| On September 11, I woke abruptly to the telephone.
It was my eldest son in Los Angeles, telling me to turn on the TV.
I watched in disbelief. My heart pounded as I picked up the phone
to call another son, who was attending the Juilliard School in New
York City. I reached a recorded message only.
Within minutes, my phone rang again. It was my homeopathic office
reporting that all four phone lines for our "Homeo-Help Line"
were jammed with frightened and crying people, saying they were
having anxiety attacks and asking what remedies to take. Although
our office is in Pittsburgh, we have clients from across the U.S.,
many of whom have suffered from depression, anxiety, panic attacks,
and other nervous disorders in the past. Watching the scenario unfold
on TV was stirring up many fears and old disorders. I jumped into
the car and raced to the office to help answer the phones.
Helping each other
On the way, my son in New York City (NYC) did call my cell phone.
Trying to disguise his own fears, he assured me that he was fine,
and, thankfully, alive. But many of his classmates were shaken up,
some crying, some sitting in corners silently. I promised to drive
to NYC the next week to help as much as possible. "Mom, I have
my emergency kit in my hand," he said bravely. "I didn’t
know what to do, so I gave everyone a couple of pellets of Aconite."
He chose Aconite, he said, because he remembered the frightened
"Aconite face" I used to make to describe the remedy when
teaching a local study group.
Sometimes an emergency situation forces you to focus on helping
others, and you don’t have time to worry about your own situation.
I told him to take some Arnica for shock. He kept repeating
that he was fine (a classic Arnica symptom)—I knew he wasn’t!
I’m grateful that he survived and was able to help himself
and others with his homeopathic emergency kit. You can bet, in the
future, he won’t leave home without one!
Another dose
One woman who called our homeopathic office that day had a history
of fibromyalgia. She had been treated with Gelsemium followed
by Rhus tox several months earlier and had been doing quite well.
Now she reported: "I feel weak, dizzy, and cold like I have
the flu ... but I have to walk around." During a crisis situation
when time is of the essence, I rely on keynote symptoms, as well
as any updated information offered. I asked her what would happen
if she just took a few deep breaths and tried to relax. "My
heart feels like it would stop," she said. Bingo! Gelsemium
has all of those symptoms. I told her to repeat the Gelsemium as
needed for the next few days. It had helped her before, and I felt
confident it would help again. She was back to her recovered state
in a very short period of time.
A devastating loss
A man, aged 35, came to the office in November 2001 (actually,
his wife dragged him). He was unable to sleep without the radio
on since September 11. His wife said he spent his entire paycheck
on a handheld TV so he could keep up with the news. He had lost
his job because he could not concentrate on his work. This devastated
him—it’s all he talked about in the interview. Some
of his complaints showed obsessive compulsive behavior, like locking
the doors and then checking them over and over, and getting angry
and impatient when things were left out of place. He started over
eating and then complaining of stomach pains; he began drinking
alcohol every evening before bed followed by a pot of coffee in
the morning to wake up.
I started my search by considering the remedies listed in Murphy’s
Repertory under, "Mind, ailments from bad news." I then
repertorized them with the symptoms: obsessive compulsive behavior,
desire for alcohol and coffee, insomnia, worries about finances,
anger, and over-eating. Nux vomica* fit all these symptoms
well so I suggested Nux vomica 30C for several days, followed
by a daily LM dose for about a month. He missed his scheduled follow-up
appointment, but his wife reordered the Nux vomica (in
an LM02) which he took until it ran out (about a month).
When I saw him after this, he’d found a new job, the obsessive
behavior was gone, he was drinking green tea instead of coffee,
and he listened to the news only on his way to work. He was sleeping
peacefully and his wife claimed to have her "old man"
back. At a follow-up visit three months later, he was still doing
well. His doctor had originally recommended he take an antidepressant
drug; instead he decided to go after the cause of the problem ...
using homeopathy!
A personal experience
I have a history of asthma. When I went to NYC to help with the
kids at my son’s school, I must have inhaled too much of the
cement dust and debris, and ended up in the Emergency Room. Using
homeopathy and herbs, I was able to wean myself off the asthma medications
quickly and improve my lung capacity.
While I was in the hospital for X-rays and treatment, however,
I met many others in the same situation—the ER was overflowing
with people complaining of upper respiratory infections and breathlessness.
I gave them my e-mail address and told them about homeopathy. Some
of them have recently called my office, complaining that they are
now on three or more asthma medications, and dealing with the side
effects that come with them. It may take a little longer to help
these people, but with homeopathy, I believe there is hope.
* "Nux vomica types ... overdo everything:
they work too hard, stay out too late, take no exercise, eat too
much rich food, drink too much alcohol, become too wound up to sleep
and then consume vast quantities of coffee in order to get going
the next day. Then they find it difficult to concentrate and lose
interest in their work. They become a bag of nerves. ... They are
extremely impatient ... critical, fussy, exacting, tidy."—
The Complete Homeopathy Handbook, by Miranda Castro, FSHom,
RSHom(NA), CCH
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About the author:
Cindee Gardner, PhD, CHom, DHom, is a molecular biologist and homeopathic
consultant in Pittsburgh, PA. She holds certificates from the Bengal
Allen Medical Institute in India and the Hahnemann Academy of North
America, and has studied with Dr. Banerjea, Dr. R. Murphy, Dr. F.
Eizayaga, and others over the past 25 years. She can be reached
at: www.cindeegardner.com
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