Flu Bomb

My husband had a bad experience with essential oils (my fault!),  so he asked me not to use them on him, even though he was feeling under the weather.  He wanted to stick to the medication he was used to--ibuprofen.  Unfortunately, ibuprofen doesn't help to kill an infection, or to support the body's ability to fight off an infection.  The day after I stopped running essential oils in the diffuser in the bedroom, he had some severe symptoms of the flu--body aches, fever, chills, mucus, and a bad attitude!  Four days later, he finally decided to see the doctor.  If your husband is anything like mine, you know how bad he must have felt to finally see the doctor.  The nurse took a swab, and the doctor came in to tell us the same thing we had already discovered on webmd.com--he had the flu.  He explained that my husband had "type A," which is the more aggressive strain.  We asked him how it was possible that my husband got the flu even after receiving the "4-strain" flu shot.  He more or less responded by saying you can still get the flu even after receiving the flu shot.  {Thanks.}  

So, what's the point of getting the flu shot?  This particular "flu season" has been especially detrimental.  Every time we turn on the news, there are reports of people dying from the flu.  My husband had actually run off to get the flu shot after hearing the numerous fear-driven reports.  He felt sick with "flu-like symptoms" for two days after receiving the vaccination, and caught the flu about two weeks later.  

Before handing us the prescriptions for Tamiflu and an antibiotic, he explained that neither were likely to work since it had been over 30 hours since the onset of flu symptoms.  He predicted my husband would be miserable for at least another three days.  So we got the prescription medication, and after our insurance's part, we shelled out $130. 

Proportions to make 15ml bottle "Flu Bomb"
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A friend of mine had just given me the "recipe" for the "Flu Bomb," which consists of 3-4 drops each of the immune support blend OnGuard, Melaleuca, Frankincense, Oregano, and Lemon in a 4ml roller bottle, topped off with fractionated coconut oil (total cost about $0.50).  I asked him if he was willing to give the oils another try.  He was already taking the medication; what could it hurt?  He agreed, and I used the "Flu Bomb" roller on his feet, back, and chest, at least every half-hour or so.  I put the same combination of oils along with the respiratory blend Breathe in the humidifer (my humidifier cost about $16 at Walgreens, and has a specific chamber for inhalants; it also has a handy nightlight).  We ran it all day and night.  Even though my humidifier has a larger footprint than the cute little diffusers, it holds a lot of water, which means it can run continuously for about 10 hours.  I added a pinch of salt to the water, which gets the water moving faster, releasing more steam.    

My 4-year-old son and I were careful to keep our distance, and we used OnGuard on our own feet and backs to keep from catching the contagious virus.  We also slept in a different room.

The next day, my husband stayed home and rested.  We moved the humidifer out to the living room, where he spent most of the day, and he continued to use the flu bomb blend on his feet, chest, and back.  He felt like the disease had "broken."  He no longer felt the severe body aches and chills of the previous four days.  I don't think two doses of Tamiflu and one dose of antibiotics (which he is supposed to take for 10 days) could have worked that quickly, especially keeping in mind what the doctor had warned--three more miserable days.  

I believe the essential oils penetrated the cell walls of his body, and attacked the virus that was set to run its course.  I also believe if we had used the oils four days earlier, it would have saved us a trip to the clinic and $130.  But I'm glad that we used them when we did, and that my husband was saved two extra days of misery.           

If you would like more information on how to get your hands on an all-natural healthcare solutions for your family, contact me here or leave a comment.

Essential Oils changed my life

I discovered Essential Oils by happenstance.  I hadn't ever questioned my son's pediatrician when he had prescribed us four different medications for my son's respiratory problems.  We had a routine every time he'd have difficulty breathing, which seemed like everyday.

Step 1:  Every morning, he would get a dose of Zyrtec, allergy medication.
Step 2:  Every night, he would get a dose of Singulair, a drug to keep his airways open.
Step 3:  During a "flare-up", he would get Albuterol treatments via nebulizer, every 4-6 hours.
Step 4:  In between, he would get 1/2 dose of children's Mucinex, to manage mucus build-up.
Step 5:  Repeat.

As an infant, he seemed to always have a cold.  But since he was unable to blow his nose, we would use that blue sucky-thing to remove as much of the mucus from his nostrils as possible.  Oftentimes, the drainage would back up into his ears, and he would develop an ear infection.  One time, it was a double-ear-infection.  Trapping his arms, and stabilizing his head between my legs to suck out as much mucus as I could from his nose and throat was torture--for both of us!  I can still hear the screams.

As a toddler, we tested him for allergies.  I think he was two at the time.  They placed a total of 40-or-so allergens on his skin to determine what had been causing his allergies.  And the verdict was two types of mold spores, which were most commonly found on the leaves of trees and in the air.  It was not as informative as I had expected, and provided no solution to the issues we had with his respiratory system.

The label "asthma" was often being used.  I did discover that all asthma is allergy-related.  It's not necessarily a pre-determined condition based on one's physical disposition.  

Enter:  Essential Oils.  Our breakthrough.  Our miracle.

My son had a severe allergic reaction on a Friday night/Saturday morning.  We had skipped a morning dose of allergy medication, followed by a missed dose of Singular that night, and my son was having an extremely hard time breathing.  He started to run a fever, and I was panicking trying to find an urgent-care, pediatric clinic, open on Saturdays.  I had already given him a dose of Ibuprofen and a few Albuterol breathing treatments by the time we had seen the doctor.

So the conclusion was the same as it had been a hundred times before, "it's just allergies."  We were told to keep doing the breathing treatments, Zyrtec, Singulair, PLUS give him Benedryl if we saw his eyes get puffy.

A friend of mine suggested doTERRA's Essential Oil blend called "Breathe," a respiratory blend consisting of laurel leaf, peppermint, eucalyptus, tea tree, lemon and ravensara, along with Peppermint, for the fever.  I don't think they "worked" right away for us.  We had relied so heavily on the nebulizer and medications for so long, we felt like it would have been unsafe for us to abandon the current regimen for these oils.  

Over a period of about three weeks, I started to eliminate the night-time medication Singulair, and replaced it with "Breathe."  He didn't seem to be having any problem with breathing, as long as I was putting the oils on him consistently.  After about a week into the Singulair-elimination, I would also use the "Breathe" on his chest and back in the morning, in place of the Zyrtec.  And it worked!  

We now only use his nebulizer occasionally, when he's having an extremely hard time catching wind, and have eliminated the Singulair, Zyrtec, and Mucinex completely!  Besides that, we don't even have to use the Essential Oils every night and every morning.

Essential Oils have changed our lives.  Being able to find a natural, God-given solution to my son's respiratory issues has been a huge answer to prayer for me.