Last Updated on September 22, 2020
Recently I had fallen sick due to getting caught in just a little rain on Sunday. By Tuesday, felt a bit tired but still okay. However as soon as I had some Milo in the afternoon immediately my body seemed to go haywire. The flu, cough, itchy throat came. By the time I got home, I slept almost immediately.
Next day Wednesday I did not feel better so went to the doctor and was given sick leave- my first sick leave since my few years of work with this company. The doctor took less than 2 minutes to see me (it is the same with all other patients). From there, she prescribed me the following medication:
Medication and prescription:
- Bena expectorant: for my cough
- Paracetemol: for my fever – 2 tablets, 3 times a day
- Triprolldine HCL 2.5mg for flu- 1 tablet at night
- Prednisolone 5mg (MAL19940028A) for inflammation- 2 tablets, 3 times a day
- Antibiotics- 2 tablets each day and must finish
The shocking thing is now Prednisolone which is a steroid based medicine- can be prescribed towards patients with cough. The doctor never heard me cough or tested but she just prescribed me with this medication. Previously I only request for medication…. de-phlegm and the doctor told me out of stock and she said Prednisolone works better.
And on antibiotics- we all know that the more we take, the more resistant we would be in future of it. That is why many developed countries are not longer prescribing antibiotics unless absolutely necessary.
Of course it works better- it is steroid. Steroid can supress the symptoms and you can almost get better instantly. But it drives the problem further inside the organs. Which is dangerous if done all the time.
In the past, doctors only prescribed steroids for very severe cases. Now, it is ‘acceptable’ medical practice to prescribe steroids ….even if the doctor did not conduct proper examination on the patient?
No wonder we are getting more unhealthy.
My remedy for fever and chills- Traditional Chinese Medicine way
From the first time when my chill cured almost like miraculously after taking a bowl of bitter Chinese herbs concuction, I become a believer in the healing powers of Chinese medicine. The chill came due to element imbalance and the traditional practitioner was able to prescribe the correct combination of herbs from just feeling my pulse, observing my facial completion colour, seeing my tongue colour.
So this time, after getting time off, I went straight to see him again. I’ve decided I am not going to take the antibiotics the doctor gave me. My company cover for the panel doctor but not for Chinese doctor and medicine. My main aim is to get well as soon as I can and by curing the root cause instead of supressing the symptoms.
Again he felt my pulse and said that I am developing a little fever. He asked me some pointed questions: ‘is your throat itchy?’ (yes), ‘what is the colour of your phlegm?’ and from there, wrote out the herbs prescription. He always gave 2 prescription to take for 2 days.
The Chinese medicine cost RM20 per package – and there is no consultation fee. On the photograph above, the herbs were not complete yet. The completed one made quite a big packet. It is to be boiled using 4 bowls of water- first using high fire, then slow fire. Boil until 4 bowls of water become 1 bowl. I did was I did previously. He left instructions for me not to take any fried food or oily food as it would interfere with the effectiveness of the medicine. The Chinese medicine should ideally be taken at about 4pm. One should also take rest.
After taking the Chinese medicine, one would feel hot. After 1 hour it occured to me I should wrap myself up like I am in the antartic to induce my body to sweat. With no fan or air-con, I felt better after sweating. Not advisable to bathe if you still feel cold. Wipe off the sweat with a piece of damp cloth and change the clothings.
Food to take: Don’t take fruits first, no fried stuff, no cold drinks. Try to take clear soupy things like noodles soup or porridge. Sometime simple for your body to digest. Take lots of fluids and lots of rest.
The next day, I felt good enough to go to work. As the day progresses, I gradually began to recover and my appetite came back. Today, I feeling a bit of running nose and blocked qi due to too much resting, I practiced wai tan kung and felt back to my old self.
From my experience, healing using the traditional way is more effective internally and with no side effects compared to ‘effective prescribed medication’. If I am travelling with groups of people and feeling under the weather, yes, I would pop in a Claritin (Loratadine) for my running nose or paracetemol for my headache…. because I knew if I get sick it would inconvenience others. Otherwise, I would give my body time to rest and take traditional medicine.
I would recommend giving traditional Chinese medicine, ayurveda or other more ancient healing methods a try when you are not feeling well. As these medicine works with nature, you would need to allow your body to rest for its full effectiveness.
