Hey all, recently I came down with a "virus"...You know, the type that is: sore throat, phlegm, congested head, nose, headache, etc. I think it's because of excessive singing, singing in smokey bars, and probably getting the "virus" from someone elses germs (microphone perhaps?)... It seems like this time of the year everyone seems to get the winter virus for a good week or so. I've been taking hot showers, drinking a lot of water, etc and it's getting a little better... The buildup is when I go to bed. I think it was because I've been so busy that for the week before I'd be going at bed at 6 am and getting up at 2 pm...Last night was a good night though. Went to sleep by 1 am and got up at 9:45 AM which isn't terrible, but it's better than 2 pm.

What can I do to get rid of the "virus"? What are some things? I don't drink boil tea. I guess rest and relaxation? What type of foods should I have and not have? Hummus seems to give me congestion in the throat and phlem (the off-white color type), so I'm really unsure of what I should eat, or will everything give me the phlegm? Anything that would help ease the throat and phlegm?

Thanks guys and gals.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/2006 03:33PM by RawGuy2000.

Advice / Opinion:

-Get lots of rest, sunlight, fresh air, light-fasting, and mono-eating of light, unprocessed fruits and vegetables. Think about positive and healthy subjects and people. Accept your situation. You'll be fine.

-David Z. Mason

I agree with David - beautiful and concise advice! Is there any chance that you could get to bed earlier than that? Getting plenty of rest and sleep is _key_ when your body is fighting something, especially in this cold and dark time of year.

When your body is trying to get rid of something, it needs as much energy as possible to concentrate on that, which means that if you eat at all, it's best to eat as lightly as you feel comfortable with, so that the body doesn't have to divert its energy into digestion. Citrus fruits, melons, maybe some celery can be very good for this; maybe some water with lemon squeezed into it.

But rest and sleep are most important of all!

Hope this is some help.
love
Ela

Great advice from David and Ela. Plenty of rest and sleep. The more sleep the better! Light eating or no eating until you feel better. The less you eat, the faster you will heal.

I agree with David, Ela, and Bryan. Rest, sleep, drink a lot. I do best to fast when I'm sick.

I guess this means drinking coconut water, eating grapes, etc would possibly best the best idea. I woke up and coughed up some yellowish phlegm and nearly threw up due to how gross it was when I as trying to get rid of it. Yuck.

When my body is trying to move things through or it wants to detoxify itself, I just drink water until the symptoms disappear.

Well Bryan, you helped me with a bunch of other things in the past, so do you think it could be of the lifestyle again? I've been under a ton of stress (very much so emotional with a current breakup), been stressed out looking to find another female, been staying up late till 6 am, eating more fatty raw foods (gourmet raw), so I think that is why my body is acting like this. The thing is I am not weak or anything. I am however taking it slow. I have not sung since Sunday as I do not want to damage my voice or lungs. I think it might also be the change or weather. The symptoms are: Runny nose, dry cough, yellow phlegm, etc. I was able to get to sleep by 1 am last night and got up at 10 am this morning. Tonight I will try to get to be by 12 am. You've gotta understand, I've been going out every night for the past two months until 1 or 2, then I'd come home and work. I think it's my lifestyle. I need to put more greens into my diet I think. I've been ditching the salads and greens...Not a good thing. I think another thing was Sunday I was at a bar that was smokey and at the end of the night, I felt my throat feeling a little weird. I drank this old tooth and gum antiseptic mouth wash type stuff (holistic) and swallowed a little by accident....The thing was from two years ago...I didn't have tooth paste to brush my teeth after all of the cig smoke from the bar...Maybe there was still some traces of strep from two years ago...Since I did have it back then, and maybe thats what triggered it?

So my day will consist of: Water, coconut water and purple grapes...Good? Bad?

Sounds like you have a _lot_ of sleep deprivation to catch up on!

Take care, keep warm, stay horizontal as much as possible, drink plenty of water; if you're hungry some coco water or some grapes sounds good but I wouldn't say that your day needs to 'consist' of those things so much as of rest

Hope this is some help!

I'm having a little trouble sleeping. My nose gets clogged up and my throat tickles. I believe I have a bad dry cough. It's whenever I lie down on my side, or bend over, or lie on my back, I get stuffy and need to cough.

What are some things to eat to heal my body? I know that oranges, especially here on the East Coast of the USA are not in season.

Should I worry about what foods I eat and if they will form mucus or phlegm in the throat, or it doesn't really matter? Like I'd like to make some hummus (olive oil, sea salt, lemon, garbanzo beans) and make some lettuce tacos with the hummus and cucumber in it, but I'm afraid it might be too much of a mucus build up.

Grapes, coconut water and water is what I had yesterday. I am not weak at all. I found myself a little hungry. What to do?

RawGuy2000,

To get well in the fastest possible means, go directly to bed and do not get up except to go to the bathroom and to get drinks of water. Sleep as much as possible. When not asleep, keep yourself horizontal. Call in sick, cancel your appointments, and get well! When all the symptoms are gone, you can start your life again.

Other than that, everything else is less than optimal. If you work, you take away energy from your healing. If you eat, you take away energy from your healing. If you go out and socialize, you take away energy from your healing.

Here's my dilemma...I woke up this morning at 10 am, not too long ago and I went to the shower and hocked up some phlegm. A little of it had a little blood in it (traces of it, it could be from my nose and post-nasal drip that got into my lungs), and I spit out the phlegm and it was darker color. Maybe a brownish color and then it was just normal yellow. Now most people would say go see a doctor and the doctor would give anti-biotics. What do I do? I am concerned.

I am raw, and have been for six years... Do I take the antibiotics or what? Do I just rest and it will go away? I'm a little concerned.

RawGuy2000,

Do whatever you think will be best for YOUR health, as it is YOUR body and YOUR responsibility. I've already shared with you what I would do, which is to totally rest my body so it could heal itself. At some later time, I will share what happens to the body in the long term with what happens when symptoms are constantly suppressed.

Rawguy,

This is what has worked for me -it's an alternative.

When I contract the flu, I only consume water (no food), run, hit the sauna, sweat, shower, return home, and then sleep; next day I'm well.

You mentioned women. Have you ever thought of... well detoxing yourself from them?

FEW choose to do the above.

I took a year off of dating a few years ago; I can tell you that when I addressed the issues that were keeping me from where I wanted to be in a relationship with a woman, I began to have very healthy relationships: I no longer persued the emotionally unavailable or the issue-laydened; I then found that other relationships in my life inmproved as well: I no longer defined myself by others , by my job, by money, etc.

I've learned, first hand, that my body and mind are directly linked, RawGuy: stress, anxiety, worry, etc and can truly reak havok if I do not take care of myself.

I hope this is helpful to you.

Have a good one,

Arilraw

How do you know its a virus? How do you know you caught something..you could be responsible for being sick..

Ii know if I slip up and eat something cooked, I get the flu, BAD..the worst ever..and if one of my cooked meat eater friends has a big steak and gets the flu, I call it ecoli. He denies it and thinks viruses run after him..poor innocent guy!

It could be that you have eaten something that had some toxic bacteria in it (we have dicussed aflatoxins etc previously) and your body is cleansing itself of the foreign bodies.

Could be from the bars like you said, I think I must be allergic to something in cigarette smoke because I get some mucus build up in my respirtory system after being around it too long.
Which is difficult being a guitarist/vocalist when it comes to doing gigs, so I feel your pain on that.

I would eat foods that are not mucus forming, aviod all nuts and seeds and stick to cleansing foods like fruits, greens etc.

Hope you get well soon!

My current belief/understanding/experience (take it or leave it):

All illness is a form of food poisoning.

If you are eating anything besides fruit, you are poisoning your body and your mind.

I say these things with the deepest kindness, compassion, and caring.
Just thought I'd put this out there. . .maybe it will resonate with someone.



Love,
Julie

OMG hey JULES what are you doing on this board!!! yay!!