Raised on home remedies

My parents didn't exactly follow the norm, they raised a family of vegetarians at a time when people didn't really know that was and as much as they possibly could. Sure we were all vaccinated and if we got really sick then we saw a doctor but for everything else there was an alternative remedy.

 I will admit knowing what to keep in your medicine cupboard (bar panadol) in case of illness or for the avoidance of same has come in handy but I don't follow this lifestyle exactly to the letter. I will admit to having a low pain threshold and basically being a bit of a wimp when it comes to illness. So I'll take extra garlic and oil of oregano at the first signs of a head cold but if I'm working long hours or really feeling unwell, I am straight into the nearest chemist asking for whatever drugs they are willing to give me over the counter. 

 In my social care job we have a night duty rotation every five weeks as I am sure I have mentioned in many other blog posts. Night shifts might just be my demise as they impact on my mental health and also play havoc with my immune system mostly down to the severe lack of sleep. Some people are skilled at sleeping in the day after working a night shift, I am not one of those people. During my last bout of night shifts I got sick. Not for the first time I might add. I am pretty sure my last really bad head cold hit me during another round of night shifts. 

 This time however I got a UTI. That's a urinary tract infection for those of you not in the know. They are very common for women and I am particularly prone to them because having candida (lucky me). Anyway because I was working and waiting to see a Gp when I was inbetween night shifts,  I thought I could flush it out of my system myself. I drank loads of fluids and two cartons of cranberry juice and even got some pain relief and cystopurin. By the time I came to the end of the weekend I was worse than when I started out. So I tried to get in to see a GP but that proved impossible seeing as I never transferred to one when I moved here so no one would see me. Instead I waited for the out of hours Dr and got an anti biotic. My mum later gave out to me for taking an anti biotic when my sister had a perfectly good home remedy but by that stage I was in so much discomfort I just wanted it gone. Even if it had cost me €70 between the tablets and Caredoc.

 Two days into the antibiotic, I was feeling fine and all was well with the world again but like a good patient I continued to have plenty of fluids and finished the course of tablets. Two days after I finished, the UTI reared it's ugly head again letting me know it was only pretending to go away and I pretended I didn't mind because my finances were fairly meagre with pay day only a few days away. 

 I was fully prepared to go back to the DR and just throw my money at him for a antibiotic that may or may not have gotten rid of this pesky infection for good but as fate would have it I was talking to my sister (the one with the magic home remedy) about her daughters upcoming birthday and I just happened to mention my medical woes. Of course she told me about her particular cure for said ailment and I said it sounded disgusting and I'd rather regular drugs. Yet somehow by the time I got off the call I was off in search of organic garlic and lemons because after some thought I realised it was worth a shot. Apparently this particular remedy works for a number of ailments so I thought if I can stomach it and it helps then surely it's a pretty cost effective one to have in my home remedy arsenal. I also bought a supplement she recommended (and said was reasonably priced), D-mannose (supposed to be beneficial to the urinary tract) but I think I might have gotten robbed because I coughed up €36 for it. If it helps, I don't think I'll mind too much.

 So I have my remedy prepped and refrigerated and I have already had 1 spoon and lived to tell the tale even if I did hold my nose and make a hilarious face so we will see how I get on over the weekend. Hopefully soon I'll be back to my usual self.

 In case anyone is interested in the remedy. It is 1 bulb of raw garlic crushed, the juice of one lemon (make sure the garlic is covered) and two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Keep it refrigerated and it takes a few days to kick but I'm told the more often you take it, the quicker it works which is only logical but I'll keep you posted on if this non traditional route works for me 

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