Tag: medicine

Posted on

Did you know?

I learn something new everyday. 

Today was all about bergamot.

You know, the flavour in your Earl Grey tea? Or in your favourite body wash?

Well, I always thought that bergamot was a herb/flower. And it is. But that’s not where you get your Earl Grey, fragrance or skin care products from.

No, you get that from an extract of the oils in the skin of the Bergamot Orange. This little citrus is similar in size and shape to an orange but the colour of a lemon. It smells similar to the herb and flowers but all the scents and flavours you get in your products such as tea, perfume, body lotions are from the citrus.

The herb, also knows as Crimson Beebalm, is part of the mint family and has a pretty red flower and is used in traditional medicine, in particular it is used for its antiseptic properties. Although it has been used as a tea, specifically to help with throat infections, no Earl Grey here.

By Joe Schneid, Louisville, Kentucky - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6691558
By Joe Schneid, Louisville, Kentucky – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6691558

The flower, which is technically WILD bergamot is ALSO known as Bee Balm, and it has a small cluster of white flowers and is also part of the mint family. It is also used in traditional medicine as a medicinal tea in treating colds and flu.

So, now I know and you know, unless you already knew. Did you?

Posted on

Ongoing…

Aaron has had a cough now for over four weeks.  It started with a 3 am trip to the ER for croup.  A nebulizer and some cough mixture later the barking cough was gone.  But… he has had a persistent cough since then.  Mostly at night but during the day sometimes too, especially if he has been very active.  We went to our pediatrician two weeks ago and he gave us a new cough mixture and a nasal spray.  It helped some but not all the way.  Aaron has still been coughing.

I called the pead on tuesday and he prescribed a cortisone based syrup.  Bad idea…  Aaron woke up that night and for three hours spoke to the walls, fed his bottle to the rocking horse, emptied and filled up his toy box, walked in circles and generally had a nice high going on.  At 1 am he finally fell asleep and I poured the cortisone down the sink!

Last night he coughed so badly that he threw up, everywhere, even on the poor dog.  So today we went to see the pead again.  We have a new cough mixture, stronger nasal spray and a tablet that will open his chest a bit.  Hopefully this breaks the cough.  I feel so bad for the little guy, he always looks so miserable when he is coughing and even more so when he has vomited.

Hold thumbs for us that tonight he has a full nights sleep, uninterrupted by coughing or vomiting!