Vitamins!

I had gone and purchased more vitamins on Friday at Finlandia. Now, I love health food/herbal pharmacies. They have tinctures and capsules and more tinctures and drinks and weird concoctions that you consume or insert (!) or what have you in all different colors, shapes, packaging, you name it. But one thing I have never experienced ever in my life is the following:

I went to Finlandia on Broadway to look at getting some detoxification products. I wasn't (and still aren't) interested in doing a total fast, mostly because I don't think that kind of interruption with what delicate balance I have in terms of the digestive system would do me any good. The herbalist there asked me if I needed any help. I told him that I had basically quit drinking (yes I quit drinking, save red wine), and that I had quit smoking (yup I did that too) and was looking for something to cleanse these toxins out of my body because I was starting a new health regime and wanted to do some cleaning before the fall. But. I have a thyroid condition, and because of that I am concerned a detox may interfere with what I am taking.

'No problem!' he says. 'Let's ask the pharmacist. She'll tell you if it's alright.' Whaaa? This is freaking amazing! I looked at him and said thanks that would be awesome. So the pharmacist asked me my dose and what kind of thyroid medication it was, looked at the ingredients of the two things I was looking at and told me no, these things won't interfere. So I picked up a liver 'toner' to cleanse my poor beaten liver and a tea that cleans the blood and lymphatic system. But what impressed me the most was the fact that I was able to go and pick something and have it verified by a pharmacist whether or not it would conflict with my current medications.

Honestly it made my journey into natural supplements a little less hair raising. Before I had to take my thyroid medication I never had to worry, but since after I started taking it, I felt limited because I wasn't informed enough on the affects that this particular medication would suffer if I took various herbal remedies.

Anyway, in the end I was pleased to be able to start taking various supplements that will help get my body back on track a bit. And the update on the flu, it's still gone. I was tired a bit Friday and Saturday but today I feel more than 100% which is great. I think that was the shortest flu I have ever endured.

Sickness? BEGONE!

Well, I am pleased to announce that I seem to have exorcised this flu that I had over the last few days or so. Looking back on it (which is always interesting) I could sense my body resisting it before the weekend, and then because of the intense class I took on Saturday and reserves depleted, I went under.

Being totally exhausted on Sunday night (due more to an intolerance of what I was eating/drinking than illness, but none the less still affecting how I felt), taking Monday off thinking that would be the worst of it, feel a little drained Tuesday, but then feeling the rise of a mega sore throat/flu on Wednesday during the day (you know the kind that feels like it will last FOREVER?) to feeling like utter crap Wednesday night/Thursday morning to then perform on Thursday morning what my friend endearingly calls 'voodoo magick' only to cure it. Right then.

Yup. It's gone.

Since about 11:30am yesterday and holding on fast. Amazing.

Sick.

Ugh. Right now I am feeling very much under the weather. And being a person who's a little opposed to cough medicine and syrups and such (partly because they make me GAG), I've been trying to find nice ways to combat this little hiccup. So I've upped my water intake to flush it out, started eating more vegetables and fruits to get my vitamins (which is in conjunction with my new found thoughtful eating exercise) and I am starting to incorporate a little aromatherapy into the mix. I've always been drawn to it, and find that even on a basic level, it at least relaxes and allows for pause.

One particular scent I am drawn to right now is Lemon. Or anything Citrusy. Thinking back on paying attention to the body, I wonder what is it inquiring/requesting. Citrus is commonly associated with healing colds and sore throats. Many over the counter drugs for coughs are either cherry flavoured or some form of lemon/citrus flavour. I am supposing that the astringent properties of citrus fruits 'dry up' the body and rid it of the flu, unlike salt which may dry up the body but it also dehydrates which can be damaging to tissue. But that is a guess. I should look into that.

I've also started taking acidopholus and Salmon oil to help out my IBS. I should have been doing this way longer. I can hear my Grandmas voice in my head now when I was 12: Take your Acidopholus, it's good for you! Take this Cod Liver Oil! Good For YOU! Drink this Apple Cider Vinegar. GOOD.FOR.YOU! Who knew that over 15 years later it is highly recommended and almost mainstream for a person to take such supplements. I guess she was really on to something. But we will see, and I'll keep you posted. Maybe I will discover a great home remedy for this sore throat, and I'll share.