People are always asking me, "what should I take for [disease or symptoms]?" This is a bit like asking someone, "what should I do about the leak in my house?"
Where is the leak coming from? How big is it? What is the extent of the damage? How long has it been going on?
The answer to this question varies from "tear your house down and start over" to "patch that pipe and turn on a dehumidifier."
I can’t practice medicine via blog-posts, but you can schedule a consult with a member of my team via my website, StillmanMD.com. This post contains helpful information, affiliate links, and links to my online dispensary.
Before I go any further, I want to take a moment to remind you that unless you’re engaged with critical, fundamental habits covered in this blog post, supplements (here is how to use supplements), medications, and herbs (here is how I use herbs) may just be a big waste of your time and money.
All of that being said, there are many remedies that are so broadly useful and safe that I keep them in my medicine cabinet and regularly recommend them to patients. They are:
Lugol's iodine (2%) (although now I use Iodoral 12.5 mg tablets - see below)
Colloidal silver
Apple cider vinegar
Honey
Baking soda
Hydrogen peroxide
Herbs (I get my herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs)
Maca powder
Kava extract
St. John's Wort
Elderberry extract
Ginger root powder
Lemon balm tea
Magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts)
Supplements that I stock at my online dispensary
Magnesium Plus Guard
Vitamin C (powder, buffered)
Vitamin D (5,000 IU capsules)
Goldenseal (capsules)
Black walnut hull capsules (capsules)
D-mannose with cranberry
Melatonin, 20 mg capsules
Pregnenolone
DHEA
Progesterone
Iodoral (see my High-Dose Iodine Protocol
Aspirin, 81 mg tablets
Sea salt (I get mine from Mountain Rose Herbs)
Potassium tartrate (cream of tartar)
Benadryl, 25 mg tablets
Cetirizine, 10 mg tablets
Aloe vera (I keep an actual plant)
Oats (see this post)
Flax and chia seeds (whole, NOT ground - I get mine from Mountain Rose Herbs)
How do I use each of these? There are only a handful of acute problems that I get called for on a regular basis. They are:
1. Sore throats, ear infections, sinus infections, bronchitis, and other variations of "respiratory tract infections"
2. Gastroenteritis, manifesting as some combination of nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, bloating, and diarrhea
3. Constipation
4. Allergic reactions and skin rashes
5. Urinary tract infections
6. Insomnia, depression, anxiety, and panic attacks
I'll cover each of these in its own blog posts, including how I use my medicine cabinet for them. For now, I want to cover why my medicine cabinet includes these things. You should learn the basics of using herbs, which I cover here, and supplements, which I cover here.
The agents above all do one of two things. They either help the body cope with illness, or they help to transform the terrain of the body so that illness will dissipate. For example, if someone has kidney stones and an acidic urinary pH, then we might use magnesium and potassium citrate to help alkalinize their urine to help them pass the stone. We might also use aspirin to ease the pain. Helping the body to dissolve the stone is helping illness to dissipate, while dulling the pain with aspirin is helping the body to cope. The agents above include essential minerals in various forms that can be used for everything from heartburn to constipation. It also includes an array of agents that are effective against viruses, bacteria, and fungi.
I already addressed How I Treat Colds and Flus in this post:
Next up, we will cover where to get your supplements and why.
Until next time, be well,
Dr. Stillman
This is my first year with Lemon Balm in my cabinet and it has been an invaluable ally to me! Looking forward to more posts in this series, especially the one on skin issues. Thanks for your work sharing!
I like this and cannot wait to read more from you