The Covid Diaries - a naturopaths experience of Covid with kids in Perth

Monday 7 March 

Day 1

We were finishing up the long-weekend down south. I sat on the beach in Yallingup as the kids played with their cousins in water the colour of a fluorite crystal.

John John had been sniffling with itchy eyes and had a few sneezing fits but otherwise we were all fine. 

Tuesday 8 March

Day 2

On Monday night Evie had a sniffle and when she came to me with a sore throat Tuesday morning I thought we'd better do a RAT test before sending her off to school. 

It was the day I was going to be moving into my own healing space, a goal that had been years in the making. I just had a feeling though that the planets weren't quite aligned. 

So with this perceived blockage smothering all that lay ahead of me that day, I was both surprised and not surprised at all when Evie returned a positive Covid test.

Hmm, Andy did one which came up negative. We did Evie again just in case it was a false positive, as an acquaintance of mine had experienced several weeks earlier. Another positive. I was feeling a bit foggy with hints of a cold myself. 

Lining up for a covid test in the car, in the heat, the air con and radio blasting. My throat sore ,my head getting heavier.  

I was grateful I'd already been taking licorice and korean ginseng in my herbal tincture for their anti-viral and immune enhancing properties. Making up a medicine tea for this situation I look longingly at my yarrow jar which is completely empty. How wonderful some yarrow would be right now for dispersing the heat I feel in the back of my throat. I blend together rosemary, sage, licorice root, eyebright and elderflower. 

Wednesday 9 March

Day 3

Receiving my positive result via text message as I lay propped in bed the next morning, scrolling my phone. 

I made up an acute coronavirus blend personalised for my needs. Licorice, baical skullcap, nigella, kudzu, korean ginseng, wild yam. All of these herbs are active against coronavirus infection but Wild Yam, for the aches and pains.

A friend drops off some fresh ginger so I can grate it into my herbal tea. 

WE also had a zinc and c powder every four hours. We topped up our vitamin d. Lactobacillus rhamnosis also seems to show some benefit so we took our probiotic as well.

We’d been staying with the kids Grandmother over the weekend, she's in her 80's. The kids played with their cousins extensively.  The cousins were sniffling. Who else have we infected with this thing. Feelings of guilt. Evies' and Andys' positive result came a few hours later. John John, my 5 year old tornado, was negative. He was doing flips off my bedhead as I lay there feeling disgusting. A mountain of groceries were delivered and I had to organise the fridge and put everything away as well as make dinner and all the regualar clean up that goes with parenting and living in general. It was hard. 

Day 4

Thursday 10 March

I had a nasty cold. There was lots of heat and mucous in the back of my throat and sinuses. There were aches all over my body.  I wasn't coughing but I was in and out of fever. 

On thursday morning the pain was so bad I had some panadol which gave me immense relief. But there was a new kind of pain, the familiar pain of shingles in my side, a feeling I recognised instantly from several years earlier. Please no,  I made a telehealth appointment immediately. Had the doctor prescribe the shingles anti-viral and the 'good' codrals. Had a friend pick it up.

The kids were in perfect health, tearing up the place. “Mummy you’re too hot 🥵!” Said my little one when he cuddled me.  I needed to cook and clean and parent and mother of course. The codral helped me through the evening and have a restful sleep at night. 

Friday 11 March.

Day 5

Wow, I felt so much better. I'd been taking my herbs. I'd started the anti-viral, the aches were gone, as was any trace of that shingles feeling. No need for a panadol today or even a codral. My sniffles had dried up considerably. I was on the mend. Andy spends a lot of the day working from home in the back studio. The kids watch tv, fight, play. scream. play. fight, and have lots and lots of cuddles. Evie loses a front tooth and now has a big gaping gap. She is immensely excited about it and keeps asking how much the tooth fairy pays for front teeth. 

I order some flowers to brighten up our space, impatient for them to be delivered the next day. 

Saturday 12 March

Day 6

I open my eyes to the swing of our iron gate and a light knock on the door as I lay in bed still. The flowers had arrived. They were magnificent.

I'm still taking it easy But feeling 100 % more energetic. This was so much better. I become acutely aware that we have way too much stuff as I seem to be spending a lot of time straightening everything up and trying to coerce the kids to help me. We need to find a rental property as our renovation plans are finally approved and it's looking like we'll be moving out in a month. A friend goes and checks out a property on our behalf, face-timing a walk through for us. 

I bake peanut butter cookies with the kids. The keto plans will have to wait. 

Sunday 13 March

Day 7

IT's interesting how the universe has given me all this time off. First with the tear in my calf muscle and now this. I feel like I can get back to business. I'm ready to move forward. Hanging to get my health back. The flowers sit on the kitchen table softening  and uplifting the space and my mood each time I catch a glimpse of them.

This concentrated time of family feels really nice. I don't mind being with my kids and my husband 24/7. They are so loved and cared for.  It feels solid and safe, everyone being together. The children are being  affectionate and sweet and Andy seems well rested.  We have lots of play fights and tickles and laughs. "Mummy I love you more than anything" says my little 5 year old so sincerely and he really is the sweetest thing. 

We decide the peanut butter cookies would be better with dark chocolate smothered all over them. We melt some down and pour it over. 

Monday 14 March

Day 8

Trying to limit television for the kids while getting some work done and also keeping my sanity  means sometimes ignoring my kids arguing and trouble, just letting them work it out by themselves.  Evie goes through the drawers of our tv cabinet and pulls out an ancient DVD of Barbie Fairytopia obtained at a garage sale years ago. The dvd wasn't actually in the case but she turns on the tv and manages to find the exact program on one of the streaming platforms. John John hears the tv is on and comes running. He disintegrates into tantrum however when he sees it's barbie fairies and begs to watch something 'we both like'. He comes to me and puts his chubby hands on my face and pleads for me to change the program. I tell him to let Evie watch the fairies and he can choose something next. He's upset about this though and continues his tantrums. I go back to whatever I was doing on my computer. Next thing John John has picked up the dvd case, lying on the lounge room floor and throws it at Evie. It misses and hits the TV screen, creating a spider web like crack. The TV was messed up. That's the third broken tv in about 4 years.  A dark vapour falls over the house. Andy tells the kids he's not buying another tv. 

I was upset for a few hours. Not only at the expense of replacing the TV yet again in this time of renovations when every dollar counts, and not only because I would miss TV personally, which I would, but because this incident shows how quickly things can go wrong. How accidents can cause irreparable damage that can't ever be reversed. How impulsive behaviour can be fatal. how precious and fragile life is. 

Today it was a TV he broke but what if next time he breaks himself? I went over the moments before the incident and asked myself what ifs. what if I'd responded differently when he held my face in his little hands and begged to watch something else, this was his way of telling me he wasn't coping with the situation. Now it was too late. 

One of the more prominent roses from the arrangement looks at me with her petals creating an almost perfect spiral, reminding me of the nature of life. 

Tuesday 15 March

Day 9

It's the last 'official' day of isolation but I'm feeling a bit deflated today as we still have symptoms of covid. My sore throat has returned. Tomorrow we are supposed to be free but not if this residual slight snotty nose and sore throat remain. It feels like this virus is like four colds in one. I introduce thyme into my blend. I gargle my tea with lots ginger. The tea seems to be helping the most.  Evie picks some yellow roses from the garden and places them next to the flowers from the florist, our floral installation is growing. 

Wednesday 16 March

Day 10

We decide to stay in isolation as we are not yet completely better but my spirits are up because today many exciting things may happen. We may get the final set of house plans for our reno, we may get an offer of a rental we're hoping to secure. The kids are really getting over it now and are begging to go back to school. My sore throat is gone but I'm still blowing my nose when I get up in the morning. By the evening we decide we're probably good enough to emerge from isolation into the world again. 

Thursday 17 March

Day 11

That's better. i go outside and check my car which had been parked around the corner and out of view for the whole week. It was ok. The kids put on their school uniforms and help make their lunches. They're ready for school half an hour early. Andy and I still want to take it easy. We head to the beach and I move my furniture - still in boxes - into my herbal healing clinic to be assembled the next day. I order an A-Frame sign for the street and some business cards. We're offered the rental property we applied for. The kids spend the afternoon playing with friends at the park. Freedom. 

Telehealth consults are available for anyone who needs some herbal support through Covid, and all mail orders are delivered express. 20 minute immune appointments are available for acute illnesses (like Covid). Please book through this link.

Quercetin - The essential anti-viral supplement you never heard of

There’s been some good evidence for hydroxychloriquine lessening the impact of Covid-19. After some initial badly designed studies (and some bad press) it’s been found hydroxychloroquine improves outcomes and lowers fatality rates when administered early enough in the infection lifecycle.

Hydroxychloroquine works as an ionophore - that is - it helps zinc pass through cell membranes into virally infected cells and stop the virus replicating. It’s the zinc that stops the virus once inside the cell. Hydroxycholoriquine  is like a gate opener that allows the zinc the pass through. 

The thing is - hydroxychloroquine isn’t for everyone and has some serious side effects. 

You know what else works as a zinc ionophore? Quercetin - a flavanoid found in onions, apples, grapes, berries, and citrus fruits. It’s also found in herbs such as St johns wort, Gingko and Cranberry. Quercetin is also great for soothing allergies, protecting your heart and improves reproductive health in men. It's an all round good thing to have in your body.

Quercetin is also available in supplement form and I recommend taking with vitamin C and zinc to get maximum anti-viral effects in the case of respiratory infection. 

If you want to add some immune enhancing supplements and herbs to your medicine cupboard, I have some naturopathic appointments available where you get a health plan and prescription of quality herbs and/or supplements tailored to your individual needs. You can book your appointment here.

What Covid-19 does to you and herbs that can help

I was feeling rather calm about the Coronavirus Covid-19 until about two days ago, when I read the tweet of a doctor in Italy describing the scenes of overstuffed hospital wards and not enough supplies to go round. Their resources are being rationed out to only the most high-risk patients, that is patients over 65 years of age. 

Witnessing the pandemic conditions and overextension of medical staff overseas, I feel we all have a responsibility to minimise risk of spreading the disease further. For me that means lots of hand washing and laying low. I’m also going to make sure my loved ones have their own bottles of herbal tincture, to boost immunity and reduce anxiety in these rather strange times. 

 I see a lot of “don’t worry, it only affects older and immune compromised people” being thrown around on social media, as if older and immune compromised people aren’t among us, important or loved. These members of our society can benefit most from herbal support through this epidemic. 

 I love herbs because they come in whole package of phytonutrients and medicine all compete with the co-factors that help absorption and function in the body. I’ve come to think of them as super concentrated forms of nutrition and healing. They are taken directly from nature, and their unique make up interacts with our make-up perfectly.  

 So what does Covid-19 actually do to you and what herbal support is out there to look after your immune system?

 Most people get a mild case of the illness, a dry cough, a runny nose, fever and feel generally run down. Some have no symptoms and all, this is thought to be because they have particularly strong immune systems.  For some though, they’ll be sicker than others, their lungs will be affected and they’ll have difficulty breathing, and in the very worst cases, there will be organ failure and death. 

 This is an overly simplified explanation of what Covid-19 actually does: 

 When first entering the body, Covid-19 likes to invade the cilia in your lungs. The cilia are like little hair like structures that move in synergistic waves. Their job is to coax debris and unwanted substances out of your lungs, - like phlegm and mucous. Their little wave actions of the cilia gradually move unwanted mucous and debris up out of your airways, where you are stimulated to cough and get rid of it altogether.  

If the virus is beating your immune system it will kill your cilia, and you will lose the ability to expel mucous from your lungs. Instead of coughing up, phlegm sits in your lungs impacting your ability to breathe (pneumonia). You can support the health and resilience of your cilia with herbs such as Licorice, Elder, and Astragalus. 

 The virus enters your cells by attaching to angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE-2) receptors on the cell surface. When they infect your cells ACE-2 is down regulated, and all the functions that ACE-2 performs - of which there are several important ones- downregulate (aka reduce) as a result . One of the functions of ACE-2 is protecting the lungs from a build up of mucous. Protection of the lungs is compromised and then mucous and unwanted substances are able to build up in the lungs.  ACE-2 tends to be lower in older people and this is likely one of the reasons they succumb to the virus more than fitter, younger people. Gingko, Licorice, Baical Skullcap, and Dan Shen can support ACE-2. Hawthorn and olive leaf may help protect your lungs and other organs from injury. 

Gingko is a tonic for older age so I particularly like this herb to use as a preventative in our older relatives. Astragalus is wonderful for chronically depleted immunity and another great one for the immune compromised to take preventatively. 

 Though you may recover from the virus after a few weeks, scarring on the lungs has been observed in recovered patients. Damage to the lungs can take months to repair, and doctors studying the effect of Coronavirus on lungs in Wuhan aren’t convinced the scarring will ever repair. So supporting your lungs as much as possible before and through infection is crucial. 

When the virus overtakes enough cells, your immune system can go into overdrive and release a cytokine cascade. This is where key organs can shut down, such as your lungs and kidneys. There are a number of biological chemical interactions that happen at this point that may lead to total shut down and death. Again, this is only in a very small percentage of the population, and observed in the aged and immune compromised. 

 Cordyceps, olive oil and leaf and Japanese knotweed are great for protection of Cilia and endothelial cells against scarring and damage. Astragalus, Baical skullcap, Cinnamon and Elder support your body systems in protection against cytokine cascade. 

 Cinnamon, ginger and cayenne are warming and circulatory stimulating, to promote action in your immune system. These spices are easy to add to food and can be taken as tinctures or in teas as well. 

The high antioxidant content of Olive leaf and Japanese knotweed has been shown to protect against ischaemic damage - that is damage to cells when oxygen supply has been reduced. With this herbal support your cells may manage to withstand the hostile conditions of viral attack just a bit longer. 

Vitamin C in doses between 6000 and 12000 mg is being administered to patients in China, as it seems to be helping. Doctors on the front line in China are also recommending Vitamin C as a preventative measure, so make sure you get lots of fresh, raw fruit and vegetables to maximise your Vit C intake. Great sources include blackcurrants, broccoli, citrus fruits, guavas, pineapples, rosehips, strawberries and tomatoes. It’s also available quite cheaply in supplemental form,aim for 3000mg per day. Be sure to make a good cold pressed olive oil dressing for your salads as well. 

Zinc has wonderful evidence behind it for reducing the duration of symptoms in respiratory viral infections. In fact, scientific literature has found zinc inhibits the virus from replicating by inhibiting Coronavirus RNA polymerise activity. The trouble is you need to get enough zinc inside the infected cell, which is tricky.  In China and South Korea, Coronavirus patients are being administered with a pharmaceutical drug called Chloroquine Phosphate which is an anti-malarial drug that opens the gates of the infected cell and allows the zinc to pass through. Once inside the cell, zinc stops the virus replicating. That specific medication is available by prescription only through a doctor and it comes with side effects. I, by no means, recommend that you go out and request a prescription from your doctor. Making sure your zinc intake is good, balancing with a diet rich in a variety of fresh foods, and supplementing with zinc if you’re low will help. Although I don’t have the scientific papers, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the anti-viral herbs here help the passage of zinc into an infected cell in the same way.

Foods high in zinc include pumpkin seeds, red meat, bilberry, brewers yeast, capsicum (also a great source of vitamin C), egg yolks, ginger, milk, seafood and wholegrain. 

Not all herbal supplements are created equal. To access high quality herbal tinctures you can book in for an online acute immune consult. It’s very affordable, it takes 15 minutes and the consult fee includes a custom-made liquid herbal blend for your unique circumstances. It’s easy to book in through this link. We’re blessed to have these herbal plant allies, robust with health-supporting phytochemicals, at our fingertips. It would be a shame not to use them. 

References

https://www.technologynetworks.com/neuroscience/videos/coronavirus-epidemic-update-34-us-cases-surge-chloroquine-and-zinc-treatment-combo-and-the-lockdown-331935

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jmv.25722

Kerry Bones, Simon Mills Principles and Practice of Phytotherapy 2nd Ed (2013) Churchill Livingstone Elsevier

Henry Osieki, The Nutrient Bible 7th ed, Bio Concepts Publishing

Steven Harrod Buhner, Herbal Treatment for Coronavirus Infections, 2020