It all began with a sore throat late Monday night.  There was no warning, no scratchy throat, nothing.  Just the immediate onset of a sore throat and slight head congestion as I was going to bed.  I immediately walked back into the kitchen and gargled with warm water and three drops of grapefruit seed extract.  To read more about this potent extract, see my article called, “Grapefruit Seed Extract.”  Then I swallowed two garlic capsules. Garlic is a natural antibiotic.  To learn more about different ways to use garlic in home remedies, Debi Pearl wrote an interesting article called, “Garlic.”

The next morning I felt bad.  I took more garlic and gargled with grapefruit seed extract again.  My throat felt so much better; however, I began to run fever and ache.  My head throbbed, my eyes burned with the fever, and my nose would not stop running.  I was miserable.  I rubbed eucalyptus essential oil and cassia essential oil with olive oil on the soles of my feet and chest.  I sipped on hot tea with honey and a few drops of lemon essential oil.  I began taking doses of elderberry syrup.

Elderberries have long been know to fight flus and colds.  One of my ancestors was a country doctor in East Texas.  He would make his own medicine with elderberries.  His recipe did not pass down to me, but the syrup I have been taking is a mixture of raw honey, elderberries, apple cider vinegar, and echinacea.  The latter is another herb know for its ability to fight infections.  In combination with the honey, the elderberry syrup actually tastes good.

This morning I woke up running a low-grade fever.  I have continued taking garlic capsules and the elderberry syrup.  I gargled this morning for good measure with grapefruit seed extract even though my throat is not hurting anymore.  I rubbed my chest and the soles of my feet once more.  My ears ached so bad that I asked Jake to squirt the contents of a garlic capsule down each of my ears.  Since ten o’clock this morning, I have not been running fever and my ears do not hurt at all.  As each hour passes I feel more like myself.

I also do not want to relapse so I am taking it easy, but I believe that I have drastically shortened the length of my illness.  After my body began aching and I began running a fever, I really began to wonder if I had the flu.  Generally it takes 7-10 days to recover from the flu.  If that is what ails me, then I have saved myself many days of sickness since it has only been about 36 hours.

With cold and flu season arriving, make sure you stock your medicine cabinet with these supplies:

garlic capsules (You can use cloves of garlic, but I prefer the convenience of the capsules.)

elderberry syrup (You can make your own or purchase it.)

grapefruit seed extract (You can use it in a throat gargle or nasal rinse.  You can also put a few drops in your ears.  Always dilute    the extract; never use it straight from the bottle.)

essential oils like eucalyptus, cassia, and lemon  (Essential oils usually require the use of a carrier oil like olive oil.  Make sure to follow the instructions and do your research.  They are powerful, but like the name implies, essential.)

You can find these items at a health food store, a health food section of a good grocery store, and online.  I like to shop at Beeyoutiful for my essential oil needs.  They have an elderberry syrup called Berry Well.  If you are interested in other home remedies and their products, then request a catalog.  I always learn something from one of their articles.

If I cannot afford to be sick, then I know I am not the only one.  Take precautions and stock up your “medicine” cabinet.  Read as much as you can on home remedies.  Be prepared to fight back with good, natural ingredients.

Early Sunday morning I woke up with the worst sore throat I have had since I was a little girl.  It hurt so bad that I decided to get up at this insane hour of the night to gargle water.  Before bed I gargled with warm sea salt water, but now I wanted to try something else.  I had read about Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) in the Beeyoutiful magazine.  They sell it, but call it Grapefruit Seed Crush.  I had found some in a health food store.  It is called The Original GSE Liquid Concentrate by NutriBiotic.

I warmed up some water and added three drops.  You can hardly taste it in the water.  I gargled for a few times and then I used the rest of the mixture as a nasal rinse.  Like the sea salt, you can feel the tingle of the grapefruit seed extract working.  Hoping for the best, I went back to bed breathing a little easier as I tried to get a few more hours of sleep.

When I woke up, the ache in my throat was gone.  My tonsils were not bothering me anymore.  I was only aware of their presence.  I gargled one more time and performed the nasal rinse before going to church.  I have not needed to again.

In addition to the grapefruit seed extract and the supplements mentioned above, I put my family on the following regimen.  Before bed, I heated up water with eucalyptus and peppermint oil.  We took turns in five minute intervals breathing in the steam.  I combined eucalyptus oil with olive oil for rubbing into one’s chest and the soles of one’s feet.

Everyone is on the mend.  We prevented a full-blown illness from striking our family.  Out of stubbornness, my family refuses to try the grapefruit seed extract.  It is their loss because I am the only one fully recovered.

If you don’t have any grapefruit seed extract, then it is a worthwhile investment in keeping your family healthy and away from the doctor’s office.  You will be able to avoid being put on antibiotics.  It zapped my sore throat and stuffy nose.  It also has the ability to zap internal parasites.  It is certainly something that I will continue reading about and researching.  Grapefruit Seed Extract is my new  friend.

Please remember that I am not a doctor or giving medical advice.  I am just sharing my experience with grapefruit seed extract.  The one thing that I do know is that you must dilute the GSE before use.  Do NOT use it full strength.