What do you guys think of Homeopathic Medicine?

Hmmmm
Good question.

My mother swears by it, but everytime I give it a try, I don't really notice anything...

EXCEPT...

The remedy for the croup in my kids. Worked on 2 of the 3 kids.

So I don't really know what to tell you.

placebo effect

One remedy I would never be without is Arnica cream. If you are hurt say in a fall or with a knock of some kind, put on some arnica as soon as possible and it will not swell up or discolour. Used it for years - great for children too for the falls and accidents they have.

I'm not a great believer in homeopathic medicine, but I've seen it work quite well in some of my friends. I think I'd be willing to give it a go, if the problem being treated weren't life threatening. (One of my friends who firmly believes in homeopathy spent a year using various lotions and salves to treat what she knew to be skin cancer with. She finally decided to see a doctor, and he told her she was fortunate that she came in when she did, because the cancer had gone quite deep.)

But the other night when my little dog bit a bee or yellowjacket, and her face swelled up horribly, I gave her 1000 mg of vitamin C on the advice of one of my homeopathic practicing friends. It seemed to help. She stopped pawing at her face, and the swelling was markedly reduced after a few hours.

I am currently taking homeopathic meds for adrenal fatigue. The difference between my life now and one month ago is an almost 180 degree turn around. I would much rather take the time to heal my adrenals than risk having to take cortisol the rest of my life.

Homeopathic medicine doesn't make any sense. The principle, in case you're not familiar, is to take a substance that CAUSES a problem, and then dilute it so much that not even a single molecule of it is left. This remedy is then used to CURE the problem that the substance causes.

I was told about some scientist who set out to debunk homeopathy for the obvious swindle that it is. But she was unable to - her experiments suggested that it works, not just by placebo effect!

My feeling is that the way homeopathy really works is not known to its practitioners, but something they're doing is in fact effective. My wife uses arnica pretty frequently. I don't have any reason to use it myself (at least not that I've heard of), so I can't comment on its effectiveness for me personally.

After almost two years of suffering with several issues, including yeast infections and outbreaks, my mom has started me on a holistic/organic/homeopathic regimen of things.
I can honestly say that at first I thought it was a crock, but within two days I was a new person.
It's all in how you look at it, and what you expect to get out of it.
Sometimes, even as a nurse, one must realize that traditional medicine and doctors are not the end all be all.

It's funny - acupuncture used to seem pretty kooky to me, but now it makes sense: your body is a complex system governed by messages sent through your nerves. Stimulate the nerves and you can affect the system. Thousands of years of trial and error can tell you HOW to stimulate the system to achieve the desired effect.

Homeopathic medicine has no such explanation. But it seems to work anyway.

I've had really good experience with accupuncture.....but yes...it is quite creepy!

Unfortunately, my respect for western medicine is going down the tubes rather quickly. Maybe there's no good explanation for it, but the east is probably far superior than the west (which really isn't saying much). Maybe there's no good explanation for it because we westerners think we know it all already and don't want to bother wasting money to research it. The easterners grew up with it. They don't need no science to explain to them WHY it works. They figure it just does.

ETA: Oh...and I find it hard to believe you can get a placebo effect in a child younger than 2 years old.

JAnn - what are you taking for AF? I'm being tested for AF, cortisol and a host of other things to try and find out what the H~###LL is wrong with me.

Thanks
Marie

I haven't explored homeopathy, but I've worked a lot with flower essences (which are based on a similar principle and were originated by a homeopathic doctor). I've read and re-read the explanation of how they're made and why they work, and it doesn't really make sense -- but after several years I've had great results with using them. They work beautifully with kids and animals too.

Actually when I was in the depths of despair about not being able to lose weight 2 years ago, I took a flower essence called Self-Heal, which is for getting more aligned with the healing you need when you feel confused or hopeless. Within a few weeks was guided to low-carbing and this site, and I finally started to make progress on a long-standing problem.

A key resource for flower essences (and other healing remedies) is FES, Flower Essence Services; you can order them online.

I've tried to suggest them to others, but there hasn't been much interest. People are very skeptical, which is understandable; but on the other hand, sometimes it's good to be open to alternative remedies, especially those that are gentler and can work on the spirit and emotions as well as the physical aspect of healing.

Actually it is quite a list. I taking a B6-B15-folic acid injection once a week. Besides that I'm taking:

Ayurvedic Herbal Formula #1, 1/2 tsp day
Magnesium 150, x1 day
Iodine Max for thyroid x 1 day til gone
Opti-EPA x1 day
Chromium GTF 200, x 1 day
B Complete , started at 2 x day, now 1 x day, after a month I will go to 2 x week
Trace Plus, x 1 day
Adrenal Support, x1 day
Probiotic Complete, 1 a.m., 1 p.m. for two weeks
above all by Natural Body Health
Thyrocsin by Thorne x 1 for thyroid
Adrenal Cortex by Thorne x 1 day
l-glutamine by Now x 1/2 tsp daily
liquid Vit D3 x 5000 (house brand drops)
Vit C 3000-5000 unit per day
B12 1000 sublingual x 1 day
Calcarea Carbonica 2 x 2 day

I'm not very good at taking pills so it has been a real challenge but it has been so worth it!

I also make sure I have Rescue Remedy in the cupboard. This is a special combination to help in times of shock or distress - say the serious illness or death of a family member or friend or some real worry about something to be gone through. (I take it before going to the dentist.) Don"t know if or how it works but it certainly gives me a bit of backbone!

Bach flower essences are used also by some vets for treating animals like horses and house pets. They seem to help with problem emotions - like when we had one cat very jealous of the other and being quite mean to her. It did improve the situation. Could have been a coincidence but if it works, then what's the problem. They certainly do no harm.