Garlic & Honey

If you follow me on instagram or we’re facebook friends, you already know I was sick and pretty miserable for nearly two weeks.  I will freely admit that when I am sick, I’m a bit of a whiny baby.  Pain, I can do.  Feeling miserable?  Not so much.

I started feeling puny on Tuesday.  My husband was out of town for work so I was on full-time mommy duty, plus working full-time and we are crazy busy at work right now.  It was definitely not a good time for me to get sick.  By Thursday, I was in full sick mode, plus I was exhausted from being the only adult in the house with two little ones, so I was doing all of the cooking (orrr picking up dinner, whatever you want to call it), cleaning, making lunches, helping with homework, refereeing fights, wiping noses and tooshies, etc..  Friday morning I raised my little white flag and decided it was time to go to the doctor.

I’d been putting it off because my doctor left the practice and I wasn’t a fan of the one I saw for my annual check-up back in September.  I figured seeing a doctor I didn’t love was better than being stubborn and staying sick, so I went in.  I was pleasantly surprised when they told me I’d be seeing their new nurse practitioner.  She came in, introduced herself, and asked about me and my history.  I told her what we’ve been up to for the last few months, how I love my job but it’s a bit stressful at the moment, about the kiddos, my husband traveling for work lately, my running.  It was pretty obvious to her that I didn’t feel well, so she asked about my symptoms — low fever, body aches, headache, congestion, just not feeling well.

They did a flu test and I got a nice little lecture about not getting my flu shot yet this year.  I didn’t realize how scary it was.  She was telling me that they had a girl a lot like me die from the flu last week — healthy, mid-20′s, no other health issues.  I knew that it was a big cause for concern with little ones and the elderly, but I’d never heard of a healthy adult dying from it.  Getting a flu shot is definitely at the top of my to-do list now.  Luckily, I didn’t have the flu, just a nasty virus.  She said that from listening to everything I have going on right now, it sounds like my body is just worn out and my immune system has taken a beating.  She prescribed rest – she told me to take some Mucinex, go home, get in bed, and stay there until I felt better, which should be 2-3 days.

I tried, I really did.  But as I was headed to Walgreen’s to pick up the Mucinex, Braden’s teacher called me.  I forgot I’d taken his spare clothes out of his backpack and he needed a change of clothes, so I turned around and went home to get his clothes, took them to school, helped him get changed.. and left my phone in the clinic.  Oops.  I went to Walgreens, got my meds and some OJ and started to call my mom to let her know what the doctor said when I realized I had left my phone at school.  So I emailed her when I got home.  She went to the school to get my phone for me, brought me soup for lunch, and picked up Braden after school so I could stay in bed and rest.

Thankfully Adam came home from his work trip later that afternoon, so I could focus on getting better while he got to make up for some lost time with Braden & Mackenzie.  I’d completely forgotten that I had the Wolfson’s Children’s Hospital Ultra Marathon Relay the next morning though.  It was for a really great cause and I didn’t want to leave my team down a runner, so I packed a ton of tissues into the pocket of my running shorts, bundled up and headed downtown.

Dumbest move ever.  I actually felt better when I got up, but once it was my turn to start running, I was beyond miserable.  It’s a 55-mile relay and each team has 10 runners, so I only had to run 5.5 miles.  It was probably the slowest and most miserable run ever.  I had to stop to blow my nose at least 100 times, I could barely breathe, and for the first time in my running career actually considered turning around early (it was an out and back course).  I didn’t though and finished in quite possibly my slowest time ever.  I hung around for a little while afterward so I could see two of my running buddies, Jade and Megan, then headed home for a shower and bed.  (PS – Consider this my race report for this one, because I really don’t think you want any more details other than what I just gave.  Trust me!)

Even though Adam was there and totally capable of handling everything, the kids wanted me.  If I’m here, they don’t seem to understand that I may need some down time.  They just want their mommy, Mackenzie in particular.  My parents were out of town celebrating my Papa’s 85th birthday (and I was really bummed to miss it, we were supposed to leave to go there right after my run) so I went to their house so I could get some rest.  I spent the night on their couch, snuggling with a box of tissues and watching movies on Netflix.  I got up Sunday morning and missed my family, so I headed home.

I started to feel better, thought I was finally on the mend.  Then the evil sinus infection happened.  My face hurt, my teeth hurt, I was so congested, and felt worse than I had before.  Seriously, body?!  I called my doctor and she was like oh yeah, definitely a sinus infection, and called in a prescription for antibiotics.  Great, right?  Or not.  This is where I started to get a little annoyed.  She knew that I’m a distance runner, yet she prescribed Cipro, which has a FDA Black Box warning on it because it can cause tendonitis or tendon rupture.  So I called back, explained why I can’t take it, and she called in a prescription for a different antibiotic, doxycycline.  We went and picked it up and I was reading through the pamphlet about it and one of the very first things it says is that it should not be given to children under eight and that nursing moms shouldn’t take it because it can cause permanent tooth discoloration.  Seriously?!  At that point, I was beyond frustrated with the doctor and decided to try an alternate route..

When Mackenzie was about four months old and still exclusively breastfeeding, I got a sinus infection.  When you’re nursing, you have to be really careful about what type of meds you can take because a lot of things will pass into your breastmilk and can affect your baby.  Most meds for a sinus infection are off-limits, so I called my doula and asked her what to do.  She recommended chopping a clove of garlic, smothering it in honey, and taking it 2-3 times a day.  Apparently garlic is a natural antibiotic and helps kill off the nasty infection.  I thought she was nuts, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try it, so I did.  And it worked.

So, fast forward to last week.. I remembered Heather’s (the doula) suggestion and sent Adam out for raw garlic and local honey.  I smelled like garlic for days, but it worked.  I felt better a few hours after the first dose and in a little over a days time, it completely cleared up my sinus infection.  I’ll be honest, it’s a little hard to swallow, but it’s definitely a remedy I’ll be keeping in my back pocket for future use.  Now, two weeks after I initially got sick, I feel a lot better.  I’m still dealing with some congestion and feel a little run down, but it’s nothing like it was.

So yeah, garlic and honey made me all better — who knew?!

Do you have any natural remedies that you try when you’re sick?

Do you run when you’re sick?