Alternatives to Pharmaceuticals in the Cold/Flu Season

I don't know where he got it from, but my son came down with a nasty cold last weekend, then the baby got it.  Now here sits our whole family, sick.  I saw it coming, of course, but tried to let it ride out in myself to give my immune system a nice exercise, and also for the baby's sake, building antibodies to deliver to her.  Plus, letting it come upon me full-blown gave me opportunity to test out my essential oils I've scarcely used for illness.  Most of my prevention-methods leave me not having an actual illness.  I see so many people still living by the over-the-counter medicine bottles and I'd like to share some alternatives our family has tried, and were left quite satisfied.

Cough Syrup and Chest Rubs
There's the type that brings stuff up and the type that promotes mucous or loosens stuff so that it can be brought up.  I don't know why anybody would suppress either one of these, but if your worry is that coughing too much may somehow damage the lungs or move you right into another lung condition, then why not help this defense mechanism's job by having more productive coughs.

Instead of...  Cough syrup or vapor rub as your suppressant

Try...  Ridding the culprit with using an expectorant or mucolytic.  Essential oils like cedarwood and eucalyptus, or your germ-fighting blend (like Young Living's Thieves, or equivalent).  Or if you want to calm down a violent cough, try soothing yourself with lavendar or frankincense.  You can replace your petroleum-based chest rub with coconut oil and any of these essential oils, applying also to the soles of your feet.

Fever-Reducer
Hey, I'm a Mom too.  It is hard to watch your little one be so miserable over a fever, and it is hard to be on watch all night trying to make sure the fever doesn't get too high.  There are reasons for that fever.  Heat is one of the body's strongest defenses to infection.  If you take away the heat, you had better be taking away the infection with it.  Most of us aren't taking antibacterials or antivirals internally, while we are taking away fevers internally.  I do keep a bottle of acetaminophen in my cupboards, just in case, but the last time I used it for one of my children was almost 5 years ago.

Instead of...  Acetaminophen

Try...  Taking in antibacterials, antivirals, antifungals, antimicrobials, internally.  Garlic is my ultimate favorite.  I'm not talking about those odorless pills.  Neither can you bite a clove in half and swallow it whole.  The magic in the garlic is odor itself.  Allicin is responsible for that lovely odor and it is also responsible for its strong infection-fighting capabilites.  Alliin is an odorless component within garlic, while allinase is the enzyme.  You have to crush the garlic to bring these 2 together, making the alliin.  Up to 10 minutes passing time will prove its highest concentration, before swallowing.

I can also attest for onions in socks.  I see that some have taken it upon themselves to say this doesn't do anything, though onions claim to be a toxin-remover and purifier.  I have successfully used onions with my older 2 with each fever, and like I said, the last time I used an actual fever-reducer was close to 5 years ago.  At one point of time, Bam had a fever of 104.  I put onions in his socks and immediately drove him to the ER.  By the time we got there, the fever lowered to 100 degrees -- which is manageable and safe as I have been told by doctors, while still providing enough heat to do the job.  So I went back home.

Runny Nose & Watery Eyes
Liquids have a way of trapping things.  Remember the Rainbow vaccuum?  It was Kirby's competitor, which promised to trap more things within itself because of the water system it had going on.  I bet they copied that from the Lord's design in mucous membranes.  These are yet another defense mechanism and way to trap and get the foreigner out of the body.  It would be nice if mucous took a little time to thicken so you're not pouring liquid right out of your nose, and if watery eyes didn't also mean very sensitive eyes.  This sounds like allergies, doesn't it?  Actually, many cold medicines include antihistamines for the nose and eyes.  We've tested some alternatives.

Instead of...  Antihistamines

Try...   Peppermint, lavender, and lemon essential oils.  I figured if the pharmaceutical companies treat it like allergies, why don't I use my own allergy mixture.  Doesn't it feel like you can feel every single piece of microscopic dust in the air hit your eyeball when you have sensitive, runny eyes?  You can barely keep your eyes open.  This mixture opens things up, calms them down, and keeps the overly sensitive area clean.

Body Aches
This normally accompanies fever.  Most of our ailments (including pain) are caused by inflammation.  This is no different with a fever.  When I researched online, I saw some responses from the medical community that fevers cause the body's release of certain chemicals that cause muscle spasm to inflammation.  No wonder ibuprofen is a go-to.  It hurts to walk, so you sit down.  It hurts to sit.  Waaaaa! 

Instead of...  Acetaminophen and ibuprofen

Try...   Analgesics and anti-spasmodic, like oregano essential oil; and an anti-inflammatory, like frankincense; and magnesium complex as a natural muscle-relaxer

Restlessness
Okay, so we hear it is best to just sleep it off, but what about those that can't sleep because of all of the above?  Some people just go alternating between an over-the-counter day formula during the day, and its counter night formula for night.  That is just no way to live.

Instead of...  daytime and nighttime cocktail formulas

Try...  Lavender foot-rubs or foot-baths, ylang ylang applied to the back of the neck and lower back, and magnesium complex.

To protect myself I must say I am not a doctor, nor do our government agencies that backup pharmaceuticals back up natural alternatives as listed here.  I came by these by good old fashion research, logic, and experience.