Questions Patients Ask-20

Homeopathy Makes No Sense!

At times homeopathy seems so counter-intuitive.  Empty the bottle, dilute the few drops that remain, and it works better?!?

You didn’t make mention of the succussions!  Yes, if it was JUST diluting, it would make no sense.

I don’t get it,

Because you’re thinking of substances, which when diluted become less and less; but, homeopathic remedies aren’t substances, they’re energies, “ghosts” of the substance they once were. It’s like an empty drawing of what was once there; like, if it was poison ivy, it would be a “drawing” of a poison ivy leaf.  An empty picture.  Your immune system would see it and say, “Yikes!  It’s poison ivy!” and then  jump on it and beat it up!  But, if you had poison ivy for real, you would have tricked your immune system into attacking and beating up the poison ivy!  So, in essence, the remedies are fake diseases! (“disease drawings”) calling attention to what you want the immune system to notice and do something about!

It works!

I know!  It’s very clever!  You gotta hand it to Samuel Hahnemann!  He thought of it all by himself!

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Is Standard Medical Practice A Giant Fraud?

Ugh!  Elaine!  What’s up with all of this crap in drugs that are supposedly deemed safe?  How do all these side-effects get the approval of the FDA?

Well, Kathy, prepare to be disillusioned, but, it turns out that 90% of what the medical profession does is write prescriptions!  Think of the whole thing as a giant Drug Cartel–a thinly veiled operation existing primarily for the benefit of giant drug companies whose only interest is in having as many people taking drugs as possible!  The doctors benefit from this set-up, the hospitals benefit, it ensures round-the-clock business, and yes, it’s a Goldmine!!!!!  And to answer your question, the FDA gets most of its money from the drug companies–I doubt that most people are aware of that.

Here’s the set-up.  The “medicines” used by this profession don’t cure, they merely suppress symptoms.  On top of not curing, they cause disease!  It is impossible to comprehend that a drug that is meant to cure ONE disease simultaneously causes twenty others!  How does this continue to go unnoticed?  But no one thinks of it that way!  They call these other diseases “side effects”, diminishing their importance.

Look at it this way, imagine all the business that doctors and hospitals get out of you once they get you started on ONE drug!  The side effects from that one drug now have you running to the cardiologist because of rapid heart beat, to the psychiatrist because of depression and anxiety, the gastroenterologist because of GERD, and each of those specialists, in turn, has now prescribed a drug of their own!  Their drugs have you running to the gynecologist because of yeast infections, the ENT because of blocked sinuses and the neurologist because of restless leg syndrome.  Each of those doctors has given you a Rx as well, due to which you will now have to see an allergist, a pain specialist, and a urologist.

Look at all the business you’ve generated! 

No one will ever suspect a side-effect caused by a drug, you will be labeled with a new disease each time.  And you’re just one person!  Now, multiply yourself by more than a million and you can see that the medical profession has a real racket going!  This is why doctors are millionaires and the drug companies are richer than rich!  In reality, what should a doctor’s income be?  I would guess maybe $100,00 to $200,000 a year.  Why?  Imagine that everyone is like me and Shana:  We avoid junk food, we take a homeopathic remedy when we get sick, we take no drugs and no vaccines.  How many doctor visits do we make a year?  NONE!  No doctor visits!  Let me repeat that: NONE.  I don’t know any homeopaths who see a doctor, or send their kids to a doctor!

I can’t remember the last time I saw a doctor–except for the dentist (you really do have to keep up with the dentist!)  What I’m saying is, the medical profession is a shameless racket that I don’t want to have anything to do with.  By all rights, doctors should be struggling to make a living because no one, really, needs their “services” unless they’ve been in an accident. 

If I truly do need their services?  If what they do is essential to maintaining life and health?  Then I should be dead by now!  I probably haven’t seen a doctor in 25 years.  The truth is, they’re only allowed by law to treat disease with synthetic drugs that palliate but don’t cure.  I’d rather be cured, wouldn’t you?  Some people think they are cured, not realizing that the drug they took has suppressed their disease to a deeper level, so they no longer have eczema, for example, but now they have asthma!  And when the asthma is “treated” they will be “cured” of that but then they will be diagnosed with colitis!  The march of suppression, I call it.

They create their own need!  The so-called “need” for their services is self-created by the side-effects of drugs and the suppression of symptoms to deeper levels, to new diseases!  The other half of this arrangement is their made-up rules about visits: “The Well-Child Visit”, is a big one.  You have to bring your child in every month, or every 6 months.  Think about that one.  You take your child to the doctor–because he’s WELL!  Oh my God!  And the “yearly check-up” for adults?  Again, you’re fine, but you go to the doctor to LOOK for a disease!  Do you know, a doctor can always find a disease?  Your thyroid is low, your blood pressure is a bit high and so is your cholesterol….  Bingo!  Now you’re on a drug!  A drug that doesn’t cure and which, they advise you, you will be on for the rest of your life!  Now you have to keep coming back!  Do you know they keep lowering the blood test “normal” levels to create more patients?

This is a racket! 

If you know homeopathy and know how to eat for health–which means whole foods, cooking from scratch, plenty of fruits and vegetables, no processed food, no junk food, no candy bars, etc.–there is nothing a doctor can do for you unless you’re in an accident.

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 I Can’t Get The Hang of Materia Medica!

Elaine,  I am not able to understand how to get the remedy picture.  There are a lot of symptoms listed under a remedy.  What are the symptoms I need to know to see a remedy picture?  For example in Aconite we have fear of death as keynote, does that mean that every case of Aconite has this symptom?

No; as we all know, Aconite is also famous for “ailments from cold/dry winds”.  You need not have the fear or fright Aconite is so famous for to take the remedy if your virus or headache was the result of going outside in cold, dry, windy weather.  Aconite is also called “the Arnica of the eye”; meaning, any acute eye issue or injury you might have should make you think of Aconite right away!  What else?  Sudden childhood fevers are usually either Aconite or Belladonna.  Aconite is usually thirsty, Belladonna is thirstless.

But you ask an interesting question.  How can we learn to recognize a remedy?  A remedy has pages and pages of symptoms.  Pretty soon all the remedies start to all look alike!  You know, I think this is why it takes years to learn homeopathy!  I think it’s why many of our most famous homeopaths are “old”, because by the time you’re competent enough in this field, you’re a senior citizen!

I have really tried to help this process along through my monthly Quiz in this ezine.  Are you a regular reader of it?  I often do famous people so you can see them in videos being Sulphur, Arsenicum, Lycopodium, Calc-carb or Phosphorus, etc.  The Hpathy Quiz is a great resource for learning materia medica.  You might even call it a class in learning remedies and how to prescribe.  Go into the ezine archives and read the quiz answers, and go to my website and click on “Famous Person Materia Medica”.

Secondly, even though Robin Murphy was my teacher, I have bought as many seminars on tape and CD from as many different homeopaths as I could get a hold of; because, if you learn just from one person, you get a flat, one-dimensional look into a remedy; but, for every new teacher you get, that remedy portrait takes on layers and becomes clearer and clearer!  Any chance you get to buy case conference tapes or CD’s, I would do it.

My best advice is not to expect to learn materia medica all in one sitting but to just get started!  Buy Mati Fuller’s Beyond The Veil of Delusions.  Everyone who reads it loves it!  She shows how remedy types behave in relationships, so easy to read!  People have said that Mati’s and my ezine articles on materia medica are addicting!  Buy Dr. Luc De Schepper’s Hahnemann Revisited.  A real treat!  What about Dr. Dorothy Shepherd?  Buy her Homeopathy In Epidemic Diseases.   And then, like I said earlier, go back and read the Quiz answers in the ezine archives.  They’re under the word “Revisiting”.  In fact, just go to hpathy.com and in the ‘search’ window, type in “Revisiting” and all the quizzes with their answers should come up.  I hope that helps!

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Etiology vs. The Totality of Symptoms

So, Elaine, for those remedies that specify their uses for symptoms that are “ailments from”…something (mortification, anger, shock, grief, abuse, etc) … I have a question.

Okaaaaay………

Say someone had a trauma from which symptoms or delusions developed, soon after the trauma… OR years later.  So let’s say the person goes to the homeopath and says, I have a certain symptom; homeopath says, “when did this start?”  The person says it started when — and then they are able to name the etiology — and the homeopath, lucky enough to have that information, selects a remedy that not only addresses the symptom but has in its rubrics “ailments from” the particular trauma the person suffered.

First of all, let me interrupt you; the remedy doesn’t have to have the symptom listed under it if it’s being used as an “ailments from” remedy!  It might not have any of your symptoms listed under it!  For example, you might have nightmares about ghosts since your car accident.  What do you look up?  “Dreams of ghosts”?  or  “Ailments from blunt trauma”?  Ailments from blunt trauma!  That’s the lesson here.  Does Arnica have dreams about ghosts?  It doesn’t matter!  The remedy is Arnica!  This is a very hard lesson for homeopaths to learn!  We need to prescribe on the etiology, not the symptoms that arose from it.  We hear so much about “the totality of symptoms”, we are busy repertorizing all the symptoms in the case, when in reality it is a simple case of “Ailments From”!  Ailments from mosquito bites–Ledum!  Case-closed!  That’s all there is to it!

Right, I get that. This has happened with acutes for me and the girls.

So let’s say the remedy cures the symptom, which was selected (in part or in full) based on the “ailments from” i.e. the etiology of the complaint.  Now my question: does that mean that, through that symptom expression, and the resultant homeopathic cure that fit the etiology/ailments from, is the person cured not only of the symptom but of the trauma/event that created the symptom?

Yes, you were really treating the trauma, not the symptom. The symptom alone may have matched a different remedy.  Let’s take “dreams of ghosts”.  That remedy may be Mancinella.  But it won’t work in this case because it’s not addressing the cause!  Only when you give the remedy for the trauma does the symptom go away.

Ok that is exactly what I wanted to know (that last sentence).  Let’s assume there is a remedy for the symptom that doesn’t address the trauma–the cause.

I would think then that the case would keep relapsing.

Yes, this is also exactly what I wanted to know —

This is your problem, right here. You seem to think the symptom is listed under the remedy–it’s not, unless by coincidence.  All we ever want to know is, “What caused this complaint?  Ailments from what?”  Was it a fright?  Then the remedy is Aconite.  Acute grief?  Then it’s Ignatia.

Is a person whose symptoms are resolved by an “ailments from” remedy cured **even of that etiology**, possibly just by addressing a single symptom?  In other words, can the entire trauma of the initial injury/event collapse on itself and create no more havoc for someone, by homeopathically curing a symptom that was caused by the injury/event (and perhaps by doing so, weakening the hold of the trauma of the person)?

This is your problem: The homeopath is always only curing the trauma!  He knows that when he’s done that, the bothersome symptom will go away!  But you’re looking at it backwards, starting with the bothersome symptom and asking, “But what about the trauma, will the trauma go away?”  Start with the trauma, and if you get that right, the symptom that came from it will go away.

Here is why some of my questions sound backwards — because I AM looking at it backwards.  Say you have a symptom that is resolved by a remedy.  The remedy is known for having “ailments from this, or ailments from that”.  If the symptom is resolved, can you necessarily conclude that the original event had something to do with the “ailments from” this remedy is known for?

Well….I can tell you this. Let’s say a patient has recurring cystitis.  You keep trying to find the right remedy, you try Cantharis, Nux vomica, one thing and another, finally you get it right with Staphysagria!  You might conclude from that that this person has “ailments from abuse” as an etiology and that the Staphysagria prescription might heal that trauma as well as the UTI.  Is that what you’re asking?

That is exactly what I’m asking….does Staphysagria in this example a.) resolve whatever (etiology) initially caused the cystitis and b.) can we suppose that because Staphysagria specifically has ailments from abuse, can you conclude that the person may have suffered some form of abuse in her lifetime?

Yes, you can draw that as a conclusion.  However, if the Rx cures the infection but doesn’t change the person in any deep way, doesn’t change their mentals or emotionals, then you can conclude that there was no early trauma, it just happened to be a match for the UTI symptoms; for example, Staphysagria is also known for “honeymoon cystitis”–meaning cystitis from too much sex.  That’s a second etiology for Staphysagria.  So, if it turns out to be that one, it’s not going to prove that the patient is a victim of abuse.

OK, thanks for the explanation!
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What’s The Constitution?

What is the “constitution”?  When you label someone as a remedy, do you mean where they are NOW as opposed to being innately that constitution or remedy?

Alicia, when we say “constitution”, we mean the totality of symptoms including the mental and emotional picture.  There’s a view that your constitution is what you always were and always will be.  All we really know is that whatever you “are” on the day you present yourself to a homeopath, is what we need to find a remedy for.

A trauma can change a person’s constitution.  A person after a head injury may act totally unlike himself, but that’s the person, or presentation, we have to find a remedy for.

Every time you get an acute illness, it’s highly possible that your constitution will change. The patient with an Arsenicum flu isn’t his usual cheery self; now he’s afraid and desperate for company.  The patient with a Gelsemium flu isn’t his usual cheery self either.  He’s apathetic, doesn’t care if you stay or go, is very dim-witted and doesn’t do or say anything.  A person with a Nux vomica flu isn’t his usual self either.  He’s irritable, rude, impatient, makes demands, tells people to hurry up… and yes, for the moment, that is his constitution and you have to give him Nux vomica even though he may have been Sulphur yesterday!  I hope that answers your question.

That totally answers my question, thank you!

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Dosing Your Pets

I have a question regarding water dosing.  With my dog, I have put remedies in a bowl, but he doesn’t drink on demand and I don’t want him to have the medicated water all day.

I have a plastic squirter where I can easily squirt water into his mouth.  If I want to change remedies, how much do I have to clean that dropper before I can put a different water dose remedy in it?  (This is a question I have in general about glasses/bottles and water dosing).  Does anyone know?  Does hot water get rid of the traces of the original remedy?

It is very easy to give a pet a water dose.  Let’s say you’re giving him Phosphorus.  Buy one of those cheap packs of 8 ounce spring water bottles.  Drop a Phosphorus pellet into one of the bottles.  You might want to pour a little off the top first to make it possible to shake the bottle.  Shake the bottle up.  Get a cotton ball.  Pour some remedy water onto the cotton ball.  Pat the dog’s lips with it. That’s a dose. Throw cotton ball away.  For next dose, succuss bottle 5 times, get a new cotton ball, do the same thing.  When bottle is down to one dose, refill with spring water to the starting point, and continue as usual.  If you want to change potencies, start a new bottle.  P.S. get rid of your bowl.  It is now full of remedies!  He doses every time he drinks from it.  You can’t wash it away!

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Elaine Lewis, D.Hom., C.Hom.

Elaine takes online cases! Write to her at [email protected]

Visit her website: elaineLewis.hpathy.com