Going all natural...in BED!

I know what you're thinking...nope - not what you're doing in bed - what you are sleeping on!

Three years ago we became completely debt free!!! That's an awesome way to go natural. And the first thing that we "saved up first, then purchased" was a new mattress. Ours had been a showroom floor discount and after five years was completely shot. As we pondered finding a wonderfully comfortable mattress, we were made aware of an interesting reality.

Mainstream mattresses are full of chemicals. The process that makes foam (which many beds have) breaks down over time and releases CFC's and more. So we started researching and found the option of a natural latex. It is not chemically created and lasts for 30 years! We bought our bed though a local distributor with Savvy Rest.

Honestly - we don't care for traveling too much because the best sleep is right here at home. You can pick your level of firmness and your husband (or wife) can select their firmness. Oh, it feels so great to sleep so well!

The two best things about our bed: I could sleep on my stomach way into my pregnancy. If you have been pregnant and are a stomach sleeper - you know what a pain it is to be big as a house and not able to sleep! LOL! And because it naturally keeps away the dust mites, we were breathing better.

Peruse the guest comments about direct health related experiences with all kind of mainstream mattresses at Chem-tox. Then read some more details about what our mattresses are made of. Watch out - my next blog is going to be able baby mattress toxins!

Things I never thought I would do...

For a girl that grew up on Dr. Peppers and nutty buddy's, I have become some hilarious health nut. If I my 24 year old self ever met my 34 year old self - she would think I was way over the top. And so I am.  So in the last two weeks I have made butter, buttermilk, yogurt and mozzarella cheese! If you are willing to have milk all over your kitchen for a few hours....

• Butter - I tried using the stand mixer, but the food processor was much, much easier (and cleaner)
• Buttermilk
• Yogurt - I actually bought a yogurt maker to keep the cultivating stuff at a constant temperature. It was only about $20 - very worth it since we spend $5 to $8 per week on yogurt. BTW - I don't use the plastic container - a washed out mayonnaise jar fits perfectly inside.
• Mozzarella cheese - mine did not "spin," but it tasted great and was able to be shredded the next day.
• Ricotta cheese - here's the recipe - I'm planning to make it tomorrow from all the whey I had left from the cheese making.
• Sour cream - here's the recipe - I'm planning to make it Saturday after I get a fresh gallon. It also has good info on butter, buttermilk, etc.

Recovery without Antibiotics

Sorry to have taken so long to follow up the previous post on my double dip of strep throat. After I was better, I have been trying to catch up on everything I missed while being in profound pain.

First let me address the pain - the first round I was able to handle it using Motrin. The second strep infection was much harder. I took the prescription Hydrocodone that the doc prescribed for the first round. Gratefully, I only took about three tablets to hold off the pain so I could sleep.

I read somewhere that homeopathic medicine needed lots of doses - just keep stuff going in. Well, I made an excel sheet to coordinate all my natural meds. Here's a rundown of my "Get rid of strep throat homeopathically" plan and action:

To boost immunity:

• Vitamin A (7600 IU)
• Vitamin D (1200 IU)
• Echinacea/Goldenseal (50 drops in water 3X day)
• Cod liver oil (once a day)

Pain relief and healing

• Spray with a natural throat spray based on the immune properties of cow's milk (three sprays every hour)
• Old Indian Wild Cherry Bark Syrup (3X day) - high alcohol content - good before bed
• Chewing raw garlic clove (yes, it burns) with some honey on it (made me nauseous once, make sure you don't do this on an empty stomach) -sporadic - it hurt, I had to get up my gumption to do it.

Natural Antibiotics

• mercurious solubus - Pete is really concerned that I might have erred since this is a mercury derivative. But it really worked. In the future, if I catch an infection early, I would choose Belladonna. My research said that Belladonna is only effective if applied early. (these little tablets I took five at a time 3x a day)
• phytolacca decantra (same dosage as mercurious)

I was spraying, chewing, dissolving, swallowing, gargling etc. at least once an hour during waking hours. If the pain woke me at night, I would grab some mercurious and phytolacca, and take a few sprays. Overall, the pain was pretty much done in five days with some residual scratchiness. I kept up most of the meds, gradually decreasing the amounts over the next five days. Now, if I can just get used to the time change...

Sick....again

So I was telling you a few weeks ago about my flaming throat and the exciting experience of gargling thieves oil. That night, I barely slept and the next day went to see a mainstream doctor. I was really miserable and kind of afraid that I had strep throat.
The doctor took a look and a culture - he said my throat looked "nasty" and prescribed an antibiotic. I took the dose faithfully and in a couple of days was feeling a lot better. I was grateful - entertaining my friends that I went to a mainstream doc.
Until Sunday. A little over two weeks later (5 days after my last dose of amoxicillin) I get this scratchy throat that seems a little familiar. Now I am into my second day of pretty painful throat feelings. My glands are swollen and it hurts to swallow. My question is - what was "fixed" with the antibiotics?
So I did some research:
"In the USA alone, "over 3 million pounds of antibiotics are used every year on humans . . . enough to give every man, woman and child 10 teaspoons of pure antibiotics per year," write Null, Dean, Feldman, and Rasio. (5) "Almost half of patients with upper respiratory tract infections in the U.S. still receive antibiotics from their doctor" even though "the CDC warns that 90% of upper respiratory infections, including children's ear infections, are viral, and antibiotics don't treat viral infection. More than 40% of about 50 million prescriptions for antibiotics each year in physicians' offices were inappropriate." from doctor yourself.com
Further research and a call to a fellow natural mom - with lots more experience than I. So I'm kicking in several immune boosters - adding echinacea, golden seal and a throat spray called impro. My gut, my husband and my friend all agree that this (even strep) can be taken care of through natural means. I'll let you know how it goes. Prayers for healing and wisdom appreciated. Thanks!

See Part Two