For years I tried my best to get him to kick the habit. Those pills are quite expensive! And I feared what probable side effects were taking hold on him. But he had to have one. Every day. If he skipped a day he was in terrible digestive pain. I’d do everything I could to get him “clean” again. I tried to get him to change his diet, I tried home remedies, I even took the debit card away and forbid him to buy any more of that stuff. But just like a good enabler, when he began withdrawals and was truly in a lot of pain, I’d give in out of pity and let him get more.

But see, this is how they designed it. This is how they keep your money filling their pockets. You get heartburn, you take the medicine, which causes your body to produce more acid, which causes more heartburn. Then you take more medicine to control the problem, but it only makes you dependent. It’s a vicious cycle.

When my husband lost his job a few months ago, we really had to tighten our belts. And food was top priority over meds. When that last box of pink pills ran out, it was out for good. No matter how much he wanted it, my husband knew that we just could not afford to feed his addiction any longer.

The first two weeks were tough. TOUGH. Poor guy! He was miserable. The acid reflux was so bad; he was really hurtin’. I searched every home remedy I could find, and made him try them all. Although Apple Cider Vinegar is highly recommended, it did not work for Jerry. He tried baking soda, with little relief. But what helped him get through his days the most was eating an apple. Every time his chest would start to burn, he’d eat a little more apple.  That was the only thing that eased the discomfort. As the third week rolled around, the heartburn wasn’t constant any longer, but only came occasionally. What was triggering it?

We took a good look at his diet, and tried to take note of things that he ate before his acid reflux would kick in. It didn’t take us long to figure out the trend. Soda, Spaghetti (sauce), Hot Dogs (ketchup), Chocolate milk (syrup)… Yes, all of these things in themselves are not good for you, but the key ingredient in all of them is High Fructose Corn Syrup. We had a major Ah-Ha! moment. As soon as Jerry stopped eating foods with HFCS in them, his acid reflux went away.

Completely.

I am proud to say that my husband has been free from Prilosec OTC for 4 months now! I was afraid he’d never break the habit. What a relief it is to know that he doesn’t have to depend on pharmaceuticals to get by every day. And now I don’t have to worry about the side effects of taking these pills daily. Part of being self-sufficient is breaking the dependence on the pharmaceutical industry, and learning to treat yourself with natural remedies (as much as possible).

I’m proud of him for toughing it out! It wasn’t easy, but SO worth it.

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Her poor little face. It started out like this:

And then a little bit later it looked like this:

Then it got worse:

Both cheeks were like this, and her ears were very red and swollen as well. Her entire body was covered in a horribly itchy rash.

The doctors have never really been any help when she’s had hives in the past. All they tell me is to give her Benadryl, which I don’t like to do. So, instead of drugging her up, I began searching for a more natural treatment.

The first remedy I came across said to fill a bathtub half full with water, and add 1/2 cup of baking soda, and 1/2 cup of cornstarch. I ran a nice warm bath, and did as was suggested. Jada hopped in and soaked for a while. I also poured 1/2 cup of old fashioned oats (oatmeal) into a sock, tied it off, and threw it into the bath as well.

When I got her out I was horrified to find that she looked twice as bad as she did before the bath! She stood there scratching like crazy, and looking so pitiful.

I got on the computer and searched for another remedy. Someone said that baby oil worked for them, so I covered her in baby oil. It didn’t do any good. Finally, I got desperate and found some medicated itch cream in my cabinet. I could only use a little bit of it though, as it warned not to apply it to large areas of the body. I dabbed some on her cheeks.

As I kept looking online I came across the same baking soda/ cornstarch treatment again. Though this time, the directions were more specific. I was to give her a COOL bath… not a warm one! The warm water activated the histamines which caused the rash to worsen.

Before she went to bed, I gave Jada another bath. This time with really cool water, with the same mixture as before. I rubbed her body with the oatmeal sock. She was cold, so we made it quick.

I was very pleased the next morning when she woke up and her skin was completely cleared up! Yay!! We went outside and the the kids played while I did my chores. Jada and Titus were in the trees, collecting honeysuckle and having a wonderful time.

But when we came back in for lunch I noticed something… Jada was breaking out again! The hives were back, and spreading very quickly. I made a paste out of cream of tartar and water, and rubbed it onto the spots as they appeared. This was very effective at stopping the itching, but the bumps were spreading so quickly, that soon her whole body was once again covered.

Another cool bath, with 1/2 c. of baking soda, 1/2 cup of cornstarch, and an oatmeal sock did the trick.

I’ve decided that it’s probably the honeysuckle that is breaking her out. She was playing with it before her first batch of hives, and quickly broke out once more after playing in it again. It could be something else, but we are definitely staying away from the honeysuckle!

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I didn’t realize I’d stepped on it, until I tried to move and my shoe wouldn’t budge. It wasn’t until I jerked my foot up and felt a twinge of pain when I realized that the nail had punctured my foot. After pulling my shoe off, I quickly saw the blood soaking my sock.

Great.

I really didn’t want to have to go get a Tetanus Shot. And I was highly annoyed that my careless mishap could end up costing us a pretty penny. Like we have money to be throwing away on a doctor’s visit!

I got on Facebook and many of you offered some very good advice. This is what I ended up doing: First off I cleaned the wound with Peroxide, rubbed on some Neosporin, and slapped on a bandaid.  But after reading some suggestions, I started soaking my foot in hot water with Epsom salt 2-3 times a day for at least 30 min. each time. Then I’d dry it off and, using a Q-tip, rubbed the sore with Lavender Oil (Tea Tree Oil would have been good too). I tried to let it stay unbandaged as much as possible, so that it could get lots of air.

A BIG thanks to my friends Rachel and Pat in particular, for doctoring me via the internet!

After a few days, it did begin healing nicely. I was nervous about an infection setting in, as it was a bit red and tender for those first few days. But my friends assured me that a little soreness was normal. As long as it was not very red, hot to touch, or oozing, it was doing okay.

I am glad I didn’t run straight to the doctors office. I’m not saying that you should do what I do. I’m just telling you that this worked for me.

But the whole point of me sharing this story wasn’t really to tell you how I treated a nail wound, but rather to share with you an old folk remedy that I find very interesting.

When my husband got a look at the hole in my foot the first thing he told me was that whenever he stepped on a nail as a kid, his grandfather would always put Kerosene on it. As a matter of fact, he’d put Kerosene on any broken skin.

Honestly, I thought that sounded crazy. But after asking around, other people I’ve spoken to have also recalled using Kerosene when they were growing up. When I went to visit my friend Adelia this past Monday, I told her about how I’d stepped on a nail and what I’d done to treat it. She smiled and asked, “You didn’t use Kerosene?” I was surprised that even she would say that! She showed me the little medicine bottle with a dropper in it that she uses just for Kerosene.

Hmmm. Interesting!

So, next time I think I’ll try this Kerosene remedy for a nail wound. Along with the Epsom soaks and essential oils, of course.

Have you ever heard of using Kerosene to treat wounds? Do you know of another home remedy for treating a nail puncture wound? I’m all for staying out of the doctor’s office if I can help it!

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My little man at a year old, pink eye just clearing up.

Here is an excerpt from my post Don’t Be Afraid To Question; to understand why I turned to natural remedies to treat pink eye, you’ll have to read my story:

“…When Titus got Pinkeye, I tried using an herbal treatment at first, but I was having a hard time getting the drops into his tightly shut eyes, so the symptoms only got worse. After the third day I took him to see the doctor. My regular pediatrician was unavailable, so I had to see somebody else. I didn’t like him. I’ll call him Dr. R. He was very quick to prescribe something, even though he was unsure whether the conjunctivitis was viral or bacterial. He told me, “Just to be sure, we’ll give him this.” I did not like the idea of giving baby Titus prescription eye drops used to treat a bacterial infection, if it was merely a virus that would clear on it’s own. I was not impressed. Nevertheless, I did as I was told and later that night I gave him his first drop of the medicine before bed.

It was about 4 hours later when I heard Titus crying in his crib. I went in to check on him, and when he sat up and looked at me I was completely horrified to see that his right eye was grotesquely swollen, so much so that he could hardly even squint his eye open to see out of it. I picked him up in a panic, saying “Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness! Look at your eye! What is wrong with your eye?!” As I brought him more into the light I could see that his eyelids were not only extremely puffy, but they were red as well. It looked like somebody had shoved cotton balls under his top and bottom eye lids, like a horrible infection. I waved my hand in front of his face, and his one good eye moved, but the swollen eye could not. Was he going to be blind? I woke my sleeping husband to show him the terrible sight.

I immediately got on the phone and called my Pediatrician’s office. The after-hours nurse answered. After I told her what had happened she told me that I should take him to the Emergency Room. She said it could be a secondary infection, and it might be worse in the morning if it doesn’t get treated. I hung up with her, and cried. I prayed and cried. I knew that if I took the poor, sleepy little guy to the ER at 11:30pm, it wouldn’t be until early in the morning before we’d be back home, where he could finally rest again. I agonized over the decision. Do I wait and let him rest, or do I take him because it might get worse? After a time, I decided I would let him sleep. He was exhausted. And I recalled Jada’s trauma, and didn’t want to torture him as well. I stayed awake all night long, sitting on the couch with the baby monitor by my side, listening for a whimper from him, crying and praying that it would get better by morning. He woke up again at 3am. and when I got him up I noticed that his eye was looking a little bit better. I thanked the Lord, held him in my arms until he fell back asleep, and then laid him down for more rest. By the morning his eye was considerably better, though still a little swollen. I called the doc’s office again and told them what was going on. They decided it was an allergic reaction. Dr. R wasn’t in, so they consulted another doctor, who called in an alternate prescription.

Now check this out, the first prescription eye drops that I had given Titus were called Ciprofloxacin. The second set of drops that I was prescribed were called Vigamox. When I read the warnings for the Vigamox I was dumbfounded to read, “if you have had an allergic reaction to Ciprofloxacin, do not use this product!” What?! I’m not giving him this! I was disgusted by the lack of knowledge displayed by the pediatricians. I went back to my original method of home remedy treatments, and within a couple of days his eyes were clear. What did the doctor say? “Oh, well I guess it was just viral.” Yeah, you guess, that’s the problem.”

After that, it’s been natural treatments for us. So, what do I use for pink eye? I’ve tried three: An eyedrop tea made from Eyebright (the powdered form of the herb), Chamomile Tea Bags, and even breast milk. And with all three I have had wonderful results. I always say that if the pink eye lasts more than a week I’ll go in for antibiotics, but so far all of these treatments have cured the problem within 2-3 days.

If you are fortunate enough to have breast milk on hand, I’d suggest that first. It works great, and doesn’t have any grit or sting. Chamomile Tea bags work good for children who can sit still for 10 min. or so with the bags on their eyes. When Jada got pinkeye I had her lay her head on my lap, put the warm tea bags over her eyes, and rubbed her hair while I made up a fantastical story about her. This helped her to be still and relax, and she actually looked forward to her treatments. I would squeeze the bags a little to get some of the tea into the corner of her eyes.

Eyebright may be harder to find in a hurry. I have the powdered form. I mix about 1/4 tsp to maybe about 1/4 cup of warm water, and stir to dissolve. Then I use an eyedropper to administer a couple of drops of the tea to the corner of my child’s eye and open the eye so that some of the drops get in. It’s a little gritty, but works well.

For any of these treatments I will do them twice to three times a day.

So, do you have a favorite natural way to treat pink eye?? I’d love to hear what you do!

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(This is where I buy all of my herbs. I have been extremely satisfied doing business with them.)

I just received my first order of seeds for the medicinal herb garden I am planning to plant this year. It took me a long time and a lot of researching to finally make up my mind as to what herbs I should order. I wasn’t able to get all of the plants I’d like to have, but I got enough to start with.

Now, I am still very new to the world of herbal remedies. I haven’t tried a lot, and I don’t know much yet. I’ve never made my own tincture or salve. But I’m determined to learn. And this is where I start.

Here is what I ordered:

Basil- Good insect repellent, good for after childbirth, itching skin, coughs, head colds, asthma or bronchitis, and mental fatigue; also good for cooking with.

Burdock- Good for skin disorders like eczema; athlete’s foot, ringworm, indigestion, bruises, acne, and feverish colds with sore throat and cough.

Calendula- Good for rashes, diaper irritations, facial creams and other natural cosmetics, and dry skin.

German Chamomile- Good for insect bites, eczema, IBS, getting restless baby to sleep, asthma, and mucus.

Chickweed- Good for UTI’s, painful joints, shingles, drawing insect stings or splinters, and burns.

Comfrey- Good to apply to minor fractions, such as broken toes, ribs, or hairline cracks in larger bones; osteoarthritis, bruises, sprains.

Echinacea Purpurea- (Purple Coneflower) Good for influenza, chills, UTI’s, food poisoning or snakebites, infected wounds, sore throats, skin conditions, kidney infections.

Lavender- Good for tension headaches, during labor; babies for colic, irritability and excitement; depression, halitosis, eczema, sunburn or scalds, asthmatic  and bronchitic spasm, lice, migraine, insect bites and stings.

Marshmallow- Good for use as a cough expectorant, digestive or urinary disorders.

Meadowsweet- Good for feverish colds, children’s stomach upsets, excess stomach acidity, arthritis, painful joints, pink eye (conjunctivitis) and other eye complaints; works like aspirin.

Plantain- Good for diarrhea, lung infections, heavy mucus, bee stings and slow-healing wounds, burns, hemorrhoids, sores, sore throats, and mouth or gum inflammations, coughs, and constipation.

Yarrow- Good for upper respiratory phlegm, eczema, hay fever and mild asthma, inflamed joints, chesty colds and flu, nosebleeds, cuts, reduce fevers, menstrual problems and varicose veins.

Here are a few other things I’d like to add eventually:

Agrimony- Good for kids diarrhea, bleeding, wounds, pink eye, eczema.

Eyebright- Good for pink eye, mucus, colds

Lady’s Mantle- Good for regulating menstrual cycles, female problems

Ginger-Good for chills and phlegmy colds, flatulence, indigestion and nausea, morning sickness in pregnancy, travel sickness, menstrual cramps, stomach upsets, prevents vomiting, antiseptic.

Garlic- Good for acne, intestinal parasites, digestive disorders and infections, thrush, cardiovascular problems, reducing excessive blood cholesterol levels; antibiotic, anticoagulant, lowers blood sugar levels, anti-histaminic.

Aloe- Good for burns, dry skin, wounds, fungal infections, sunburn and insect bites; stops bleeding, sedative, expels worms, constipation, used on children’s nails to stop nail biting.

Pot Marigold- Not only are they pretty in the garden, they are also useful for menopausal problems, period pain, gastitis, inflammation of the esophagus, sluggish digestion, menstrual problems, mouth ulcers and gum disease, varicose ulcers, breastfeeding, scalds and sunburn, hemorrhoids, and broken capillaries, vaginal yeast infections, nervous anxiety or depression.

Green Tea- Rich in fluoride, helps guard against tooth decay; good on insect bites to reduce itching and inflammation, first aid for bleeding from cuts and grazes.

Cayenne- Good for colds; antiseptic, antibacterial.

Cinnamon- Good for chronic diarrhea or weak kidney problems, coughs and respiratory irritation.

Myrrh- Makes a good chest rub for colds.

Goldenseal- Useful for measles and eczema.

Mint- Good for nausea, indigestion, flatulence, colic, feverish conditions, and migraines; cools inflamed joints, nasal congestion, skin irritations, scabies and ringworm, repels mosquitoes, menstrual pain or to relieve milk congestion when breastfeeding.

Ginseng- Good to fight fatigue and promotes health during the winter months.

Rosemary- Good for fatigue and headaches.

Sage- Can reduce lactation when weaning, relieves night sweats during menopause, reduces salivation in Parkinson’s disease, sore throats, tonsillitis, mouth ulcers or gum disease, dandruff, restore color to graying hair, menstrual pain, coronary heart disease, digestive stimulant.

As you can see, some of these herbs are great to cook with as well! This is just a list of some of the herbs I’d like to use. There are many other useful plants that I have not listed.

Do you have a favorite herbal remedy? Is there an herb that you love that I did not mention, or a remedy I forgot to add? I’d love to hear how you combat ailments naturally!

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I’m afraid baby Xia has her first ear infection. I don’t know definitely, but I’m pretty sure. My other two got ear infections quite often, so I’m experienced enough to recognize the signs.

It started yesterday when I noticed that she wasn’t nursing well. I thought maybe she just wasn’t hungry. But then this morning, at like 5am she woke up screaming and crying. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her. She has had a little cold for the past week, so I thought maybe her sinuses or her throat were hurting her.

I rocked her in the rocking chair for an hour and a half. She finally dozed off and slept for a long time. But throughout the rest of the day today she hasn’t nursed much at all. Every time I’d try to feed her, she’d start to nurse, then pull off. Start again, then pull off. Again I thought maybe she just wasn’t hungry. I’d keep trying to get her to nurse, but then she would start screaming and crying again. I just couldn’t figure it out.

When my husband came home tonight he heard baby girl screaming again. He asked me what was wrong with her. I started telling him what she’d been doing… not eating, crying when I try to feed her or lay her down, not sleeping well… and as I listed her symptoms all of a sudden I realized, I bet she has an ear infection!

I really needed to know if she does have an ear infection, but I HATE going to the pediatrician’s office. They always give me the hardest time about the choices that I make regarding my children, I feel like they’re gonna call Social Services on me! Plus, with everything that’s going around right now, I really don’t want to take my kids to the doctor’s office, where all of the sick kids are and where my babies could pick up more germs. Not if I don’t have to!

So, I decided to call my midwife neighbor. I wasn’t sure if she would even know how to check for ear infections, or even have the ear checking device thingy, but she’s super smart about stuff, her Mother was a nurse and taught her a lot, so I thought I’d give it a shot. Fortunately for me, she was home, and not busy. I told her that I thought baby Xia had an ear infection, and listed her symptoms. I asked her if she would be able to look in Xia’s ears. She said she could, and told me I was welcome to come over right then, or tomorrow, whenever was good for me. It was almost 8pm! I was like, “Really? Oh my goodness, that is so nice! I’ll be there in just a couple of minutes.”

Poor Xia. She was crying inconsolably when I arrived. Amy said, “Oh yeah, that’s a painful crying.” It was hard to get Xia to be still enough for Amy to look into her ears. The first ear looked okay. She tried to check out the other ear, which happened to be the one that I thought was the hurting one, but I guess there was a lot of wax in the way. She said that Xia had really small ear canals. She couldn’t see that ear well. But she told me that if she does have an ear infection, it would be in that ear.

Because Xia has so many symptoms of an ear infection, she told me to go ahead and treat her for it. Here is what she suggested:

1.) Apply Garlic Oil ear drops.

I crushed (with the side of a butcher knife) three garlic cloves, poured about 5 Tbsp of Olive oil over it, and heated it up in a saucepan over low heat and let it sit for about 15 min. (cause I was in a hurry to get it in her ear). What I didn’t use right away sat for an hour before I removed the cloves.

I’m to put 2 drops of oil in her ear 2-3 times a day for 3 days. I’m going to do this, plus follow Melissa D’s remedy as well, and rub it all over and around the ear with a Q-tip.

2.) Give her some baby Chamomilla tablets. I had some Homeopathic Teething Tablets that she said would work just as well.

3.) Run a humidifier.

4.) After applying the oil in one ear, lay her down with that ear up and put a heated rice pad under the other ear. I just put rice in a clean sock and heated it up. (My problem was finding a sock without a hole in it!) Don’t heat for very long though. I put it in the microwave for like 2 min. and it was steaming for a long time! I let her lay like this for like 15 min. on my lap, so the oil could work it’s way into her ear.

5.) Have her sleep upright. She’s in her bouncy seat next to my bed in her nursery.

If she isn’t better in a couple of days, or seems to get worse, I should take her to the doctor. Amy suggested that I ask them for numbing ear drops. I forget what the name is. I doubt my doctor would give them to me though. They are all about antibiotics and tubes in the ears.

I am PRAYING that she gets over this quickly!! I’ll post my thoughts on this home remedy when Xia is better.

**UPDATE:

I’m happy to say that Xia is back to her normal sweet self! Actually, after the very first application of the garlic oil in her ear about 2 hours later she seemed to be feeling much better, and even nursed better than she had in a day and a half. She slept through that night with no problems.

I continued the drops twice a day for two more days. She never cried in pain again after that first application. She did occasionally pull off while nursing, but not as often. I think she’s fine now.

Thank you for all of your suggestions! I’m happy to say that this remedy worked very well for us, and I will definitely do it again the next time I suspect an ear infection is coming on!

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When you first notice symptoms of a possible UTI (mainly painful burning during urination), try these three things:

• Drink 1 Gallon of water in 24 hours
• Take 1000 mg. Vitamin C
• Take 1-2 Garlic Tablets

You ought to feel significant relief within 24 hours.

Hope that helps!! If you have another way of treating a UTI naturally, I’d love to hear your method!

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To treat toothaches here’s what you do:

Mix 2-3 drops of pure clove oil with 1/4 tsp. olive oil.

*Don’t put straight clove oil on your tooth… Jerry tried that first… it burns!!

If you have dry socket, add a couple of drops of the mixture into the empty socket, or pack it with a cotton ball dipped in the mixture.

If you have a toothache, dip a cotton ball in the mixture and place it in your mouth beside the aching tooth. Keep it there until the pain is gone. You could also use a cotton swab to rub the mixture onto your gums.

Relief should be almost instant.

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I don’t know how I got it… maybe from petting the goats, but I have broken out with a terribly itchy poison ivy (or poison oak) rash, and it was driving me nuts!

I didn’t want to use Cortisone or other steroid creams to treat the itching. So, I found a natural product that works wonders for the irritation: Tea Tree Oil!

I’ve been applying it with a cotton ball several times/day, and it has been a tremendous help! After just one day the rash is looking much much better, and the itching is relieved for several hours.

My friend Mrs. Adelia also swears by Plantain. It grows in her yard like weeds, so she uses it for lots of things. For poison ivy, she makes a tea to drink from the Plantain leaves, and she also rubs a fresh leaf directly on the rash.

*UPDATE*

Well, the Tea Tree Oil was working well for me, but I ran out of it. I decided to try another remedy I’d heard of… a banana peel. So at breakfast I ate a banana, then wrapped the peel around the rash for just a little while. It did relieve the itching, and for the rest of the day it didn’t bother me anymore. The next day the rash was all dried up, and it hasn’t bothered me since! Next time I’ll go straight to the banana peel and see if it works that quickly again.

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(Sorry it’s hard to see, that was as close as my camera would focus.)

So, I was washing Jada’s hair and found a tick stuck fast at her hairline. I’ve heard lots of different methods for removing a tick, and I remember my dad used to always light a match and stick it to the butt of the tick whenever I got them as a kid, but I wanted to make sure that I removed it the BEST way.

I’ve heard that if you burn the tick, or upset it while trying to remove it, it could regurgitate saliva and blood back into where it’s biting, which would easily spread Lyme Disease (among other diseases) if it has it. I didn’t want to take a chance.

After doing some reading, I decided to just pull the tick straight out as this is actually the recommended method of removal. I used alcohol to clean a pair of sharp tweezers, then my husband lifted the tick up with them, got the head of the tick in the tweezers, and quickly pulled it straight out.

A tiny piece of her scalp was still attached to it’s mouth, so we know we got the whole thing. Sometimes it will bury it’s head in your skin, and if you don’t get the head out it will just grow a new body. So, you need to make sure you pull it out as close to the skin as possible.

I cleaned the bite with rubbing alcohol, and flushed the little critter down the toilet. Don’t ever try to squish a tick, as it could spread disease. Just flush it.

Jada was a trooper, and was more interested in examining the tick than worrying about us removing it. She had been following the goats into the woods earlier, I’m sure that’s how she got it.

I’ve been diligently checking the kids for ticks every day now.

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