Winter is coming…
The leaves are changing color, the temperature is growing colder, and the daylight starts growing shorter. The fall brings about all types of preparations. Whether it’s canning the last of the summer vegetables, baking favorite recipes, enjoying a cup of bone broth or preparing for the upcoming holiday season. One thing for sure is the increased focus on the cold and flu season.
At times, this season can bring fear mongering across many types of media, but a holistic household is empowered. The best way to counter the fear is to become informed and get prepared. I believe that a well stocked natural medicine cabinet is no match for those pesky viruses.
So I want to do a deep dive into my favorite flu remedy: Gelsemium.
Now you may feel like you know all about Gelsemium, and if you’ve been following my work for a while, you probably know this remedy pretty well. However, I encourage you to explore this remedy through the lens of three important keynotes: Flu, Fatigue, and Never Well Since (or by its “new” name – long hauler’s syndrome).
Gelsemium tends to be the number one remedy to think of when the flu is circulating. It’s made from the Yellow Jasmine flower and I suggest you have it on hand in 6c, 30c and 200c potencies.
It has been used as a main flu remedy since the Flu of 1918. During the Flu Epidemic of 1918-1919, fifty million people died. At the time, homeopathic physicians were able to keep their death rate to 1.05% whereas the death rate of ‘standard medicine’ was 30%. According to the homeopaths who participated in a survey published in the Journal of the American Institute of Homeopathy in 1920, the remedy Gelsemium was the most commonly prescribed and it remains one of the most commonly prescribed flu remedies today.
Now that is longevity and a remedy we can trust!
A Gelsemium flu presents as a classic flu with the following keynotes:
● Slow onset – you just begin to feel run down and then a few days later you
● 4 D’s: Dizzy, Droopy, Drowsy and Drained – there is dizziness upon rising, eyelids may droop, energy is drooping, sleep is needed and lots of it, and the mind is weak
● Weakness & fatigue – your limbs feel heavy, your body is weak
● Lacking in thirst
● Chills up and down the spine
● Double vision
● Throbbing or dull headache in neck and occiput
● Migraine headaches with double vision and weakness
● Flu comes on after anticipation of worry
There are many great flu remedies with similarities to Gelsemium but this little remedy is incredibly powerful and one of the best places to start.
A few years ago, about two weeks into the start of school, my son came home with fatigue and a headache. He said, “Mom! I’m coming down with something. I’m so tired and my body feels so heavy.” Upon hearing those two symptoms alone, I gave him a dose of Gelsemium 30c. After the first dose he fell asleep and us homeopathic mamas already know that sleep heals! Nailed it! When he woke he reported less heaviness, so I gave him another dose and sent him off to bed. Upon rising the next morning, his symptoms were gone. I did, however, send him to school with a little tube tucked in his pocket…just in case! Oh, the power of Gelsemium!
FATIGUE:
In its crude form, Gelsemium produces a general state of paralysis both in the mind and body. Do not consume this in its original form. But this is exactly why in homeopathic form, Gelsemium is the ideal remedy for great weakness.
The main idea here is malaise. It’s as if someone pulled the plug and you have no energy source. You cannot organize your thoughts or your energy to get anything done. You feel wiped out.
I’ve used this remedy many times when I wake up and fatigue sets in, even without a viral load. This is one of those days where you do one thing on your task list and you need to rest, you can’t get organized, and you can’t gather your thoughts. A few doses of Gelsemium 200c always does the trick for me.
NEVER WELL SINCE:
Gelsemium is an excellent remedy for chronic fatigue when the fatigue can be traced back to a viral infection; the flu, mono, pneumonia, etc. You may feel heavy and describe yourself as “dragging through the day”. In cases of paralytic weakness where the limbs feel heavy and may tremble, Gelsemium is a good choice and has been used for Multiple Sclerosis, especially if there is double vision.
Gelsemium is also a great choice when never well since a hospital visit, especially if you’ve been there for a viral infection. You may have checked in for pneumonia but since you came home have lingering fatigue and just can’t seem to fully get your energy back.
We can also use this remedy when someone is worse since the annual flu injection. The keynote here is never well since with ongoing fatigue and weakness.
ONE FINAL NOTE:
Gelsemium is a great remedy for anxiety. The anxiety of Gelsemium presents in anticipation of an event; doctor’s visit, giving a public speech, a new environment (think 1st day of school), an audition, or even anxiety after a shocking event or trauma where the anticipation is pronounced and it feels as if it depletes your energy.
So there it is…three ways to look at Gelsemium.
Want to know more, schedule a Discovery Call and let’s discuss your overall healing strategy.
Disclaimer: Homeopathy doesn't "treat" an illness; it addresses the entire person as a matter of wholeness that is an educational process, not a medical one. Claims based on traditional homeopathic practice are not accepted as medical evidence and are not FDA evaluated. This is intended for educational purposes only.
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