled that right - haven't seen a bottle in over 6 or more years!) I'd take the 12 hour tablets and just stop up the runny nose and sneezing. It never occurred to me to wonder how it worked or what it did to my body to shut down the process of stopping the runny nose and sneezing. It also never occurred to me to connect that with the sinus infection I often got in October... but at some point (pregnancy induced I'm sure) I started questioning everything that went into my body and I chose to spend a miserable fall without my little yellow pills.

OK that didn't last long. I was miserable and I'm not one who suffers silently. So I went to a health food store in search of help -- and found two things that changed my life: allium cepa and honey. Not the honey that comes in a bear from your local supermarket that is mass produced (which might be tainted and/or not even honey...) but the kind that comes from the most local bee keeper you can find. That honey is made with pollen from your immediate surroundings and will help you build up resistance to it.

Anyway, I gave the kids and myself a bit of allium cepa and we've been doing quite well... until last Thursday. My eyes hurt, my teeth hurt, my face hurt... I knew I needed more so I complained out loud to Mr. Mainstream (yeah, we're not necessarily at the same pace on this holistic journey... ) who asked "Did you take something for that?" by which he meant something that comes in a box that you can get at the local Rite Aid, CVS or Walgreens - something for the current complaint like Advil, Tylenol or Motrin... or even something for the bigger picture like Claritin.

WHY have we (as a general population of the USA) become accustomed to going to get a box of pills every time we feel crappy? Why is it an assumption that by taking something in pill form we'll feel better and be able to get "back in the game" faster? How did we lose the knowledge of our grandmothers where some herbs cut from the garden steeped in hot water and blended with some LOCAL honey could set us on the path to feeling better -- along with some rest (if anyone remembers what that is anymore!)

So -- I pointed out that I don't take Advil, Tylenol or Motrin (haven't in YEARS) and that I had other solutions to my headache.

I proceeded to use the neti pot into which I added my saline water, some zinc tincture as well as some xylitol. Went both directions. Later in the day when I didn't have time to gather my supplies and neti again, I did two quick squirts up each nostril with the Xlear saline spray with xylitol.

WOW it was like flipping a switch! I felt better a short while later and it has lasted all through the weekend (even though it was 90^ yesterday and a high of 58^ today!)

Holistic and natural solutions and remedies have been around for centuries and I'm hoping to learn many more wise wisdom techniques to prevent and treat what ails us... rather than what comes in a box of pills from one of the many mass marketing retailers.