S/O Flu Vaccine Thread: How do you ward off The Sickies?

[flobee76]

For those that opt NOT to get the flu vaccine for themselves or family members, what do you do to keep your family healthy, even during cold/flu season?

 

If you/they do get sick, what do you do/ use to help w/ symptoms or duration of the virus?

 

We use a natural hand-sanitizer, up our vit. C, make sure we take our cod liver oil, and kefir or probiotics.

 

If someone gets sick, we do the above, but have lots of bone broth soups, stay hydrated, and add echinacea and homeopathic meds around.

Edited August 19, 2010 by flobee76

[Wheres Toto]

Last year we didn't spend a lot of time out in public places like inside play areas, washed hands frequently, tried to eat healthy, lots of Vitamin C. Noone got sick but I would stick with the usual - lots of fluids, lots of rest, Tylenol or Advil for fever and aches - unless it became severe.

[hillfarm]

Our standard routine is to stay home as much as we can, use hand sanitizer after each stop or handling the gas pump handles, washing hands as soon as we get home, adequate rest for everyone, good nutrition, Emergen-C losenges in the candy dish, and a positive attitude.

 

So far, so good....

[EJCMom]

To ward off the sickies we: Don't use hand sanitizer excessively since it kills immune-system-building germs, wash our hands with warm water and plenty of soap, get plenty of vitamin C, and eat lots of fresh, leafy green veggies.

 

If we do get sick, we just rest and drink lots of fluids. It's rare that any of us are actually sick, though.

[Lightly Salted]

we limit exposure to anti-microbials but use alcohol-based sanitizers

wash hands frequently/limit hand-to-face activity

avoid known sick people

Vitamin C

Vitamin D

probiotics

fish oil

lots of garlic

healthy diet

exercise

I don't eat sugar and am sick less but can't convince my people :p

 

 

soups with extra garlic and onion for sick people, along with plenty of rest and limited sugar

[flobee76]

we limit exposure to anti-microbials but use alcohol-based sanitizers

wash hands frequently/limit hand-to-face activity

avoid known sick people

Vitamin C

Vitamin D

probiotics

fish oil

lots of garlic

healthy diet

exercise

I don't eat sugar and am sick less but can't convince my people :p

 

 

soups with extra garlic and onion for sick people, along with plenty of rest and limited sugar

 

OH yes!! GARLIC!! How could I forget GARLIC!?!?!? and GINGER ROOT!!

 

My parents also make this amazing chicken soup with lots a garlic and spinach and the broth is nice and gelatinous when cold. heheheheh!!

[Snickerdoodle]

We hardly get sick except for a cold here and there. I think it has something to do with the bone broths that we are so fond of.

[Dandelion]

In addition to everything that's already been mentioned (good nutrition, vitamins and extra Vitamin C, etc.), the kids and I use Black Elderberry syrup for natural immune support during the flu season. Seems to help...

[Daisy]

Agreeing with the others about good sleep, good nutrition, multi-vitamin, plenty of sunshine and exercise.

 

Additionally we haz-mat my husband whenever he gets home from work. He is a public school teacher and brings home all kinds of evil viruses. When he gets home he changes clothes and takes a shower. It is amazing the difference in our health since he started doing that.

[KRG]

Chiropractic care for the last 5 years--I can't remember the last time one of us was sick.

[angela in ohio]

My dc are rarely sick, and when they do pick up a bug, it rarely runs through the house.

 

They eat healthy, regular meals. They rarely eat sugary foods.

 

They sleep well every night.

 

We wash our hands, don't share cups or food during flu season, and I clean door knobs and handles and change hand towels daily. We avoid hand sanitizer, as pp said.

 

When we are going to be around people whom we know to be often ill, we eat gummy vitamin C bears for several days before and after the visit.

 

I honestly think the biggest issue is that we don't have young children in our home. My girls babysit, and I can tell they pick up a little bug here or there sometimes, but fight it off in a day. Little kids (the 3 and under crowd) are big old germ spreaders. :D

[Remudamom]

Just decide you are not going to get sick? Moms can do this, you know.

[Margo out of lurking]

I work in the children's department of our county library. Talk about a germ fest, YUCK. There are at least five story hours every week, and I would never expect parents to keep kids with mild sicknesses at home until they are 100% well. I don't "do" the story hours, but I check books in and out all day long for kids, kids, and more kids. And we seem to be the last stop when a parent picks up a sick child from school--they have to get at least one movie. ;)

 

My dh has a compromised immune system. For the past two years, I don't believe I've gotten sick at work, and even if I had a slight sore throat, my family never got sick from me. We would never consider flu shots (although it may be something dh considers down the road).

 

I try, try, try to avoid touching my face during the day. I wash my hands before eating, and it probably helps that I go to the bathroom several times a day and wash my hands there too. (Aren't you all glad for that?) I wash my hands before leaving work and when I get home. We also have wipes and antibacterial "lotion" at work, although I don't use it as liberally as some there do.

 

When my kids were little, I was always after them to DON'T TOUCH anything when we went out, and I still remind them to not put their hands on stair railings or escalators. I don't think they appreciate it, haha.

[LizzyBee]

To ward off the sickies we: Don't use hand sanitizer excessively since it kills immune-system-building germs, wash our hands with warm water and plenty of soap, get plenty of vitamin C, and eat lots of fresh, leafy green veggies.

 

If we do get sick, we just rest and drink lots of fluids. It's rare that any of us are actually sick, though.

 

:iagree: We really don't do anything out of the ordinary. Eat a moderately healthy diet, wash hands frequently but not obsessively, keep a reasonably clean house. When we moved from Baltimore to Raleigh, my kids became much, much healthier, which leads me to believe that pollution is probably a bigger issue for them than run of the mill germ exposure.

[lisabelle]

We don't do the flu vaccine here, even though I work in a hospital occasionally (not in patient care though). I think 6 years of public school (and me being a very active volunteer) have inured us against most germs. We eat a healthy diet, the dh and I wash our hands frequently (ds is not so good about it). When one of us starts showing signs of the flu we all start on a round of Oscillo and that seems to shorten the duration for the sickie and does a pretty good job of protecting the rest.

 

Of course, this is coming from someone who currently has walking pneumonia. I went to the doctor on Tuesday for back pain, she heard me cough, had a chest x-ray done and voila, pneumonia. But other than the achy back and the cough I don't feel sick and I've been getting things done as usual. The doctor doesn't know if it's viral or bacterial so I'm taking a round of antibiotics to see if it helps. And we're still planning on going camping this weekend.

[Dawn in OH]

Regular daily vitamins, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, healthy well balanced diet, and plenty of sleep. While I'm not a germophobe-antibacterial crazy person, over the course of flu season we do use hand sanitizer frequently during trips to the store, library and other highly populated areas or places frequented by children.

 

When we do get sick it's Sudafed and Tylenol and plenty of rest and water. We've tried cold/flu medications, and since they changed the ingredients in the past few years, they do not work worth a hoot. It's got to be Pseudoephedrine to work on nasal congestion for us.

 

I have an emergency stash of gingerale (made from real ginger) and saltine crackers for upset tummies. Popsicles for sore throats. Zinc losenges/popsicles.

[edithcrawley]

I don't really do anything special, I avoid hand sanitizer like the plague though. I eat an ok diet, I wouldn't call it super healthy or anything, lots of pasta, white rice, and potato (college budget). I think my immune system is just strong genetically, I was rarely sick growing up, maybe missed 8 school days total during K-12.

[JennyD]

Sigh. We do all of the wonderful healthy things listed on this thread -- wholesome food, lots of sleep, fresh air, handwashing, etc., and DS5 was still sick for more or less 4 months straight last winter. (And is sick right now, in fact. Who gets a cold in August?!)

 

We live in a huge, crowded city and ride public transportation a lot, which certainly doesn't help the situation, but still. I've never done vitamins but I think I'm going to start.

[creekland]

At the first sign of a cold (sneezing or sore throat), we use Cold-Eeze taking one right before bed at night (it's zinc, pretty much the opposite of Vitamin C so much so that you can't take Vitamin C within half an hour of taking it and still have it work). Since I work in our local ps I'm exposed to all sorts of germs on a daily basis. I rarely catch anything.

 

In general, we try to eat healthy, but we're not extreme about it.

[Lolly]

We don't do anything special. At all. Nope, nothing. Just regular people around here. We sometimes use hand sanitizer, but not often. We wash our hands, but not fanatically. We eat food, just regular food. Not organic, not specially upped with vitamin C. Just normal food with a little more than average eating out.

[Margaret in GA]

I don't think I was sick at all last winter. Took a multivitamin, extra vitamin D, made sure I had at least 5 fruits/ vegs per day, and I don't eat dairy. We're exposed to *plenty* of germs.

 

Margaret

[Laurie4b]

We don't do much and don't get sick much. When it's flu season, etc. and there's a lot of crud going around, we up the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer on stuff like the grocery cart handle, etc. (Alcohol and bleach do not contribute to super-bugs. They dry out micro-organisms rather than poisoning them like antibacterials do. That is somewhat simplistic and some scientist may elaborate). I am careful not to use antibacterial stuff. We eat healthy food and don't take supplements. If a friend is sick with a stomach virus or flu-like symptoms during flu season, we usually cancel the playdate. Otherwise, we're out and about letting our immune systems get stimulated. I'm not taking credit for it; thanks be to God that we haven't ever gotten anything life-threatening. I just don't spend a lot of time focusing on it.

Edited August 20, 2010 by Laurie4b

[justamouse]

We don't get shots, and we carry GermX in the car. EVERYONE gets a pump after EVERY store. Dems da rulz. And the kids know it. We havn't had the flu *knock on wood* for two years, now, and no swine flu, either.

 

We don't use antibacterial soaps, either, but I do wash my doorknobs/handles/phones/mouse with the 7th Generation wipes. We're very healthy, take supplements, eat clean.

[flobee76]

how funny that I started this thread. I woke up yesterday with a SORE THROAT!! hahaha....