Homeopathics

I’m new here. Hello. 👋 I’m sure this question has been asked before but I wasn’t sure where to find it, so I’ll just ask here.

What is your experience with homeopathics?

I’ve used other natural remedies a fair bit, but haven’t had much experience in this area. I just wondered what was your experience? Also is it complicated art to get just right, or do you just try a few that sound right and see if it helps?


PS  I’m loving being on here. So many people doing so many interesting things. 😃

Mari, We try and let all flavours of permaculture flourish (you may find this thread of interest) what works for one person may or may not work for another. I did a quick search using the search function, and while specific homeopathic remedies come up, there doesn't seem to be a thread talking about homeopathics as a whole, so well done for starting this one!

Personally I've always been a bit sceptical about homeopathics, it probably comes from being handicapped by wanting to know how things work and never having had an explanation of homeopathics that I could understand. However I once had some homeopathic calendula salve that did wonders for a sore foot on my dog, so that is my concrete experience for you. I'm interested to hear other people's experiences.

My only experience with homeopathics is a book I bought many many years ago.

The book broke down ailment with different treatments, as in herbal, homeopathic, etc.

I thought the homeopathic remedies a little radical and never tried them.

The book was worth its weight in gold for the herbal treatments.

I tend to go with the least restrictive/intrusive approach that works.  I have used (in no particular order) conventional western medicine, acupuncture, natural remedies, homeopathy, chiropractic, etc. so, I have used homeopathic medicine, and sometimes it has been effective for me.

I have used homeopathic remedies for about 30 years now.
They do work, and sometimes they work so quickly that it is hard to believe!
Other times they seem to do nothing.
The original pills were quickly melted, under your tongue and dissolved.
Unfortunately, they now make a tiny round pill "rock" that takes several minutes to dissolve.
There are tinctures and powders also available.
We always have 30-40 different remedies on our shelves at all times.

There are homeopathic doctors, and there are a few MD's that will recommend them.
We have a nice lady, Permie, down under( Australia). She is a homeopathic doctor who specializes in pet care. Animals respond incredibly well to homeopathic care.
At least a third of our remedies are for our pets.

Randomly choosing remedies to try is not that great an idea.
Although not harmful if you buy the wrong one and it does not work you may become discouraged and give up.
Do Not Give Up They Do Work!
Perhaps, at a health food store, you might find a clerk who is familiar with the different choices and potencies.
Or search out a Homeopathic doctor.

I've used all those same approaches as John, plus some aromatherapy, having much better success with herbs, aromatherapy, & homeopathics. I'm more likely to send folks (especially those whom I know won't do their own homework) to specific herbs or essential oils, simply because that's where I have the more solid knowledge base. But, my experience with homeopathic has definitely been positive, and is very complementary to the herbals & aromatherapy. The three make a great team.

Firmly in the sceptics' corner here. Like Nancy said, I've never heard an explanation of why it works that I could really believe. For myself, I believe homeopathics to be "just" placebo. That said, the placebo effect is very real and sometimes its effects can be next to miraculous. So use whatever works for you

On a side note, I think it'd be great if one could consciously use the placebo effect medicinally. Don't know how exactly, but maybe just educating people on what our bodies are capable of would make a difference? Combined with things like meditation or hypnosis, maybe? It does seem like a bit of a waste that the awesome self-healing capacity of our bodies is treated like nothing more than a confounding factor in clinical studies...

Oh this has been very helpful. Thank you for everybody that added on here. I’m thinking I’ll research the daylights out of the different possibilities  (which is my usual way of doing things), and if I don’t get it right I’ll get a homeopathic expert to help me, and if it still doesn’t work, well then I’m no worse off then I am.  😀

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/1800-studies-later-scientists-conclude-homeopathy-doesnt-work-180954534/

The American psychologist B. F. Skinner studied animal behavior and in particular he famously studied pigeons. His pigeons were trained to peck a target to receive food. He manipulated the system so they had to peck many times to receive food - so they pecked much faster. When he made the reward time-random, they pecked fastest of all! When he took away the target and continued the random reward, they developed all sorts of odd behaviors which (apparently) they associated with some reward stimulus -- so one bird might be found hopping around on one leg and another might be standing with wings extended and a third might be pecking on a favorite cage bar. This is the very same model psychologists apply to human superstitious behaviors. If we try <something> and <favorable outcome ensues>, we are highly inclined to think the thing we tried is what caused the success. Once we know what works, we tend to be dismissive of counterfactual evidence because - as is absolutely true - life is complex. Fortunately, most of us do not become ill very often. Our individual opportunities to test remedies are mercifully few - so few as to be statistically insignificant on their own. But a well-designed scientific study can really cut through the fog of complexity in life. Such studies show no benefit to homeopathy, as such. But if my partner were to think <anything> made them happier, and I could do it; I would. It is not up to me to disabuse anyone of their firmly held beliefs. Life is complex.

I think most homeopathic doctors/healers or whatever term you would use would agree that doctors that use allopathic methods and testing are some of the best diagnosticians. If I was not sure about an issue I was having, I would go get a diagnosis from one of these doctors and then treat it with homeopathic means. I don’t know too many doctors that treat homeopathically. There are some but not close enough to me. I think the reason why this is the case is so much like many other things in our society where the many are doing something and the few are not. Most people on this forum are probably “the few” in some area of their life. Permaculture for example verses conventional gardening. Interestingly, the things the few do seem to be “the old ways”.

Another thing I have noticed that I got from reading Wendell Berry, is how some folks think we have eliminated all mystery with science. We think that we can know ourselves, other people, how our bodies work exactly, etc. There are certainly patterns, and those patterns can happen x percent of the time but there are many, many exceptions. I believe our physiology is very mysterious. I can say that part of homeopathy AND allopathy is the faith to be healed. In other words, people who believe in the treatment administered and have a good attitude do better than those that do not, mostly. Ask just about any doctor. Now explain that one. Also, how can a placebo, so called, have any effect if something very mysterious about our physiology were not going on?

Also, it seems that with any method of treatment, you’d have to track down the anatomy and physiology behind why it is working in a way you could understand. So not knowing why that prescription pill or herb is working would be a function of how much time you want to use to investigate. Even then, some of these things are still very mysterious and may not have a clear answer. Many prescription drugs had their basis in an herbal remedy. They isolated what they thought was causing the desired action and made it into a pill or shot etc. Some are man made and some still use the plants. Depending on what study you read, these account for over 50% of all prescriptions. I imagine it is closer to 100% depending on how we define the terms of the study.

To answer the OP. I have faith in homeopathic medicine. Unfortunately, unless you can find a DR/PA/NP that uses these methods, you’ll have to do a lot of research to find out what you need to do and why you need to do it. It is not an impossible task; you would just have to want to do it. I like Doc Jones from Homegrown Herbalist and would recommend his videos or articles.

Lastly, I am reminded of the Wheaton Eco Scale and how you just talk to people a level up from where they are. I am so thankful that in my life, a lot of people have done that with me. It would not help for one person to hit another person over the head with homeopathy if they were skeptical or antagonistic. I’d maybe just mention what I said above about how many of our current pharmaceuticals are derived from herbs and see where the conversation went from there. I won’t lose any sleep over other peoples opinions and I would just hope that they are getting the care they need from whoever they decide to have help.

Decades ago I had access to a medical library and looked into some papers which appeared to be well done experiments in treating asthma with homeopathy, drugs, or nothing using double blind top-notch medical model research techniques.

The lead doctor was surprised that he got 60% improvement with homeopathy. Since the placebo effect is considered to be only 30% improvement, his conclusion was that there has to be something wrong with the double-blind, medical research approach.

My conclusion was that if I could get a 60% placebo effect with the right little sugar pill and no side effects, it was absolutely worth having in my tool box.

The medical model essentially says that if people have symptom "X", and you give them treatment "Y", 99% should improve/get better/symptoms go away. This often comes with some nasty side effects to boot. Since Homeopathy doesn't take that approach, there could be 3 or more remedies that would treat that particular symptom depending on how it presents in the patient. Or it might need all 3, but sequentially to get the final effect. In my opinion, medical model research that demands 99%, isn't the right tool to assess homeopathy. Homeopathy seems more realistic, in that it clearly states that the remedy has to fit the person - not the disease.

Example: Belladonna is the classic homeopathic remedy if a child has a fever. I had several friends swear that it was the greatest thing since sliced bread when their kids got sick. Belladonna fevers are in your face - particularly hot forehead fevers - which is not at all how my children presented. In fact I had a doctor who once insisted my son didn't have a fever when the thermometer insisted he did. His fevers were deep inside and Gelsinium, if I am recalling correctly, was the remedy that worked.

So this is definitely a tool in my tool box, and I have a small book specifically about treating birds with it. The trouble with chickens is getting them to cooperate! Stirring the remedy in water and putting it on a shiny spoon sometimes does the trick!