How I was introduced to Homeopathy

I turn sixty-seven next week and have not taken a pharmaceutical product (OTC or prescription) in nearly forty years. As a child I was prone to ear infections and swollen tonsils, so I was given antibiotics and had my tonsils removed. Then I got pneumonia twice and more antibiotics and more upper respiratory illnesses and more antibiotics.

Then came yeast infections, kidney infections and more antibiotics. Then one day I took an antihistamine for sinus blockage and got so drowsy I walked into a wall. It must have knocked some sense into me because that’s when I stopped taking drugs and began looking into ways of avoiding having to use drugs–in other words, how to get and stay healthy.

It was then that I learned how great our bodies are at healing themselves most of the time. I let mine do just that and when I needed a little assistance, I began trying home remedies.  I’d read about and ended up finding some wonderfully safe ways to treat minor illnesses that lingered.

I then had two wonderful pregnancies and home births and nursed both of my sons for two years. They were both strong healthy babies and always met their milestones when I took them for their wellness checkups. As aware as I was about avoiding pharmaceuticals, the doctors at the clinic convinced me that vaccination was imperative, that I would be risking their lives if I didn’t allow them.

It wasn’t until my younger son got his third or fourth shot (he was less than a year old) that he had a strange reaction. He became glassy eyed and lethargic. I called the clinic and was told it was a normal reaction and to give him Tylenol (I didn’t) but that if he had a seizure, I should bring him to the hospital.

Seizure? Yes, not uncommon I was told rather nonchalantly. I gave him some extra vitamin C in his water and when he was much better the next day I went to the library and found a few books about vaccination, both pro and con–one being Neil Miller’s, Immunization–Theory vs. Reality. It was an eye opener.

And so we were gliding along, just eating well, taking some vitamins, getting lots of fresh air and exercise and using an occasional home remedy like rice water for diarrhea and vinegar for mosquito bites when both boys caught a bad cold.

My older son got over it in a couple of days but it lingered in my younger son and one day when he was crying, I noticed white spots in his throat and I panicked. You see, my father had strep throat as a child that turned into rheumatic fever that turned into heart problems and he was dead at fifty.

A friend recommended a pediatrician and I took my son to see her. Unlike the doctors at the wellness clinic, she was very gruff and my son was terrified of her. He screamed and clutched onto me when she tried to examine him.

When I tried to calm him, she told me not to coddle him, but I did anyway. Finally, she gave me a prescription for antibiotics and told me if I didn’t give it to him for the full ten days, he would go deaf as he had a raging ear infection. Ear infection?

I brought him to the wellness clinic and had the doctor there look at his ears. She did not see a raging ear infection but told me to follow the pediatrician’s advice anyway. Against my better judgment I filled the prescription and literally gagged when I opened the bottle and smelled that familiar pink liquid I took so often as a child.

I gave it to him for the ten days and by that time he was noticeably worse. He again had the glassy eyes, the lethargy and still the white spots in his throat.  When I brought him back to the pediatrician, she screamed at me accusing me of not giving him the medicine.

She wrote another prescription for a stronger antibiotic. I left determined not to give it to him but was at a loss as to what to do. When I got home, I called another friend for a recommendation to another doctor. She told me about a homeopath she knew about. A what? 

My friend couldn’t even tell me what homeopathy was other than an alternative to pharmaceuticals and that she had a friend who highly recommended him. Sounded like it was worth a try, and as my son was getting worse, I made an appointment for the next day,

Our experience with the homeopath as compared with the pediatrician was like night and day. The homeopath was so sweet and gentle and talked to my son as he examined him. He told my son what he was going to do and was joking with him.

My son was perfectly calm during the examination. “Does he have a raging ear infection?” I asked. “No, just bit of fluid. Nothing to worry about.” “And the white spots in his throat, what are those?” I asked. “White spots in his throat.” I was told with a smile.

Then he asked me the most peculiar questions about my son, about his likes and dislikes for food, whether he preferred heat or cold, his sleeping habits, and about his personality. He explained that to find the correct remedy for my son he had to match it specifically for him.

Hmm. Interesting I thought, but weird. Then, after explaining to my son and me what he was about to do he placed a couple of small pills under my son’s tongue. He also gave me a small packet with more pills and told me to see how he reacted to the remedy.

He said that if it was the correct remedy, he should show improvement rapidly. Kids usually do when given the correctly chosen remedy, he said. He added, “If he slides back, give it again, but if he stays well, don’t repeat it. If no improvement, come back and I’ll reassess.”  He said he felt pretty certain that this remedy was a perfect match.

And so we left. I buckled the boys into their car seats and headed home. I honestly thought that he was a very sweet man, bit that we had just wasted our time and a bit of money.

Then, half way home, about 15 minutes, I heard a sound from my younger son I hadn’t heard since he’d gotten sick….laughter! I adjusted the mirror so that I could see him and the transformation was truly miraculous. His eyes were wide and bright and he was laughing at his brother who had a stuffed animal between his teeth and was making silly noises.

I pulled over to watch them for a few minutes. The weight of worry I’d been carrying those past few weeks began to slowly fall away and I found myself laughing with them and crying a bit, too, of relief.

When we got home, I called the homeopath. I wanted to tell him what had happened. He was not at all surprised. But I also wanted to know how I could find out more about this thing called homeopathy. He recommended Homeopathic Medicine at Home by Maesimund Panos and Hahneman’s Organon.

That was thirty-five years, scores of homeopathic books and countless hours of study ago, culminating in the confidence to tackle many minor and not so minor illnesses for my family, friends and myself. And though I now live two thousand miles away, I still have that wonderful homeopath I can turn to when I am stumped.