I hear this question so often, I’m surprised no one else has written about it! “Do you treat fibroid tumors?” “How many cases of asthma have you cured?” “How many cases like mine have you seen?”
These all seem like reasonable questions, but people have to understand the following:
There are cures in the homeopathic literature for virtually every disease you can name, including even the worst ones like MS, Autism and Polio. Does this mean that it will inevitably cure your case as well? I wish I could flatly say yes; but, there is no guarantee and here’s why. No case of disease is like any other case of the same disease!
You may assume that if you’ve seen one case of Asthma, you’ve seen them all! But you have no idea how different these cases are! The triggers are all different–some episodes come on from rainy weather, some in dry weather, some have a known cause like exposure to dust, for others the cause is unknown; some patients are athletic and energetic while others are weak, fragile and have many other conditions to contend with at the same time; the number of variables in these cases is endless!
Do you see how overly simplistic it is to ask, “Can you cure this disease?”
Believe it or not, there is actually no other case like yours. You have to let the homeopath take your case and see what it consists of. How can he or she offer an opinion about it without knowing what it is? The only real question is, Does the homeopath know how to take a case? That’s really all you can ask of him or her.
You might wonder, “How difficult can it be to find out what’s wrong with a person?” But that’s not what homeopathic case-taking is all about. That’s what seeing a doctor is all about, because when the doctor knows what’s wrong with you, he knows what drug to give. What we need to know, aside from the doctor’s diagnosis, is peculiar information that leads to one of our 3,000 homeopathic remedies. And by “peculiar information”, I mean things like: What kind of weather makes you worse? What foods do you have an aversion to? Are you better or worse for company?
You see, our remedies have “profiles”, “images”. Take Nat-mur, for example (homeopathic salt). The profile of Nat-mur is of a person who has an aversion to the heat of the sun and heat in general, much better for being outside in the cold air, worse inside in a warm house, wants cold drinks and is better for cold bathing. All mucus membranes are dry. On the mental/emotional plane, Nat-mur is “dry” and still worse for warmth—the warmth of friendship, love and sympathy, all of which make Nat-mur worse.
Never think the issue is: “In order for the homeopath to cure my disease, he has to have seen this disease before.” No. In fact, we will never have seen your disease before! We do not treat “diseases”, we look for “remedy pictures”. If we see indications for a remedy, we give it, the name of the disease could be anything, it’s not solely what we go on.
Common symptoms of a disease do not lead to homeopathic remedies!
This is why you must answer the homeopath’s somewhat unorthodox questions or he/she will not be able to find your remedy. Once this information is gathered, the homeopath consults the index of symptoms known as The Repertory and hopes to find that a single remedy covers all or most of the information you gave.
I know it’s hard to believe, but, the same remedy picture can show up in variety of diagnoses.
In terms of whether or not you can be cured, here is a general rule: The more recent your complaint and the less drug treatment you’ve had, the better your chances are.
I should also add that the skill of the homeopath matters too! Get references, read his or her cured cases, see if he or she graduated from a school of homeopathy and that homeopathy isn’t just a hobby. People tend to assume that if the homeopath is an MD, they’re in really good hands! Actually, if the MD did not graduate from a school of homeopathy, his “skills” as a “homeopath” are non-existent.
Here are the factors that go against your ability to be cured:
1. Chronicity (your complaint’s been around for a long time and your immune system is ignoring it)
2. Complexity (many things wrong all at once)
3. Non-nutritious eating (processed food.)
4. Suppressive drug treatment and the side-effects are creating new diseases
5. Badly trained homeopath giving numerous remedies all at once, in high potencies, and for arbitrary lengths of time.
***
The best possible scenario for success:
1. The complaint is recent and uncomplicated
2. You know what caused it
3. There are clear symptoms
4. No drugs suppressing the case
5. You’re relatively healthy other than the chief complaint
6. The homeopath comes highly recommended and/or has graduated from a school of homeopathy
We run into trouble when the patient can’t remember the cause of the complaint or there are too many causes, too many diseases, too many prescription drugs clouding the true nature of the case and the patient isn’t good at giving information, thinking that the name of the disease and the common symptoms should be enough since they were enough for the doctor.
There’s something else I’ve seen in chronic cases, they often resist treatment; the body just seems to make room for them, the way you no longer feel a splinter after a day or two; or like a bad habit that your body just seems to “accommodate”. The moral of the story is: treat symptoms when they’re new, when the case is acute, when your body really doesn’t want them there and is fighting tooth and nail to get rid of them! That’s when you will make the best use out of your homeopathic remedy!
You’ve probably noticed that in the beginning of an illness, your body puts up a strong fight! It runs a fever, it coughs, it discharges, it inflames. After a time, though, it just gives up, and you’re chronically ill! Look at smoking for example: You start out trying to smoke but your body fights you every step of the way, making you dizzy, nauseous, coughing, etc., but you persist in smoking anyway! Day after day! Each day you get a little less dizzy, a little less nauseous; the coughing gets less and less; finally your body just says, “OK, I give up, you win!” Suddenly, all the symptoms are gone!
Years later you may try and quit smoking but your body will oddly become furious and block all your efforts! “Oh no you don’t,” it will say, “you can’t do this to me! I’ll get even!” At this point, your body is no longer supporting health, it’s gone over to the other side! It’s like when the orthodontist tries to straighten your crooked teeth, and what happens? The teeth keep trying to go back to where they were! More and more pressure has to be applied by the orthodontist to make the teeth stay in their new place. This is what you’re up against in chronic disease: your body protects what it’s gotten used to!
What this means is, you’re going to have to give a remedy repeatedly in low doses of graduating strength to continually push, push, push this disorder out! One dose will either be ignored or a relapse will swiftly ensue.
Homeopaths who breezily say, “I don’t treat acutes!” show they have no understanding of chronicity and how it resists treatment! The fact is, the best shot you’ve got against any illness is when the immune system is still fighting it; in other words, when it’s acute! This is when homeopathy really shines!
To make matters worse, people with chronic disease often also have “drug diseases”—side effects of drugs—side by side with their complaint! They’re poisoning themselves while at the same time asking you to make them well! I find these cases exasperating!
People who have allowed themselves to get to this state need to begin the unenviable but necessary task of detoxifying and nutrifying! Read my “Convalescence” article for details on how to do this:
I have cured many people with nutrition alone. So I would suggest to everyone: turn over a new leaf! Start right now! First of all, buy a 30C homeopathy Emergency Kit, like the one you see below–just google Homeopathy Emergency Kit or look for them on Amazon, they’re there!
Buy an acute prescribing book, like this one here–though there are many and usually people have more than one:
so that you can spring into action as soon as an acute illness or an injury pops up and get rid of it the natural, permanent and easy way with homeopathy so that these acute complaints don’t go chronic and so that you can avoid drugs which are toxic and cause new diseases; and do start eating in a way that supports health! Click below to see all my articles on food including the Convalescence article I mentioned earlier:
https://elainelewis.hpathy.com/food-fight/
No one believes me when I tell them, “It’s the food!” or “Your drugs are making you sick!” Proper eating–and I might add, Juicing— and homeopathy, together make a powerful one-two punch in getting well! But P.S., drugs aren’t something you can stop all of a sudden! Everyone knows what happens when you try to stop opiates all of a sudden, or alcohol all of a sudden, you go into withdrawal. Well, guess what, that happens with every Rx drug, they all do that! The heart drugs can cause a heart attack if you try to stop them! The tranquilizers will cause seizures if you try to stop them and something called “drug withdrawal psychosis”! If you want to know how to get off drugs safely, see my FAQ article, it’s on my website:
https://ElaineLewis.hpathy.com
To find books, courses and lectures on homeopathy, have a look at this website: www.homeopathic.com .
I hope I haven’t dampened your enthusiasm in any way. My teacher, Robin Murphy, always used to say, “If a disease is incurable, all the MORE reason to try homeopathy, you have nothing to lose!”
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Elaine Lewis, D.Hom., C.Hom.
Elaine takes online cases! Write to her at LEWRA@aol.com
Visit her website: https://ElaineLewis.hpathy.com
Aphorism 5 which says find “the most significant phases in the history of the chronic disease”. This point is useable for the doctor when treating chronic patients. compare paragraph 153 also–the most striking, strange, rare and peculiar symptoms in the case are to be preferred over the common symptoms of the disease.
Yes, Aph. 5 of The Organon by Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy, is really important; and just like we call Aphorism 153 the “Strange, Rare and Peculiar” clause, we should call Aph. 5 the “Etiology” clause of the Organon, because what Hahnemann says here is, Get all the phases of the chronic case in chronological order so that you can determine the underlying CAUSE! He’s saying: Make a time-line, and find the cause! Why? Because of our “Ailments From” rubrics–aliments from grief, ailments from windy weather, etc. These “Ailments From” rubrics are often the most important rubrics in the case and often solve the case for you! So, thanks for reminding us of Aphorism 5, Kanj Kumar.
This is an excellent article Elaine! There is no question that the skill of a homeopath surely ‘matters’. But perhaps as you rightly point out and I know this from experience that,”The more recent your complaint is and the less suppressive treatment you’ve had, the more likely you are to be cured. The longer you wait to try homeopathy and the more suppressive treatment you’ve had in the meantime, the less your chances of cure are.” Well said…I agree!
Good article as usual Elaine 🙂
I might dare to add that by the time a sick person seeks a homeopath all other avenues have been tried and have failed.
This said,you have a person in front of you with layers and layers of allopathic suppression,a loaded closet of iatrogenic symptoms on top of the initial symptom.
“So can homeopathy fix me ?”
A massive undertaking for any practicioner dealt this deck of cards.
Sadly this is what we have to work with in a world of patients who love popping prescription meds,yet finding no relief…….. until homeopathy
I know Gina! Most of my cases are nightmarish with multiple afflictions and many prescriptions…you’ve got the medical system and the processed food industry both working against the very people they serve, literally making them sick, and nobody gets it until it’s too late.
DEAR DR,
DOCTOR MAY FAIL BUT HOMEOPATHY NEVER FAILS
THANKS
Elaine, your explanation is fabulous. Many a time people approach homeopathy when they are on the death bed. It is close to impossible, at such a situation. Its a misery that homeopathy is never tried as the first option by many, when a person falls sick. This is because people go right to the doctor, they need instant results. Suppression is a way to feel better fast, giving instant results, but leaving the roots of the illness in the body. The roots will surely sprout out with new diseases with another name. Thus a vicious cycle of diseases goes on…..
I do agree that healthy food plus homeopathy is a powerful one-two punch against disease….
– Thanks
Vamsi
Thanks for all your great comments!