Tidbits-95: Heart Trouble!

A Mr. Guru Charan from Fort Lee, New Jersey writes:

Dear Dr. Elaine Lewis,

In allopathy adrenaline shot is often used to save life during emergency. I was wondering if you were aware of any homeopathic medicine for a serious emergency like cardiac arrest, which can save lives before the ambulance arrives.

I thought it would be handy to keep such a medicine in each home, especially if it’s homeopathic or biochemic. And as the leading cause of sudden death is cardiac arrest, it would be wonderful to know what medicine to use in the golden hour before doctors takeover.

Thanks and best wishes,

Guru Charan

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Well, Mr. Charan, you sound like a real inquisitive guy!  I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to write about heart emergencies!  So, without further ado and fanfare, here is information I’ve gathered from Alan Schmukler’s Homeopathy: an A to Z Home Handbook, Borland’s Emergencies of General Practice, Anshutz’s New, Old and Forgotten Remedies and my notes from Robin Murphy’s course.

As Alan says in his book on page 130 under “Heart Attack”:

The person may experience nausea, followed by chest pain or pressure, pain down one or both arms, difficulty breathing, vomiting, cold sweat and blue face.

 Note:  If a person is having “pains” but none of the suffering noted above, chances are it is not a heart attack but rather gas pains, GERD or heartburn, which can also be sharp and felt in the chest.

Arnica

So, first of all, if the heart trouble came on from great exertion, like shoveling snow in a person who is generally inactive, the remedy is Arnica!  Preferably Arnica 200C or higher, but, if you only have 30C, give that, of course.  And if you get a positive result, don’t be surprised if you have to repeat the remedy; it doesn’t mean the remedy doesn’t work or homeopathy doesn’t work, it just means that you have to repeat it—maybe the potency is too low and hence, is not holding, but don’t despair, just take it again and put it in water this time.  Water makes it stronger, and so does succussing a few times before each dose.

Aconite

It may be that the most striking part of the case is fear of death!  Not surprising under the circumstances.  The Aconite patient is terrified and unable to keep still.  As always in homeopathic prescribing, the mentals rule the day.  If your case has a mental concomitant, the remedy will have to cover that.  Here our famous fright remedy, Aconite, in the 200C potency or higher, should stop the attack.

Cactus

This is one of our most commonly called-for remedies in this category and one you should surely order if you don’t have it.  If the patient has had more than one of these attacks and is no longer so terrified, Aconite might not work anymore.  Now we should think of Cactus, which has a very common expression in these cases, namely, there is the sensation of a hand squeezing the chest getting tighter and tighter and tighter.  There may also be stabbing and radiating pains, but, not so characteristic as the “tight band” sensation around the chest.

Latrodectus Mactans

This is the other one, Latrodectus!  You better order that too!  Violent precordial pains (precordial pain means pain in front of the heart) extending to the left shoulder and down the left arm, even to the left hand (could be both arms as well).  Pain may also radiate to the back.  Arm may feel numb as well.  Fear of suffocating.  Worse from exertion.  Patient may be screaming in pain.

Arsenicum alb.

All the usual, unmistakable Arsenicum mentals: fear of being alone, begging for help, fear of death, restlessness, clinginess and desire for warmth.  Chronic case.  Thirsty for sips at a time.  Chilly.  Prostrated.  Sick looking, pinched face, gray, withered.  Constriction or pressing sensation in the chest with burning.  If you give Arsenicum and the patient changes from cold to hot, you should switch to Sulphur.  If the thirst changes from sips to gulps, you should change to Phosphorus.

Antimonium tart.

Like Arsenicum, but, not the anxiety, not the chilliness, not the thirst, not the restlessness, not the gray color but rather the color blue—blue fingernails, blue lips, etc.  Desire for open air, worse warm stuffy rooms, worse heat.  Sensation of fullness in the chest rather than the pressing/constriction sensation of Arsenicum.  Thick white coated tongue.  Stethoscope may pick up rattling respiration, also known as “rales”.

Carbo veg.

Collapse.  Dullness of the mind.  No anxiety or thirst like Arsenicum.  Cold, sweaty skin but does not want covers.  They want air blowing right on them, they have “air hunger”, need oxygen, so open a window or turn on a fan and they want it blowing directly in their face.  Face is pale, lips are pale.  Lots of burping and flatulence.  Icy cold extremities.

Spongia

Spongia has a very clear sensation:  Feels as if the heart is getting larger and larger until it feels like it might burst.  This “swelling” sensation can spread right up to the throat, whereupon the patient thinks if he lies down, he might suffocate.  Chilly and worse any draft, pain is present as well as numbness of left arm and hand and of lower extremities too.  The face looks congested, not the pale, drawn, withered appearance of Arsenicum.

Lachesis

All the usual Lachesis symptoms we’re familiar with: high blood pressure, tightness of the chest, intolerant of any weight on the chest, even pressure of the covers, won’t tolerate tight clothing around the chest or neck; they are hot and worse heat; sleep into an aggravation, choking on falling asleep, worse lying on the left side, hands are shaky; difficult patients, confused and suspicious.

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Rehabilitate Your Heart!

Some people think that with age, heart attacks are inevitable.  This is not true!  There’s the famous old story about how when President Eisenhower’s doctor went to medical school, they never studied “heart attacks” because there were none!  This phenomenon didn’t start until after the advent of white flour and white sugar!  You don’t have to have this happen to you!  People are bringing this on themselves by eating junk food, white flour products, white sugar, processed food, table salt—another fake product; butter substitutes, egg substitutes, whole wheat-substitutes, other artificial foods, not cooking from scratch, consuming poisons, like party drugs, Rx drugs, smoking … see my “Convalescence” article on how to recover from any disease including heart disease:

Tidbits, Part-8 – Convalescence

You need Vitamin E Complex, 400 IU once a day.  Vitamin E is for anything you’re taking a blood thinner for.

You need Hawthorn Berry extract:

10 drops 3 times a day in 2 ounces of water.  Hawthorn Berries are what my Herbology teacher, Dr. Christopher, used to call “a cardiac food”.  Stay on it for three to six months.  It’s for weak heart, enlarged heart, heart murmur, high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, weak valves, palpitations on least exertion, fast pulse.

You need Sufficient-C to clear the cholesterol out of your arteries.

It contains Vitamin C and L-Lysine, which is a combination that, according to Dr. Linus Pauling, clears all the plaque out of your arteries.  You can order it from Amazon.com.

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So, in summary, you can recover from heart disease!  And you can prevent it from ever happening if you are so fortunate as to not have it now!

OK, our time is up.  

Wait a minute, Mom!

Shana?????

Shouldn’t you end with “Arrow Through The Heart”?  Andy Gibb’s last song?

Good idea, Shana!  Poor Andy, died of heart disease at 30.  So sad… but a great song!

  

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Elaine Lewis, DHom, CHom

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

Visit her website: https://ElaineLewis.hpathy.com