It’s great to talk about natural ways to avoid getting the flu, but what about when you’ve already come down with symptoms? How do you treat it then with natural remedies?

On Sunday, my 5-year-old came home ill. She had thrown up in the lobby of a movie theater and immediately left without seeing the movie. Luckily, the theaters are close by and she was home, cleaned up, and tucked into bed in less than 15 minutes. She had a headache, a minor fever, chills, and a newly running nose.

“It’s the flu,” one of my family members with a medical degree pronounced with certainty.

Yes, I had to agree; from her symptoms it would appear to be one of the flu strains going around, be that H1N1 or not. I decided to treat it as such.

As soon as she walked in the door we headed for the bathroom, where we brushed her teeth, washed her hands and face well, and gargled with warm salt water.

The salt water gargle will rinse away germs from this entry point as well as soothe a swollen or irritated throat.

A few minutes later, I emptied a vial of homeopathic Boiron Oscillococcinum Pelletsunderneath her tongue. (We actually had to divide it into several doses for her little mouth, but she took them all within 20 minutes.)

I consider Oscillococcinum as a natural form of Tamiflu; the sooner you start using it after seeing flu symptoms, the less extreme your case will be. The box says it’s recommended to alleviate “symptoms of flu: fever, chills, body aches and pains.”

Oscillococcinum (if you know how to pronounce this, please enlighten me!) comes in little vials that you dissolve underneath your tongue and in your mouth every 6 hours up to 3 times a day. As with all homeopathic remedies, you’ll want to stay away from food or drink for at least 5 minutes before taking it and afterward, too.

Because it’s homeopathic, it is safe for everyone including babies and nursing or pregnant mothers. You can still use it even if you have been vaccinated or you’re taking Tamiflu or other medications as it won’t affect them.

My little one tossed and turned and dozed on and off and sipped some hot mint tea to calm her stomach that afternoon. At dinner time she ate a decent portion of chicken stew with garlic that my hubby had brewed up in the crock pot (he’s the crock potter in our household — I don’t have the forethought or the patience for such slow cooking!), but by evening she was complaining of a bad headache and chills. Her fever felt a little hotter, but I still considered it mild.

I gave her a second vial of Oscillococcinum and tried to put her down for what would be a restless night with many awakenings for both of us.

The next morning she was up early and very hungry. I kept her home from school to see how she fared and found she took an unusual nap around 3pm for about 45 minutes (not surprising, given how little sleep she and I had the night before!), but otherwise was just about back to normal.

Did she have the flu and did the Oscillococcinum nip it in the bud? Or was it just something she ate that didn’t agree with her? Who knows.

All I know is that she showed flu symptoms on Sunday afternoon and by Tuesday morning she was 100% recovered.

We are very relieved.