An Interlude: Two Homeopathic Success Stories This Week

Last year my sister and I studied homeopathy with a school in Britain. It wasn't what we'd hoped for, so we started over this year with a school in Boulder.

I am so glad we are taking this class. It has renewed my enthusiasm for this effective, gentle form of healing. Last year, the sense I got was, "Why bother with an acute illness? Only the chronic matters!" "Acute" in homeopathy is defined as one that has a set start, and will either resolve itself or will end in death, such as measles. A "chronic," by contrast, has no specific start time, and is something that will weaken the body over time, though the body can continue to survive for a long time. An example would be nasty tonsilloths, which won't kill a person, but make bad breath.

But Acutes are important, and can make life better or worse. We've had a good week with Acutes.

***

On Sunday, a friend mentioned to Phil that he had had a cough for a month. "I looked it up on WebMD, but what can they do with a single symptom: cough?" and Phil said, "Go talk to Amy."

Perfect. I can help, because it wasn't just a cough. It was a cough worse at night, worse from cold, convulsive, dry, doesn't hurt the chest, doesn't hurt the throat. And it has lasted a month, to the point where he had to skip things if he ran out of cough syrup. Clearly debilitating.

I spent a little time comparing symptoms on my phone, and that is the description—absolutely and precisely, in every specific—of Hepar sulph. So I gave the friend some 30C potency (also available over the counter), told him to put one in water and sip three times a day.

I texted him a few days later to see how he was doing. "Monday was the best day I'd had in a month. Tuesday was worse again, but it was very cold and I'd been outside. So I think it's too early to say definitively, but I definitely feel like I'm on the mend."

To me, a person who is sick for a month without any change, and within 24 hours of taking the remedy is suddenly on the mend seems pretty definitive. Excellent!

***

Caleb had a really weird thing happen. After I made a pie crust with lard, he was spitty the next day. The day after that, he started sounding like he did when he was a month old and I hadn't figured out his sensitivities: choking a bit, wheezing. Blasted lard! What was I thinking?

Then he got a runny nose. Phil had put stain on the bench he made, and I doubt that is a good thing to inhale, but it's been cold, so the windows stayed shut. The six oldest Lykoshes took Nat mur to boost immunity to the chemicals.

By the time I went to bed last night, Caleb was not doing well. He was snotty, fussy, congested in the chest, could not retain a latch because he nose was so clogged. Poor baby. I sat up with him very late, trying to make sure he would fall asleep. I had given him constitutional Calc carb, but that hadn't done much.

I must have dropped off about 1am, and at some point, Caleb woke up absolutely screaming. I felt like nothing else had worked, so maybe a diaper change would at least make him more comfortable. As I touched his legs, I realized he was burning up. No wonder his hands had been cold all evening, poor guy! He had a high fever.

As I thought about it, though, I change his diaper every few hours. He couldn't have had this fever for long. And then, through my sleep-clouded brain, the thought of Aconite wafted through. Yes! Fast onset, strong symptoms, the only remedy that has worked all winter for the dreaded flu (as long as I catch symptoms early enough).

I gave him 200C and it was like a light switch. He quieted so fast that Phil, who had wondered aloud if I should sit on the recliner with Caleb so he could sleep more vertically, said, "What did you do?!" Caleb's nose instantly cleared and he was able to eat and sleep.

Maybe a half hour later, he woke up screaming again. But because of our recent training, I had absolute clarity: that worked remarkably well the first time, but the effects have just been exhausted. Another dose of 200C and he fell back to sleep for the rest of the night.

I did dose him once more this morning, though he wasn't as extreme. His nose is still a bit runny and he is a bit spitty, but it is manageable.

I don't agree with the attitude of the school in Britain. While a constitutional remedy may be deeper, longer lasting, and more curative, why dismiss acute care? "Oh, once you're a real homeopath, you won't bother with acutes. Only the chronic will matter." Please. If my baby is screaming at 3am, I want something to take care of him right now.

How lovely to have, again, the freedom to do so.