I've Been Sick

Between working on the house, drinking too much coffee, and not getting much sleep, I managed to bring a kidney infection upon myself. It's self-diagnosed; but I did an online search and every one of my symptoms were on the lists I read -- and I had several noticeable symptoms. Even though I didn't have every symptom listed, there were no symptoms I had that were not mentioned. So I can be fairly confident that's what it was/is.

It got me really down. It started with the usual "urinary tract" stuff, the obvious: having to go to the bathroom all the time, then a few days later I started to burn, then my lower back started hurting. This all started the afternoon before Bible School began at church -- perfect timing! I made it all through Bible School week alright, though. The Lord really blessed. Saturday I was feeling pretty good and we went out to the house to work. I overdid it -- unintentionally, of course, but I did. I painted and drank too much coffee and stayed up way too late. So Sunday I paid for it. First I was really sleepy in church Sunday morning (this was last Sunday). I did get to nap Sunday afternoon, and we had a Bible School service Sunday night. After that, we came home, and I was sick. I was running fever, achy, yucky, uncomfortable, and then started having chills. That ended up being my worst of all this.

Monday morning I started back to school. (There's no rest for the weary!) Once again, though, the Lord really blessed. Monday class went fine. I felt okay. But by the time I got home, I was wiped out. I slept and slept. Tuesday class was not quite as good, but okay; Tuesday night I felt a little better. My classes each day got progressively worse and my evenings got progressively better. Hmm! Thursday in class I was obviously sick. I made it, and everything's okay, but I couldn't fake not feeling good to the students. But Thursday night I felt like joining Mom and Dad for supper. Friday I was sleepy and took a long afternoon nap, but the evening went well, and yesterday and today have gone well. I've felt much more like myself than I have in a while. This has lasted two full weeks! But I had read that they take a while to go away.

I wanted to share what I did. (What I didn't do: go to the doctor or take antibiotics. Not that I wouldn't have, but I wanted to try it this way first.) First, I drank lots of water. Most of the time I would add some or all of this: a drop or two of grapefruit seed extract (I keep this on hand and take it regularly; I also give it to Jayden regularly in her juice cup), some lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, and maybe a little juice: usually cranberry, sometimes pomegranate or orange. I wanted to drink cranberry juice but I was concerned about the sugar (the juice I found at Brookshire's was 100% juice, but not all cranberry juice, so it was still pretty sweet, and I was getting juices and sugar I didn't really need). So I only drank diluted cranberry juice, and not all the time. Second, I ate hardly any meat or dairy or other animal products. I can't say I didn't get any, but I didn't get much. I even limited my butter, which usually we use a lot in cooking. It was good to pull out the olive oil a little more than we had been, though. We really don't eat much meat or dairy anyway, but I ate even less this week. I had a few days of none, but not the whole week. Third, I didn't drink any coffee. I haven't had ANY since Monday, I know. This is unusual for me. But it hasn't been hard. I haven't wanted any. It's not worth it. I haven't had other tea or caffeine, either, except for the one cup of green tea I fixed that then I iced down and diluted -- mmm! I like it this way for a summer drink (with a little honey in it, too). Fourth, I really watched my sugar. I tried not to get any except for a little honey I would use sparingly and the natural sugars in fruit and juices. As far as what I did eat, I focused on veggies, especially fresh veggies, and a few fruits: celery, pineapple, apples. I did take a peanut butter sandwich to school with me a few days (which is not health-promoting as far as I know, but it wasn't animal and I like it, and I don't think it's health destroying; maybe just neutral! =-> .) I think that was my lunch most days this week: a peanut butter sandwich on whole-wheat toast, several celery sticks, and an apple. For breakfast I would have some oatmeal and maybe some toast, sometimes with fruit (banana or grapes or pineapple). For supper -- well, I didn't have much of an appetite, really, and I slept a lot -- and David wasn't here much from working on the house, so I didn't have to cook -- so I can't remember for sure, but I don't think I ate much for supper. Thursday night at Wendy's, when I was feeling better, I got a plain baked potato, a side salad, and a small chili, and poured my chili on top of my salad and potato. I like it that way! That was a good supper. And one day for lunch David brought me a turkey sub filled with veggies. Friday I didn't eat much until supper - Chili Verde! We got the veggie fajitas, mmm.

Other than diet, the main thing I did was take probiotics. I took two every day and I think they made a really big difference. I also took some garlic tabs and some cranberry capsules, but only periodically. I took some Tylenol and applied peppermint oil for the fever and took a bath with vinegar water the night I felt really bad. I had lots of ups and downs with symptoms. Mostly though the "feeling bad" seemed to be related to the fever, which I could control fairly well with the Tylenol and peppermint oil. Other than that I just felt a little yucky and tired, not really bad.

This has all been an experience for me, so I wanted to share. If I can help answer questions, I'll do my best!

God bless you!
Aleecia