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Homeopathy

filfla4

Senior Member
Messages
236
Can't seem to find a dedicated thread on this.

I saw a homeopath for the first time about 4 months ago. I was put on a low dose of a remedy which was then gradually increased. It didn't make me better, quite the reverse...it brought out all the original symptoms that I was first diagnosed with, particularly the low-grade fevers and also very very itchy sores on my arms. I have now rightly or wrongly stopped this remedy - it was making me so ill and the timing was totally wrong (whenever is it right?). On the other hand, I've read that homeopathy often works that way before making you better....

Any thoughts anyone who's into homeopathy?
 
Messages
13,774
It would be amazing if homeopathy was anything other than placebo. Sometimes though, placebo can make people worse by having them think that there's some pressure on them to get better (a big study on intercessionary prayer found that those cancer patients who knew they were being prayed for tended to feel worse than other groups). Of all the alternative therapies about, homeopathy seems relatively harmless though - sorry to not sound more hopeful for you. Good luck with it all.
 

Misfit Toy

Senior Member
Messages
4,178
Location
USA
I have found homeopathy to be the most powerful of any treatment in that it has made me sick as a dog. So sick, I couldn't continue with it. Having said that, it has helped one of my friends overcome lyme. For me, it has been too strong. I don't know why anyone would say it's a placebo. It's anything but!
 

leela

Senior Member
Messages
3,290
Esther,

Just for your consideration, placebo doesn't work on babies and animals.
The correct homeopathic remedy, at the correct potency, does.
The trick is finding the right remedy at the right time, like any medicine.

If you take penicillin for a fractured bone, it is not going to help. That does not make antibiotics useless as a medicine.
 

camas

Senior Member
Messages
702
Location
Oregon
filfla4,

My D.O. practices classical homeopathy. We found a remedy that's quite helpful in relieving my neurological symptoms. He doesn't want me feeling worse on the remedy -- only better. Because I'm so sensitive he started with a 6C. I only work up when the remedy seems to stop working. I've been taking if for almost nine years and am now only up to a 250C that I have made up special. You might want to try backing down to the lowest dose and working your way up more slowly. Good luck!
 

willow

Senior Member
Messages
240
Location
East Midlands
Hi,

My limited understanding is that in Classical Homeopathy a recurrence of symptoms present at the start of the disease is known as an aggravation. This is generally seen as a good sign, but that these should also be accompanied or followed by some improvements. I've read that aggravations without improvements suggest that the remedy is partailly right but also missing a component or components. 4 months of feeling worse with no/few good bits sounds a huge strain too. What does your homeopathist say about adjusting for it?

My own experience with potentised, homepathic like remedies is that the 'right' remedy almost immeditaly gives me a sense of calm, stillness and a sense of physiological and psych relief. Often I'll have a rough 2 days or so, sometimes longer. I'm just coming out of an awful month, but even then there's a sense of underlying well being and functional improvements that I didn't have before the homeopathy.... Lots of them actually, mostly small but significant and noticable to others too.

I think that like any other therapy homeopathic remedies can be healing or damaging, depends on the therapist and the realtionship you have with eachother.
 

filfla4

Senior Member
Messages
236
Thanks for all your feedback.

I believe the problem lies with me and not my homeopath. She has requested much more feedback and more visits than I was able to give her, the reason being that the timing was just very wrong (my mistake). I live on the island of Malta in the Med, where summers are really difficult for me for two reasons: (i) the heat really gets to me, and (ii) my kids are on school hols which are very long here, so my routine goes out of whack.

I shouldn't have started trying homeopathy in June and should have waited. Also, I have an appointment to see Prof Kenny De Meirleir in Brussels on 15th November (which I made many months ago). I stopped taking the homeopathic remedy towards the end of September. I don't think I'm going to carry on with it for the moment, at least until I know the results of all the testing De Meirleir will do.

I know that this will upset my homeopath somewhat. I only hope that she understands what I'm going through as I would be very willing to try working with her again in a few months. For anyone who thinks that Homeopathy is just a placebo, believe me I was exceedingly sceptical when I started out. However I did experience certain dramatic changes which could only have been from the remedy I was taking. I think I need to do this when I am calmer and more dedicated to the treatment, this way I'll be able to build up a better relationshiop with my homeopath and work with her more closely.
 

Michael Dessin

Senior Member
Messages
608
Location
Ohio
I feel strongly about this topics and think all of these comments are excellent and accurate except the one I mentioned earlier.

I have seen many people do very very well on homeopathics including myself but at the same time this is such a complex disease

and is truly hard to address with homeopthics as they must be carefully selected. Were not dealing with one virus but dozens amongst

many other issues.

Just like there is no magic pill, there is no one magic homeopathic...although the ones that have immune modulating properties rather

than targeting one virus or issue seem to have the best results from my observations.

Take Care and good luck filfla4, Im off to the CFSAC meeting in D.C. as we need research and funding towards mainstream treatments

that can help the majority of patients in the future.
 

leela

Senior Member
Messages
3,290
Thanks for going to the meeting, Mike. Will you be giving your testimony again? Please give us the low-down when you return.
 

dannybex

Senior Member
Messages
3,561
Location
Seattle
Excellent...

Esther,

Just for your consideration, placebo doesn't work on babies and animals.
The correct homeopathic remedy, at the correct potency, does.
The trick is finding the right remedy at the right time, like any medicine.

If you take penicillin for a fractured bone, it is not going to help. That does not make antibiotics useless as a medicine.

EXCELLENT points Leela. Should be reposted any time this discussion comes up.

Thanks,

Dan
 
Messages
13,774
Thanks for that idiotic answer Esther12... Yea you are not hopeful, accurate or helpful to anyone with that post

Okay. If anyone really thinks that there's good evidence in favour of homeopathy as an effective and predictable branch of medical science, rather than just a form of ritual and tradition like astrology, then I'd be happy to go through looking at their evidence and explaining why I disagree.

If people just find that homeopathy helps them, rather than believing there's such clear and solid evidence in favour of the efficacy of homeopathy that it would be idiotic to deny it, then I'd rather leave them to it.

@filfla4 - I really don't think that you should be worrying about upsetting your homeopath though. You're the boss!
 

Michael Dessin

Senior Member
Messages
608
Location
Ohio
@ Esther12.....Our so called effective and predictable branch of medical science is ran by politics rather than results!

I went to the science day today which was cool...the speaker on genetics was the most interesting and as usual the guy from

the cancer institute was more about that poitical based science Esther12 like so much...pretty much ensuring that insurance will

not cover anything XMRV related for a looong time.

Cort speaks at 11:15 tomorrow and me at 4:15...I have no idea what Im going to say and its the night before. Its hard for me to write

without getting angry and I want to be logical not emotional.

Thanks for the well wishes :)
 
Messages
13,774
Michael, pointing out the problems that can occur within the scientific process validates homeopathy no more than it does astrology or witchcraft.

Are you really saying that it's idiotic to believe that homeopathy is unlikely to be any more affective than placebo because...

scientists can be influenced by their politics and prejudices?

Good luck with your talk tomorrow, but I suggest you avoid presenting that sort of argument. I don't think many people will find it convincing.
 

zoe.a.m.

Senior Member
Messages
368
Location
Olympic Peninsula, Washington
I saw a homeopath for the first time about 4 months ago. I was put on a low dose of a remedy which was then gradually increased. It didn't make me better, quite the reverse...it brought out all the original symptoms that I was first diagnosed with, particularly the low-grade fevers and also very very itchy sores on my arms. I have now rightly or wrongly stopped this remedy - it was making me so ill and the timing was totally wrong (whenever is it right?). On the other hand, I've read that homeopathy often works that way before making you better....

Any thoughts anyone who's into homeopathy?

I agree with many other posters here that it's both normal to experience the "beginning" of the illness again as a remedy goes to work on the layers of an illness and that it's not optimal to have more than a quickly-passing 'aggravation.' That usually means that something needs to be tweaked. One thing I was told by a constitutional homeopath was that, although there's a belief that a remedy will have no effect if it's not 'your' remedy, that is not true for sensitive people. So, it's not to say it's dangerous by any means, just that people with complex issues and who are sensitive to meds and foods and such, are usually also sensitive to dosage and remedy. In a perfect situation, you either get it right from the start or can find the exact frequency to meet your symptoms so that they essentially cancel each other's effects out and just bring relief. A newer idea I've been learning about is that it's important to let the body complete its illness process and not try to mitigate the symptoms. I think this is an easier thing for people who are essentially healthy as we already have so many systems struggling that we need to consider how taxed we are overall, but it's an interesting concept.

Also, I'm not sure of what type of remedies you're using but I did consult with a naturopath who, like many others now, uses a system created by a company in Belgium, UNDA, http://whatishealing.com/UndaNumbers.htm which uses combination remedies in a complex system. I hear some people get very good results from them. I chose to stick with the more traditional type of homeopathics but, had I the money to try it out for several months or a year, I might have done so.

I believe, though I might be mistaken, that homeopathic remedies are the first line of treatment with even most allopathic physicians in several European countries. Germany is often in the forefront of this field and dentistry materials. I doubt the credibility of homeopathy is even an issue at this point. I see the most "normal" people in the country with grocery carts full of foods an ME/CFSer would never dare touch swearing by Zicam (a homeopathic combo cold remedy). I think it's an interesting thing because they don't really advertise as an alternative thing, just as a treatment to speed up healing from or preventing a cold and it's right there next to every other cold remedy in the drugstore or grocery store.

Personally, I have times when meds don't work and I eventually remember a remedy that I've used (you usually get to know a few that are very helpful for you that can be used in a lower potency or prescribed by your homeopath) and bam, the problem starts to clear right up. And often, as awful as symptoms can become, less is more when it comes to treating them (if fewer side effects and being "alternative" is considered less). Good luck!
 

Fejal

Senior Member
Messages
212
This needs to be said:

http://www.studentdoctor.net/pandab...-us-from-crap-and-other-totally-random-stuff/

Liberating Us From Crap (And Other Totally Random Stuff)

...I dont know how I can be clearer that CAM is all pure-D horseshit and I dont know why you have trouble with the concept. Also, I dont see how you cant see that while some medicine makes us feel good, not everything that makes us feel good is medicine. This is another way of saying that if everything is medicine, nothing is, and I may as well make up my own ridiculous faith-based medical therapy for all the discernment that you have between real and make-believe.

And no, the purpose of medicine is not to make us feel good. Its to diagnose and treat or prevent disease. Insofar as being treated for a disease or not getting it in the first place makes a patient feel goodwell, so much the better. But feeling good is a nebulous concept. Not everybody who feels bad has a medical problem. What about feeling bad because you feel you have no purpose in life? Is this a medical problem? Not hardly. -PB
 

alice1

Senior Member
Messages
457
Location
Toronto
I am a big fan of homeopathic treatments.However whenever I was put on a remedy I would feel worse as well.My naturalpath doc said it seemed to her that when I was assisting my immune that that was helpful but when my immune was asked to work harder it woud crash.
I believe this to be true for myself.So I don't put anything strong in my body as to make it work harder and homeopathic remedies are powerful.
If you continue to try it I hope you get great results.
 

*GG*

senior member
Messages
6,389
Location
Concord, NH
I went to the science day today which was cool...the speaker on genetics was the most interesting and as usual the guy from the cancer institute was more about that poitical based science Esther12 like so much...pretty much ensuring that insurance will not cover anything XMRV related for a looong time.

Cort speaks at 11:15 tomorrow and me at 4:15...I have no idea what Im going to say and its the night before. Its hard for me to write without getting angry and I want to be logical not emotional.

Thanks for the well wishes :)

Thanks for your activism Michael and Cort! Just do what you can, much appreciated.