What to do for a Fever?

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Vitamin C and lots of it seems to work well from my

experiences. F.

 

 

http://www.doctoryourself.com/fever.html

 

What to do for a Fever?

 

What should you do for a fever? The old joke is,

" Nothing. What has it done for me? "

 

Actually, a fever probably has done a lot for you.

Your body successfully fights many illnesses by

creating a fever. Remember, your body made that

fever, and there is probably a benefit. Robert

Mendelssohn, M.D. routinely told patients to throw

away their thermometers. Ancient medical wisdom says,

" Give me a fever and I can cure anything. " At Park

Ridge Hospital in Rochester, New York, I picked up a

what-to-do-for-fever booklet. It said that the

hospital does not even treat a fever until it is over

102 degrees, and then only for the comfort of the

patient.

 

So what do you do for a fever? Well, first do nothing

at all. If it runs its course in a day or two, let it

be.

 

If a fever is very high for very long, though, there

is genuine cause for concern and for action. Many

days of a fever in excess of 104 degrees might result

in heat seizures, kidney failure or a variety of other

complications. Fevers are not the trouble; they are

the indicator of trouble. We need to deal with the

cause of the fever and the fever will take care of

itself. When I walk indoors shivering on a winter's

day, I do not want muscle relaxants or pain killers.

I want warmth. Get me warm, and my teeth will stop

chattering on their own. It is good to know WHY the

body has a fever.

 

In our house, we will accept a daytime fever up to

103.5 degrees without medication. We like to see it

under 102 at night. This mostly comes from our

worrisome nature as parents. When our kids were very

little, we slept a lot better knowing the fever was

down before bedtime. To reliably lower the fever, we

used Vitamin C and plenty of it.

 

The biggest plus for vitamin C is that it is

remarkably safe. Another advantage of high-dose

vitamin C therapy is that, while it is an excellent

antipyretic, vitamin C acts as a natural antibiotic

and also strengthens the immune system. Vitamin C

lowers a fever by eliminating its cause. The vitamin

must be given very frequently and in sufficient

quantity to get results. When sick, I think one

should take vitamin C as often as humanly possible,

even every ten minutes if necessary. Bowel tolerance

and/or cessation of symptoms indicates sufficient

quantity.

 

Bed rest and liquids have always been and still are

very helpful. Instead of water or worthless sugar

" juice drinks, " I suggest you use freshly made

vegetable juices. Carrot juice in particular is

fairly tasty and loaded with carotenes. Many fevers

are accompanied by infection. Infection rapidly

depletes the liver of its Vitamin A reserves.

Carotene is the cheapest and safest way to take in

large amounts of provitamin A, which the body will

convert into retinol on demand. Deficiency and

toxicity are therefore both avoided.

 

Of course a sick body needs sleep. A niacin

supplement will shorten the time it takes to fall

asleep and actually act as a natural sedative. No

more niacin should be taken at a time than causes a

slight warm feeling, or " flush. "

 

Homeopathy may be very appropriate to try during a

fever. Non-prescription homeopathic preparations have

a nearly two hundred year history of safety. They are

so dilute that toxicity is next to impossible. One

might wonder how something so safe can be so helpful

to the body. It was during a major outbreak of

scarlet fever that homeopathic medicine first received

validation. Records showed that more patients

survived with homeopathic treatment than did with

conventional medicine.

 

Two classic remedies that we've often used at home are

microdilutions of Belladonna and Ferrum Phosphate.

Because homeopathy emphasizes treatment of the person

as a whole, there is not just one " fever remedy. " In

fact, in Boericke's Materia Medica, Ninth Edition,

there are no fewer than 14 PAGES of indexed references

on " fever. " Don't be put off by such thoroughness,

however. A simple guide to the handiest remedies will

be quickly found in The Prescriber, by J. H. Clarke,

M.D. Homeopathic Medicine at Home, by Maesimund

Panos, M.D. and Jane Heimlich is also popular. I'm

especially keen on Dr. Schuessler's Biochemistry, by

J. B. Chapman, M.D. and Who is Your Doctor and Why, by

Alonzo Shadman, M.D. All these books contain

practical dosage information. You may have noted that

all are principally authored by medical doctors. To

irrelevantly quote opera comedian Anna Russell: " I'm

not making this up, you know. "

 

Many a fever is relieved by chiropractic adjustment of

the upper vertebrae of the neck. It is common to have

a feverish child recover much more rapidly than usual

after treatment. It certainly helped our kids, and

that's what matters to me.

 

There is a lot of unnecessary confusion over whether

or not to feed a fever. Naturopathic theory holds

that controlled, therapeutic juice fasting promotes

recovery from many illnesses. We are not talking

starvation, but rather a pause from our usual pattern

of OVER-eating. Juices, especially raw vegetable

juices, actually provide above-average nourishment for

days at least. One could easily show that vegetable

juice fasting really isn't a " fast " at all. It is an

especially healthful, inexpensive, natural, uncooked,

modified liquid diet. I think that if you want

results fast, then fast for results.

 

Philosophically, does it make sense to put more

gasoline into a burning car? First, put the fire out.

We can fill up the tank later.

 

If all the above options seem like a medical walk on

the wild side, keep in mind that even one good idea

can help your child get well a little faster.

 

 

Copyright C 1999 and prior years Andrew W. Saul.

From the books QUACK DOCTOR and PAPERBACK CLINIC,

available from Dr. Andrew Saul, Number 8 Van Buren

Street, Holley, New York 14470.