Overcoming the Epstein-Barr Virus Naturally

This is a story of my daughter overcoming the Epstein-Barr virus naturally. I usually like to brag about my children never having to go to the doctor for illness for the past 20 years. But, there was one exception where I actually had to take my high school age daughter to the doctor for an illness.
Normally, kids can get well with a little time and TLC (tender loving care). I used garlic pills a lot whenever they’d get a cold or flu. Garlic is the “poor man’s medicine” and is known to kill all viruses, bacteria, germs, and fungus. However, this time she wasn’t getting well. She just kept getting worse laying around with a bad sore throat. At the time, I didn’t know about how powerful a lemon-garlic drink can be and that it could have helped her even more than garlic pills.

The Epstein-Barr virus or EBV is just another name for mono (mononucleosis) or chronic fatigue syndrome. The symptoms of mono can vary from person to person, but generally anyone who gets it can have any one or more of these symptoms:

• Severe sore throat, which doesn’t seem to get better.
• Fever
• Weakness and fatigue or malaise
• Body aches or headaches
• Skin with a yellowish tint or even a rash
• Problems breathing
• Lack of interest in food and apparent weight loss
• Night Sweats
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Pain and tenderness near the left side of the stomach where the spleen is – This one can be an emergency as their is a chance of the spleen bursting.

I took her to a medical doctor. He ran a test to find out if she might have strep throat or mono. While we were waiting for the results, he said that he could prescribe some antibiotics, which would help if she had strep throat. However, if she had mono, it would actually make her worse.

When we came in for our next appointment, he told us that she had EBV or mono. He said there was nothing he could do for that and wished us luck. She could possibly have it for months or years and would be very sleepy. The only good that came out of the doctor visit was to have her condition diagnosed.

I couldn’t figure out how she could have gotten this sickness. It’s typically a “kissing” disease, and she never had even had a boyfriend. I found out that she’d been sharing germs at school with her friends. They would drink from the same containers and share their food back and forth. She was very popular and had many friends, so there was no way of pinpointing the specific person who might have given it to her.

I knew of a lady named Vicki Sorenson, who was a master herbalist in Cedar City, Utah. So, I decided to take my daughter to her to see what could be done naturally. She suggested that I do three things to help her get better. By this time, my daughter was a lot worse. So, these three tips on how to overcome the Epstein-Barr Virus naturally ended up being very helpful.

• One glass of fresh raw carrot juice every morning -  I think the big secret to this suggestion is in the high amount of vitamin A in carrot juice. Carrots are already very high in beta carotene, which is the most natural and usable source of vitamin A. If you have a sufficient amount of vitamin A, your body is able to have stronger immunity to invaders. It also helps to protect the mucosal linings of the throat. In order to get enough carrot juice to equal 8 oz., I needed 5 medium to large sized carrots  and a high quality juicer. Luckily, we already had a Jack La Lanne Power Juicer. I knew how to use it already, so this step was easy. And, my kids all loved fresh carrot juice.
• One packet of Emergen-C drink powder every 4 hours – These Emergen-C packets are really fun for kids, since they fiz up when added to half a cup of water. They are a natural source of high vitamin C and B vitamins, all essential for the getting-well process. Vitamin C has been proven to be a very effective supplement to take when sick. I try to keep these on hand for sick times, but my family tends to just gobble them all up. I went and bought a box of the packets. There are about 36 in a box, and they cost around $8-10 for each box.  There are many flavors; lemon-lime, tangerine, orange, and cherry to name a few.
• Immune-supporting herbs that include astragalus – The herb combination had to include astragalus. We were told that astragalus does something to the EBV to make it visible to the immune system. Normally, with EBV or mono, it is so good at hiding in the body that the white blood cells can’t find the virus to even attack it. Therefore, a person can have this lingering sickness and problems with fatigue and needing a lot more sleep for months or years. For some people, it never seems to go away. Of course, there are other herbs in the formula that we tried that help to strengthen and support the immune system. Here in Southern Utah, we have a Grandma’s Herbs shop that carries the type of mix that Vicki recommended. She has her own set of high-quality herbs that she sells and which we probably used.

By following Vicki’s advice, my daughter got better within a week and was back to school. Going the natural route was the best choice we could have made. We’d already tried the medical route, which may have helped if she’d had strep throat. However, it’s not that great to use antibiotics that not only kill all the bad bacteria but all the good bacteria as well in that case. Normally, garlic pills or fresh garlic should be very effective in fighting off an illness. Garlic usually helps and doesn’t kill the probiotics in your digestive system like antibiotics would have.

Apparently, mono can become dormant in a lot of people. Whenever they get stressed or have a compromised immune system, it can flare up. The simplest treatment is to just sleep a lot, this allows the body to eventually recover. The sleeping is something that will help with any cold or flu as it contributes to the repair and rejuvenation of the body.

If you’ve had EBV or don’t want to ever get it, make sure that you drink plenty of water for good health.  Eliminate the junk foods and eat more steamed or raw vegetables, whole grains, fresh fruits, and beans. What you eat daily has a large influence on how well you are able to handle stress and invaders that may be in your food. Don’t share germs with people, and try to always get adequate sleep. Then, follow the three tips outlined above, and you too can overcome the Epstein-Barr virus naturally if you ever come in contact with it.