Gastroenteritis, Rotavirus or Tummy Bug.
No matter which name we use, a tummy bug drains your energy and leaves you feeling exhausted. It is caused by a bacteria or virus as the above names indicate. The bugs cause inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. Parasitical organisms and bad food also cause inflammation. Too much of anything your body does not like can also cause inflammation eg fiber, sugar, foreign foods, food intolerance, irritable bowel syndrome, candida and overeating. Many people live with bowel inflammation, so add a bacteria or virus and they get hit hard by the condition.
Symptoms: Vomiting, diarrhoea, nausea, weakness and tiredness are the main ones.
Cramping, thirst, abdominal pain and fever can also be a part of the infection.
Currently I am seeing a lot of people suffering from a current rotavirus. Firstly remember that your body is wise. The symptoms tell you that it is trying to get rid of something nasty that has invaded your digestive system. It is a bad idea to try and stop the diarrhoea using over the counter medication. It is more intelligent to work with your body, not against it. While you let nature take its course, help your body with the healing process. Secondly you have to stem the loss of liquids due to diarrhoea and vomiting, as well as replace the electrolytes (minerals) lost during the excretion of fluids.
Rife Machine:
If you have a Rife machine available, then do Rotavirus treatments 2- 4 times a day. Just do not exhaust the patient. Also you can alternate it with immune system treatments. It is not the only tool, yet for me it is a tried and tested tool.
Natural Treatment:
Step 1:
Rehydrate:
The first step is to rehydrate, especially if there has been diarrhoea and vomiting. I normally go for a 24 hour liquid fast to do so. Water is the first prize, followed by clear vegetable broth. Warm water always has a better effect than cold water. Herb teas that I will mention in later steps can be drank as often as possible. Green drinks made from barley, wheat or oat grass are helpful. Spirulena is also good. Green tea and black Ceylon tea have been proven to kill rotavirus, so drink up. Tea made from carob powder also helps detoxify when there is an upset tummy. Rooibos and honeybush are good for upset tummies. Raspberry leaf tea, fenugreek tea and meadowsweet tea are all palatable. If abdominal cramps are an issue, ginger root tea or chopped up and chewed is very helpful. The following herbs are good for cramps and flatulence: peppermint, cinnamon, cardamom, fennel, catnip and chamomile. Most of the soothing/healing herbs can be taken as tinctures or boiled up and concentrated as teas as well. Brown rice is cooked up to make a soup like gruel in the macrobiotic tradition, but I prefer it after the 24 tea and broth fast.
Step2:
Bowel Detoxification:
Psyllium seed husks and flaxseed powder both provide bulk that help stools form and detoxify the bowels. Carob, charcoal powder and Bentonite clay all absorb virus toxins. If you have all the above on hand mix a tablespoon of each or whichever you can lay your hands on together. Every hour or two take 2 teaspoons of the powder mixed in a cup of water. Drink right away otherwise they will form a jelly in the cup. You want that jelly to form in the gut and cleanse/heal as it travels along. Couple this with drinking herb tea every half an hour. This will prevent dehydration and help the body clean the offending bugs out.
Step 3:
Kill off the bad guys:
There are a number of herbs and foods that kill bacteria and viruses. Here is a list
- Garlic fresh or fermented (in capsules).
- Colloidal Silver. Take several doses during the day.
- Zinc Picolinate. 60 mg per day. Works well with Vitamin C 5000mg-20000mg per day to fight bacteria and virus.
- Stabilized liquid oxygen, or magnesium powder or hydrogen peroxide (called Rain Drops in health shops) kill bugs and re alkalise the gut.
- Bee Propolis is an infection killer.
- Full strength grapefruit seed extract kills most micro organisms.
- Origanum oil capsules can kill most bugs.
- The following herbs come in capsules or tinctures—olive leaf extract, golden seal, milk thistle, Echinacea root, cats claw, African potato (hypoxis rooperi), astragalus extract, berberis root/bark extract, elder berry/flower extract, pau d arco and ginseng (inhibits rotavirus). Most of these herbs also help with fever and should be taken with peppermint tea to help avoid nausea.
- For bacterial gut infection mega doses of niacinamide 500—5000mg destroy bugs. This is not ideal for a
Step 4:
Soothe and heal the gut:
- L-Glutamine powder in water. If the fevers and violent cramping have eased, it is time to heal the gut. One teaspoon in a cup of water a few times a day breaks down the biofilm that germs hide in and heals the gut walls.
- Aloe Vera gel. Do not use aloe drinks because they are mostly fruit juice, sugar and other things that are useless. (Alcare makes an effective product)
- The following herbs are soothing and astringent and also help with recovery: wild yam root, licorice root, bayberry bark, mullein flower or leaf (often used in tea form), slippery elm bark, marshmallow root bark, oak bark, tormentil root, comfrey root and American cranesbill.. These are able to soothe and heal the damage caused by the germ attack.
You may need to dose yourself with the herbs and above remedies a few times a day for a few days to provide relief. You can seek further relief from homeopathic remedies if you so desire. Their one advantage is that the pillules are tasteless or the liquids are made with water and alcohol.
Homeopathy:
Most of these can be used in 6x or 30x strength. Take as needed up to several times daily.
Ars Alb—violent vomiting, diarrhoea, chilliness, fearful, restless.
Belladonna –violent pains and fever.
Bryonia—nausea and vomiting.
Colocynth—severe pains, vomiting and diarrhoea.
Ipecac –persistent nausea and vomiting.
Mag Phos—cramp, abdominal pains.
Nux Vom—vomiting, retching, back ache, chilly, irritable.
Argentum Nit—diarrhoea and bloatedness
Cuprum—violent cramps
Eupatorium—gastic flu
Podophyllum—profuse spraying diarrhoea.
Chamomilla—diarrhoea in children
Merc Sol—smelly mucousy stools, diarrhoea worse at night.
Nat Phos—acidic diarrhoea
Aromatherapy:
- Chamomile, geranium, sandalwood, thyme, rosemary, clary sage and lavender. These oils may be applied to the abdomen mixed with a carrier oil,
Step 5:
Repopulate the Bowels:
Once the extreme runny tummy and vomiting have been helped by steps 1 to 4, it is time to start repopulating the gut. There are many pre and pro biotic agents available. They come in powders or capsules. The most popular are lactobacillus acidophilus, bifidus and rhamnosis. There are many more. For example I like kefir, both the fruit kefir and and milk kefir (preferably made from goat milk, sheep or buffalo milk). I grow them at home and feed them to myself, my family and pets daily. Take generous doses because the future health of your body and your mind depend on a wide range of healthy bowel bacteria. The presence of glyphosate, pesticides and antibiotics in our food chain tend to kill off our friendly flora as well as the use of many chemical medications and food additives. Bowel repopulation should be done by everyone on a daily basis even when you are well.
Step 6:
Reintroduce foods and your usual supplements. First fast and rehydrate, kill the bad guys and soothe/heal the gut and repopulate it. When the extreme nausea, diarrhoea and vomiting are over, the best foods to start with are green bananas (because of their resistant starch), pureed apples (which are high in pectin) and paw paw and pineapple which are high in digestive enzymes. If the sugar in the paw paw and pineapple cause tummy cramps, then discontinue. The next gentle food is soaked, cooked brown or basmati rice with some steamed vegetables. No nuts, seeds, proteins, sugars or grains when you still have any symptoms. Rushing into heavy foods will exhaust you, prolong inflammation and delay recovery. Bear in mind that the rotavirus may have layer after layer of the bug that can be released. If this happens, you are not being reinfected, it is the nature of the original virus. With the current outbreak, people seem to recover, only to be hit by another layer and have to go through the whole healing process a few times. If you get hit by several layers, that is just the design of the particular virus. Do not panic. You will get better.
I cannot give specific time and dosage information here because that varies from person to person. Work that out by talking to me, your health practicioner or doctor. Remember that if this condition is not well managed at home and dehydration and infection get the upper hand, someone may end up in hospital or at least needing an electrolyte drip.
In Closing
Allow healing to prevail. Rest. Pray. Meditate or just lie there and visualize yourself healthy and well again. Let Nature do its job. We are programmed to heal. Never forget that no matter how ill you feel. Trust is vital. Help nature as much as possible. Do not over ride it. With each breath healing is happening.
Blessings !