Natural Remedies for Chronic Viruses

Hi Mick,

For your sore throat, try gargling with 1.5% hydrogen peroxide(HP). I have found this to be very effective for a sore throat. Come back and let us know how it works for your sore throat.

As to why oral HP has not helped your lung infection, one possible explanation is that long before the HP can reach the lungs when taken orally, it is neutralized by a potent antioxidant of the body called catalase into oxygen and water. That creation of oxygen is thought to be one way that oral HP offers benefit to humans.

Art

I think nebulizing would be more effective to get into the lungs.

It didn't work, and please stop increasing the drops, simply because your body's defense mechanism, at this point in time, is weak. It could be weak against a particular pathogen or the entire system is down, so to speak.

When one starts feeling sick with a common cold or the flu, or sore throat, timing is very important if you want to nip the sickness in the bud. Complex approach is also very important.

When one of my family members who came for a visit had started exhibiting first signs of sickness, we immediately started this 3 day treatment protocol:

1. Baking soda - drinking a baking soda solution according to the established protocol (just google).

2. Boiron Oscillococcinum, a homeopathic remedy - a tube every 6hr according to instructions

3. HP inhalation using a nebulizer - 5-8 drops in a 3-5ml saline solution, twice a day

4. lots of water with lemon and rest

5. High dose vitamin C (up to 18g a day if tolerates well, but 6-8g at a minimum).

6. L-Lysine 500mg 3 times a day

3 days later he was 90% better, but finished the baking soda protocol because it is 5 or 7 days, I forgot.

His initial symptoms were fever, a runny, nose, fatigue, tiredness, body aches and I believe some cough.

As you can see the treatment was focused on his entire body, on raising its abilities to fight the pathogen(s).

If he had a sore throat, we would have added gargling, such as an iodine solution for example.

The HP solution you were using was killing the pathogen "locally", so to speak, while your body's defenses remained weak allowing the virus or bacteria to continue multiplying and getting into your chest.

According to Bill Munro's protocol you inhale the HP so that it reaches the lungs. I do this whenever I get sick. It really works for me (But I inhale HP from a spray source) I do inhaling several times day. You can also put in a Nebulizer. Another wonderful remedy is THEAVES ESSENTIAL oil by Young Living. This is pricey but it's what oil traders used to steal from dead rich Black Plague victims in dark ages. It's a mixture of five oils: rosemary, lemon, clove, eucalyptus, and cinnamon.

Babies can be much more sensitive to oxidative stresses, so you are right on target with your concern. Babies with Down's syndrome undergoing heart-defect surgery have immense oxidative stress. Surgeons did not know how bad it was.

Oxygen therapies can be delivered to the lungs (or through the lungs). But the lungs, sinuses and eyes live in an oxygen atmosphere to the highest degree of all tissues, so they are "closer to the edge" of being overwhelmed by oxidative stress. But they are also more highly adapted to oxygen and oxidative stress. And adaptable.

Oxygen therapies include oxygen gas (from a tank or oxygen concentrator), hyperbaric oxygen (pressurized air), negative ions (superoxide, from a negative ion generator), ozone (NOT good for the lungs, AT ALL), and hypochlorite (bleach, from Asea). I do not know an easy way to pick among these without some scientific, clinical or research expertise to guide you. But access to the scientific and medical literature is available through the internet, so you have a fighting chance. And it only took me one minute to find out that RSV is a lipid-enveloped virus and because of that, potentially susceptible to BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene, a food preservative and antiviral agent, and an antiviral therapy discussed elsewhere in Earth Clinic). Before you get too excited about BHT, I would caution you that it has liver toxicity in humans and lung toxicity in mice. So it would take significant medical supervision to use safely in a baby or infant.

I would suggest that you read The BHT Book (a free PDF download from the steve page at Project Wellbeing (dot com). It will give you two things: (1) an understanding of the context of BHT, and (2) a view of the pro-viral and anti-viral side of vitamins, minerals, nutrients, amino acids, and other components of diet and lifestyle. I think a nutritional strategy is fundamentally safer than using a drug.

For any respiratory viral condition, I would use a nebulizer as my first tool of choice. I do this myself because of my own constitutional susceptibility to sinus and respiratory infection. I have administered vitamin C, colloidal silver and tincture of iodine by this method. Traditionally, nebulizers are used to deliver drugs for asthma and other lung/airway conditions. But they can be used to deliver nutrients. I have not done it, but others have used nebulizers to deliver glutathione to the body through the lungs. The lungs have an immense surface area for nutrient absorption, much greater than the surface skin of the entire body. It's a good strategic back-up plan for situations where swallowing a capsule or tablet is not viable.

Nebulizer costs are now well under $100.

There is also a brief mention of antiviral therapy through vitamin A for measles in children, which I will quote here. "To provide a counterexample to these two liabilities, I offer the following special message regarding measles infections in children. This message deals with the known beneficial effects of vitamin A—one of the antiviral nutrients discussed in the book—on the clinical course of measles infections. When very high doses (approximately 300 times the RDA) of vitamin A were administered in routine clinical practice, the hospital stay was decreased by 20%, the need for intensive care was reduced by 60% and deaths were cut by 68% (Hussey and Klein, 1993). No adverse effects were observed. A previous double-blind study of 189 children hospitalized with severe measles found comparable results (Hussey and Klein, 1990). Of the twelve children who died, ten were in the placebo group and two were in the high vitamin A group."

Best wishes.

Next time, use a nebulizer. They deliver an ultra-fine mist of whatever liquid you put into the reservoir and direct it through a nozzle that you can breath in, or spray on your skin. They now cost under $100!

Tom, excellent report. I suggest that you consider investing in a nebulizer. They cost under $100 now, and they are much more precise at delivering H2O2 deep into the lungs, instead of most of it coating your mouth, throat and bronchial tubes. The ultra-fine nebulizer mist will hang in the air as it sprays out. Atomizers and misters have a coarse mist that falls to the ground as you watch.

I'm not sure this poster worded this correctly. She refers to 3% and then "food grade" as if they are 2 things. I assume the 3% she is referring to is store bought?

Please understand that most of us purchase what is referred to as 35% FOOD GRADE hydrogen peroxide. This is very strong stuff so IT MUST BE DILUTED. In order to obtain the 3% solution you are wanting, you then mix roughly 1 part of the 35% hydrogen peroxide to 11 parts of distilled water. THIS now becomes exactly the same as the drug store stuff - "a 3% solution".... EXCEPT for it has no stabalizers in it. Please read up on this online. FOOD GRADE hydrogen peroxide is the one recommended for ingestion. While the other will work in a pinch and many use it, if you can obtain the food grade AND DILUTE IT- DO NOT DRINK 35%!!! You will have a 3% solution. If you are at all confused, please google it.

Hi Wendy,

That was my post you are referring to from 2006 when I still lived in Los Angeles. Yes, I was referring to both 3% drugstore-bought and 35% internet-ordered food grade peroxide. I have been using drugstore-bought 3% peroxide for the hydrogen peroxide inhalation method for at least 5 years now, as needed (viz, a few times a year). I feel quite comfortable using it and prefer it to food grade. Were I to use this remedy every day, I would probably use food grade h202. I use Ted's test to see if there are any contaminants in the drugstore-bought 3% h202. So far, no issues even though I have bought from different grocery stores and drugstores over the years. The h202 inhalation method is still one of my favorite remedies on Earth Clinic and has saved me from getting the flu many, many times.

Can you tell me what the method is to test for contaminants in drugstore bought H2O2? Thank you.

Gina. It looks like more than a simple iron deficiency here. Watch Dr Lonnie Hermon Youtube videos for anemia. The issue is not that you are getting sufficient Iron, but that the iron or Red Blood is being depleted by disease like hemolytic anemia. In simple terms, something is destroying your blood. Have you any diagnostics like Blood Counts of White, Red, and Platelets???

Gina--- Let me suggest a different cause: a metabolic imbalance from the natural dominance of estrogen at that point in your menstrual cycle. I have written about this in The BHT Book (a free download PDF, from the steve page at Project Wellbeing (dot com)). Most women with chronic herpes flare-ups experience those flare-ups in synchrony with their period--with or after their periods, and not mid-cycle.

I believe that iron is much more likely to be a pro-viral influence than an anti-viral influence. This would depend on (1) whether the iron is affecting your hemoglobin levels in your red blood cells (an aerobic, antiviral mechanism) or (2) whether it is merely storing in your serum ferritin (a neutral mechanism), or (3) whether some of the iron is escaping your ferritin and "leaking" into your serum (an anaerobic, proviral mechanism).

Simple blood tests for serum ferritin, TIBC (total iron-binding capacity) and hemoglobin-iron level would tell you what is what. Low hemoglobin defines anemia. But low hemoglobin with normal ferritin and normal TIBC in NOT iron-deficiency anemia. Taking iron does not help in that case. You are more likely to need a B12 and/or folate-related supplement, or B6 or B3, or a methyl-donor supplement.

Menstruating women are at highest risk for iron-deficiency anemia, which is why most doctors prescribe iron supplementation without checking their female client's iron status. But if you have some other kind of health problem that might be unrelated to anemia, getting a total-body iron assessment.

Estrogen-dominant women have told me that their PMS symptoms ease greatly when they get their estrogen balanced.

In following people with chronic viral problems for four decades, I have found three lifestyle factors which I believe put many people at increased risk of viral problems. These are in the BHT Book, but I will list them here: (1) estrogen dominance, affecting young women and old men, (2) veganism and vegetarianism (vegetable foods are alkaline forming foods, and milk and egg proteins are more alkalinizing than flesh proteins), and hypothyroidism / hypometabolism (low body temperature, low pulse rate, ease of getting chilled, borderline depression, slow wound healing, a tendency towards constipation, low blood pressure (until it becomes high blood pressure), and on and on). These are all tied together in that they create an anabolic-alkaline-anaerobic metabolic imbalance that viruses like. See the book for details.

The popular view is that viral problems are caused by exposure to viruses, and that chronic viral conditions are from virulent strains. Let me suggest a different view that should give you hope: viruses become (a) more virulent in people with alkaline-anabolic-anaerobic imbalances and (b) less virulent in people with acidic-aerobic-catabolic imbalances. In other words, it's the SAME virus expressing itself differently in people of different metabolic types. This is why child-vectored viruses and bacteria tend to be more debilitating; children are more anabolic-anaerobic-alkaline than adults.

So are the elderly and the chronically ill.

Low basal metabolic rate (hypometabolism, or hypothyroidism) is made worse by estrogen dominance. Same with an overly alkalinizing diet. Any anti-metabolic factor adds to the synergy between these kinds of influences. Heavy metal toxicity, fluoride toxicity, mycotoxin sensitivity, pesticide exposure, adverse drug effects, positive ion pollution, aldehyde exposure, food hypersensitivities, chronic inflammation--the list goes on and on. But the good news is that drugs like BHT (see elsewhere in Earth Clinic) and nutrients like vitamin D3, A (not beta-carotene), magnesium, B12, B6, selenium, copper, oxygen, superoxide, strontium, manganese, glutathione, cysteine (and NAC), fat (especially PUFAs), liver and other organ meats, all have antiviral activities--some subtle, some dramatic.

Good luck to you.

THANK YOU TRACI! Thank you. I had had a virus for nearly 2 weeks - I had been housebound most of that time as I had VERY little energy. I was getting worn down by not getting any better, (I was actually getting worse), and rather than go to the doctor and be prescribed antibiotics,

I googled 'natural remedies for a virus' and up popped this page. I read through some remedies but was too wary of trying some suggestions and then I came across 'Lemons', as I had some in my home, I thought I had nothing to lose by trying. Nothing to 'lose'? My oh my, what I didn't know was I had EVERYTHING to gain. I took a whole lemon, halved it in two and squeezed, by hand, all the juice into 8oz of warm water and I drank every drop - I used a straw as that made it easier for me. Now, WHILST I was literally drinking the lemon water I could feel a difference - seriously! - but the best was yet to come, within half an hour I had SO much energy and felt SO much better. I also read about the pH balance of our bodies and mine was out of sync - lemons, although acid have an alkalyzing effect on our systems - I had too much acid which leads to not enough oxygen in your system and the lemon, RAPIDLY corrected the imbalance. That was 4 days ago and since then I have taken the lemon drink every day AND I am going to continue doing so. It's ONLY a lemon, try it and be amazed!

Thank you Earth Clinic for your forum, I was at my wits' end and now I am tiptop. Coincidence? I don't believe in such things, it simply was the lemon.

I know a highly regarded naturopath in the USA. He advocates the use of lemons for allergies, colds, flus, all types of viruses.

This are his instructions:

Take a teaspoon full of pure, fresh lemon juice every half hour for two hours, in other words, four times.

Don't drink any liquids for 10-15 mins before or after a dose of lemon. Don't eat either.

I have tried this many times and yes, it works very well! Try to avoid your teeth as lemon can also effect tooth enamel.

If the condition is very severe, do this for three hours, or six times.

This naturopath felt it was better than taking lemon as 'lemonade', that is lemon juice and water as it dilutes the lemon, and by taking it over a couple of hours-- it, to quote him, 'does not give the little buggers time to regroup".

You will find that lemon juice does give you energy as the poster above mentions.

One last thing: I have been using a squeeze of lemon juice instead of deodorant for several years and am thrilled not be putting chemicals under my arms. The juice works incredibly well! I told and a friend, she tried it and liked it so well, she went out and put a lemon tree in her backyard!

It is a good thing we have TWO lemon trees in my back yard--as we use lemons on everything--they are God's gift to us--and even come in a bright, attractive packaging! :)

Good luck, hope this helps someone!

I would try taking vitamin C (as much as you can tolerate without diarrhea every two hours) and trace minerals, especially selenium. I have been reading some interesting research about how selenium drives out viruses. Toxic dose is believed to be about 5000mcg, supposedly as little as 200mcg daily shows benefit. Hope you get better and please let us know what works for you!

Hey Paula,

I've gone through what you are experiencing...three times and all three times had to resort to:

THE REMEDY

Don't spread this around because as a Baptist Tea-toddler.... well, you'll see.

First, I assume the infection is lingering in the lungs. That is typical for lasting infection.

I learned this when I was 35 years old in Vicksburg Mississippi when my wife and I were at an ANCIENT B and B and the owners just as ancient as the B and B.

It was there that I was told the "secret" of ....

THE REMEDY

(Imagine you self being told this information under swaying River Oaks, sitting yards from the flowing Mississippi...submitted in hushed sentences as the honey suckle blossoms gave away their aroma ... just as the "secret" was being given away to me. "You will keep this to yo self, won't you Mista Dave?" "Oh, yes ma'am ... not a soul.")

Get the following:

One bottle of ROCK and RYE with lemon already inserted.

Add a teaspoon of raw sugar to each half glass of the R and R.

Close yourself off in a room that has access to a lot of heat.

Wrap in a blanket. Start this process when room is about 90 degrees.

Begin sipping the liquid. One sip every three or four minutes.

My first use of THE REMEDY resulted in a general condemnation of all things "Vicksburg Mississippi"....I though, "No wonder we lost the war."

But I digress.

After 15 minutes of this...this sweating, terrible discomfort, I began gradually to feel a little more relaxed.

I continued to sip and in about an hour was not tipsy at all but rather comfortable. I was surprised. After about four hours the bottle had been consumed and I, well, had just gone to sleep and slept through the rest of the night.

The next morning I had no more cough or lingering tickle in my bronchial passages or lungs. And I had a new energy back.

Two other times I've repeated when a left over flu bug is lingering.

Now for THE REMEDY number 2.

This remedy for the same ailment but an alternate given to me by a lady who is a prosecutor in South Carolina. We were sharing remedies when she gave me this formula that she said worked on her children and that she learned as a girl growing up.

First take two fresh cloves of garlic. Clean and mince very fine. Place on toast and eat and swallow with juice (helps to get it down).

Next take two thousand mg of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) in water and sip down over an hour. If swallowing pills, spread out over an hour.

Your are going to do this five times during the day or 5, 000 mg of Vitamin C. Take another two cloves of garlic in the same way described above but eight hours later.

So in one day you'd take 4 cloves of garlic and 5, 000 mg of Vitamin C.
(Adjust the dosage for younger children. Use common sense in how much.) Do this for at least 3 days.

I have used both methods in getting rid of lingering flu problems.

Paula: A 6 year old gets the flu, eats some ice cream and drinks a pop, and recovers. A 60 year old gets the flu, takes all the best remedies, and does not. The reason is the thymus. The thymus of a 6 year old is the size of a kiwi fruit. The thymus of a 60 year old is the size of a pea. Jack La Lane died at 95 from the flu. His thymus was the size of a grain of rice. The plan has 2 parts. Regrow the thymus. This takes awhile. Strengthen the backup systems. This can be done very rapidly. Before there was an immune system there were just individual cells. They have good defenses when fed properly. You can go on a raw whole food program. This includes organic fruits, organic whole sugars, honey, and activated barley for carbs, green smoothies from organic baby leaves, chili, and parsley for veggies, for protein and saturated fat take 4oz/day raw grass fed hamburger, 30g/day black chia for unsaturated fat, sun dried sea salt, skate liver oil, and 90,000hu cayenne. If you have not been taking a d3 supplement then scroll down to my earlier post vitamin b-1 for proper d3 loading. To regrow the thymus take reishi extract from Washington, Astragalus in liquid phyto caps from North Carolina, and colostrum.

When I was a small child, I was given radiation treatments to shrink my thymus. Apparently this was in vogue at the time, as I have friends who had the same treatments. Curious if anything different should be done than trying to regrow it at my mid-50's age.

I forgot to mention that I have also been taking baths with h2o2 epsom salt and eucalyptus and taking probiotics.

...gosh, I hope you have a doctor you can go to; have your blood checked....a 'bug' for a month doesn't sound good and not something to try and heal with home remedies. Don't get me wrong, Greenbeanz39, my doc is my last effort when I'm not right...I'm hugely into trying to heal myself but sometimes the ailment is bigger than me. Best wishes to you, Linda.

Thank you Linda for your post.You are exactly right, I actually had to go to the ER the day after my post because my lungs had filled with fluid to the point that I knew that being stubborn would probably be my demise.Come to find out that I have pneumonia.Thankfully I sought care before my five year old rolls over to find that mommy is blue and cold. I suppose when all else fails, there is a place for the allopathic medicine. I'm just glad that regardless of my finances I went. You are such a kind woman for caring and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I think I will stick to the natural as usual for colds and such, but for the serious stuff I will stick to the pro's. God bless, Tara

Hi Tara, I'm sorry to hear about the pneumonia, but glad you went to the ER...for me, more than a week of not feeling well is too long. Natural remedies ROCK and our stubborn streaks can get in the way...it's not easy to know when to 'give in'...just remember how much your daughter needs you!! I hope you get well soon and enjoy continued good health.

To Dj from PDX,

I would love to hear an update on your Bloodroot therapy. Are you still taking the bloodroot product? How do you feel? Looking forward to your reply!

Angie

Just remember that homeopathics and such are primarily our preventative for an ailment to get to do some attacking of the problem at the very start. Peace and stay true to our souls' direction- we live in a time when the unnatural rides along as well.