Hi Lolo,My son and I both had the flu a few weeks ago and Matia helped us through it. I think the herbs really helped me to not get as sick and also to get better faster. Other people I know who have had the flu and not had the benefit of Matia's help seemed to sicker and stay sick longer than I did. I did stop taking my other supplements and did not have any increase in my IC symptoms.  I am pretty far along in treatment but still do experience mild IC symptoms on & off. Hope you and your family feel better soon.Carol 

When I had the stomach flu (or at least seemed like it at the time, might have been die off though), I asked Matia what to do and she said stop supplements for that day and take goldenseal.  My bladder really didn't feel good after - b/c of the goldenseal I later believed & she agreed - the goldenseal was likely too strong for a time that my bladder needed nourishing not aggressive herbs.
In retrospect I would've preferred to just go through it; who knows how much the goldenseal helped anyway.  If I got the flu now that would be my leaning too, so I understand where you're coming from.  I don't think though that you'd jeopardize your progress in treatment, you'd only maybe have some increased pain for a while if the herbs disagree with your bladder.

Of course!  And I forgot to say before: feel better soon & quick complete healing to you!!  I'm sure b/c of the regimen you're on and judging from the reports of those patients who got this flu, you'll have an easier go of it than others out there.

i think i have the flu but matia says it could also be die-off..of course the doc says i have it tho. has anyone that had the flu had really bad chest discomfort? i did have asmtha so i dont know if that may be why. luckily if it is the flu i think im having a more mild case than most..my only symptoms are fatigue and chest stuff.

Hi Folks,
I just caught the flu from my children and it ended up developing into pneumonia.  I was on herbs the whole time from Matia and for me, it was not enough to stop it from developing into pneumonia.  Remembering that we are ALL different and all have different needs based on resources, where we have been and what we have done and finances, I chose to take antibiotics to clear up the pneumonia.  My reasons was that pneumonia is serious.  People die from this even when they are in the best of care.  I figure that I may have to stop treatment temporarily to take care of other health needs my body has.  Just because you stop temporarily doesn't mean that you have to stop forever, it is just a hiccup.  Yes, I have HORRIBLE diarrhea from the antibiotic, but any normal person would too.
For me, I had to choose antibiotics for several reasons, one of which was I was battling the flu and pneumonia at the same time and I had to be hospitalized.  I also did not have the resources (physically, financially, etc) to choose an herbal path.  My bottom line rational for choosing antibiotics was that I did not feel comfortable treating pneumonia in a "long distance" relationship/herbs did not help me get better from the flu/ and I was battling flu and pneumonia simultaneously.  Had circumstances been different, I may have chosen a different path.  We need to remember to look at the surrounding circumstances when dealing with our bodies... We don't live in a vacuum, one size does not fit all and what might be reasonable for one person, may not be for another for a number of reasons.  Only you can decide what is best for you.  You know your body, you know what you are capable of and if something doesn't feel right, it isn't.  My kids did get better from the herbs, I did not and I had to make that decision.  Time was running out for me to try different combinations of herbs.
I am sure that I will have to play catch up and I am fine with that.  You must be comfortable with your own decision and realize that the bottom line is that almost nothing is unfixable, just maybe not the direction you want to go at that time.  I had a very difficult time choosing antibiotics, however, I do not regret it and it was the right decision for me at that time.  I have not been on antibiotics for two plus years and the last time it was for a staph infection which can be life threatening as well.
My heart goes out to all of you in this situation, but just have faith in yourself and your decisions.  You know yourself the best.

Out of the blue - i woke up early saturday morning feeling like i got hit by a bus! It felt like the flu but you know how it goes- you can be so confused as an intense die off period can also feel like the flu as well. I had mutliple symptoms all at once though- runny nose, fever, body aches, coughing- (dry) and it was so much more pronounced than my usual die off that I finally had to admit after a few hours that it was flu- not sure if it was swine flu or whatnot but felt pretty aweful. I emailed Matia and she took me off my regular formulal and had me take other immune system herbs just until it passes. Its been 36 hours later andI'm already feeling better and feel I am through the worst of it. I am convinced that while I am battling chronic illness my immune system has been getting strengthened this whole time. Being on the diet and having had a daily diet of probiotics ( not recently as we changed it up and I'm off the probiotics for the moment) but somehow they must have given me some broad spectrum protection. I too also think it was a milder version for me because of the my immune system's strength. I mena it could have hit me alot worse.They say sugar lowers your immunity ALOT! As far as it messing up my treatment or making me feel bad- I had very little to tolerable sensations in my bladder/VV of burning from the immune system herbs. Its true I am 15 months or so into treatment but it didn't make a bad impact. It's just a temporary thing anyway until it passes and back to the normal formula. I've gone wihtout my herbs up to 5 days when my herbs orders got delayed for shipping - it didn't set me back. I was fine. Not that you want to skip doses if you can avoid it at all but it didn't seem to harm my treatment to go without for that short time. You get your immune system back to working again- acute illness first then worry bout long term stuff! thanks for the information - it made my experience with the flu alot less stressful to know others had dealt with this and come through it fine. I can I say I did too. - Mary  

Is any herbal flu treatment necessary at all?  Won't it pass whether treated or not?  Anyone know why Matia is choosing to immediately take people off their protocols and onto flu treatment?  Is it b/c of the severity of this flu strain or not wanting to gamble with it developing into something worse?

I tried to beat the flu on my own and went for 7 days before I emailed Matia. It wasn't too bad for the first few days, then got progressively worse and started moving down into my lungs. I think bronchitis and pneumonia are two of the possible complications, and I didn't want to risk that. It did seem to be worse than a typical flu for me, though I still would prefer to have my immune system fight it off and use herbs than get a vaccine. After 3 days on the herbs I felt much better.