Dengue is also called “breakbone fever.”
“Breakbone,” they say, because you get so debilitated by it, whether you are a child or an adult.
Symptoms can appear four to ten days after infection and may include a rapidly rising fever; soreness in the eyeballs; severe pains in the hands, the lower back, and the joints. Most people recover well, but, unfortunately, some don’t.
Here are some natural remedies I’ve shared with persons who were experiencing dengue.
Firstly, you must ensure that you are dealing with dengue and not some other type of virus. This is critical. The patient should be kept in bed and on a very light diet, drinking lots of water and coconut water.
LAXATIVES, LEAF OF LIFE, FEVER GRASS
If there is constipation, you can take a laxative just to remove the waste from the colon. Try cascara sagrada, senna, or buckthorn bark. Use one teaspoon to eight ounces of boiling water to make a tea, strain it off, and serve four ounces in the morning and another four in the afternoon.
If the fever goes above 103 degrees Fahrenheit, sponge down with a cool bath. Add one tablespoon of fever grass to eight ounces of boiling water, let it boil for three to four minutes, steep for five, add a little honey, and sip. In addition, use the leaf of life plant: take six to seven leaves, blend them in some freshly squeezed orange juice or coconut water, strain, and drink.
GOLDENSEAL AND ECHINACEA
Keep the patient as cool as possible. Goldenseal and echinacea are natural antibiotics and blood tonics. They are excellent for viral infections. Serve a quarter teaspoon of the goldenseal root powder, mixed in two ounces of warm water and take on an empty stomach, about 10 to 15 minutes before breakfast. Then, in the afternoon to evening, you give the echinacea. I prefer to use the liquid form, especially when dealing with an emergency. Some brands do a goldenseal-echinacea-combo, of which you would give a quarter teaspoon, twice a day, to a child.
What if you have dried echinacea? Place one teaspoon in a pot of water, let it boil on low heat for about four minutes, turn off the stove, steep for five minutes, strain, add a little honey, and then drink.
FLU SHOT
For this flu shot, place a quarter cup of lemon juice in your blender, a quarter cup of honey, a half teaspoon of turmeric powder, two inches of ginger, one small onion peeled and cut into pieces, four or five drops of eucalyptus oil, and four or five drops of edible peppermint oil.
Blend everything, pour it into a glass jar, and store in the fridge. You take three tablespoons for an adult in the morning and three tablespoons in the afternoon.
For children: one tablespoon in the morning and the same in the evening. Children under the age of one should not be given honey, so you omit that from theirs and give them only about a quarter teaspoon of the mix.
OIL OF OREGANO
Oil of oregano is excellent for viral infections; just add seven to nine drops three times a day (even up to 12) in some water, juice, or coconut water, and you swallow quickly. Remember that oil and water don’t mix, so once you stir, drink immediately. I find the oil of oregano a little bit too harsh, when taken alone.
If you’re serving a child who is under the age of six, you can give them four drops three times per day.
When I got sick recently, I took all of these things, and in two days I was back on my feet.
DIET
While you’re going through the dengue phase, you have to keep the body cool and the immune system boosted. Avoid all flesh foods (no fish, eggs, cheese, milk—nothing from animals), sugar, or highly processed foods.
You can get your zinc, copper, and selenium from your vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and seeds; and if the person’s appetite is totally gone, have them sip on green vegetable juice. Make your own using the leaves of three or four dark green vegetables like kale, spinach, broccoli, callaloo, and celery.
You can also pick a few leaves from the avocado and mango trees, blend them with coconut water and a little ginger, and just drink slowly throughout the day. This will boost the immune system.
Vitamin C is essential during this phase, purchase or make fruit juice using three to four of the following: oranges, grapefruits, tangerines, cherries, berries, strawberries, bell peppers (especially the red, yellow, and orange ones), and pineapples.
Vegetable soup is beneficial, too. Boil then blend into a puree some pumpkin, carrots, lots of garlic, thyme, onion, and scallions.
Bear in mind that fever is a sign that something is wrong inside, so you now have to work with your body and help it to overcome this drama. Ask the LORD to teach you how to care for your body so that when sickness comes, you are in a position to fight it and recover.
As you are building back the body’s defence system, you are praying and trusting the LORD that He will take you through this episode of illness.
NATURAL REPELLENTS
Mix neem oil with a carrier oil like avocado, coconut, or olive oil, and simply apply it to the skin. Neem has a very strong smell, so you need to use only about two to three drops.
Neem trees are all over Jamaica—you can crush the fresh leaves and rub the extracted juice on the skin; of course, test a small area first for possible irritation.
Castor oil is also a repellent; again, you can mix it with a little olive oil and apply it to the skin.
You can also use:
- crushed leaves from the balsam plant or get the oil from the health food store
- broom weed (found right here in Jamaica)
- a few drops of eucalyptus oil added to castor or olive oil
- the Jamaican dogwood bark—boil one tablespoon in about six ounces of water and make it boil down until it gets to about two ounces. Cool it, and you can actually mix that with some of the eucalyptus-castor oil and apply it to your skin.
