When the pharmacy is closed…

            A patient called in with an intestinal upset at 8pm last night, her Imodium was not working well enough. I called in a prescription for Lomotil, along with some other instructions. This morning I discovered that her pharmacy was closed overnight, and she was unable to pick up the medicine. I felt bad that she had suffered through the night. But this event reminded me that when I was growing up, my grandmother would go to her spice cabinet to alleviate a number of symptoms. 

            I had a queasy stomach, and still do. I even got motion sickness bobbing up and down on a flotation noodle while gently drifting down a river in Australia, and had to get out of the water, which struck my teenage sons as hilarious! Instead of taking pills, my go-to remedy was a mash of fresh grated ginger, freshly squeezed lime juice and a pinch of salt and sugar. A dab on my tongue did wonders, and I could repeat as often as I needed or wanted. 

            I also regularly got sore throats till my tonsils were finally removed. To avert a full-blown bacterial infection, I was given milk boiled with a generous pinch of turmeric (and a small pinch of sugar, just to make it desirable for a little girl to drink). 

            An abrasion would attract a poultice with turmeric. 

            And when anyone had diarrhea, a nutmeg was rubbed on a grating stone with a few drops of water. This created a nutmeg concoction and a dab would avert worsening symptoms. I wish my patient had that nutmeg concoction last night. 

            Now, your regular home does not have a grinding stone, and I don’t have one either. All the traditional remedies had to be made in a particular way, likely to increase bioavailability, although my grandmother did not know that word. So how do I substitute non-pharmaceutical measures for prescription medicines?  I am now experimenting with essential oils, which are extracted from plants in a particular way, and can be applied or ingested. They are commonly diffused, but I haven’t really got to specific alleviation of symptoms that I commonly deal with. But I have started using topical lavender and tea tree oils for skin issues, and there are oils extracted from the same spices that my grandmother used to use: clove, ginger, cinnamon, among others. So in the future, when I don’t have access to fresh ginger and turmeric, I can stock my essential oil cabinet for similar remedies.