Friends of Homeopathy
Hello again, and already it’s summer and some while since I last posted a blog. It’s always gratifying to be able to help friends with my homeopathic skills; as they say ‘a friend in need is a friend indeed’. So here are a few short cases that demonstrate the power of homeopathy in acute situations. FRIEND 1: He’s a builder in Brighton. I’ve known him for many years and we’ve formed a close bond. I’ve been there for him and he for me. He came to do some decorating work for me recently and as he walked in I could see the pain on his face. He’d wrenched his right shoulder several weeks previously and any work that involved lifting his arm was painful. However, he always worked through his pain, he couldn’t afford to stop work. The main homeopathic remedies for injured shoulders are Rhus Tox, Ferrum and Sanguinaria. Ferrum metallicum (Iron) suits down to earth hard working people like my friend and so I gave him Ferrum 30c one daily for a week. I saw him the following week and the strained shoulder had completely resolved. He was, needless to say, very grateful. FRIEND 2: I’ve known him as a close friend for several years and recently he lost his wife to cancer. Although he is normally a very positive guy (and has responded very well to homeopathy in the past for his hiatus hernia) he came round looking worn out. He had an ongoing painful cough and sore throat. He was getting on with things but he said he felt like he was in a waiting room waiting for something...
THE (WO) MAN FLU REMEDY??
I wanted to share with you a remedy that was brought to my attention many years ago by a great Australian homeopath, Alan Jones. More recently Lou Klein has filled out the picture. It’s a really ‘delicious’ remedy because it fits a very definite and difficut type of patient. Often this patient will present with a bad cold, sinus problems with yellow/green viscous discharge, allergies of various kinds (seasonal or < smoke, animal hair), post nasal drip with constant clearing of the throat, maybe asthma, sleep problems, irregular menses with hot flushes. There can be arthritis, stiff neck with pains extending to the arms, recurring otits media and sciatica. Symptoms can be < drinking wine. You may have already given Pulsatilla, hydrastis, kali bich, arsenicum or even ignatia. The remedy is FLAVUS BACILLUS. This nosode is in the same group as Medorrhinum and Meningococcus and I am sure many of you will recognise patients when I describe their dispositional themes. The main aspect is that the patient exaggerates their symptoms and difficulties. There is a pronounced anxiety about health. Every small symptom throws them off balance. There can be a picture of grief with a sensation of a lump in the throat. Everything has to look perfect including the family. On first meeting these patients can seem sweet and even timid. They can feel ignored (they may not say this but you can surmise) with loquacity, envy and a need to constantly ‘get things off their chest’ (Graphites can do this too). There may be an unexpressed need to be the centre of attention (this is similar to Sycotic-co)....
Understanding the Homeopathic Periodic Table Workshop
If you have been bamboozled by the use of the Periodic Table in homeopathy or even developed a phobia about it you need to come to this workshop! I guarantee you will go away inspired! UNDERSTANDING THE PERIODIC TABLE Prescribing Minerals and Elements with Confidence with Jonathan Stallick RSHom Sunday 10 April 2016 9.30-5.30 Birkbeck College, London WC1 Find out more! Book Now! Early Bird...NOTES FROM A HOMEOPATHIC PRACTICE
Some interesting remedies prescribed in the last few weeks: CORALLIUM RUBRUM For a chap with a hacking cough that he’s had for months and sometimes comes in spasms. I’ve known him for a long time and have often felt his remedy must lie in the IRON SERIES. He’s a no nonsense very hard working builder and quite irritable. But which iron series remedy? When I repertorised I noticed Corallium Rubrum coming up high and Red Coral contains a lot of iron (giving it the red colour) and has a lot of irritability and holding a grudge (like many sea remedies). This remedy given daily and followed with PERTUSSIN has cured this very troublesome cough. BARYTA BROMATUM The essence of this remedy is feeling embarrassed about making a mistake or saying the wrong thing. These patients get very embarrassed and there may be developmental issues in early life. STINGRAY (Urolophus halleri) Very interesting remedy. For someone who feels betrayed (‘stung’). The patient may say they ‘flip’ from one state to another. Think of the flat stingray that is either shows only one side or another). They may have dreams of old flames/friends who they fancy sexually coming back into their life. OLEUM ANIMALE Much underused remedy. I used it recently in a case of arthritis where the patient is overweight but craves fats, with good results. SALMON (Oncorhynchus tschawytscha) I had a lovely case of a child of 8 who had recently moved to the UK from France. She suffers from Asthma which the mother thinks is related to house dust mite. But she also has difficult breathing after running...
CHARA INTERMEDIA- IMPORTANT REMEDY FOR OLD AGE?
Any remedy that declares itself a panacea for old age problems is going to receive a fair amount of scepticism (at least from me!). Which is why I decided to buy the rather beautifully produced book by Heidi Brand and Norbert Cooper called simply: Chara Intermedia, The Cleansing Power of an Ancient Alga. There was also the issue of my 91 year old father who had been seriously ill with pneumonia and who looked like he was declining which brought the knowledge of this remedy a bit closer to home. Chara Intermedia is a green alga that is present throughout Northern and central Europe. It grows completely submerged in water. Unlike other types of algae it retains its form when removed from water and it has a remarkable property of cleansing any body of water it grows in. Structurally it is anything but soft and is sheathed in a calcium casing giving it rigidity (a signature of the remedy as we shall see). The authors of this book present cases which are compelling to say the least: a 76 year old man with dementia following stomach surgery, bent double with stiff body posture and shuffling gait is able to go out on his own and buy a newspaper within 4 weeks. Within 12 months the man is fit with no complaints. A 58 year old woman with MS who had not responded significantly to years of homeopathic treatment regains movement and mental calmness after Chara Intermedia 30c. There are many more dramatic cases (not all in old age, Chara has proved itself useful in cases of ADD in adolescence...
Homeopathy for the Elderly- A Personal Challenge!
The last few weeks have been quite challenging for me as my 91 year old father has been seriously ill in hospital, first from a fall and then a bout of pneumonia. In truth he has been ill most of his adult life. Starting off with hyperthyroidism this turned to hypothyroidism after radioactive iodine treatment. He smoked 50 cigarettes a day for many years leading to a heart attack followed by triple bypass operation. He then had strokes and then CLL leukemia (the slow progressive kind). More recently he has become confused due to 3 strokes. Through the years although I only ever treated him ad hoc I’ve been able to help him with homeopathy prescribed on a first aid basis and I can truthfully say that this has extended his life span. I’ll come to what I gave him for the recent dip but before that how did I help him for the CLL Leukemia? I had a strong suspicion that the radioactive iodine he was given all those years ago had had a much deeper effect on his constitution than the doctors would admit to (the radioactive exposure can lie dormant in the body for many years). The temptation is to use Radium Bromide which is the standard post-radiation remedy, but this had already been given with no effect. Radium Iodatum immediately helped him, stabilising his blood leucocyte count over many years (to the amazement of the doctors at the Royal Marsden hospital who, to their credit, supported his use of homeopathy). His recent malaise started following a fall (actually in hospital on a routine check up)....
Prescribing Elements and Minerals
When I was working at two London HIV/AIDS centres in the 1990’s Jan Scholten published his first book ‘Homeopathy and the Minerals’. I came across it at Ainsworths Pharmacy one day and it immediately made an impression. Of course homeopathic prescribing theories come and go but this was backed up by case after case using (at that time) weird and wonderful remedies like Baryta fluoricum, Magnesium Nitricum, Ferrum Iodatum. At that time there was a strong tendency to using ‘Polychrests’ like Sulphur, Phosphorus and Natrum Mur with all others, often given just a few lines in our materia medicas, relegated as ‘small remedies’. Jan was one of the first to say ‘look, small remedies are only remedies that haven’t been explored, proved and used. Of course we are taught that the great Hahnemann specifically advises against speculation and philosophizing as to the nature of materia medica. Yet he himself was certainly not the stiff old school figure that is often portrayed, and indeed speculated throughout his working life. For sure if he was alive today he would be applauding some of the wilder current homeopathic explorations. So that brings us back to Jan Scholten who broke out of the mould, stuck his head above the parapet, and decided to speculate on a grand scale. He looked at remedy stalwarts like Nat Mur, Calc Carb and Mag Phos and wondered if there were common themes that could be attributed to their individual components. And then went even further and attempted to predict the themes of every element in the periodic table. His work has been supremely successful...
A Mind Numbing Tooth Extraction
I had a case this week of a woman who had to have her wisdom tooth out (at the age of 82!). As I’m sure you are aware this is a big operation. The woman reported that the dentist had trouble numbing the gums and had to give her a number of injections before he could safely take the offending tooth out. After the operation, not surprisingly, the woman was in a state of shock and in a lot of pain. I gave her Arnica 10M and repeated doses of Hecla Larva 30 (being the standard remedies for tooth extractions). This seemed to ameliorate but the following day the patient says she is very tired, she feels like she’s been in a road accident; she feels vulnerable and anxious. This surprised me because one normally expects Arnica to do the job. But when I enquired more closely the patient said that whilst having the numbing injections her heart started racing, and that afterwards she had restless limbs. Now, those dental injections contain a form of adrenaline and I realised my patient had basically experienced an overdose and was suffering from the after effects. A dose of homeopathic Adrenaline 200 allowed my patient to relax, recover her energy and a positive outlook and the healing to continue. Definitely worth remembering as a major remedy after dental operations. JUICY THERAPEUTICS ONOSMODIUM is a plant in the Boraginaceae family that contains, of course, Borage and also Symphytum. Homeopathic Symphytum is a well known remedy for broken and bruised bones. But it’s worth remembering Onosmodium as a remedy where a patient with...
Things I learned This Week…
This week my homeopathic research has taken me far and wide and here are some juicy new homeopathic therapeutics for you. XENON All the noble gases, of which Xenon is one, have detachment, spaceyness, weariness and an out-of-the-body quality in their dispositional state. Xenon is the first remedy to think of for weakness/spaceyness/tiredness/anxiety after general anaesthetic (also for anxiety before operation). Jan Scholten uses this in preference to Opium. He found it works quicker and more effectively. UREAPLASMA UREALYTICA NOSODE Found in genital flora, this bacterium has no cell wall, which is reflected in its remedy themes. Hyper sensitive people to noise, smells, sounds, foods etc. Severe sleeplessness esp. since childhood. Needs the perfect environment to sleep (“Princess and the Pea” syndrome). Subtly demanding and manipulative people. MOBILE PHONE EMANATIONS Can look like Tarentula, Veratrum and other hyperactive remedies. For wired children who talk a lot, fast and furious, may have facial tics. Obstinate, very oppositional. Distracted, many ideas and thoughts crowding the brain. Minimal emotions with too many thoughts. LAMPROHIZA SPLENDIDULA (FIREFLY) Can look a little like Phosphorus but has a dark side. Panic at thought of commitment (relationship, job etc), Peter Pan personality. Think metamorphosis. (Anyone who watched Sex and The City on TV may remember Carrie’s panic when pushed to commit to boyfriend Aidan Shaw; she even came out in a rash after he asked her to marry him! That was a classic Firefly situation, especially given the character’s restless girlish personality!) CICHORUM INTYBUS (Chicory) For demanding children who are very oppositional and need to do everything their way. It’s...
Birds of a Feather
In a blog which whose focus is partly on homeopathic bird remedies it’s appropriate that I might ruffle a few feathers! This one is more for the homeopaths and students but hopefully will be of interest to others too. Man has always had a tendency to stick to the tried and trusted and homeopaths are no different. The homeopathic polychrests (for non-homeopaths polychrests are like the broad spectrum antibiotics of homeopathy; they cover more of the people more of the time) have become like these great monoliths, and because they have been used and explored more they stand out like beacons, seemingly curing all of mankind’s ills. But in my experience solely using the well known polychrests results in a one dimensional practice that can help but often not cure (which is not to dismiss the help that they can give). Patients are squeezed into these great archetypes whether they truly fit or not. And all non-polychrests are demoted to the category of ‘small remedies,’ used as standbys on the basis of one or two red line symptoms. But surely ‘small remedies’ are only small because they are not as well known as the polychrests. They just haven’t been explored to the same degree. With the polychrests we have strong mental themes and this is usually missing from the ‘small remedies. One of my joys has been to witness the unfolding of many of these ‘small remedies’ over the last 20 years. It’s like meeting new friends, being given subtle new colours and hues to our homeopathic pallet that allows us to match our patients more...
Candida. An Intractable problem?
Candida is a common, often seemingly intractable, problem. Candida albicans is a normal inhabitant of the lower bowel and it is usually kept under control by the high pH values which are maintained by lactobacilli, another of the bowel’s inhabitants. Antibiotics are one class of drug which can upset the balance of the bowel flora by killing lactobacilli. This then allows the entry of other morbific bacteria thus reducing the pH value and providing the right conditions for the proliferation of yeasts, moulds and viruses, the most common of which is Candida albicans which can spread throughout the gastro-intestinal tract. However, Candida albicans can be found in other moist habitats including the skin and mucous membranes. SYSTEMIC CANDIDIASIS Dr Orion Truss; from Alabama, USA was the first to recognise the symptom picture of candidiasis and demonstrated that the spores of intestinal candida could enter the blood stream and cause ‘partial paralysis of the immune system’. Truss’s findings were varied but of particular interest was his finding that red blood cells lost their elasticity in the presence of Candida. He also noticed a distinct reduction in available potassium & phosphorus in blood infected with Candida. The combined effect of these is to restrict blood supply, particularly oxygen and nutrients, to vital organs with fine capilliaries such as the brain. Truss recognised the symptoms of emotional instability, poor concentration, defective memory, vertigo, headaches and depression as being directly related to brain function, and referred to them as ‘brain symptoms’ as opposed to mental or ‘neurotic symptoms’. The most common symptom picture of systemic candidiasis includes: Mind Concentration; Difficult; Memory; Weakness Of; Confidence, Loss...
A New Look at Graphites
Graphites is one version of carbon (the other well known version being diamond.) Carbon of course is the structural building block from which all life is made. So it won’t surprise us to find that the keyword to Graphites’ use as a remedy is ‘structure’. In homeopathy the the traditional mental picture of graphites as a remedy is ‘Mentally sluggish. poor memory. Forgetful, slowness of purpose.’ They are often thought of as being obese with weeping skin eruptions. But this is a bit of a 2D vision of the remedy. In my experience it is more often of use in patients who are actually quite successful (and may be anything but obese!) but go through some big change in their life. This could be a mid life crisis (interesting, as carbon sits right in the centre of the periodic table, as amended by Jan Scholten). The whole structure of this person’s life has been turned upside down; such as losing their job, or their home or their relationship. These normally quite confident people become very upset, anxious, tearful. In any social meeting Graphites patients tend to be the ones that skip any polite niceties and launch into a description of their problems. They become very irresolute and and spend hours trying to decide the samples of decisions. They worry, worry, worry. They may feel like the carpet has been pulled from beneath their feet (also like Borax but Borax has more vertigo and dizziness). They may say ‘I feel totally lost’. The interesting thing is Graphites types can look like a typical Pulsatilla, with all the tearfulness and feeling better...
What is homeopathy?
A lot of people ask me ‘what is homeopathy.’ And the history of the founding of homeopathy is actually very interesting. 200 years ago a German doctor, Samuel Hahnemann, came upon the principle of homeopathy by accident. Hahnemann found that if he gave the patient a much diluted remedy made from a substance that could cause the symptoms a patient was suffering from, he could actually cure those very same symptoms. This universal ‘like cures like’ principle, can also be seen in vaccination and radiotherapy, for instance. However, in homeopathy we never give a dose that might be toxic. All homeopathic remedies are highly diluted and therefore have no side effects. This has lead some critics to argue that homeopathy is pure placebo effect. However, homeopathy has been shown to work on babies, animals and comatose patients and numerous published scientific trials have demonstrated its beneficial effects. Hahnemann’s discoveries were a turning point in the history of medicine and since then homeopathy has proved itself a safe and highly effective therapy, to the point where today 400 million people around the world use homeopathy as their principle form of medicine. “Homeopathy…in reality cures a larger percentage of cases than any other method of treatment, and it is beyond all doubt safer and more economical.” Mahatma...(Visited 859 times, 1 visits today)