North of the 49th | Amway

Today is the annual flu shot day at Amway Canada. That's where a
significant number of Canuck Central employees march down to HR, roll up
their sleeve, and take one for the team! I'm not one of them, but I'll
explain that in a minute.

I mean it when I say "take one for the
team." The flu is a horrible, nasty disease that can knock you off your
feet for several days, and leave you feeling lethargic for much longer.
And it spreads like wildfire. So too do colds, but there's no shot for
them. So anything people can do to prevent from getting sick and then
coming to work and spreading their germs to the rest of us is A-OK by
me!

Now, why am I not doing it? Well, you know what else can knock you off your feet? Needles.

You
see, I have a vasovagal response to needles. Basically, if I'm vertical
when I get them, I quickly go horizontal. I'm not even sure if it's a
real diagnosis, or just a polite way for the doctors and nurses to
assuage my ego (then go snickering back to the office). Honestly, I'm
not afraid of needles. For the past few years, I've taken several
needles (including some in the neck — and if that strike a fear
response in you, nothing will!) — all lying down. That's all it took
for me to stop fainting. Sure, it only took 30-plus years to figure out,
and it would have been nice to avoid some of the following situations:

• Five-year-old Jay being thrown on a table after going into shock and doctor frantically working on me;
• Passing out onto the window of a Korean restaurant (to be fair,
  the resident did say 'Oops' when she stuck the needle in me, which
  doesn't help);
• Waking up another time (at around 18 years old) to the sound of little kids giggling at me… AS THEY'RE STEPPING OVER ME!!!!!; and
• The monthly combo of allergy shot/unconscious Jay…

There are more examples, but you get the point. It took a while for
someone to say, "Hey, have you tried lying down to get the shot?" And
since then, it's been wonderful — well, as wonderful as needles go, I
guess.

So all this to say that I will be getting the flu shot, but
I'll go with my family to the clinic (which, in itself, is
embarrassing. They don't offer a nice, private area for those like me…
No, we're paraded around in front of everyone, laid out like a mockery
buffet upon which those passing by can gorge themselves.) But that's not
all I'm doing.

For the past month, I've been popping Vitamin C
like it's going out of style. I've been adding NUTRILITE Vitamin C-500
(which, I know, is now discontinued, but I've still got a few left) to
my daily regimen. When that runs out, you can be sure I'll pick up some
NUTRILITE Vitamin C Plus (10-9747)

I've also used Echinacea in the past to ward off cold and flu symptoms, so I've got a stash of TriGuard (A-5986) at the ready.

Now,
I've had people ask, "Does that actually work?" And you know what? I
don't really know for you. I know that I believe it does and in my
experience it has worked. In fact, my family all came down with a cold a
couple of weeks ago — so I started popping a couple of extra Vitamin C
tablets when I started feeling a little scratchy in my throat and a bit
of congestion. Guess what? No cold.

There are studies that show
that these vitamins have a certain level of efficacy for system support.
That said, the brain's an awfully powerful thing too. If you believe it
works, then chances are it's going to improve your success rate. That said, I don't think it's all about the
placebo effect. I don't believe in anything that strongly. No, in
my experience Vitamin C works and Echinacea's great if you do start
coming down with something. I was skeptical before I started trying
supplements and they worked for me, so I don't think it's all about the
power of positive thinking or mind-over-matter. Basically, I find they work — and if you already believe that they do, then you're ahead of the game!

Of course, I'm not popping supplements then tempting fate by asking people with the flu to breathe on me.
No, I also take the normal precautions: washing hands, avoiding touching
my eyes and mouth, etc. But I really do believe these things help.

Again, this is just me. It's my opinion and my experience.
Regardless of whether or not you agree, I'll keep taking them. And if
you were to ask for my recommendation, I'd say to give it a shot. What
do you have to lose? Well, other than a couple of weeks of feeling
miserable and going through box after box of tissues.

But the real
point of this post (good to know I got right to it, eh? Only about 10
paragraphs later) is that I want to know what you do during cold and flu
season to prevent getting sick? Or if you are sick, what do you do to
feel better?

I want to hear from you! And I'll be keeping a close
eye on the comments too on this one. We want to be responsible with what
we say and not make any false claims or promises. While anything
included in the comments is strictly the opinion of the writer, we still
don't want to be sharing false, unproven, or untrue information. Keep
that in mind when you're writing, but I do want to know what works for
you.

You can also drop me a line at northofthe49th@opportunityzone.com! 

Here's to a healthy and happy few months of completely avoiding the dreaded cold and flu bugs!

All the best,

Jay