HealthBeat News

I Feel A cold Coming On – Better Get An Antibiotic!

Written by Wellness Club on March 13, 2009 – 2:31 am -

By Nurse Mark

There is no doubt or question that one of the medical miracles of the 20th century is the antibiotic – for antibiotics have truly saved lives in the face of overwhelming infections.

Unfortunately, antibiotics are their own worst enemy too – for they are easily overused and inappropriately used, and that use diminishes their power and value as a life-saving drug. Part of the problem is human nature: we tend to take our health for granted when we feel well, and when we are ill and feeling miserable it is easy to believe that ours is the most severe of infections, requiring the most powerful of drugs – surely mother nature can be no match for this illness!

Consider the following letter – Dr. Myatt and I have each heard this, and variations of it, literally thousands of times over our careers:

Dr Myatt,

Enjoyed your monthly issue of Healthbeat News as usual, which brought me to ask a question regarding the article you included on antibiotics.

I have had a head cold for almost 2 weeks, which never did go to my chest as they usually do when my 12 year old brings home a new cold for me to share with him.

I seem to get one or two of these each year and normally I develop severe sinus pain which prompts me to go to the local primary care doc.

Each time without fail, I am prescribed antibiotics which often require 2 doses to knock the "sinus Infection" out.

I am not crazy about taking the antibiotics that often but nothing else seems to help and the sinus pain can be severe.

Any thoughts on that topic?
Thanks!
Andrew

Here is what Dr. Myatt had to say to Andrew:

Hi Andrew:

In answer to your question (and for all other HealthBeat readers who don’t want to take advantage of a personal consultation, even a brief one, with me), GO TO THE WEBSITE at www.drmyattswellnessclub.com and look up your medical concern under "health conditions" in the right-hand side drop-down box. There is a WEALTH of health information with my full "generic" recommendations to be found there. For example, take a look at all the info I have posted about sinus infections: http://www.drmyattswellnessclub.com/sinusitis.htm

90% or more of people with recurrent sinus infections have a yeast overgrowth in their sinuses, gut or elsewhere. Repeat courses of antibiotics make this condition worse and virtually GUARANTEE that you will continue to have recurrent sinus infections! Clearing up the yeast problem (and possibly food allergies, but this is far less common) is the main way to stay sinus infection free.

Hope this helps and I hope you’ll go to the website and try our great "help Yourself To Health" information available to you there!

In Health,
Dr. Myatt

You see, Big Pharma has us really well-trained. We are fully conditioned to believe that there can be no relief from any illness without a drug of some sort. What they don’t want us to know is that usually by the time we feel miserable enough to visit our prescription drug provider – aka doctor – Mother Nature is looking after us just fine and we are actually on the mend anyway.

Here’s how it goes:

The first day, you feel that little niggle – maybe a funny feeling in the back of your throat, maybe a few sneezes, or maybe a bit of watery eyes – but it’s no big deal, right? So you dismiss it…

On the second day, you might definitely feel something – your throat might be a bit raw, you are sneezing, maybe a bit achey. "Aw, darn," you say to yourself – "I wonder if I’m coming down with something?"

When you wake on the third day, you know that there is something wrong – the symptoms are obvious – you’ve had this before – "I hope this isn’t a bad one" you think to yourself.

On the fourth day you are starting to feel pretty miserable – aching, feverish, nose running, throat sore, maybe a cough, and you begin to think about symptomatic relief – aspirin or ibuprofen for the aches and fever, antihistamines for the runny nose and chest congestion, maybe a cough suppressant, maybe one of those "night-time relief" medicines to help you get some sleep, because after all you still have to get to work…

‘Round about day 5 you are feeling awful: beyond aches, dizzy, fuzzy thinking, coughing, can’t go anywhere without a box of tissues, feeling like your head might just explode – you are starting to think "this is gonna be bad one" and you might even take a day off work if you have the sick time. "I sure hope this one is over soon!" you think to yourself…

By day 6 you have had enough – this darn cold / flu has lasted long enough and you are in agony – it feels like you have been sick forever! So you take some time off work and stop by to see your doctor or drop into the urgent care clinic. "This feels like the worst cold I’ve ever had!" you tell the doc, "I sure hope I don’t get that bronchitis / pneumonia / pleuresy / sinusitis again like I had a few years ago – I was sick for weeks that time!" That’s all the doc needs to hear – he can see you are miserable, and that you want something done about this right now. So he whips out his prescription pad and scribbles down the name of some antibiotic. "Here" he says, "take this – you’ll feel better soon!"

On the seventh day of this ordeal you really aren’t feeling any better – even though you started that antibiotic as soon as you got home from the pharmacy the evening before. "What’s going on here" you think, "I sure hope that doc knows what he is doing – I hope he gave me a strong enough antibiotic…"

The morning of day 8 sees you feeling just a little bit better – "Whew – thank goodness" you think, "the antibiotic has finally kicked in!"

The ninth day finds you congratulating yourself for going to see the doc to get an antibiotic – "I feel a whole bunch better today" you think, "I knew that was a serious one – I guess I really did need that antibiotic!"

From day 10 and onward you see a continued improvement – and remembering how miserable you felt a few days ago you sure are glad for the miracles of modern medicine – that antibiotic surely saved you from tragedy or a lingering infection! So, you complete the course of antibiotics but wonder why you still have that nagging cough – the one that just seems to not want to go away, and your sinuses are still blocked and painful. So back to see the doc you go, then back to the pharmacy with another prescription. Sure enough, that one does it – a couple of weeks later the cough is all gone, your sinuses are clear and don’t hurt any more and you feel great, all except for the diarrhea or constipation or stomach upset you’ve had ever since you started that antibiotic…

But let’s back up to day 6. Let’s say you didn’t go to the doctor and didn’t get that prescription for the antibiotic. Let’s say you just bundled up, kept warm, took it easy, made chicken soup, drank plenty of fluids, used your vitamin C, your Bromelain, and your Grape Seed Extract – and maybe some Immune Boost, B.A.M., and Energy Rehab if you had them on hand. How do we suppose this nasty, miserable cold might pan out?

Well, on the seventh day of this ordeal you really aren’t feeling any better – even though you have been doing all the things we told you about. "What’s going on here" you think, "I sure hope those Wellness Club people know what they are doing – I hope I don’t need an antibiotic after all…"

The morning of day 8 sees you feeling just a little bit better – "Whew – thank goodness" you think, "maybe all that stuff really does work!"

The ninth day has you congratulating yourself for not going to see the doc to get an antibiotic – "I feel a bunch better today" you think, "I knew that was a serious one – but I knew that if I looked after myself I really wouldn’t need an antibiotic!"

From day 10 and onward you see a continued improvement – and remembering how miserable you felt a few days ago you sure are glad you stayed the course and took your vitamins and natural remedies – avoiding a visit to the doctor and an expensive and useless antibiotic was worth it. Sure, you’ll likely have a bit if a snuffly nose and a cough for a week or so more, but that’s pretty normal. What you won’t have is an upset gut, candidal overgrowth, or antibiotic-resistant bugs developing in you from the un-needed antibiotic.

The Great Flim-Flam Act Of Big Medicine And Big Pharma

"But wait," you say "I started to feel better after just one day of taking the antibiotic – it must have been working!"

Folks, this is one of the biggest and best carnival tricks in conventional medicine.

You see, there is a saying among those of us who deal with folks who have  colds and flu: "If we don’t use an antibiotic, that cold or flu will have a duration of about 7 to 10 days. If we give an antibiotic it should start to clear up in a  little over a week…" And it is so very true that the doc really can’t go wrong – he could prescribe just about anything, and sure enough, on about day 8 or 9 you are likely to be starting to feel better.

Or, as one doctor I worked with liked to say "We’d better hurry up and give ‘em an antibiotic before they go and get better on their own!"

"But" you say, "I keep getting this same thing, over and over – and the only thing that helps is an antibiotic!"

That may be so – and it is entirely possible that the repeated antibiotic use has damaged your body’s normal, protective flora (yes, you have bugs and bacteria in your body that protect you from other, bigger, badder bugs!) and you are now more susceptible to the superbugs that you are creating with course after course of increasingly powerful antibiotics.

Wouldn’t it be better to get to the bottom of the problem, and to clear up the cause – candidal overgrowth, bacterial overgrowth, food allergy, weakened immunity, toxicity, whatever the root cause may be – than to keep on throwing drug after drug after drug at it to gain temporary relief?

We sure think so!

Want to break free from the cycle of antibiotics and illness? Read more at www.DoctorMyatt.com, or better yet, book an Alternative Medical Consultation with Dr. Myatt. You’ll be glad you did!

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Posted in Childrens Health, Digestive Health, Drugs and Alternatives, Family Health, Health Questions, Opinion | Comments Off