Homeopathy Poll & Support Thread

[Soliloquy]

You can make homeopathics yourself and they never expire as long as you handle them properly. Pioneer women used to make their own homepathic remedies. Many of the early home health books were homeopathic.

Now I need to go back read what Jellybean wrote.

[tempus vernum]

Originally Posted by LisaM

You can make homeopathics yourself and they never expire as long as you handle them properly. Pioneer women used to make their own homepathic remedies. Many of the early home health books were homeopathic.

Now I need to go back read what Jellybean wrote.

Lisa you still haven't responded to your own questions

[JellyBean]

Originally Posted by SonshineMama

Homeopathy, buy some nice kits and keep them well stocked, buy plenty of droppers, a thorough book and do JellyBean's waterbottle process which by the way, I have ONE more question. TO succuss it, is it just for the point of making sure it's well mixed so a hit or two on the palm of your hand - how vigorously to you have to shake? Sorry to ask to many questions.

Sorry...I just now saw this. There is more to succussing than just mixing actually. I can't find any good links online that explain the purpose but I know a few of my books did so I'll have to look it up to remember. Make sure you strike it on your hand and I usually do it more like 5-10 x's just b/c that's how I was showed to do it.

[Soliloquy]

Originally Posted by SonshineMama

Lisa you still haven't responded to your own questions

I know!! I need more than 30 seconds online to do it, though. Maybe I'll try right now . . .

[Soliloquy]

Okay, we'll see how much typing I can do before Fiona wakes up. I'll just type what I can and, if I have to stop, I'll click post and finish up sometime later . . . .

LisaM's experience w/ homeopathy, AKA the best $250 I ever spent!

When Gracie was a baby (2004) I knew nothing about homeopathy, had never even heard of it. Her first few teeth came in w/o any problems. Then, when she was about 11 months old, she got 4 teeth in all at once. She was C.R.A.N.K.Y. She was not fun to be around. And, I know she was miserable. Tylenol seemed to do nothing. Cold washcloths and a vibrating teether provided a few minutes of relief but that was it. Whenever we tried giving her infant's ibuprofen she vomited (and knowing what I know now about ibuprofen, I'm glad!). I was at Walgreens because I was going to try some baby Oragel and I happened to see Hyland's Teething Tablets. I bought them, not knowing what a homeopathic remedy was. I read the label and was a little about how you shouldn't touch the tablets but I popped 3 in her mouth and, within about 30 seconds, she was smiling, giggling, her old self again! Yeah! (And, FWIW, it was not a placebo effect. I didn't know that homeopathic remedies typically work almost instantly. I figured if it was going to work, it would take 20-40 minutes like a "regular" medicine. And, we were not sugar-free by any means at that point in our lives so she had sweets and they did not relieve her teething troubles). I gave her the tablets a few more times over the next 24 hours and that was it--no more teething trouble. We used teething tablets exclusively for teething pain from that point on.

A few months later, I was in Wild Oats in the health care section. I saw that Hyland's had a "Kid's Kit" and it was on sale. I bought one. I got home and read the pamphlet that came w/ it and thought it was, um, weird. As many of you know, homeopathy is quite different from mainstream medicine. I was really confused that there wasn't just "one remedy" that you give for a runny nose, one for a sore throat, etc. But, I read through the pamphlet and figured I might as well give it a try. I tried using individual remedies for her teething and had some success. I still kept the teething tablets in my purse, though. Those seemed to work the best since they had the most common remedies for teething all in one.

Fast-forward to when Gracie is 2 years old. I am 38 weeks pregnant w/ Simon. Gracie wakes up in the middle of the night with unmistakable croup. It was SCARY. She was gasping for breath. I held her and sang to her and helped her calm down which enabled her to breath. I sent DH to the 24 hour Walgreens for a cool mist humidifier. We make it through the night. I stayed up re-reading The Baby Book section on croup. Dr. Sears wrote that the 2nd and 3rd nights of croup are almost always worse than the first night. He also wrote that croup typically lasts 10 days. He recommended a doctor visit to get some oral steroids to reduce the swelling and prevent an emergency. When morning came, we went in to see the family doctor. They checked Gracie's blood oxygenation and it was pretty low (can't remember the exact number). They told us they were going to give her:
1) and injection of steroids
2) a steroid breathing treatment
3) an Rx for oral steroids (10 days)
4) an Rx for a cough syrup
5) an Rx for antibiotics to prevent secondary infection
I said NO WAY. They tried to tell me how serious it was and that she really needed all of this. They also told me it would last at least 10 days, possible 3 weeks, and since I was having a baby any day I couldn't risk not treating her. I was not about to let them pump that much medication into my little girl. We went home and I got out my Hyland's kit. For croupy cough, I saw that you can give Hepar sulp. I give her 4 tablets. A few minutes later she coughs. The characteristic "bark" of croup is gone! It was just a normal, wet-sounding cough. I didn't know then about how often to dose w/ a homeopathic remedy so I gave it to her a few times throughout the day. That night, she slept through the night--no croup episodes! She did not have a single bark after I started giving her hepar sulph! Dh and I were completely amazed. Within 2-3 days the cough was completely gone and she was in perfect health when Simon was born. The Baby Book and the doctor both said it would last at least 10 days--they were wrong--with homeopathic treatment it was gone almost immediately and the lingering cold went away in a few days.

So we tried our Hyland's Kid's Kit a few more times w/ colds and things w/ mixed success. I didn't really know that much about how to use it at this point but Gracie never got anything serious for awhile anyway. Then, I met a wonderful mama who had grown up w/ homeopathy. Her mom knew a lot about it and had treated many family, friends, and animals w/ it. She gave me a copy of Beyond Flat Earth Medicine and showed me her home kit. I read the book and it really helped me understand more of the philosophy behind homeopathy as well as how well it can work.

When Simon was 2, he got croup also. Same as Gracie, he awoke in the middle of the night grasping for breath and "barking." My Hyland's Kids Kit had run out awhile back and I had never refilled it! We put him in front of the open freezer and let him breathe in the cool air. Once he was settled, I got online to look up the best remedies for croup. I decided to have DH buy aconite, spongia tosta & hepar sulph. The NFS opened at 7 am. DH came back and I gave Simon aconite first. An hour later I gave him spongia tosta. I continued that for a few hours and switched to hepar sulph when the barking was gone. Simon's croup was gone in a few hours. He had a wet cough for a day or two longer and I continued w/ the hepar sulph, then he was better!

A few months later I decided to buy Homeopathic Medicine at Home by Panos & Heimlich (yes, that's the same Heimlich--it's Jane Heimlich, the wife of the doctor who invented the Heimlich maneuver) and I bought a new Hyland's Kids' Kit on sale through Frontier. Only $15!! I read the book several times (I still go back and re-read certain sections, trying to commit the main remedies to memory) and considered buying a larger kit. By this time I was 8 months pregnant w/ Fiona and she had been flipping back and forth between transverse and breech the entire 3rd trimester. :/ I was concerned, to say the least, that she had never been head-down. Was the cord too short? Was there a fibroid in the way? Ligaments too taut? Was I going to need a c/s? I had been seeing an excellent chiro almost the whole pregnancy. She had been adjusting my pelvis almost every week and doing Webster work on me. We talked about other things to do as well. I decided to make an appt. w/ a classical homeopath. I found out it would cost $250 but it would be worth it to me if it helped me avoid a c/s. And, if I did end up w/ a c/s, I would feel better if I had tried everything to get her to turn first.

I couldn't get an appointment for several weeks, not until I was 37 weeks. And, by the time my appointment came Fiona was definitely head down. I credit my chiro with that. The Webster technique (which is a pressure point on your abodomen) really did something--I could feel it every time. It was a good kind of mild pain if that makes sense, like the way a gentle massage on a sore muscle feels.

But, I decided to keep the appointment because I had a few other bothersome issues that I thought he could help me with. The appointment was for 2.5 hours. He was an excellent listener, extremely skilled. He didn't speak much and asked very few questions, but the questions he did ask were very drawing. He was less interested in my physical symtpoms than in my personality, my anger, my fears, phobias, and any recurring dreams. I had to describe the way things felt in quite descriptive terms for him to get a handle on just who I am. After almost two hours he said we could stop, that he had a clear picture and he knew which remedy to prescribe. I had her the term "constitutional remedy" and it had been mentioned briefly in the Panos & Heimlich book but I didn't really know what it was. So, I wasn't really sure what to expect from it. At the end of the appointment (we had 30 minutes left) he gave a brief explanation of homeopathy and said that, from a homeopathic perspective, mental & emotional health is primary. If that is out-of-balance, the physical body cannot be healthy. He said that a constitutional remedy will work first on what the body believes is most important--thus emotional & mental health. Then, when that is balanced, the body can use the energy that was previously spent on unhealthy emotions to work towards physical healing. He explained that homeopathy works from the inner towards the outer. We also discussed vaccines and homebirth briefly. Both he and his wife are PAs (physicians assistants) and he spent many years in mainstream medicine, often seeing patients and having to prescribe Rx's when he knew a homeopathic remedy would work much faster. (He's now a homeopath full-time.) Since I was pregnant, he decided to give me a daily liquid remedy. Apparently constitutional remedies are usually taken just once, or a few times over the course of a few days. But, a constitutional remedy will often aggravate symptoms initially before the symptoms go away. Since I was pregnant, he didn't want me to possibly experience that. The daily liquid remedy would be more subtle, he said. He also said he was not going to tell me the name of the remedy or explain it's "profile." He liked to wait until the follow-up visit to discuss that.

A few days later my remedy came in the mail. I was very excited and nervous. What if nothing happened? What if I had just thrown away $250? I took the remedy. I felt calmer that day, but maybe that would've happened anyway. I take it again the next day and the next. I realize that I haven't lost my temper at DH, I haven't wanted to walk out of the house and stay away for days. I'm looking at situations that normally make me feel like I'm going to explode and I just sigh and get to work on them. But, I'm trying not to over-analyze it, just waiting. After two weeks, I talk to DH. I ask him if the notices a difference. He says, most emphatically, "YES. I don't feel like death would be preferable to your temper anymore." (bet you didn't know that about me, huh) He says, "I'm not clinging to God, asking him to help me stay married to you, wondering why he picked such a contentious wife for me." Okay, so not exactly what every wife wants to hear (and yes, I did know those that he had those feelings--we'd been struggling a bit off and on in our marriage) but I was really excited. I was not *trying* to stay calm, I was not *trying* to speak soft words and hold my tongue when needed, those things were just happening. All of the things I had been reading in previous years but that I could never actually do for very long (because my temper just would not let me) I was able to do! I was able to look at something DH had done that made me really angry and wait to talk to him when I was cooled down--not storm into his office screaming and raging.

So, I was thrilled, excited for the future. Then one day I forgot to take my remedy. Mid-afternoon I remembered but something came up and I never got around to it. The next morning it hit me that I had missed the morning before. That day had gone all right--I hadn't felt awful, gotten super angry, etc. I figured that perhaps I had been taking it long enough that missing a day wouldn't matter. That day (the day after the miss) was a tiny bit rough but no biggie. But, the next day (day 2 after the missed dose) was AWFUL. I was raging, I was frantic, I was a MESS. I couldn't believe it. I felt like I had often felt previously on a really bad day. I hadn't had a day like that since taking the remedy. That night I had a recurring dream that I hadn't had since taking the remedy. I had forgotten about that dream until I had it again that night. During my appt. w/ the homeopath, he asked me about recurring dreams but I couldn't remember any.

Then Fiona was born and I was post-partum w/ 3 kids. Post-partum is usually pretty rough on me and DH. I am very easily set off-kilter by visual chaos--dirty counters, dirty floors, clutter, etc. DH is not skilled housekeeper. Enough said. Anyway, things were going really smoothly this time. Then I missed a dose. Once again, it took 2 days for it to show up. It was an absolutely horrid day. DH almost left. I had the recurring dream again.

I had my follow-up w/ the homeopath. I told him that it had been like a switch had flipped. I told him (honestly) that I almost couldn't remember what it used to be like because it was just so much nicer now--I felt like I could walk away from things, take a deep breath, and decide what to do, if anything, about things that "triggered" me. I also told him how I missed two days and was surprised that, both times, I had an awful day 2 days later. He just nodded. Then he said since it was clear we had the correct remedy, he told me a bit about the remedy he prescribed. He talked about what people had experienced in the provings. He talked about the dreams they'd had. Then I remebered the recurring dream I'd had each time I'd missed my remedy--it was dream I'd had many times before but had forgotten about. It was along the same lines of the dreams people had had in the provings! It was almost surreal listening to him.

Anyway, shortly after this DH went and got his const. remedy as well. That alone is huge because he won't miss 3 hours of work for anything unless he thinks it's really important. But, he was absolutely amazed at the changes he saw in me. And he tends to be a cynic and skeptic.

Since then I bought a Boiron Family kit. And, I hear Fiona waking--gotta go! This turned out to be very long, wow!

[tempus vernum]

for you Lisa . While we have discussed this IRL I never knew the extent of the things you were going through I think I need to get to the homeopath.

Ironically, Savana woke up yesterday with a croupy cough. I got out the hepar sulph figuring it was 50/50 chance of helping (that's about what it had been in the past -- 2 times needing steroids even with hepar sulph and 2 times making it w/o doctor's treatment But actually it seems it's close to gone already. Her breathing is a bit heavy but it's almost gone.

ANd that cold that I posted about Alyssa having is long gone. It lasted less than a day

At this point, my annoying homeopathic situation is that something in these threads on homeopathy in this forum reminded me that Hyland's combination remedies are in a base of LACTOSE so. . . we haven't been able to use our insomnia blend, or nerve tonic or the headache blend since I knew this a long time ago and obviously forgot or didn't really internalize it

So, I haven't been sleeping very well and have been a bit more stressed than usual And actually typing out that I couldn't use my nerve tonic is what made me actually realize this could be the problem

I did contact the link the JellyBean provided -- their remedies are dairy free so. . . I will probably see if I can get some there

[JavaMama]

Wow Lisa, what a story! You make me want to run to the homeopath right away. I hope I can someday soon... he charges $60/hr but not sure about the initial visit.

[Soliloquy]

I forgot to add my DH's experience w/ Sinusalia, a comb. remedy. He's had horrid sinus trouble for almost 20 years. I orderd him Sinusalia and he felt better immediately. Alice Cage (that's her username here) asked me if I knew of anything for sinus allergies. I told her to try Sinusalia. She called me the next day and said. "I feel tons better but I don't think it was the Sinusalia because I felt better almost instantly after I put them in my mouth." I said that's how fast a homeopathic remedy works, often times. She was and now, tjhat's all she uses for her seasonal allergies. sHE SAYS SHE FEELS HER SINUSES DRAINING ALMOST AS SOON AS THE TABS hit her mouth. sorry 'bout the caps-- accident

[simplegirl]

Originally Posted by LisaM

I forgot to add my DH's experience w/ Sinusalia, a comb. remedy. He's had horrid sinus trouble for almost 20 years. I orderd him Sinusalia and he felt better immediately. Alice Cage (that's her username here) asked me if I knew of anything for sinus allergies. I told her to try Sinusalia. She called me the next day and said. "I feel tons better but I don't think it was the Sinusalia because I felt better almost instantly after I put them in my mouth." I said that's how fast a homeopathic remedy works, often times. She was and now, tjhat's all she uses for her seasonal allergies. sHE SAYS SHE FEELS HER SINUSES DRAINING ALMOST AS SOON AS THE TABS hit her mouth. sorry 'bout the caps-- accident

i thought you were excited and just adding emphasis!

[JavaMama]

Originally Posted by simplegirl

i thought you were excited and just adding emphasis!

[tempus vernum]

Originally Posted by LisaM

I forgot to add my DH's experience w/ Sinusalia, a comb. remedy. He's had horrid sinus trouble for almost 20 years. I orderd him Sinusalia and he felt better immediately. Alice Cage (that's her username here) asked me if I knew of anything for sinus allergies. I told her to try Sinusalia. She called me the next day and said. "I feel tons better but I don't think it was the Sinusalia because I felt better almost instantly after I put them in my mouth." I said that's how fast a homeopathic remedy works, often times. She was and now, tjhat's all she uses for her seasonal allergies. sHE SAYS SHE FEELS HER SINUSES DRAINING ALMOST AS SOON AS THE TABS hit her mouth. sorry 'bout the caps-- accident

I am so glad you posted this. I kept forgetting to ask what it was your dh used. My dh needs some. . . . . off to write it on my "to buy" list

[Soliloquy]

Adding this link for info--it's a nice overview of facts

http://www.newswithviews.com/Howenstine/james34.htm

[tempus vernum]

Originally Posted by JellyBean

On ones you find work and use a lot get a bottle dropper...fill it with water and add a few pellets of your remedies. You'll have to succuss it every time you use it (I just tap mine hard on the palm of my hand) but it actually makes the remedy stronger instead of weaker and it makes your remedies last forever!!!

Okay, so I've been doing this but about 1 month into doing it, I started getting floaties so I assumed that maybe I needed distilled water. . . so about 5 days ago I dumped my commonly used ones and started over using distilled water. Last night at bed, my calms forte (insomnia combination) had floaties (some kind of icky black things). SO I got up and checked a few this a.m. and a few have them

has this ever happened to you?

subbing so I can read this later.

Personally, learning about homeopathy seems overwhelming to me. There are so many books & websites (of questionable validity) and I don't know what might counteract with what that I'm nervous about trying things, even as supplements not just for treatments of acute conditions. This is mostly due to being unfamiliar though; I've known about tylenol & advil & robitussin for twenty years, so those feel "comfortable" & I'm confident that I know how to use them I would like to make food-as-medicine and learning about homeopathy, along with improving what my children eat, as my goals for next year


I have a question though - what sort of physician/professional should I find to help me address food sensitivity issues with my oldest? He has sensory issues & is *so* limited on his food selections, and none of them are healthy IMO I also cannot get him to take any supplements because he refuses anything liquid (he gags on anything "thicker" than plain water) & won't take any chewable tablets either (but he also won't eat candy, which is a plus!) My big issue with his eating is that so many moms talk about what they've removed from their kids' diets to see improvements in the Autism realm & he eats all that bad stuff so it seems to me to be a self-perpetuating cycle! His regular ped, speech therapists & dentists have no idea what I'm talking about Is there a way to find out what foods or additives might be aggravating his system?

[cobluegirl]

I would look for a NAET dr for allergies.