Last night at 11:30 PM I received a text from my youngest, now away at college. “I’m at the ER with a fever, feel awful.” And later at 2:30 AM, “I tested positive for the flu. They gave me Tylenol. I’m heading home now.”
We are a four hour flight away, so there wasn’t much I could do other than to ask her to keep me posted. I hadn’t yet put together cold and flu capsules for this coming season and was planning to make and send them this week. I didn’t know when I mixed and made them yesterday that she was already sick. I think that comes solidly in the Murphy’s law category!
I did in fact make cold care capsules (pictured above) yesterday, pack close to 50 of them – more than she’ll need – in a box, and mail them to her. I anticipate they’ll arrive right around the time she’s starting to get better. Oh, well. Next year they will be on the plane with her.
These capsules are very effective. When taken at the first sign of symptoms they always seem to prevent a serious cold or flu from setting in. I often pair them with a nice dose of Emergen-c to hedge my bets, being a belt and suspenders kind of girl. 🙂
The formula, which comes from Rosemary Gladstar’s recipes, is simple:
1 part powdered Echinacea angustifolia
1 part powdered Hydrastis canadenis/Goldseal root
1/2 part powdered Althaea officinalis/Marshmallow root
1/4 part Capsicum annum/Cayenne
Mix them together evenly and encapsulate.
Dosage: Take 2 at the first sign of cold or flu and every 2 hours up to 9/day and not exceeding 3 days.
If you would like to buy capsules I make and send them. A trusted technical advisor and I are working on an on-line store for these kinds of apothecary essentials. Till that’s up and running, and mindful that flu season seems to have started early, please drop me a note at kirsti.frazier@gmail.com. The cost is $47.99 for 30 capsules or $84.99 for 60 of them.
Backyard Botanics 