I’ve just recovered from a violent illness. It felt like the flu, but I’m not sure what it was. It first hit my son with a fever that lasted 5 days then gave him a nasty cough, and when it hit me, I got a headache, fever, chills, runny nose, muscle aches, and could not get out of bed. The Dr. says it couldn’t be the flu because it only lasted 2- 3 days, but if it was, I have the herbs to thank for shortening the duration. We took Elder berry and flower 3x a day, drank Tulsi, Lemongrass and Fennel tea constantly, and slept for 3 days. We also used essential oils for my son’s fever- a foot bath of roman chamomile, lavender, lemon and eucalyptus, a steam with eucalyptus and rosemary, and a warm compress of roman chamomile and lavender on his forehead. The scary part was when the fever got up to 105.9 and then lasted forever. Thankfully it broke and it is all behind us now. Having herbs on hand really helped, but in hindsight I think I will stock up on Boneset for next time. Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) is a great herb for intermittent fever/chills and muscle aches, and though I made it thru without it this time around, I plan to have it on hand if there’s a next time. In general, it is always a good idea to have herbs on hand for unexpected illnesses like this.
