HERB - what I wish I'd had

[Gaylin J. Walli]

Now that I am back from Pennsic, I have a list of things that
worked, got used, didn't work, and things I wish I'd had when
I was camping this year. I thought I'd share them with all of
you.

I'm happy we took the diarrhea homeopathic with us. Not many
really had the Plague that's been prevalent, but several
people came to War a little sick already. I did have the tea
ready to use (Pau d'Arco and Slippery Elm) in case the
Plague hit. A few friends who had this tea before said that
they were happy they'd brought along their stock.

The Nux vomica never left the tent, unlike last year. Perhaps
people had curbed their revelries or perhaps there simply
wasn't as much overindulgence. I'll still bring it again to all
the events I attend, though. It really works for nausea quite
well.

Protein powder and supplement bars were very handy, as
we had at least three people with Hypoglycemia in our crew.
What I wish I'd had was a source of salt, like nuts, handy as
we had two bad blood sugar incidents that required it in
addition to the protein.

The lavender oil came in handy for a number of minor cuts and
scrapes. Generally, I take this to every event and have used
it at nearly all of them. I need larger bandages. Sometimes the
cuts were small, but long.

Baking soda or oatmeal. I wish I'd brought these for the people
with unidentified rashes this year. Rashes seemed to be very
prevalent in our camp. One young man discovered he was
allergic to the potassium dichromate (i believe this is correct)
used to cure his new boots. Another camper's child had a rash
from a necklace he'd made. Even Desitin or an equivalent
product would have been useful in many cases.

PMS/Menstrual cramp treatments would have been very
useful for several women. All I had was commercial pain
relievers, which are great. I firmly believe in them. But
several people asked me if I'd had anything else along, and
I'm ashamed to say I didn't. I could have purchased some
though, given that this year there was a dyer/plant/spice
merchant on site (and not in the bazzar) that carried supplies
that the Pepper's Guild did not carry. Cheap prices too.

My cough medicine would have been handy and I could kick
myself for not taking it. The Pennsic Cough was bad this
year, especially for me. Everyone thought I had a cold, but
it was simply allergies to wood smoke. I sounded horrible.
And next year, I take more ephedra. I was giving it away
and ended up running out of it myself.

Cold treatment. Throat lozenges, the aforementioned cough
medicine, and other general remedies would have been helpful.
I think a number of people I know were so stressed from work
that when they finally could leave for Pennsic, their bodies
said "enough. now you get sick. i don't care if you're on
vacation."

On a similar note, cold sore treatment would have been
helpful. I have a great little cream that I brought along
for me purchased from the local health food store, but in
looking at the label, I think it's pretty likely I could make
it myself. I'll be trying that soon, I think, after I am done
preparing for Midrealm (de)Coronation on 9/23. I'm
assuming all of you here will want notes if I try it. *grin*

Cheers and welcome back,

Jasmine

Iasmin de Cordoba
iasmin at home.com or gwalli at ptc.com
============================================================================
Go to http://lists.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.