Homeopathy part 2- Prescribing

In the previous blog I explained what homeopathy is and how the remedies are made. I thought this time I would look at how prescribing is done, and then do a few following blogs about the main remedies.

When prescribing homeopathically it is not really about prescribing for a condition such as a cold, but about the individuals experience of that condition. For example, imagine there was an accident - you would tend to find that people would react in one of two main ways; either "I'm fine, leave me alone" or they get a bit hysterical. These people have experienced the same event, but they are dealing with it in very different ways. In homeopathic terms, the "I'm fine (though my leg is broken, but I can still walk home)" response would be treated with Arnica, whilst the "Oh my God I'm going to die (if you look really carefully you'll see there is a tiny cut on my left pinkie)" reponse would indicate the remedy Aconite. If you get that bit we'll move on to the common cold.

If a homeopath was treating a cold they would ask a lot of questions, some of which may seem pretty irrelevant but they all add up to the overall picture of what remedy is best suited to treat the patients experience of their cold. Some of these questions might include:

"Was anything happening to you when it started?" - You might have got wet or had a row with someone or ate too much icecream. This may seem irrelevant but sometimes when you are a bit low anyway these seemingly trivial things are just enough to tip you over the edge

"What makes you feel better/worse?" - Some people feel better if they get up and keep busy, others need to lie down quietly and sleep, others are really thirsty and feel better if they drink lots of cold water while others want warm drinks, some might need the fresh air while others suffer from the slightest draught.

"Do you feel hot or cold?" - People experience the temperature in different ways. Some feel freezing, others are really hot, some have a fever and feel cold, others feel hot inside but feel cold to the touch. There is even one remedy where the patient feels freezing cold and must be wrapped up totally to keep warm, but craves fresh air so will still need the windows open at the same time.

And on to the charm that homepaths are famous for...
"Do you have much mucus? What colour is it? What is it's texture? - You have probably noticed that when you have a cold you sometimes have a runny nose, sometimes you haven't. Sometimes it only runs when you are indoors/outdoors/in a draught/have a hot drink.

And the corzya (snot,to you and me) can vary greatly too. Sometimes yellow, other times green, or watery, or slightly bloody. Sometimes it's like water, other times i's really sticky and thick, other times it just blocks you up and you can't breathe.

So the general idea is that each time an individual has a cold it will be different and it will vary from person to person too. Obviously some people have specific triggers - some suffer as soon as it gets a bit damp in autumn, others have more summer colds, others always have colds that go to their chest but there is often a bit of variation.

In order to prescribe then, what you would need is a list of the symptoms associated with the condition you are treating. The more unusual they are the better really - sneezing and coughing are not really much good as symptoms although the details about how and when they cough and sneeze may give some great clues to the right remedy. When you have a list of the symptoms you will need a book called a repertory and you look up the symptoms and see which remedies correspond to those symptoms. Basically by doing a little table you start to build up a picture of the most likely remedies and by reading the remedy picture itself you would be able to identify which of these remedies is closest to the cold experience your patient is having.

An easier way, when you first start out is to get a good book such as Miranda Castro's Homeopathy Guide and learn the different remedy pictures for the main remedies for colds, sickness, hayfever, earache, whatever you need (preferably before you need them). Another way is to get a Helios or Ainsworth Homeopathy kit which has all the remedies you are likely to need and include a guide to those remedies and how to use the kit. They are both extremely good, but Helios has a wider product range including one for Childbirth, a first aid kit, a small & large general kits and a travellers kit. They all have the basics plus some specifics for your individual situation.

It sounds complicated but you soon get the hang of it - for example, pulsatilla is a remedy that covers very changeable symptoms (including mood), it has greeny/yellow snot, often comes on after getting your feet wet, and in children can be characterised by them being really clingy and tearful.

Chamomilla on the other hand is a very cross remedy, it is often used in teething babies but that is not its exclusive use. They feel pain really severely and get very angry about it. The condition may also be brought on after being angry, and they don't like to be looked at or touched. In teething babies they may have diarrhoea which (here we go again...) may look like chopped spinach!

Arnica, as we have said, is the "I've only broken my leg, of course I can walk to the hospital 3 miles away, leave me alone, I'm fine". They can be very oversensitive. Or it can simply be to help bruising come out. People who need arnica tend to feel like they have "been kicked by a horse" or similar, and generally feel very painful, bruised and achy.

You generally start to get a feel for the main remedies pretty quickly and can see them quite easily with a bit of practice (though this is not the case every time - I wish it were!).

When you have a good idea of the remedy then you give it in whatever potency seems appropriate - I would suggest starting out using 30c's in most cases, though the Helios childbirth kit uses 200c's due to the intensity of the states during labour and birth. The remedies are given as needed, perhaps giving the remedy as the patient says they need one or when you see the symptoms are returning. There is a bit of a misleading 'fact' that I was told when I first started off, which was that you can't overdose on remedies - I would beg to differ. After inducing in myself a 5 day horrendous hangover by repeatedly taking Nux Vomica when it was the wrong remedy, I can testify that you can cause some temporary discomfort by taking too much of the wrong remedy. So if after 3 or 4 doses you are not seeing any significant difference start to relook at the case and see if you have missed something that might indicate another remedy, and represcribe.
So that is a basic rundown on how homeopathy is prescribed - at this point I would not expect you to be able to do a prescription, so don't fret if you still don't quite get it. As I said earlier, I would recommend either getting yourself a kit complete with instructions, buying a beginners book such as Miranda Castro's Homeopathy Guide (I actually use her mother and baby guide as I find it easier to follow), which has loads of information and some sample cases to practise on or contact your local homeopath to book onto an introduction course.

It is much easier than it sounds, honestly! And I have found that it is more effective, long-term and quicker than using painkillers, antibiotics and antihistamines. However on a serious note, if you have any doubt about a condition, are on medication or have any concerns about your health it is important to speak to a pharmacist or your GP before taking any course of action - better safe than sorry!

Next time, more on colds & coughs since it is a highy appropriate time of year for that one.