Eye of Newt
I must be the crabbiest sick person in San Francisco. I am sick of being sick!!! (Kicks trash can under desk spitefully.)
Okay.
It seemed that just this past Sunday, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I was singing hosanas to Sudafed and its powers. But now I can see that the light at the end of the tunnel was actually the oncoming train.
Waaaaah.
No dancing tonight. Ney is back and I was so so so so so looking forward to his class. I can't go looking like the Wreck of the Hesperus. Or breathe on somebody.
The colorful picture above is a rhinovirus. If you ever wanted to know how these little buggers keep you from enjoying your life, click here. It's actually kind of interesting.
No it isn't. I hate them.
I think I'm going to walk over to Chinatown today at lunch and see if I can find a new remedy. The streets of Chinatown are lined with herbalist shops filled with bins of wood chips, unidentified dried roots and dead creepy crawly things: maybe they have something better than Sudafed. I'd even suck on an eye of newt* if it would help.
No, I changed my mind. I would take another Sudafed.
*"Eye of newt, and toe of frog, wool of bat, and tongue of dog" was part of the incantation of the three witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Did they know something the makers of Sudafed don't?
15 comments:
Ok, this is going to sound strange but hear me out.
You need to get a neti pot - it's basically a nose bidet. It looks kinda like an 2,000 year old oil lamp, you fill up with warm water and salt, and pour it up your nostrils. It empties out your sinuses and the salt is for disinfecting them.
I swear to you, it works great. If you're stuffed up constantly, you're going to love the neti pot.
My son had severely congested nose, bad headache AND mild allergies. As soon as he used the neti pot just one time, his sinuses totally cleared up and his headache vanished in a nanosecond plus his allergies almost completely disappeared.
You can find one at any yoga place or you could use a regular teapot.
When using it, bend over a sink and do not breathe in the water, let it just run up your mostrils.
It all sounds weird, I know but I wouldn't recommend it if I didn't personally use this method myself.
Caroline,
You are not going to believe this...but where do you think I was when you were writing this note? Buying a neti pot. I swear it. I just got back to my desk from buying it and found you here. I think you're right. I think this is what is going to help me. Thanks so much for the recommendation. ;-)
I swear by the saline nasal spray, and my yoga teacher says it is basically the same as using a neti pot.
O.K. This is a very non tango soup, but it kills bacteria, and is very good for what ails you, I mean it.
Garlic Broth:
6 cups of vegetable broth
1 and 1/2 Tablespoons of olive oil.
One head of garlic peeled and coarsly chopped.(not one clove, one head...that's the part that is not so good for tango.)
1 bay leaf
dash of thyme and sage
salt to taste
1. to the stock add the olive oil, bay leaf, garlic thyme and sage.
2. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Strain, and use as is, or as a base for soup.
Hi Elizabeth,
You know what, I love garlic. And it's not like I'm dancing tonight anyway, so what the hell have I got to lose? Just my cold, right?
I'm going to make your soup tonight. Thank you so much!
You're kidding!
Caroline,
I swear it's true. And I did it last night and I do think it's something that will help me and I'll keep trying it, but today my ears are all plugged up, like when you go swimming and you get water in your ears. *sigh* I guess I have a head full of water today, like a snow globe.
But I'm not giving up on the neti pot. I'm going to do it again tonight. Thanks again for the advice!
My cold came back and kicked me in the ass again! What has saved my butt is Emergen-C.
I have never tried a neti pot, but I do agree with the saline solution :-)
Get well soon!
It really is a tricky cold, how it keeps coming back when you think you are okay.
My cold laughs in the face of Emergen-C. That and Airborne had no effect at all. Blasted germs.
I hope you are feeling better too. I'm setting my sights on dancing next week. *sigh*
Yesterday for lunch I made a frittata with 5 cloves of garlic. My roommate could smell me when she came home. he he he.
But I'll do what I have to do.
Let us hope you will recover very soon.
I really enjoyed reading through the links you gave.
The suggestions on pouring water up or down one's nose is one that only I would perhaps try myself if and when my desperations reach the same levels as yours seem to have, but for the time being I remain skeptical on that.
I do very much however agree that garlic can give your body the extra boost that it needs for its anti-viral fight and its vitamin C replacement as it continues to fight against the cold virus.
Take good care and I look forward to hearing more of your happier times!
MilongaCat.
Tina,
Did it work? I hope so! (I need a cure asap so if it did, send me the recipe.)
Hello 24Tango,
Thank you for coming to my blog. And even more thanks for the explanation about the garlic/vitamin C connection.
I forsee a weekend with garlic in my future. And then hopefully a week of dancing to celebrate.
Thanks everyone for the well wishes and advice. I really appreciate it.
24tango - I know it sounds odd, but I grew up with sinus problems and even had to have surgery to help them, and my Medical Doctor himself suggested that I use saline, a long time ago. Not in the form of a neti pot but in the form of going to the drug store and buying a little bottle of saline nasal spray, which is basically the same thing.
It really helped moisturize and loosen everything up so I could blow my nose more easily, etc. Reduced my problems greatly. So it's not all bogus, it really works.
I recently tried the netipot because my cold came back and plugged my nose, and I am very, very happy. But it is a weird process (kind of cool though) so if you're uneasy about it, you can still just go to the store and get the bottle of salime spray, which is a little less strange :-)
Tangobaby - oh I just browned five cloves of garlic, and while that was going on, I beat a couple of eggs, added them to the little pan with the garlic, and let 'em cook into a frittata. I think I added salt & pepper too. Not anything Giada might do but it was good. :-) And my breath smelled great! ha ha
Hi Tina and 24Tango,
The neti pot is cool and I do think it works. This is the first day I have not taken any medicine in 2 weeks, so whether it's the salt water, garlic, or the phase of the moon, I'm keeping my fingers crossed because I want to go dancing next week!
Tina, I know you're an awesome cook (but I do like Giada, too). I could try your fritatta tomorrow for breakfast and start the day right. Thank you.
I hope you feel a lot better by now. And to add my 2 cents to the possible cure of all winter sicknesses, cod liver oil - a capsule a day. My Dr swears by it - take it Sept through March. May be a coincidence, but since I started taking it last winter (not regularly at that), I haven't had anything even close to a serious cold (hope I am not jinxing it now :)
Xoxo,
M
This reminds me of that episode of "The Beverly Hill Billys" where the drug conglomerates are desperately trying to buy Granny's remedy for the common cold? And then they finally get it for several million dollars and as a last bit of business, they ask Granny for any instructions to go along with the remedy?
"Take it twice a day for two weeks."
Yours always,
b
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