Every day at the moment it seems that swine flu is getting more and more widespread.
We were wondering if any Parentsown users have had any experience of the virus and would like to share their experiences here?
Let us know if you or your children have had it, what the symptoms were, whether or not you've used Tamiflu, how long the virus lasted and anything else that you think may help other parents.
Thanks
The Parentsown Team


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We haven't had it yet but our consultant has told us that our son would need tamiflu if anyone else in the house contracted it as he is on immunospressants. He would also need antibiotics.
She will advise us at the end of the summer if we should send him to pre-school or not. This is because of his compromised immune state rather than his diagnosis.
My children have not contracted swine flu (yet), but I am outraged by the mass hysteria that has been generated by the government and the media. Did you know that there was a swine flu epidemic in America in 1976? The hype was similar to this one, but only 1 person died from the flu, and 25 from the vaccine. Many more became ill and the immunisation programme had to be suspended.
I believe that we are each responsible for managing our own health and therefore I am taking steps to ensure that our immune systems are strong and able to fight off any viruses that come our way. I am doing this by ensuring that we eat freshly prepared local organic food including grass fed beef, red and white meat, fish, eggs, cheese, yoghurt, full fat milk, cream, butter, olive oil, 1-2 portions of vegetables daily and 2-3 portions of fruit per week. As sugar weakens the ability of white blood cells to destroy bacteria, we are keeping our consumption to a minimum. We are also making sure that we get our bodies out into the sunshine without sunscreen whenever we can, to allow the Vitamin D to penetrate.
If we do become ill then we will go to bed and remain there until we recover. We will take Echinacia, Vitamin C and Colloidal Silver. We will allow our body temperature to rise because this is the immune system's natural response to infection and helps to kill it off. We will remain vigilant but we will not panic. We will not take Tamiflu or be vaccinated.
I hope this is helpful. I recommend the book 'Trick and Treat' by Barry Groves.
hi margaret
I have been very worried about my boys getting swine flu because they have other health problems and they seem to really suffer when they get ill and take ages to recover.
I desperately want to build up their immune systems but they have problems eating so won't eat the healthy foods you've mentioned. I wondered what the colloidal silver is?
i didn't know that sugar can weaken the immune system - i must cut down on my junk food!!
thanks for the tips.
Kitty
Hi Kitty
Colloidal Silver is a powerful, natural antiboitic that has been around a very long time! Research shows it can kill about 650 different disease-causing bacteria, viruses and yeast. It is tasteless and odourless, can be taken orally, applied directly to cuts and scrapes and can even be gargled or dropped into eyes and ears, and unlike some antiseptics it does not destroy tissue cells. It is safe for babies and pets and there is no known interaction between colloidal silver and any drugs, herbs or medicines. You can buy it from health shops. I use Higher Nature which you can also buy online.
I also recommend Lynne Greenmoor for the eating problems www.haveahealthylife.com.
Echinacea is fantastic for the immune system as is Black Elderberry - Sambucol is pleasant to take and also available at health shops or from Higher Nature.
Hope this helps!
Regards Margaret
We recently saw our consultant and he was not concerned about swine flu at all Our son has a gut condition and he felt it was only a real concern with respiratory problems. Even though our son is immune compromised due to immunosupressant therapy he was still not worried.
He suggested following government advice. give our son tamiflu if he gets swine flu and to have the swine vaccine (if it ever arrives) and also the normal flu jab. The vaccines are due to his immune state rather than his gut problems.
Our local consultant who will have seen more of it on the front line so to speak advised to send our child to nursery at the moment. If we take him out because of an outbreak it would need to be for 6-8 weeks!
I am hoping we don't get it but if we do it doesn't have the devestating consequences rotavirus had on Ben.
The Daily Telegraph reported on 10/8/09 that children should not be given the anti-viral drug Tamiflu for swine flu because its harms outweigh any benefits according to Oxford researchers.
It is my understanding that the proposed swine flu squaline adjuvant live virus vaccination is neither adequately or sufficiently tested, nor proven effective or safe, is uninsurable, can stimulate the onset of a variety of debilitating auto-immune diseases, and is a serious assault on the immune system. Live viruses have a history of lethal danger. In the last swine flu outbreak in the USA more people died from the vaccine than the flu.
I would urge caution and suggest that you fully research all of this before allowing it to be administered to your children. Informed choices are always in the best interests of their health.
It very difficult to know what to do. My child is on a multitude of drugs and I am sure many people would think I am wrong to give them to him.They do not have to live with seeing my child suffer and I will do anything I can to try and stop that.
I feel very much between a rock and a hard place. I am not keen to give my child tamiflu or the vaccine yet that is the direct recommendation of his dr. I can make the choice not to and live with the consequences if swine flu then has an awful or fatal impact on him. I can give it to him and then find the side effects are awful too. We'd never know what would have happened if I had said no to it.
I do my best to make as informed choices as I can but with his condition the research and agreement on treatment isn't there. The only universally agreed treatment is steroids and he has had plenty of them. I weigh up the options of seeing him scream and suffer in agony or try what is suggested. At this point I try the suggestions and hope none of us live to regret it.
Hiya
you are in such a difficult situation with the drugs but you are doing the best thing for him by making sure he doesn't suffer. No one could think you are doing wrong. i think all any parent can do is try to give their child the best quality of life possible and sadly that sometimes means giving them drugs.
You do everything you can, and more. I know you research the drugs and treatments before you use them and i really admire that. I try to do that too - i want to know what i'm giving my boys before i give it and make sure i'm aware of side-effects and alternatives. After many doctors and consultants failing to work out what was wrong with my 2 boys, it took my dad reading an article about EGID that helped us work out what they had - we were quite shocked when Great Ormond Street said we were right!
the swine flu jab and tamiflu debate is a tricky one. i asked my GP last week about it and was unhelpfully told that as he 'knew nothing about my sons condition' he couldn't possibly advise me!!! I wasn't impressed and felt he could have at least asked me about EGID or tried to find out about it so he could advise me. I think a GP being un-interested in understanding a childs condition is pretty poor care.
I printed information sheets off FABED to send to the 2 GP's we try to see but it looks like i should have sent it to all 6 doctors!
I hope you are having an ok weekend,
Kx
Dear Helen and Kitty
My heart goes out to you both and I wonder how you can bear all this suffering. I too have suffered, but my story has had a happy ending. I try to share it, and everything that I have learned along the way to try to help others. Helen you must not worry about what other people think of you, it is completely unimportant. You are a good mother and of course you will do anything to try and stop your child suffering. You deserve all the support and help you can get, but I think you are being badly let down by the medical profession. Kitty it seems your experience is much the same.
We live in a very harsh world and it has come to my attention that unfortunately there are some things going on at the moment that are particularly nasty and frightening. I think we were all shocked and horrified when the Daily Telegraph exposed the MP's expenses scandal. There is another scandal waiting to be exposed and that is how the pharmaceutical companies are making BIG MONEY out of us - patients and taxpayers, and how they are completely unscrupulous and corrupt. They heavily influence our doctors whose training is seriously biased towards prescribing rather than preventing. There is fraud in medical publications which are rarely independent and they have even infiltrated patients' groups and charities. Sadly you and your children are innocently caught up in all of this. Doctors are the most trusted people in Britain, and yet they are our fourth-biggest killer! Of course not all doctors are bad and there are some amazing ones out there who do a fantastic job, but all too often they let us down. If you would like more information read 'Trick and Treat' by Barry Groves.
You are probably unaware that on 10.6.09 an Austrian investigative journalist filed charges agains the WHO and UN for Bioterrorism and Intent to Commit Mass Murder because she has evidence that the swine flu virus was genetically engineered and deliberately released. It appears that the patent for the vaccine was granted on 19.2.09! Do you wonder why this information goes unreported in our press and what the motive is behind this criminal activity? By creating a pandemic think of the millions the pharmaceutical companies stand to make from the sale of anti-virals and vaccines. We need to wake up - Hitler existed during my parent's lifetime. There are plenty of facts available on the internet.
This is not intended to scare you. Thankfully there is a positive side too! I have discovered some different forms of healing that are safe, effective and non-invasive. What is more, they really work, despite what the medical profession would have us believe!
I understand that the purpose of this website is to share personal experiences and recommend professionals. This is important because there are a lot of dangerous and unregulated treatments out there too. I do not know where you live or what your financial circumstances are, and I am aware of the credit crunch, but I would like to recommend three people who I think could make a real difference to your lives. They are lovely people who provide fantastic holistic care, support and healing. You do have to pay for their services but I have found their charges to be fair and reasonable and worth every penny. I have cash back health insurance through Simply Health. I pay a monthly contribution and they pay back half my bills. It is a real help. If these practitioners are not local to you then they will be able to recommend colleagues that are.
Adele Miller RSHom 07960115154 is a Homeopath. She offers a powerful and highly effective holistic treatment. Most of my friends have consulted her for a wide range of reasons and not one has been disappointed.
Lynne Greenmoor, Kinesiologist 01189352695 can 'talk' to your body using muscle testing and achieve life-changing results.
Storm Singleton DC 01753833299. The spine (nerve system) is the master control system of the body and Chiropractic adjustments clear the nerve system of interference allowing it to function correctly and pass appropriate messages for healing.
All three complement one another.
These people have transformed our lives and brought us health. Please consider giving them a call because they will all be happy to talk in the first instance. They all work happily alongside conventional medicine. I hope this information will help you in your quest for relief to your unbearable suffering.
Hi all, we are battling it at the moment, myself and the kids feel gastly and we are so tired. Our GP and consultant have said the children are not to have tamiflu in view of the fact they all have medication allergies, as for myself I wont be taking it as it only gives you one days grace from your body fighting the infection. As the three children are immunesupressed we have been given the peadatric guidelines for hospital admission, where the children will be given IV antibiotics which they can tolerate, if there body can not fight it. One thing which is standing out the most to us is how thirsty we are even with the boys on there feeds they are drinking vast amounts of water, Alexandra today alone has drank 6 litres of rice milk. I have had 5 litres of soda and juice plus cups of herbal tea. I really do feel that the hospital which treats most of the children with eosinophilic disorders should have gave us more information on how it will effect the kids. This has stopped us food trailing and it means now josh has to wait another four weeks before starting again. He has been on feed only for 8 months now.
I am so glad that the boys do have their Gpegs so I can keep their fluids up. The other thing we are all experiance is restlessness I was up until after midnight with Alexandra last night.
Michelle Mum to three children with eosinophili illness.
The really great news is that no-one has to live with allergies or intolerances! They can be identified and eliminated using NAET which is a non-invasive treatment. Four members of my family have had a wide range of allergies and intolerances successfully eliminated, so I can vouch for it. It is simple, inexpensive and life changing. Everyone should know about it! We were treated by Lynne Greenmoor 01189352695. More info is available on the internet - Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique.
Anyone heard anything about the swine flu vaccine and whether it's safe for kids, particularly ill kids?
I have written to my MP about the vaccine because I understand that it is a live virus vaccine, and these have a history of lethal danger and disease, and are contagious. I do not believe it has been adequately or sufficiently tested, nor proved effective or safe. Live viruses can stimulate the onset of a variety of debilitating auto-immune diseases and are a serious assault on the immune system. You have to ask yourself who is profiting from the sale of this vaccine, and who is paying for it - in more ways than one. I will not be having the vaccine and I will not allow my children to have it. Gulf War Syndrome was as a result of live virus vaccination. We need more information on this one than we are currently being given.
Can I just point out it is not a live vaccine
What is it then?
All I know is that our local consultant wants to check it's safety information before she would recommend we give it to our son. I trust her without a shadow of a doubt. I think there is a lot of scare mongering going on from the pro and against groups, neither of which is helpful to ordinary parents like us who want to make the right decisions for our children.
Hi we have been advised against tablets and the vaccine, as they do not know how it will effect our childrens immune system. After our eldest Josh has been away from school for 8 months and is just starting to get back on the right track I am not willing to put him back weeks in his recovery giving him a vaccine nobody knows much about. WE are still battling against the flu and yes we all feel dreadful but at least it is our body which is fighting it and not some drug. I can say it has upset their stomachs big time and from the boys blood test on tuesday their eosinophilis are raised but with planty of rest we are muddling through.
Michelle.
hi michelle
thank you for the advice. I think i'm edging towards avoiding the boys having the vaccine/tamiflu and seeing if their bodies can cope if they do get it. I'll just watch them like a hawk! My youngest is very susceptible to diarrhoea and i've heard tamiflu can course that so i don't think it would be great for him. My eldest vomits easily so same goes for him.
I really hope you all recover soon and that it doesn't set the children back too much.
Kitty
taking vitamin d is a well documented preventative measure for protecting against influenza viruses. I get natural versions as there is a lot of synthetic vitamin tablets out there that dont deliver the nutrients efficiently, and some actually contain mercury!! I protect myself with covalent silver hydrosols, like bionaid, you can get it in the uk here www.bionaid.eu. Its the most advanced silver hydrosol and works on all infections safely and effectively. I drink a teaspoonful in the morning and one at night, and use it as an antiseptic on wounds, in a nasal spray for sinus infections
You can get vitamin D completely free of charge - from the sun!
Sunlight is our only reliable source of vitamin D and the sun is nature's great healer. The sun has a long legacy of healing and Hippocrates and Pythagoras wrote about the many benefits of sunlight to promote healing. Unfortunately we are now being told that the sun causes skin cancer, despite the fact that evidence linking skin cancers to sun exposure is weak. Diet is a more likely cause. We are advised to use sun screen that blocks vitamin D - the very thing that helps us to fight off a whole host of diseases. Sunlight is free, sun screen is expensive. More information can be found in the book 'Trick and Treat' by Barry Groves. I don't use sun screen and try to top up my vitamin D whenever the sun is shining. I use organic coconut oil to protect my skin and I don't burn.
Watch this video clip to put swine flu into perspective
http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=Bilx-mb1OtM
This is what the Finnish Health Minister thinks about swine flu
http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=nTgyakGAddM
If you are considering giving the vaccine to your children you may like to watch this http://www.vimeo.com/7298827 first
Our government stockpiled 30 million courses of anti-viral drugs. By October 2009 it had spent £500 million on Tamiflu. Patients were diagnosed by telephone operatives who were neither a nurse nor a doctor, and large numbers of people took Tamiflu without being proven to have swine flu, when they may have had any one of a number of other illnesses. The known side effects include vomiting, nightmares and confusion. Now it has emerged that the evidence for this medicine reducing complications in otherwise healthy people is uncertain and studies to clarify this issue have not been openly and properly published in medical journals.
Britain has one of the largest stockpiles of flu drugs in the world. In July 2009 it was announced that there would be a possible 65000 deaths from swine flu. This was subsequently lowered to 19000 and now to 1000. This was based on ‘scientific evidence’ – data from the government’s scientific advisory group for emergencies (SAGE). 360 people have actually died since April 2009.
Now ministers are preparing to offload millions of unwanted swine flu vaccines, either selling them or giving them away, because no third wave of the virus is expected this winter. In May ministers signed contracts thought to be worth £100 million for 90 million vaccines. Almost 29 million doses of vaccine have been delivered, but only 3.7 million have been administered. There is a break clause in the contract with Baxter, but not with GlaxoSmithKline, which leaves a problem of vaccines still to be delivered.
How much better could this money have been spent during the economic crisis?
One Government scientist who sits on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) also holds a £116000-a-year post on the board of GlaxoSmithKline. Is he the only one I wonder?