Cold and Flu Season is Just Around the Corner

As we move into Fall, many things come to mind. You may be looking forward to fall flavors, decorations, holidays, and gatherings. Unfortunately, with the best parts of the season change, come some less pleasant events like the start of cold and flu season. While the cold and flu may be mild for some, it can be serious for others and individual prevention is part of community care. Keep reading as we discuss what makes a cold and flu season and how to be proactive in protecting yourself from it.

What is cold and flu season?

Although cold and flu viruses exist and can be spread at any time of year, this activity always increases in the fall and winter seasons. This can be for a number of reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that cooler temperatures tend to bring people indoors where they are likely to interact more closely with one another, making the spread of germs easier. Another reason is that cooler temperatures may have an effect on our immune system, lowering our defenses when we are exposed to cold and flu viruses. Cold and flu season starts in the fall and tends to peak between December and February, making now the perfect time to start protecting your immune system. 

How can I prepare?

Luckily, there are several steps you can take to support your immune system and reduce your chances of catching a cold or flu. We at Innovative Rx Compounding Pharmacy in Kearney, NE often advise our patients to increase their immune-boosting supplements. 

A few of our favorites are:

• Immune Daily Support – boosts functional deficiencies of nutrients essential for immune function
• OrthoMune – a powerful combination of antioxidants, zinc, vitamin C, and vitamin D for immune support
• D-HIST – immune and respiratory support that also supports healthy nasal and sinus function

To order these supplements, please visit our website or contact us to pick them up at the pharmacy. 

Other ways to support a strong immune system are:

• Prioritize adequate rest
• Seek nutritional balance
• Stay hydrated
• Gentle movement 

Things to note

An underrated risk factor for lowered immune function is allergies. Here in Kearney, NE we are no strangers to the impacts of allergies, especially during fall harvesting times. With farmers plowing and harvesting from sunrise to sunset, there is an extreme uptick of dirt and dust particles that inevitably trigger allergy responses in many of us. 

While this may be less worrisome than a cold or flu in terms of risk, it is important to remember that allergies are an immune response and that your body needs support, rest, and care during allergy flares to ensure your immune system stays strong and ready to fight off anything else you might encounter while you’re under the weather. 

Ultimately, it’s always best to keep an eye on things, care for yourself as best as possible, and always consult with your primary care provider and your pharmacy experts in regard to treatment when you’re not feeling your best. Cheers to a healthy, happy harvest season!

Back to School Brain: 3 Supplements That May Improve Focus

As summer zooms to an end, and school and work routines begin, there’s often lots of talk about how hard it can be to get back in the swing of things. If you’re a person with ADHD or have a child with ADHD, you know that changing routines or settling into new ones can be especially difficult. Children with ADHD have lower levels of dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. These low levels contribute to difficulties with focusing, memory, time management, moods, and more. The good news? Today we’ll discuss three supplements that we offer here at Innovative Rx, our compounding pharmacy in Kearney, NE, that may support improvements in focus and attention, making day-to-day tasks easier and less frustrating. 

Fish Oil + Omegas

Fish oil is well known for its omega content and its variety of positive impacts on health. But did you know it’s also great for reducing brain fog and improving focus? Omega 3s affect nearly every aspect of neurotransmission in the brain. Therefore, low levels of omega 3 can cause noticeable difficulty. When introducing the appropriate amount and type of omegas into your child’s supplementation routine, you may notice reduced inattention, improved sleep, and increased memory and learning capacity. 

Magnesium Threonate

There are several forms of magnesium available, so it is important to ensure you get the right type of magnesium for your child to see benefits related to ADHD. Magnesium is an important component in the processes that create dopamine and serotonin in the brain. Therefore, the consequences of low magnesium levels can lead to exacerbated ADHD symptoms. Magnesium Threonate has been shown to improve mood and cognition while reducing anxiety. Another benefit to this mineral is that it works quickly without needing time to build up in the body as other supplements and medications do, offering fast relief to your child. 

GABA

GABA, short for Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid, is a neurotransmitter responsible for blocking impulses between nerve cells in the brain. It helps to slow the brain down and reduce the amount of nervous system-related messages that can be sent at a time. Understandably so, it is known for producing a calming effect when present in adequate amounts. Too little of this neurotransmitter can present symptoms of anxiety, mood shifts, and even seizures. On the other hand, supplementing your child with GABA can offer an improvement in mood, a reduced “buzzing” feeling in the brain, an improvement in your sleep, and a reduction in stress and anxiety. 

It is important to remember that these supplements are not a cure for ADHD but they are an excellent way to support the improvement of symptoms in the absence of prescription medication, or as a support to get your child back on track with medication. As there are shortages of several ADHD medications at present, these supplements are also great alternatives if your child is affected and has to go without medicinal support entirely. As with all supplementation, it is best to consult with your child’s provider and pharmacist to ensure there are no contraindications to any medications that they may currently be taking. Dosages may vary from person to person for optimal results. Click here to schedule a consult to determine if any of these supplements are right for your child. We look forward to helping you find solutions that improve the comfort, health, happiness, and quality of life of your family.

Tackle Stress With These Three Tips

In today’s world avoiding stress is virtually impossible. From news headlines to the daily effects of our schedules and personal life events, we’re feeling the effects on both a societal and individual level more than ever. Regardless of the type of stressor, our body reacts the same way by engaging the fight or flight response, elevating cortisol levels, and ultimately leading to an exhausted system in those who continue to live a high-stress lifestyle. Luckily, there are ways to bolster our body’s natural defenses against stress AND help our body recover when stress has worn it too far down. Today we’ll discuss a few ways that we can work together to help you identify the effects of stress in your life and share small, actionable steps that can make a big difference over time. 

Improve Sleep

Stress and lack of sleep can create a vicious cycle of repeating events that make it difficult to remember which issue came first. Lack of sleep can make us more prone to the effects of stress which can make quality sleep difficult. There are a variety of ways to practice what is known as “sleep hygiene.” Sleep hygiene is usually just a series of steps that are taken every night in a routine order to signal to the body that it’s time to wind down and support your comfort and relaxation to prime you for sleep. 

Sometimes though, even the best sleep hygiene cannot overcome the root cause of your sleep issues. When this happens, a consultation with us at Innovative RX is a great opportunity to explore professional-grade supplements and other solutions to address symptoms that may be preventing sleep. 

Nourish Gut

Another “which came first” topic in regard to stress is gut health. Poor gut health can lead to a host of new concerns and make it difficult for the body to maintain a healthy response to stress. Additionally, stress can wreak havoc on our gut health reducing resiliency and making life’s day-to-day stressors feel especially overwhelming. 

Approaching gut health does not need to be trial and error. Along with mindful eating, testing, and supplements are available through us at Innovative RX to help determine gut imbalances and get on a corrective path that results in both symptom reduction and overall wellness. 

Combat Burnout

Fighting burnout can feel like an uphill battle, and coming back from full adrenal burnout can be a lengthy and frustrating battle. While everyone may require their own specific methods of working against burnout, anyone seeking to keep burnout at bay will benefit from prioritizing rest and balancing the body. Make gut health and sleep a priority in order to be better equipped against burnout and have the bandwidth to take additional measures against it.

Additional measures might look like:

• Evaluating your priority list and shifting as needed
• Making intentional space for rest and play
• Picking up a mindfulness practice (even 5 minutes a day)
• Incorporating useful adaptogens such as ashwagandha, rhodiola, and eleuthero, among others

Implementing these practices will help keep your cortisol fluctuating naturally and your stress response system in a healthy state. 

At Innovative RX Compounding Pharmacy in Kearney, NE, we can work with you to find safe and effective solutions to improve your life based on your individual needs. Whether it’s offering support alongside your primary care team, through consultations here at our location, creating personalized compounds, or through labs and supplementation, we work hard to create solutions that work for the individual.

To book a consultation or speak with someone, please contact us. We look forward to working together toward your optimal wellness.