home remedies

Tags

breath of fresh air, cold, flue, health, home remedies, home remedy, hot toddy, lemsip, self medication, snotty nose

My snotty nose has called a few friends and Mr. Sore Throat, Ms Slight Headache and Tiny Cough have now joined the game. This ragtag band of symptoms  is causing me some discomfort but since my students all have ‘end of the projects’ to finish up and my Berlin aspirations still need some funding I have to put on a  brave face to go with my red nose and lecture on.

To help me  along I have gone down the route of self-medication.  Yesterday I bought some nasal spray, a mentholy breath of fresh air in a bottle,  some Lemsip, a drugged up hot-drink, and a truck load of tissues. But deep down I am much more a home remedy girl.

My German grandmother use to say that a cold takes seven days to clear up without medication and a week with them. And I think that probably is very true. In my experience the only thing that really helps is a good combination of lots of hot drinks, sleep and staying warm. But since it seems a little inappropriate to doze off in front of my students wrapped up in a sleeping bag the napping will have to wait until later this afternoon.

Another favourite of mine is freshly pressed lemon juice, lots of honey and hot water all mixed up into a throat soothing brew.  However I don’t really have the time or resources to conjure up this cold killing drink while teaching so Lemsip will have to take it’s place until I get home.

And finally my dads favourite of a few hot toddies (whiskey, hot water and honey) is probably the best way to kill off those naughty bacterias and viruses that are plaguing the body, or at the very least get them drunk enough to forget what they were doing.  However I am unsure of how to explain the alcohol breath to my boss and a hangover is not very conducive to early mornings and structured teaching, so again that particular home remedy will have to wait.

SO for now my artillery of medication, warm clothing and a flask of hot tea will have to help me battle on for the next few days and I am sure in a a week or seven days time my unwanted guest will have sough out a new body to occupy.