Even Head Colds are on Ecuador Time!

This is our first experience with being sick in Ecuador. I came down with a sore throat first and it's slowly progressed in to a cough and finally a runny nose. (Not all at once, mind you, but one symptom at a time.) We went to our local naturopath and she lined us up with a spray, some ibuprofen and some cough candies. The spray worked like a charm (tasted like crap) but killed the pain almost immediately.

Miracle Throat Soother!

Fast forward a couple of days and now I'm on to the cough. Ron intrepidly set off to find a cough suppressant, and as he was starting to feel some symptoms, a decongestant. We needed real drugs to help us sleep and unclog our heads. So he goes off to a pharmacy (which seems logical) to find something that will knock us out and help us breathe, only to find that they have throat lozenges, ibuprofen and heavy duty sleeping pills (which we are afraid to take, but you don't need a prescription for!). You apparently need a prescription for decongestants. (This information comes from our Ecuadorian building manager.) He tried another pharmacy with the same results. Apparently, if you have a cold you need to suck it up.

Having found such great success with our Naturopathic proprietress, Ron headed back there. And that was where the miracle happened. She had liqui-tabs to cut phlegm, stop the cough, ease the throat and help us sleep...go figure! She also gave us (for free) an herbal mix to steam with. (We always get a little bit of something extra when we visit there.) So cross your fingers for us, and pray we can get a decent night's sleep and feel better shortly. (I'm coming up to day five, which is unusual for me, I can usually knock out a cold in 3 days or so and rejoin the land of the living.)

The Trinity of Comfort (or so we hope!)

The lesson in all of this? Go visit the naturopathic "tienda" the next time you aren't feeling well. Eschew common logic and you'll be well rewarded.