Stop A Cold Or The Flu In It’s Tracks With Simple These Home Remedies

You know that feeling you get when you feel a cold coming on?

Yeah…me too.

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The other day I went to the farm store to get chicken feed, scratch grains and honey. Then on to grocery shopping at Aldi’s and Walmart. I live about 30 minutes away from all this stuff, so I go every couple of weeks and stock up.

I’m a little bit anal about germs, not a full blown germophobe, but let’s just say I’m cautious.

I never eat or drink after anyone. EVER. I’m a conscientious hand washer and use hand sanitizer whenever I’m out and about with a lot of people. I never pass up the chance to wipe down the cart handles with those disinfecting towelettes they offer at some stores.

After I got home I realized that I had neither washed my hands or used hand sanitizer while I was out amongst the germy masses. Yuck!

I found a really great deal on fresh asparagus and carrots at Aldi’s so I had a really busy day of canning and making pickled veggies planned for the next day.

The next afternoon my nose started running and I started sneezing but I didn’t really feel bad. Just extra tired.

Since I so very rarely get sick (that’s because of the hand sanitizer and soap!) it didn’t occur to me until a few busy hours of canning later what was happening…

I was getting sick!

It was time to break out my arsenal of herbal remedies and essential oils and kick this cold’s butt before it kicked mine!

I have to say that I’m a little pissed at myself that I didn’t make that Echinacea Tincture a few weeks ago when I thought about it, but cold and flu season was about over so I figured there was no hurry. GRRRR!! If I’d have had the tincture I would have been using it as a precautionary immune system builder and wouldn’t have had to deal with any of this.

I’ve also not been able to find any horseradish root. I’ve been looking for some in all the stores in the surrounding towns to no avail. I really wanted to make a big batch of Fire Cider to have onhand as a prevention and a treatment. UGH! I should have driven 60 miles into the city and gotten some. Dangit!

Hindsight, right?

Here’s what a home herbalist does when she feels like she’s getting sick.

The first thing I did was grab the bottle of Elderberry Syrup out of the fridge and take a double dose, followed by a spoonful every couple of hours until the symptoms are gone.

Second I filled some veggie caps with my homemade antibiotic remedy  and started taking 4 a day.

Next I started taking my Cough Kicker Syrup made with honey, Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar, fresh ginger and cayenne pepper. You can find the recipe in my free natural remedy recipes eBook.

Then I brewed myself up some Echinacea herb mixed along with fresh garlic and ginger. I brewed that with a very flavorful herbal tea blend I always have on hand. It helps to kill the taste of the garlic.  I add honey and cinnamon for both immune and healing properties as well as flavor.

Finally, I revved up my trusty diffuser, adding oil of oregano, thyme, peppermint and Thieves immunity blend.

I began to get fast relief. It’s the end of day 3, I’m still doing all of the above, have a few sniffles,  but I feel just fine and have (other than feeling tired that first evening ) this entire time.

This crud, whatever it was did not kick my butt. While I was not as prepared as I should have been, just a few simple home remedies and I kicked butt!

Now, if I had just used that hand sanitizer. UGH!

Here’s how to make Fire Cider also know as Master Cider.

 

UPDATE

It’s it’s day 4 and I always want to be genuine with you so here’s what happened literally minutes after I hit the publish button on this post…

My head started getting extremely congested, eyes started to water and I felt terrible.  Bad enough in fact that I took a shot of nyquil before bed.

I know, I know! I hate putting that kind of crap in my body but I was miserable and it was too late to have any other options. Sometimes a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

I got up today and sent Mr. Happy to the store to find the cleanest, least processed jar of horseradish he could find. Since our only store option within 30 minutes is in the neighboring town 7 miles away and they only offered one choice,  I used that. Normally I would say NO to this and use fresh horseradish root because it’s pure, fresh and much stronger. Well, beggars can’t be choosers at this point in  the game.

I made a down and dirty quick version of Fire Cider into a syrup so I could use it right away. This is as close to Fire Cider as I could get under the circumstances.

Here’s the recipe:

Celene’s Fire Cider Syrup

1/2 large onion slice
3 cloves of garlic, slightly smashed with my knife blade and my palm
juice of 1 lemon
small ginger root, sliced peel and all
1/2 cup horseradish (depending how hot it is and how hot you can stand it). This will open your sinuses so I want mine strong. If you don’t feel it hit the back of your throat going down, add more.
1 cup Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar
1 cup raw unfiltered honey
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or more to taste)

Heat on low heat until onions start to turn clear, 30 minutes or so. Remove and let cool just a little before you add the honey. The wonderful healing enzymes in raw honey die off in over 110 degrees. It can be nice and warm but not simmering hot.

Taste and see if you need to add more horseradish or cayenne to open up those sinuses and adjust accordingly.

Pour everything into a quart jar and keep in the fridge. This will keep for a several weeks.

Take a spoonful a day as a preventative tonic -or- take a spoonful as often as needed if you are congested.

Works like a charm! After just one dose I was back in the real world again. My head is clear and I can breath just fine. Whenever I feel my nose starting to plug again, I just take another spoonful. This stuff is awesome!!

 

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Thank you Lord for all your wonderful plant creations. You are worthy to be praised!

Stay well, my friends.

 

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor. None of the information in this article, on this website or elsewhere is meant to diagnose, treat or cure any health concern. It is not meant to take the place of medical advice. Always seek advice from your doctor for health issues and before using herbs or herbal remedies. This article is for informational purposes only and are only my personal opinions based on study and research I have done. Please do your own research before using herbs or herbal remedies. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.