Shutterbug's Blog

Living with Multiple Myeloma in Hyderabad , India . Random musings .


Leave a comment

Recovery from Sore Throat and Bronchitis, Garden update, cap/crown replacement after Root canal

Recovery from Sore Throat and Bronchitis

Finally , recovered from another bout of sore throat and Bronchitis. It’s been a few years since I suffered from Sore Throat and Bronchitis of this severity wherein I required Nebulisation.

During this Pandemic , every sneeze or cough is looked upon with suspicion and the individual is treated as a potential COVID patient untill the symptoms subside or proved COVID negative after a test.

Thankfully, my symptoms have subsided after 3 days with medication using Allopathy as well as Alternative treatments.

If interested , you may check out my blog posts from the last three days on the details.

A herbal cough syrup , a herbal powder and nebulisation helped me recover in 3 days. I was able to avoid taking Antibiotics which is the default treatment for a sore throat.

I am now back to my normal diet since morning.
However, due to all the coughing , the muscles around my waist are hurting whenever I cough a little.

I was getting a phone call everyday ,during the last 3 days, from Mom and Dad. I told them about my condition on day one casually and since then they have been monitoring me. They are glad that I recovered quickly

Decided to take more precautions whenever any part of the house needs to be cleaned .

Update on my garden :

This is the best season to sow vegetable seeds. So, I planted a few Okra seeds in one container today. Checked the condition of all other plants and found that all of them are affected by ‘Powdery Mildew’ and the leaves are turning yellow and falling off. This is caused due to humid weather from the recent rains. Will wait for a couple of days , so all the leaves drop off and will then spray an Organic pesticide.

Why I avoid buying Country Eggs :

One guy selling eggs, on his modified bicycle, rang the doorbell to check if I wanted some eggs. My neighbours are his regular customers and so I began buying . I had bought a couple of times earlier . I took some eggs from him today and complained about the Country eggs that he delivered on his previous visit. Some of them were rotten. I then decided never ever to buy Country Eggs from anyone . I usually avoid, but this time I was tempted to take. I stopped taking meat or eggs but buy for the guys at home. Country Eggs are tastier and healthier compared to the ones that we get from chicken farms. Though some farms are rearing free range hens ,their freshness is doubtful. Such farms are located far from the cities and the delays in transportation can affect the freshness. So , no more country eggs till I find a reliable source closer home.

Cap/Crown replacement for my tooth :

Looking forward to a message from my Dentist. I am due for the final step in my Root canal treatment. They said they would message me when the cap/crown was ready.

If interested , you may check my previous posts on the Root canal Treatment .

Delivery of vegetables from Farmizen :

Every Tuesday , I receive a bag full of fresh naturally grown vegetables from Farmizen. My son soaked the vegetables in salt water , drying them under the fan, packing for them and storing them away in the refrigerator. This is his duty every Tuesday.

Glad that my sister finally subscribed to Farmizen and she too received her first delivery today. She is happy with the quantity and I am looking forward to her feedback on the taste of the veggies vis a vis the store bought veggies.

That’s all folks!!



1 Comment

Herbal tea for prevention of Cold , Cough , Asthma

Here is the recipe for preparing Herbal Tea for preventing Cold , Cough and Asthma. The Tea can be taken every day.

Check out my previous post on how one can prevent/manage Cold , Cough and Asthma without having to take Antibiotics.

Cough , Cold , Allergy , Asthma : Ayurveda for Prevention and Treatment

Recipe for Herbal Tea

Ingredients:

  • Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp , Raw turmeric root can also be used (1/2 inch piece)
  • Cinnamon – one inch piece or 1/4tsp cinnamon powder
  • Cloves – 4
  • Peppercorns – 10 or use 2-3 pinches of pepper powder
  • Coriander seeds – 1/2tsp or Corainder powder 1/4tsp
  • Cumin seeds – 1/4 tsp (optional)
  • Basil leaves (Tulsi)- 10 leaves
  • Ginger – one inch piece
  • Salt – one pinch
  • One glass of water

Not to worry if one or two of the above ingredients are not available at any point of time. Go ahead with whatever you have on hand.

Procedure:

Crush the ginger and raw Turmeric .

Add all the ingredients to the water and boil for 5-10 mins.

 

img_20180329_0729550781886513433.jpg

Drink this tea on an empty stomach.

During Summer , reduce the quantity of Pepper and Ginger as these increase the body heat.


2 Comments

Cough , Cold , Allergy , Asthma : Ayurveda for Prevention and Treatment

I am one of those  who are highly allergic to all kinds of dust and frequently end up with a Sore Throat followed by Bronchitis. A visit to the Doc , followed by Antibiotics and Nebulization … a ritual that was inevitable. 

I was able to successfully get over a recent episode with Ayurvedic Medication and no Antibiotics. I am extremely happy that I can now manage my problem without Antibiotics. Thanks to Dr Nithin, Ayurveda.

However, I still did not get an answer as to why only some people are affected by dust and pollution. Millions of people around us are unaffected and continue to live/work in highly polluted environments. How are they managing ?

Here is a beautiful article that explains  how and why a person ends up with Cough/Cold/Asthma. Understanding ‘Cockroach Theory’ will help in understanding how the Immune System works in our body .

https://www.practo.com/healthfeed/ayurveda-treatment-for-allergies-asthma-29041/post

This article is written by Dr Nithin ,Ayurveda .

I had to read this article a few times before I fully understood the how and why and what has to be done to prevent an occurrence of Sore Throat and Asthma.

————————————————————————————————————————————

Here is a summary of what I learnt from that article –

Cockroach Theory : A panic reaction to a situation , whereas the solution is to respond in a calm and composed manner. An example : Customers in a restaurant get panicky and react clumsily on seeing a cockroach whereas the waiter , on whom the cockroach finally lands , stays still , is able to catch hold of the cockroach and throws it out.

The above theory will help us understand how the Immune cells in some bodies overreact instead of responding , when rogue viruses/bacteria enter our body. This overreaction results in excessive production of mucus which clogs the respiratory system. The body then tries to expel this mucus by coughing resulting in a Sore throat. The reason for this kind of reaction by the body is ‘Aggravated Pitta’ .

‘Pitta’ has to be reduced by the following methods (from the article):

  • Recipes like sesame seeds boiled in milk or pumpkin pulp roasted in homemade ghee or almond porridge, halwa etc can be taken.
  • Liberal use of turmeric either in milk or dal to be encouraged as Turmeric reduces inflammation and also breaks rigid bonds of thick mucus which can be expelled easily.
  • All asthmatic and allergic rhinitis patients should take herbal tea of ginger, black pepper, Tulsi leaves, clove, and coriander seeds.  
  • They should eat less of wheat and rice and should consume more of millet like Jwari or Bajri .
  • Once in a week all asthmatic should take Kulthi (Horse gram) dal.
  • Patients of allergic rashes can try having mixed powder of black pepper- 1 or 2 pills + ginger 1/4th teaspoon and candy sugar one teaspoon, once or twice a day.  
  • All of them should strictly avoid all kinds of fast or junk food, pickle, sauces, milkshakes .
  • They should not consume curd, non vegetarian food, heavy , fried food  at night time.
  • All asthma, allergic rhinitis and urticaria patients should religiously do pranayam, as deep breathing will reduce hyper activity and will relax smooth muscles of the air ways, thereby reducing spasms in the air ways and reduction in the episodes of Asthma. Plus deep breathing also helps in reducing inflammation in blood vessels thereby reducing allergic rashes. 

 

My Plan of Action :

I have started consuming Herbal Tea (ingredients mentioned above) . Will write a post on how I prepare this Herbal Tea.

I just bought Horse gram and looking for recipes on the Internet.

I have to further reduce intake of rice. I rarely consume wheat.

I include Turmeric in the Herbal Tea.

I avoid junk food and don’t consume curd/non-veg at night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ayur