Interviews

Diane Fuller (Nov. 2004)

Written by Elaine Lewis

I am guessing that no interviewee for this ezine has had a wider influence on our readers than Diane Fuller!

Diane, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?  I see that you’re a nurse who found your way into homeopathy, can you tell us how that happen?

Elaine, in answer to your question:

Shortly after becoming a nurse, I married my husband Roy. We wanted a large family, and eventually had seven children, three of whom were adopted children with special needs. Because I had great faith in the medical system, I had no reason to doubt anything I was taught, and was very conscientious about taking them to the doctor, having them immunized, and giving them antibiotics for minor illnesses. By the time our oldest was 7 years old, I began to question the effects of antibiotics, remarking to our doctor that I thought antibiotics were lowering the children’s resistance to illnesses. I began reading books on keeping children healthy with diet and devoured Adele Davis’s books, especially “Let’s Have Healthy Children.”

Me too!

Adele Davis

My trips to the doctor became less and less as I learned more natural ways of keeping the family healthy.

I may never have found homeopathy if it hadn’t been for our youngest daughter Catherine. When we adopted Catherine at birth in 1983, we were told that her mother had been addicted to drugs and alcohol while she was pregnant. After a severe reaction to her first (and only) DPT shot at 6 months old, Catherine became increasingly hyperactive, and unmanageable, and developed severe allergies and learning difficulties.

At my wit’s end by the time she was 2 1/2 years old, after having tried everything I could find, including visits to a naturopath, I was ready to try anything. When a friend from Seattle told me how homeopathy had helped her in a “hopeless” medical condition, and suggested it might help Catherine, I felt I had nothing to lose.

I had never heard of homeopathy, but told my friend that if she could ask her doctor for the name of a homeopath in Canada, preferably in B.C., I was willing to give it a try.

I read the story about your daughter in “Homeopathy Today”, and really, it’s the best article in the June issue–which is all about vaccination. Do you look back now and think, I’ll bet she needed Apis after the vaccination! Her leg was swollen from her knee to her hip and the vaccination site was swollen too, and didn’t you say there was a lot of shrieking? By the time you started treating her homeopathically, about how many prescriptions do you think you missed that may have averted the brain damage? Do you see different remedy images in succession? When you did finally begin homeopathic treatment, how old was she? What were you able to change even at that late date?

 
When I look back now, I wish I had never had Catherine immunized!

Catherine’s reaction to the immunization was what Dr. Coulter described in A Shot in the Dark as encephalitis resulting from the DPT shot.

Yes, there was swelling at the injection site, shrieking (I would have done the same if my leg was as swollen!), and a lump the size of a golf ball on her tiny thigh – at 21 years old, her leg still has a “dent” to mark the place. I am sure Apis would have helped.

By the time she was treated homeopathically two years later she was in a terrible state (so was I). Sometimes one remedy given at the ideal time, will cure a condition. Maybe a dose of Apis would have prevented the damage, or a dose of Thuja before the immunization…. or a remedy made from the DPT shot.

With Catherine, because of her mother’s addictions while she was pregnant, it is difficult to know how much damage resulted from fetal alcohol. I am sure it made her more susceptible to the effects of the immunization.

The homeopath who treated Catherine first gave her a dose of Veratrum Album 200C. She reacted immediately to the remedy with an enormous temper tantrum which was followed by an uncharacteristic placid state which amazed everyone. We had never seen her so calm. However, even though we had a glimpse of what was possible with homeopathy, her usual reaction to remedies was two weeks of aggravation, two weeks of improvement and then deterioration until the next remedy. She needed remedies constantly, and even though her behavior was much better than before the remedies, it left a lot to be desired!

When a child is immunized at a few months of age, it is very difficult to know what that child would have been like if it had never been immunized. If the child is older, and you see the personality unfolding and watch the wonders of a “normal” development, you can understand the devastation of something like an adverse reaction to a drug or immunization because you have something to compare it to. I don’t know what Catherine’s potential would have been without the immunization.

When you have a child who has been brain damaged, for whatever reason, there is no point in thinking of what might have been. You need all your energy to figure out what to do to help her heal so she can function at her optimum level. Even though I was very angry when I first read Harris Coulter’s book, I was grateful that at least I had learned where the problem was probably coming from. It gave me a place to start in my search to help her.


Catherine & Her Painting of a Wolf

Do you remember what the clues were to the Veratrum alb. prescription?

When I told the homeopath that I had been afraid that Catherine would have been put on Ritalin if I had gone to an allopathic doctor for help, the homeopath let out a whoop and said: “Ritalin wouldn’t have touched her! She would have been on high doses of psychiatric drugs!”

I think that is why Veratrum alb. was the first prescription. In Robin Murphy’s Materia Medica it says:

Hahnemann says of Veratrum that it has the power ‘to promote a cure of almost one-third of the insane in lunatic asylums (at all events as a homeopathic intermediate remedy).’ Veratrum profoundly affects the mind, nerves….frenzy of excitement, shrieks….mania with desire to cut and tear things (Catherine had torn her crib mattress to pieces before she was 2 years old, and had torn a pillow apart and dumped the feathers out of her bedroom window. I probably mentioned these things to the homeopath in the initial interview. At that time I didn’t see a connection to the immunization. I only realized the connection when Catherine was around 8 years old after reading “A Shot in the Dark”.)

That’s very good to know about Veratrum alb. I didn’t know about the shrieking or the frenzy. I knew about the desire to cut and tear things, but, it’s described in books in such a way that you have a picture of a child mindlessly tearing up paper and I’m afraid you don’t get the full effect. But, you’re saying she’d be “well” for a couple of weeks and then go into another remedy state? How successful would you be at each of these changes? Would an improvement always follow?

I think it was more a matter of being worse without the remedies. Catherine would finish a remedy and even though she was never able to function as a “normal” child, even on the remedies, she was much worse when she didn’t have them.

Catherine seemed to be reacting to the remedies as in Case XIX p.318, in George Vithoulkas’ The Science of Homeopathy. “The patient says ‘I have been worse, except for a brief time.'” and Vithoulkas concludes this is a “Nearly incurable case. Severe pathology. Poor prognosis. Prescriptions must be made very carefully.”

Diane, can we talk about your special method of antidoting aggravations, which I have termed:

THE AGGRAVATION ZAPPER! 

Well, Elaine, when I first began practicing homeopathy I learned that although aggravations happen, they don’t happen very often, and when they do, it’s a good sign that it’s the right remedy and that eventually the aggravation will stop and healing will take place. In fact, a “healing crisis” is usually regarded as a positive sign that the body is ridding itself of toxins in other methods of natural healing.

Early in my study of homeopathy I learned that using a different potency of the same remedy that caused the aggravation would often stop an aggravation. I may have read or heard that if you put the same potency in a glass of water, and give a dose of a teaspoon, it will stop an aggravation, or I may have just tried it that way. I don’t remember.

The first time I recall having seen a very remarkable “antidote” was in the early 1990’s. I had given a woman one granule of Phosphorus 1M. When I next spoke to the woman, she was very pleased with the results, as most of her symptoms had been relieved–except for one thing. She had diarrhea. The diarrhea was the “same as the diarrhea I had when I was in India years ago.” We were both happy. She was happy because her symptoms were getting better, and I was happy because the remedy was going into past illnesses and healing according to Hering’s Law. But the diarrhea continued. By the fifth week, I decided something should be done, and asked her to take a teaspoon from a large glass of water that one granule of Phosphorus 1M had been dissolved in. Much to our amazement, the diarrhea stopped within hours!

After that first lesson in “antidoting”, I continued to use that method to stop aggravations.

Over the years, I have discovered that diluting the remedy in more than one glass of water can work even more quickly! Now, when someone has an aggravation, I will usually tell them to dilute the remedy to at least the sixth glass before taking a sip. If the aggravation still continues, I tell them to double the number of glasses they are diluting it with.

For example, if someone has taken a dose of Sulphur 30C and has an aggravation, I would tell them to put a granule of Sulphur 30C into a large glass of water (about 10 ounces). Then, before the remedy dissolves (you don’t have to wait for it to dissolve) dump the water out and immediately refill for glass 2. Immediately dump and refill for glass 3. Continue to dump and refill until the desired glass is reached and then take a sip.

The aggravation should stop within 1/2 an hour. If it doesn’t, continue to dilute the remedy and take another sip.

One man who developed a severe headache after a remedy, took a dose from the sixth glass with no effect. An hour or so later he tried a dose from the 12th glass which still didn’t work. He finally took a dose from the 24th glass, and the headache stopped within a few minutes!

Diane, I have always antidoted by using a lower potency of the same remedy, or, a dose of the exact same potency. My understanding is that as soon as you put a remedy in water you raise the potency; so, you’re introducing a new concept to me–namely that an aggravation can be stopped by any potency of the same remedy! Is this your understanding? Would a 1M antidote an aggravation caused by a 200C?

Yes, I have found that by changing the potency, the remedy can stop an aggravation. I don’t know if a 1M potency could stop an aggravation from a 200C and I don’t think I ever heard it had to be a lower potency, but I have been doing the diluting with water in a glass and the same potency for so long and have had such good results that I never looked into it further.

Right, and we probably shouldn’t because the idea of giving a 1M to a person aggravating from 200C makes me nervous! Let’s just stick to the same potency in water, diluted many times, as you suggest!

I have found that if using LM potencies, as Hahnemann says, there is a reaction when the person has had enough of one potency, ie LM1, and is ready to go on to the next potency, i.e. LM2, I have found that to stop that reaction (or aggravation as some would call it), you simply succuss the dropper bottle (I used to tell people 100 times, but later found that 20 or more times would also work) and take one more dose. The aggravation will then disappear. In those cases, the potency was increased to bring them out of the range of the last potency of which they had had enough.

We’ve been trying your method with a client who has been having unsteady progress. I told her to use the “dump and refill” method up to 12 cups every time she took a dose. But the other homeopath on the case said it would only work one time as an antidote but not as a dosing method because without succussion before each dose, and just constant diluting, the remedy would stop working. Do you have a comment on this?

When I use this method to antidote, I only use it once to get rid of the aggravation. I don’t repeat it. After the aggravation is gone, I wait until the next remedy is needed which may be a totally different remedy. This is ideal when somebody has taken a globule of a remedy and has been told to wait for a month before taking another remedy.

I have found that some people, especially those who are taking allopathic (prescription) medication which is helping them for the moment, or which cannot be stopped for one reason or another, seem to need a remedy daily. I then often give a ‘water potency’ daily. When giving a ‘water potency’, I put a granule of a remedy in water and vodka in a dropper bottle.

That’s exactly what I do!

Sometimes I will dilute a remedy by a few glasses and then put one drop from the glass in the dropper bottle. I have them take a drop from the dropper bottle and put it in a glass of water. They may either take a sip from the glass, or if it is too strong, (resulting in an aggravation) dump and refill the glass to whatever glass they need to take it from to avoid an aggravation. Before each dose, they succuss the remedy at least twice. (I used to say 10 times, but found that can make it too strong for some people.)

This is exactly what I do! I’ve heard people say, “LM’s aggravate!” but I guess they don’t realize that you’re supposed to adjust them, not just keep giving them once you know they’ve caused an aggravation! You’re supposed to do just what you’re describing–finding a dilution that won’t aggravate. And the same thing applies to any potency which can be given daily–6C, 9C, 12C, you have to put the remedy in water and adjust the dilutions to keep the case moving smoothly; it’s in The Organon, #247; Hahnemann says put the remedy in water and don’t repeat exactly the same dose twice, and by that he means shake/succuss the bottle before each dose, change the dilutions and so on, to alter the dose or you’ll have aggravations.

For very sensitive people – and they seem to be on the increase, I may tell them to start with the 10th glass for daily dose for about a week, and then back off to the third glass for the rest of the time taking the remedy. I teach them to muscle test, and have found that the ones who muscle test have a much ‘smoother’ time. If aggravations occur, they dilute the remedy and may skip a day or two, before continuing the daily remedy. This way, especially if they develop a knack for muscle testing, they can decide daily what glass they need to dilute the remedy to, or even if they need to take the remedy on that particular day.

One little boy with fetal alcohol syndrome had a very strong reaction to a remedy he was to take daily from a dropper bottle. His mother finally diluted it to over 20 glasses, and he was still reacting. I told the mother to take a drop from the 34th glass and put it on his wrist. That stopped the aggravation. For the next week or so, he took a daily dose of the remedy, but from a very dilute glass, using only 1 drop on his wrist. After that, he was able to take a sip of the remedy from a very diluted glass. The remedy helped him enormously when we figured out how he could take it.

For some people, I put a drop from a remedy diluted by several glasses, into a dram bottle with either glycerin and distilled water, or vodka and distilled water. They use this as a ‘sniffer’. For those who have trouble diluting remedies, or for remedies that are needed more often for pain or allergic reactions etc., I often use sniffers. They succuss the remedy and then take a sniff as needed, or once daily or once or twice a week or as needed for pain etc. depending on the need.

These methods of diluting remedies have resulted from difficulties with Catherine or other clients over the years when I needed to find a different way of giving the remedies. Hahnemann talks about inhaling and diluting remedies and also I think, rubbing remedies into the skin in the 6th edition of The Organon.

I have found that when a remedy is taken repeatedly without sucussing, symptoms of a “proving” can occur, as when taking an LM and finally reaching the point where the symptoms of the remedy itself start coming back. To stop that, you would need to succuss the remedy quite a few times and take one dose and the symptoms should stop. If you take more, they will probably start again and you would have to succuss and take another dose.

I hope this isn’t too confusing! It is just trying to match the strength of the symptoms and the person with the strength of a remedy. I think of it as fine tuning to match vibrational levels.

You’re teaching us an important lesson about how cleverly homeopathy can be applied to the benefit of our clients! The other thing that can go wrong from not succussing before each dose is an unintended antidote! I, myself, on at least three occasions, antidoted a remedy that was working by repeating an unsuccussed, unshaken, unstirred or dry dose of the same potency! Fortunately, I had a higher potency to go to, but a friend of mine gave her mother Nux Vomica 30C for post-surgery nausea, and it worked, but she couldn’t leave well-enough alone! “Well, I might as well give another dose just for good luck!” Famous last words! She, instead, antidoted the remedy, the nausea came back, they didn’t have a higher potency, and, it was a complete disaster! If only she had known that just by putting the remedy in water she’d have had the next higher potency! Yes, Nux Vomica 30C, for example, in water, is a higher potency than Nux Vomica 30C in pellet form. But we may be getting too complicated and perhaps even, God forbid, BORING, so maybe we should stop now; but before we go, one of your fans has dropped by to sing your praises. Kelly? Where’s Kelly! Will someone please show Kelly in? Kelly’s son aggravates from every remedy, so I told her about your “Aggravation Zapper” and…wait, here she is now!

Hi Diane! My name is Kelly. My son is under the care of a wonderful homeopath who I won’t bother naming…

Ahem!

whose name is Elaine Lewis…and the problem is, my son aggravates on pretty much any remedy, and his aggravations can start anywhere from 2 hours to 2 days after a remedy is given. These aggravations can be pretty upsetting to a child- not to mention his mom! As his is a complicated case, he’s had many different remedies with many aggravations. Having a way to alleviate the increased symptoms during an aggravation has made his case go much more smoothly and gently. Also the results of remedies given seem to be clearer and quicker as there are minimal exaggerations going on. Thanks for discovering this!!

Thank you Kelly! Oh look, Diane, more of your grateful fans are here! 

Hi Diane, my name is Lousie and I had a gratifying experience with the Aggravation Zapper a couple of days ago.  My son had stopped responding to Anacardium 10M and had to go up in potency.  My homeopath…

Ahem!

…Elaine Lewis…warned me to be ready for an aggravation. I gave my son anacardium 50M that evening and checked in on him the next day (he lives on his own), and indeed he was very angry and aggravating. Thank goodness I was told to give the Aggravation Zapper just in case things got out of hand. Within 5 hours of me giving it to him he settled down enough to reason with and the next day was even alot better and smiling again.
It’s a really great solution instead of having to wait out the aggravation for who knows how long! A real relief and lessened the suffering for both of us! Thank you Diane!

Diane just left, but I’m sure she’ll be back; we have Twinkies and Gatorade here!

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Diane Fuller is a former Registered Nurse who studied homeopathy with Misha Norland from The School of Homeopathy and completed Lou Klein’s Master Clinician course. She practices in Prince George, B.C. Canada and can be reached at [email protected]

About the author

Elaine Lewis

Elaine Lewis, D.Hom., C.Hom.
Elaine is a passionate homeopath, helping people offline as well as online. Contact her at [email protected]
Elaine is a graduate of Robin Murphy's Hahnemann Academy of North America and author of many articles on homeopathy including her monthly feature in the Hpathy ezine, "The Quiz". Visit her website at:
https://elainelewis.hpathy.com/ and TheSilhouettes.org

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