Grace, Grit, and Getting Through Cold-Flu Season

Now that we are in the cold, flu, Covid, RSV season it is good to talk about this during this month.  If you were to get something, the symptoms are generally treated the same whether you have Covid, flu or some other respiratory virus.  If you have a cough, use cough drops.  If you feel dehydrated, drink extra fluids (although thirst is one of the last signs of dehydration).  Drink warm chicken broth or herbal teas to get the fluids in you.  If your home is dry, use a humidifier.  If you have fever, chills and sweats then (if you healthcare provider says it is ok to take) For fever over 101 take acetaminophen (Tylenol) every 4-6 hours OR Ibuprofen every 6-8 hours.  Before taking any medicine, read all the instructions on the package.  Do not take aspirin unless your healthcare provider has prescribed it for you.  Chills can sometime come before a fever.  You may feel cold in your hands and feet.   You may have shivering.  You may also feel sweaty as your body temperature goes down.

Some people lose their sense of taste and smell.  You may have a decreased or loss of taste or smell.  This is a symptom that can happen with Covid, or sometimes with other viruses.  There is nothing that can be done for this.

Also, when you are not feeling well, we tend to not sit up straight and take deep breaths.  We slouch like a bent over beanie baby.  Pneumonia like places in the lungs that are warm, dark and moist stationary places.  Take a guess where that could be?  Your lungs.  Take 10 deep breaths an hour.  This may make you cough but this is actually a good thing, so that you can cough up the gunk (scientific word) in your lungs.  Sometime excess coughing will cause the mucous to have a blood tinge to it. The lungs are getting irritated.  This is not concerning until your have more than a tinge.

You should also start taking supplements if you have not done so already to help support our immune system.  These are Vitamin C, Vitamin D3 with K (this helps absorb the D) and when you are not feeling well, take zinc.  Zinc is not meant to be taken for long periods of time.  Take this when you are coming down with something or you are heading into something where you know germs will be (flying, airports, concerts, conferences).  D is so important and there will in info about this later on.  There are numerous benefits to vitamin D.