Wednesday 23 November 2011

Cold, Cough and Covonia

I've been battling with a chesty cough for over 3 weeks now, sniffles that had also been lingering have now turned into a full blown cold and I'm seriously aching. In my pre-coeliac days, I would have whipped up a large saucepan of chicken soup and hey presto, I would be fine in no time.

Sure I can still make chicken soup, but I can't use the same stock cubes and frankly all the ones I can use just don't cut it in the taste department and I just don't have time to make a stock from scratch. That's the thing though, I'm not even sure that making stock from bones would have the same effect. If you've ever heard the expression Jewish penicillin, that's what my old stock cubes were like. Telma chicken stock cubes were like magic, not only did they make the most gorgeous tasting soup, but they always, without fail made me feel better, even if I wasn't feeling ill in the first place.

Telma stock cubes have gluten in them, I can't tell you how many times before I found out that I was a coeliac that they glutened me. So that's my magic cold busting chicken soup out of the window then. I've tried with other stocks, they just don't work on me. I want Telma to go gluten free.


It doesn't have quite the same effect but I have noticed that Miso soup has been helping. You could say that any soup with steam coming off of it would help clear the sinuses, so I don't know if it really has made me feel slightly better or if I'm imagining it. Either way, don't care these germs need to p*** off!

I'm not a fan of conventional medicine, I'm herbal all the way where possible but I've kind of let this cough get out of hand (ridiculous when I have 3 jars of manuka honey in my cupboard that always helps). So I've resorted to Covonia Lozenges. It's hard enough finding gluten free foods so over the counter medicines are a headache. Thankfully Covonia were discovered to be gluten free and seem to be helping, they would have no doubt helped earlier had I bothered to take them, but such is my belief in my immune system.

This happens to me year in year out. I've thankfully held it off for a bit longer this year, no doubt due to the weird mild weather that we had for so long. Once September hits, bam! I always get coughs and colds, even prior to being a coeliac. What I find funny and others probably find infuriating is that I hate the Winter and I hate the Summer (not the Wimbledon fortnight though). Dark nights and wintery weather don't agree with me and neither does the sun or the heat. Those crisp, bright blue sky days of the spring are the only kind of weather that I like, so for about 4 days a year I'm happy to be outside.

Luckily, once I'm home and snuggled up I'm always a happy bunny. I have a ridiculously messy apartment that just seems to love clutter no matter how hard you try to keep it clear, a beautiful fluffy cat who likes to make dinosaur noises and the kindest, most lovely person I know as my husband to be. Couldn't be happier.

I may have a snotty nose and a cough that rattles, and I may be aching all over, but, and this is a big BUT, I haven't been glutened. When you put it all into perspective and recall just how bad that feels, a cough and cold is a breeze.

I'm going to annihilate you germs.

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