My daughter swears by Elderberry syrup but since I hate liquid or chewable medicines and supplements, I decided to try Elderberry in capsule form in the fall of 2019 after my husband and I became responsible for overseeing the care his elderly mother is getting in a local nursing home. We all know what a hot bed of various germs hospitals and nursing homes can be. Since we were planning to be in and out of the nursing home multiple times per week to visit and check on her, and with cold and flu season approaching, it just seemed to make sense for me to start taking elderberry. I think it is important to note I am rarely ever sick. Although I am technically a "senior citizen," I take no prescription medications. Prior to February 2020, I can honestly say I could not even remember the last cold or bout of flu I had. I first started taking a different (but popular) brand of elderberry capsules last fall but then decided to try the NOW brand in January 2020. Even though I was taking it religiously, on a daily basis, in early February I contracted the worse bout of flu I have ever had in my entire life. I was in bed for 3 days feeling like I had been run over by not just one Mack truck but a whole fleet. Sore throat, body aches, chills, headache - all the typical flu symptoms but way worse. I lost 9 pounds (and believe me when I say, I do not lose weight without CONSIDERABLE effort). For a good solid three weeks, I was so fatigued it was difficult to walk from one end of the house to the other, or stand up long enough to take a shower. It took a full 8 weeks for my cough to subside. As mentioned, I had been taking elderberry several months before I contracted the flu and continued with it throughout the time I was sick. (In addition to the NOW elderberry capsules, I even forced down several doses of my daughter's elderberry syrup while I was sick.) Unfortunately, taking elderberry was not helpful in preventing or shortening the flu for me.
