Leftovers

Due to a big family event coming this month, I’ve been trying to get work done ahead so I can take a few days off. Alas, I came down with the flu and have been in slow mode all week. I only had one bad day where I stayed in bed all day — the flu usually knocks me off my feet for three days.

Over the years, I’ve picked up remedies, cures, and tricks like anyone else. Some work. Some don’t. Here are some of the ones I use or others claim that work for them:

• Vitamin E: Don’t go to the canned or refrigerated juices for this, however, because they’re pasteurized. Get it from the real fruit, Halls Fruit Breezers (my go to flavor is Citrus Blend), or a good quality brand of vitamins.

• Take Echinacea the minute you feel “something coming on.” This never worked for me.

• Drink lots of fluids that don’t have caffeine or other chemicals that steal the fluids right back from you. Water is best, of course.

• Pour hydrogen peroxide in your ears the minute you feel “something coming on.” One guy claims he has never gotten sick as a result. I tried it, but still got the flu.

• REST! In spite of knowing I have a big event to prepare for, I listened to my body and took a whole day of rest. Though I felt a little better yesterday, by the afternoon I was ready to crash. So back to bed for a nap.

• Cut the workload. I told one client I couldn’t complete an assignment with a difficult to make deadline. Which do you want? Tell the client you can’t do something or turn in a lousy work product?

• Ask for Tamiflu and request it for family members as a preventative. One family had a member with the flu AND pneumonia. Everyone took Tamiflu and no one got the flu. In my family, when my son got the flu — my other two kids took Tamiflu and we adults didn’t. We adults got the flu, the other kids didn’t. Warning: The liquid form (for kids weighing less than a specific amount) is hard to keep down. Both kids gagged on it. My son and I both had flu shots, too. Problem with the flu is that it comes in different strains.

• Wash hands often. My kids give me a hard time about this.

What works for you?