Alternative Medicine at our House

We use alternative medicine most of the time (with the exception of Tylenol for overnight teething trouble – I haven’t found anything to be particularly effective when it is really bad. I do use Hyland’s Teething Tablets and they provide temporary relief). Obviously what we do in our home should not be construed as medical advice. Honestly, we haven’t needed a lot of alternative medicine as my kids are generally healthy. I chalk this up to the Lord’s blessing and good food. We spend a little more money on grassfed beef, good dairy, and I use my own freshly ground flour, and sugar is limited. We also take vitamins and supplements regularly (cod liver oil, a good mulit-vitamin and probiotics). But, when illness does hit, here’s what we do.

Stomach Bug:
As soon as someone comes down with a vomiting or diarrhea, we start taking Activated Charcoal. It comes in little capsules and Ben and I swallow them whole. I open the capsules and stir the charcoal into applesauce or applejuice. It is tasteless and the kids think it is a special treat when they are sick to have “blue” applesauce.

The charcoal works by absorbing any toxins that are present in the digestive system and then they are eliminated. So, it won’t actually stop vomiting immediately, but it will gather up all the gunk and help get rid of it faster.

Colds
We take vitamin C and Echinacea when we feel a cold coming on. I don’t usually give the kids Echinacea as I haven’t found an easy way to administer it. I do give them a little liquid C mixed in with water or milk if they are coming down with something. I also plan on taking garlic capsules the next time we are feeling under the weather to see how that helps. I probably won’t give this to the kids either because again they can’t swallow a pill. Mostly though I’ve found that colds just simply need to run their course. So we consume lots of water and rest as much as possible. We never take over the counter cold remedies as I don’t think they help much and all the additives can certainly hurt. (As a side note, I never take Tylenol or Advil or other pain relievers. I haven’t for years. I find that lack of sleep or poor diet causes my aches and pains and I’m better off just trying to rest more. I used to take them frequently for menstrual cramps which were bad, but I found that by eliminating sugar from my diet, my cramps totally disappeared! Seriously, try it! Cut out sugar for one month and hopefully you’ll be cramp free!)

Sore Throat
Krista recommended to me years ago trying Colloidal Silver as a sore throat remedy for whenever we feel a sore throat coming on. Since then I’ve researched Colloidal Silver and have found some very interesting information. It can apparently be used for lots of different things (applying to cuts and wounds, in eyes for pink eye, etc.) But, some people report actually turning silver from taking it. We use it, but I can’t say that it has made a huge difference (although once my husband and I had the same sore throat and I took it and he didn’t. He ended up with strep and I didn’t). I don’t have the highest quality and maybe that has something to do with it. I am also a little cautious when taking it pregnant or nursing, unlike all of our other health remedies.

Ear Infections/Aches:
To date, neither of my children have had any ear infections or ear trouble at all, which is pretty unheard of since it is one of the most common childhood maladies. I really attribute this to the good dairy they consume. But, if they do ever have ear trouble, we’ll avoid antibiotics completely and I’ll start using garlic oil in their ears at the first sign of pain. Our local health food store sells a brand of garlic oil for use in the ears. Hopefully it will do the trick!