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  #1   ^
Old Thu, Dec-07-06, 15:37
Citruskiss Citruskiss is offline
I've decided
Posts: 16,864
 
Plan: LC
Stats: 235/137.6/130 Female 5' 5"
BF:haven't a clue
Progress: 93%
Default Infection and Oil of Oregano Question

I've apparently got some kind of infection (have no idea if it's viral or bacterial) in my lymph nodes, which is causing a fair amount of what the doc called 'referred pain' in my left ear and jaw area.

The doc gave me an antibiotic - amoxicillin, and I just started taking it yesterday. I know this means the doc thinks it might be bacterial...but, once again, no actual tests or anything..just felt around my lymph nodes and said they were infected.

In the meantime, I'm having a fair amount of pain in front of, behind and seemingly in the ear. In addition there's lower jaw pain, as well as pain at the back of my neck.

So, as you can imagine, I'm anxious to get rid of whatever this infection is. This came on after a bad head cold. The cold seems to be mostly gone, I'm not sniffling or sneezing and not stuffed up anymore either. Cough's gone and whatnot.

Only thing left is this awful pain, a bit of swelling etc.

My question is this:

Does anyone think it might be helpful for me to take some oil of oregano capsules in addition to the amoxicillin? I've been reading that oil of oregano is very good in dealing with all sorts of 'infections' - bacterial, viral and parasitic.

I found one little quote saying it's ok to take oil of oregano in conjuction with antibiotics, but wanted to know if anyone else here might have done that or has an opinion on this idea. My doctor isn't exactly into health foods/supplements or natural remedies.

Here's the quote I found:

Quote:
Oil of oregano. Oregano oil has been used for centuries in Far Eastern and Middle Eastern cultures to treat respiratory infections, chronic inflammation, urinary tract infections, dysentery, and jaundice. Laboratory studies in which the oil was applied directly to food-borne pathogens showed that oregano oil has strong antibacterial properties (Dadalioglu I et al 2004). Medicinal oregano grows wild in the mountainous areas of Greece and Turkey. It has a high mineral content that enhances its therapeutic benefits, including calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, potassium, copper, boron, and manganese. This oil is considered safe for humans and may be used in conjunction with antibiotics to fight bacterial infection (Preuss HG et al 2005).


source: http://www.lef.org/protocols/infect...nfection_01.htm

And I also found the following:

Quote:
Numerous university studies (Georgetown, Cornell, Tennessee, etc.) and independent research have shown Oregano Oil to be a potent antimicrobial.

The ever growing body of evidence is showing Oregano Oil to be useful as an antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal agent rivaling even pharmaceutical antibiotics such as streptomycin, penicillin, vacnomycin, nystatin, and amphotericin in its ability to eliminate microbes.

Remarkably it accomplishes this without promoting the development of drug resistant strains and other problems often attributed to the use of standard antibiotics. In addition to this already impressive list of abilities Oregano Oil is also a powerful parasitic expellant, is valuable as a food preservative, and has been used to decontaminate foods from potentially harmful pathogens.


source: http://www.oiloforegano.com/StudyonOreganoOil.html

Now I'm not sure if either of these reports are from reputable sources, or if maybe I'm just overthinking the whole thing and should just start taking some of these oil of oregano capsules that I have here. I've got these "Gaia Herbs Liquid Phyto-Caps Oil of Oregano Supercritical CO2 Extract of Oregano"

Comments? Ideas? Suggestions?

Thanks a bunch,

Sara
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  #2   ^
Old Thu, Dec-07-06, 16:52
Citruskiss Citruskiss is offline
I've decided
Posts: 16,864
 
Plan: LC
Stats: 235/137.6/130 Female 5' 5"
BF:haven't a clue
Progress: 93%
Default

I've decided I'll go ahead and add the Oil of Oregano. So that makes me the guinea pig...

I hope it helps.
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  #3   ^
Old Thu, Dec-07-06, 20:08
kebaldwin kebaldwin is offline
Thank you Dr Atkins!
Posts: 4,146
 
Plan: Atkins induction
Stats: 311/250/220 Male 6 feet
BF:45%/20%/15%
Progress: 67%
Location: North Carolina
Default

Here is one of the best overviews of immune strengthening I have seen:

http://www.jonbarron.org/newsletters/news041025.htm


Quote:
Immune boosters
Echinacea (Despite the latest study)
Pau d’arco
Suma
Astragalus
Medicinal mushrooms
Beta glucans
Aloe vera
Alkygycerol
Lactoferrin
Bovine colostrums
Glutathione
Mangosteen


Pathogen destroyers
Garlic
Olive leaf extract
Oil of wild mountain oregano
Grapefruit seed extract


http://www.vitacost.com/articleResu...ss=1&Ntt=immune

http://www.lef.org/protocols/immune...e_system_01.htm
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  #4   ^
Old Thu, Dec-07-06, 20:26
Citruskiss Citruskiss is offline
I've decided
Posts: 16,864
 
Plan: LC
Stats: 235/137.6/130 Female 5' 5"
BF:haven't a clue
Progress: 93%
Default

Thanks kebaldwin. I'll look into some of those as well. I've heard about the grapefruit seed extract recently from someone's journal.

Finally, between the three amoxicillin, four advils, two oil of oregano capsules, followed by a sudafed (half dose)...the pain has subsided somewhat. Geesh!

I'm almost at the point where I'll try the 'onion cure' which a friend of mine mentioned in my journal - something about a baked half onion, covered with towels and held against the ear.

I should smell pretty good eh?

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  #5   ^
Old Thu, Dec-07-06, 20:27
Zuleikaa Zuleikaa is offline
Finding the Pieces
Posts: 17,049
 
Plan: Mishmash
Stats: 365/308.0/185 Female 66
BF:
Progress: 32%
Location: Maryland, US
Default

I believe oil of oregano will cure just about anything viral or infectious. Go for it. Adding a lot of vitamin C 8-12,000 mg/day wouldn't hurt either.

But you definitely need more than two capsules; I suggest shooting for at least 8. Whenever I feel a little below par I start popping them. And I definitely up the oregano oil and vitamin C dosages during winter from what I take during summer.

I haven't had a cold, flu, or infection in 6 years.
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  #6   ^
Old Thu, Dec-07-06, 22:00
Citruskiss Citruskiss is offline
I've decided
Posts: 16,864
 
Plan: LC
Stats: 235/137.6/130 Female 5' 5"
BF:haven't a clue
Progress: 93%
Default

Thank you Zuleikaa - really appreciate your chiming in on this one. I'm not known for taking tons of supplements, and since I'm already taking antibiotics, I wasn't sure.

I just took two more oil of oregano, and will try to take more tomorrow (more than the 4 I've had today that is).
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  #7   ^
Old Thu, Dec-07-06, 23:08
Shells90 Shells90 is offline
New Member
Posts: 10
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 165/147/120
BF:
Progress: 40%
Location: Utah
Default

I get this whenever I am ill. It is your sinuses from your cold draining into your middle ear and lymph nodes. It is very painful and uncomfortable. The antihistamines help dry you up while Ibuprofen (advile) helps with the swelling and pain. I try to take a large dose of Ibuprofen if my hear starts to feel tender this helps keep the eustatian(sp) tube from swelling and causing the drainage to fill the middle ear which creates an awful earache.

Have you had your tonsils out. I never have and assume it is the main cause of my problems but I am such a surgery chicken and just suffer through and learn new ways of coping with as little pain as possible.

Also a nice warm bath can help relieve the pain somewhat or a hot water bottle, vaporizer etc.

Michelle
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  #8   ^
Old Fri, Dec-08-06, 08:34
cs_carver cs_carver is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 4,629
 
Plan: Generic LC with tweaks
Stats: 204/178/165 Female 72 inches
BF:
Progress: 67%
Location: NC
Default There is the garlic and onion diet, too...

Eat a head of garlic and an onion every day for a week, and from a distance, you'll look thinner...

Haven't heard about using an onion on your ear, but Joe Graydon recommends onions for itchy bites and bee stings. www.peoplespharmacy.com

I take 7-9 grams of C a day, on-going, and would probably be up to 15 or 16 grams by now if I were in your shoes (which probably wouldn't fit unless you're a 12+ too). YMMV. A sudden multi-gram increase won't hurt you but will cause diarrhea (one instance) which is the point at which you have enough in your system. Maintain that till the infection's gone, and then step back down to whatever is normal for you.

Good luck.
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  #9   ^
Old Fri, Dec-08-06, 09:50
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
Experimenter
Posts: 25,843
 
Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
Location: San Diego, CA
Default

Quote:
Eat a head of garlic and an onion every day for a week, and from a distance, you'll look thinner...

LOL! I like that idea.
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  #10   ^
Old Fri, Dec-08-06, 18:23
Citruskiss Citruskiss is offline
I've decided
Posts: 16,864
 
Plan: LC
Stats: 235/137.6/130 Female 5' 5"
BF:haven't a clue
Progress: 93%
Default

You people are hilarious!



Thanks for the laughs and the good advice, much appreciated.

I'm still taking oil of oregano, but have since found out I have an abcess tooth, which is likely the cause of all this, "infection" stuff.

Lucky me - I'm scheduled for a corrective root canal first thing Monday - apparently I have a 'failed root canal', which happens to 10% of people.

With all the medications/antibiotics etc. that I've been taking, I'm guessing that's messing up my grand plans of losing weight. Oh well...it'll be fixed Monday I guess.

The dentist and the endodontist didn't see any problem with taking oil of oregano in conjuction with the amped-up amoxicillin I've been given. New prescription today. It's amoxicillin with something else (can't recall right now).

Just wanted to thank everyone for holding my hand while I got to the 'root' of this stupid infection I'm dealing with.

Oregano is oregano - and it's not likely that it would hurt anything, in fact, it'll likely work as an excellent adjunct to the pharmaceutical version.
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  #11   ^
Old Fri, Dec-08-06, 18:24
Citruskiss Citruskiss is offline
I've decided
Posts: 16,864
 
Plan: LC
Stats: 235/137.6/130 Female 5' 5"
BF:haven't a clue
Progress: 93%
Default

So...um,

You're saying that if I smell bad, I'll look smaller? Sounds good to me.

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  #12   ^
Old Fri, Dec-08-06, 19:11
kebaldwin kebaldwin is offline
Thank you Dr Atkins!
Posts: 4,146
 
Plan: Atkins induction
Stats: 311/250/220 Male 6 feet
BF:45%/20%/15%
Progress: 67%
Location: North Carolina
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Citruskiss
I have an abcess tooth, which is likely the cause of all this, "infection" stuff.


Bad teeth can be bad news. I've had one giving me fits for years. I need to schedule to have it pulled permanently.
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  #13   ^
Old Fri, Dec-08-06, 21:32
Citruskiss Citruskiss is offline
I've decided
Posts: 16,864
 
Plan: LC
Stats: 235/137.6/130 Female 5' 5"
BF:haven't a clue
Progress: 93%
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by kebaldwin
Bad teeth can be bad news. I've had one giving me fits for years. I need to schedule to have it pulled permanently.


Well, kebaldwin - the weird thing is that no one, including the dentist and doctor suspected that this was a tooth problem.

It was my MOM who was insisting that I get to the dentist, and saying that people can have horrible infections and pain, without actually having a toothache.

I'd have to say that it was because of her that I even went to the dentist today in the first place. She was so convincing on the phone last night, and then of course, phones me today..."Have you made the appointment yet?"

Meanwhile my own doctor says, "Oh, I don't think it could be tooth related, especially if you're not having tooth pain"

And even the dentist..."Well are you having tooth pain?" and me saying, "Well no, not really" and him saying, "Well it's not likely that this is a dental problem".

Meanwhile Mom's calling incessantly from Vancouver ...."Did you make the appt. yet?"

I basically made the dental appt. because of her calling me repeatedly.

Um...I owe her ten bucks now.



And apparently so do my dentist and doctor

Get the tooth dealt with kebaldwin. The only reason my Mom even knew to suggest this is because my stepdad has had numerous infections and kept getting antibiotics without actually going to the dentist - he didn't want to spend the $$$ for a root canal. Eventually, my stepdad got the offending tooth pulled (which is much cheaper than a root canal) and has not had any infections since.

When there's an abcess tooth - the patient has the option to have the thing pulled out entirely (couple hundred $ at the most) or have a root canal (which will save the tooth and is around $1000 w/o insurance, or $170 or so with insurance). My dentist said, "Well, you can get this root canal fixed, which I think is a good idea or you can have the tooth removed."

Since I have the insurance, I've opted for the root canal thingy...not looking forward to it though.

But in any case, having the tooth pulled will work as well, which is what my stepdad did.

Hope you get yours taken care of. My stepfather has zero pain, and zero infection now that he finally got his own tooth problem dealt with. My Mom was telling me he was avoiding it for about three years, and kept on getting antibiotics, when finally - his doctors said, "you need to get this tooth dealt with" or something along those lines. So he goes and does it (gets it pulled I mean) - and no problems ever since. Might be worth your while.

Thanks again for the support and information - I really appreciate it.

Sara
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  #14   ^
Old Sat, Dec-09-06, 05:45
cs_carver cs_carver is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 4,629
 
Plan: Generic LC with tweaks
Stats: 204/178/165 Female 72 inches
BF:
Progress: 67%
Location: NC
Default Ahh... that nagging tooth pain!

Went through something like that myself, trying not to have to buy a new crown. Then I bit wrong at a party in January and nearly ruined the whole evening for me and my guests because it was about 30 seconds before I knew I was going to live. Decided I was not going to put myself through that again.

New crown stopped the slowly-growing crack, end of pain, end of problem.

There's another recent thread around here somewhere with someone taking antibiotics for dental problems. Apart from the chronic stress, there's the risk of explosion, too, because dental infections have nowhere to explode to but the brain. And that's a week in the hospital with IV antibiotics if you miss the opportunity to fix it.

Good luck.
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  #15   ^
Old Sat, Dec-09-06, 06:25
kebaldwin kebaldwin is offline
Thank you Dr Atkins!
Posts: 4,146
 
Plan: Atkins induction
Stats: 311/250/220 Male 6 feet
BF:45%/20%/15%
Progress: 67%
Location: North Carolina
Default

My problem was about the time I started low carbing - a lot of congestion, bad pain in face, etc. Started low carbing which drained my head considerably (I was diagnosed with chronic bronchitis - morons!).

I had the root canal done and a crown put in. Couple of years later tooth breaks (was not strong enough to hold a crown) and then they're just like do a bridge or implant. Bridge is $750 but I hear they grind your other teeth down. Implant is like $3,000.

After getting bad advice the first time - I hesitate to make a second decision that could also be wrong. In the meantime, someone tells me that you can just get the tooth pulled and do something else later (dentist did not tell me this!).

But what is interesting is that my inflammation is very high from the tooth so I am having to keep that under control.

A lot of pain in the butt just over a stupid little tooth!

You are right Citrus - sometimes doctors & dentists make you wonder if you are better with them or without them.
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