Miraculous cure that helped me overcome the illness - Honey, Cinnamon and Neem (Azadirachta Indica) leaves and Yoga Pranayam - Anulom Vilom!!
I did everything under the sun to get back to my normal self. I’m listing all the medicines (in Allopathy, Ayurveda, Homeopathy and Home remedies) that a patient is advised to take. Highlighted in green are the remedies that had a good effect on me. I started taking them 6 months into the illness, and started seeing the effects immediately, and was cured in 2-3 weeks.
Allopathy – Antibiotics, probiotics, antacid, ORS, supplements
- Antibiotics - Antibiotics help in controlling further growth of the bacteria and really come in handy when the bacteria has invaded the system enough and entered the blood stream, at the same time continues to damage the intestines. Typhoid can be fatal when the intestinal lining (Peyer's patches) is sufficiently damaged, to an extent that fluid from the intestines leaks into the body. This condition is called Intestinal perforation. Doctors worry about this condition and may prescribe antibiotics to control the illness. Clinically, a Typhoid patient will know when the condition is severe (fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain and headache become unmanageable) and that will be the time doctors resort to antibiotics. The antibiotics provide quick relief in in a day or two and come in very handy to control the illness. I took antibiotics 3 times during my illness. Antibiotics are given for a longer duration in Typhoid (anywhere from 14 to 28 days). Note that antibiotic may not help with completely curing Typhoid and eliminating Salmonella Typhi from the system, it just helps destroying the bacteria in the bloodstream and intestines. The latter is important to control to avoid severe complications of Typhoid, namely TIP (Typhoid Intestinal Perforation). Antibiotic is ineffective in completely killing Salmonella the Salmonella bacteria hides in the Gallbladder, Liver and Macrophage.There are more and more cases of Antibiotic resistant bacteria, Blood culture can help identifying the antibiotic the bacteria is resistant to.
- Probiotics – These are the good bacteria needed to help restore the digestion that’s severely impacted by the Salmonella infection. The naturally present good bacteria are killed when one takes antibiotcs, so it’s a must to complement the antibiotic with probiotics. Even when nt taking antibiotic, it’s advised to take probiotics as these help fight the bad bacteria in the body. I took probiotics for the entire 7 month duration of the Typhoid illness
- Antacid – During Typhoid, digestion is impaired and acidity is . Having Antacid helps controlling the nauseous feeling. Although I would advise taking Honey and Cinnamon drink to see if it helps you with acidity.
- Vitamin and Mineral supplements – Typhoid causes malabsorption and very soon into the illness, one observes loss of hair, weakness, fatigue and symptoms associated with nutrition deficiency. Therefore Vitamin supplements are to be taken all through the illness and are to be continued for much later.
- ORS – this is to be consumed at times there is diarrhea and vomiting. Helps restore body fluids and minerals.
- Liv52 - even though this is an ayurvedic drug, I'm listing it under Allopathy as it's the only known treatment for restoring the Liver and is prescribed by the Internal Medicine doctors themselves. It helped me immensely repair the Liver, that was impacted by Typhoid in the first few months of the illness.
2. Ayurveda – Ayurveda is known to cure a lot of illnesses and I'm a big fan of it myself as it helped me with PCOD and associated infertility that Allopathy (including the latest fancy techniques) could not help with for years. However, I can't resist calling out that it does not offer a guaranteed cure in Typhoid as it may in other illnesses. For me, Ayurveda was not effective for the recurrent typhoid attacks and the associated weakness, but it did help me in boosting my immunity in general so I didn’t catch other diseases like flues, Dengue, Malaria etc. which were highly prevalent in the city at that time. If you see, people suffering from Typhoid often are susceptible to other diseases, so it becomes important to safeguard oneself . Here are the known ayurvedic treatments for Typhoid.
1. Chutney (Khoob Kala, Anjeer, Munakka) – I saw this on YouTube (particularly heard about this from Ramdev Baba's video), and several other Ayurvedic sites. I was very hopeful this would work. I had this one month into the illness. Had it for 3 months, but didn’t find it effective in curing Typhoid. You can still try this as all the ingredients in the mixture are supposed to promote strength in the body.
2. Mahasudarshan vati – This is to control the high fever in Typhoid and I think it helped bring down the intensity of the fevers I used to get once in a while.
3. Sanjeevni vati – helps with immunity in general and I think it played a role in safeguarding me against the other prevalent sicknesses in the neighborhood - that my entire family was down with but I was untouched.
4. Bhel Murraba - Bhel/WoodApple is supposed to help flush out any bacteria in the gut. So I consumed Bhel Murraba (aka Jam) from Patanjali twice a day.
5. Liv52 – we get this in India. It helps repair the liver. It’s advised by allopathy doctors as well, in case of diseases that impact the liver – like Jaundice and Typhoid. Taking Liv52 tablets from Himalaya helped correct my LFT and enlarged liver.
3. Homeopathy – I consulted a homeopath when I was 2 months into the illness and he gave some medicines (I don't know which ones as the Homeopaths here in India do not disclose the names) but I did not see any difference in my condition. So I stopped Homeopathy. Upon chatting with other people that have had Typhoid, I came to learn that Homeopathy didn’t work for them either. Later I consulted my father who is a Homeopath himself and he asked me to take Galsemium 30 – 5 globules 3 times a day. I felt that it helped me with the symptoms related to the weakness. But I cannot be sure if it did help as much as the other remedies that I’ve marked in green, namely Yoga Pranayama, Neem leaves and Honey with Cinnamon.
4. Yoga Pranayama – Pranayama is the technique of controlled breathing, that allows oxygen to flow into all parts of the body. I chose anulom vilom as it's the safest pranayama and known to be the most effective in all illnesses. I cannot sit for yoga or asanas, so I tried doing Anulom Vilom while watching TV, lying down or sitting. The idea is to breathe from one nostril, keeping the other closed, then exhaling from the other nostril. Repeating this for as long as possible. I would do it for an hour or two a day. In the whole process, do not exert or make noise. Do it in a relaxed way, breathe in and out in a totally stress-free manner. When we yawn, we sense the air going to all parts of the body, you must feel the same when you breathe in during Anulom Vilom. Anulom Vilom helped me get back the lost strength. It helped with the headaches and the heaviness in the eyes. Overall, I got me back the lost stamina, and that to me was the turning point in the long running fight with the disease. I HIGHLY recommend doing this, doesn't matter which stage of the illness you are in. Just find the time and position you are most comfortable doing it (and watching TV is in my opinion the best time as you end up practicing anulom vilom for hours, before you know it)
5. Neem Leaves – Neem (Azadirachta Indica) is an excellent antibacterial. There have been hundreds of experiments on Neem, to establish its ability to destroy lots of diseases causing bacteria. Specifically, there were some reports highlighting effectiveness of Neem on Salmonella. I've looked up a lot of reports on Neem both online and in books. This research paper talks about one such experiment, where Neem was effective in inhibiting growth of E.coli and Salmonella bacteria. This person called Emma from Ghana also talked about Neem helping him and several of his friends get cured with chronic typhoid. I go in touch with him on mail and he gave me references of a lot f people that chewed Neem leaves and found their way out of reoccurring Typhoid. I tried it and felt it helped kill all the bacteria for good. I’d eat 20-30 fresh Neem leaves, 3 times a day. It caused slight acidity sometimes, to help with acidity, I’d take my honey cinnamon mix.
6. Honey with Cinnamon/Apple Cider Vinegar – This helped me do away with the antacid pills I was taking. There’s something about honey, it soothes the system. The discomfort I had in the stomach always went away, every time I took honey. Dose is 2-3 tablespoons of honey with either 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder or Apple Cider vinegar. Mix it well and add water up to half a glass or even full glass. It makes a nice sweet drink. Have his 3 times a day, start your day with the first set. Anytime you have a heavy meal or have trouble with digestion, immediately resort to the honey and cinnamon drink.
