After all the articles that have been written about swine flu, its symptoms, how it came about, how not to catch it in the first place, and whether to take Tamiflu or not (which has become quite an issue of controversy) I now want to write an article for the unlucky ones that have ended up catching it despite all their care in not doing so.

In the first place, don't panic as this is not going to be good for you or your body at all. When you are in a state of panic your blood pressure rises, your heart beats quicken and the whole of your body is no longer at ease and concentrates all its efforts on trying to control the rising blood pressure and the ever quickening heart beats. This is the first thing that has to be tackled because now above all times is when you don't want your body to be concentrating its efforts on trivial things like these, you want your body to be putting all its efforts on trying to fight back at this flu.

So firstly, just say to yourself quite calmly that you have unfortunately contracted the swine flu, like many other people have as well who have nearly all recovered and are back to their normal lives, and that you are going to help your body get over this virus in the same way as many other people have already done. This is not a killer disease like for example cancer, heart disease, malaria, rabies or cholera and it just needs a bit of common sense and extra care to be able to get over it.

Your first symptom might be a sore throat and a bit of fever and so once you get these don't shrug it off and risk it by continuing to do your every day normal routine and going out into the outside world, firstly because if you have indeed contracted swine flu, you will be spreading it to other people and secondly you will be depleting your precious energy which you need to conserve in order to fight back at the flu.

Take to your sofa or your bed, depending on how bad you are already feeling but most importantly stay in the same temperature all the time. Take paracetemol or whatever you usually take, to deal with any fever or aches and pains that may be beginning.

Have lots of water and liquids to drink in order to keep your body hydrated and relieve your fever and although your appetite may have gone try to get a hot bowl of soup down you at least once a day and preferably a light chicken broth as that will give you quite a lot of protein which in turn is energy.

Get your mind to help your body because crazy as it may sound it does actually work because your mind does, as has been proved a million times, control your body. So keep on saying to yourself that you are going to get better and say to your mind that it has to try and lower the fever that you are suffering and if you fervently believe in it it will actually happen. I wrote an article a while ago called 'mind over matter' and it is just amazing how much influence your mind can have on your body.

When you start to become congested and bunged up, prepare a bowl of boiling water to which you have added eucalyptus oil or even vicks vapour rub. Place a large towel over your head while you incline yourself over the bowl and inhale as much of the vapours as you can. Doing this will help to liquify any phlegm that starts to build up in your lungs and make it easier for you to cough it up and OUT. Always remember that any phlegm that starts to accumulate in your lungs has to be brought up and out because if it stays down there it will become like a stagnant pond which is always more prone to creating bacteria which in turn can lead to more serious respiratory problems like pneumonia.

There is also a very good medicine that you can take on a daily basis while you are fighting against this flu which is called Mucinex. It usually comes in a powder form inside a sachet and you empty it into a glass mixed with water. If you take this twice a day this will also help a lot to liquify any phlegm and make it easier to cough it out.

Sleep as much as you can as a rested body is always that much stronger.

While you are going through the phase when you have a fever and end up sweating and drenching the sheets with the sweat from your body, try to avoid this by placing towels to lie on top of and towels over your pillow case as towels absorb much more liquid than plain sheets. And if you are a woman and have long hair, tie all your hair up into a high pony tail so that your neck is left bare and hence more able to stay cool. It is also a good idea to have a pile of fresh towels on the floor by your bed so that if you do suffer a bout of excessive sweating you can reach out for a fresh set of towels easily and then go back to sleep again.

Apart from chicken broths I would also advise eating as many of those yoghurts that import energy to your immune system as you can and have plenty of fruit and vegetables.

Remember all the time that this whole process should last at most ten days and so while you are suffering just say to yourself that you only have five days to go, four days to go, three days to go and you will probably notice yourself that after the sixth day you are already beginning to feel slightly better.

If at any stage you feel that this is more than you can handle then by all means call your doctor in order that he can give you a bit of extra help in order to get over this crisis, and definitely if you already have some kind of respiratory problem you will have to get in touch with your doctor right from the beginning because you are more at a disadvantage than others and will need more help to get over this.

Keep saying to yourself all the time that this is just another type of flu that you have contracted and (I am sure) during the course of your life that you have already suffered from the normal flu one time if not more and have always got over it and so why should this be any different. This is not a lethal disease but just one that has to be dealt with by using common sense and a little extra care. Each thing that you do to strengthen your body and combat the symptoms will help you get over it much quicker and much better.

So good luck to you all that have unfortunately contracted this illness but remember that unless you already have a respiratory problem, that the chances are very high that you will get over this in about ten days and be able to tell your story!