Page 1 of 1

homeopathy

Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 11:26 am
by Selmahope
Is it possible for constitutional homeopathy to reverse/cure neurlogical diseases?

I'm consulting with a very good homeopath out of arizona who specializes in neuro disease/MS who is supposed to be very good

Found out about him through a friend who connected me to a naturopath who knows him well and said if she were in my shoes-this is the path she'd take.

Any thoughts?

Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 3:15 am
by Wonderfulworld
I think don't waste your money.

I went to a homeopath for 10 years and in retrospect I believe that any improvements I made on it, were due to the natural variability of my MS and not the homeopathy. I am no worse and no better either on or off homeopathy. I wish I'd kept the money and gone on a nice sun holiday instead!

What made me cynical eventually was the position my homeopath took on improvements (they were due to the homeopathy) or disimprovements (these were a sign the homeopathy was working too!) and because I'm logical I realised that this situation wasn't logical at all.

Alternative medicine that HAS helped me to a limited extent was acupuncture. I found it helped with my general health and energy, and it did seem to have a limited sucess with nerve pain. Supplements too have helped me, I currently take:
6 x fish/epo capsules
1-2g vitamin c
Vitamin D3 - 4000IU
Cal/mag tablet +250g extra Mag
Multi-vitamin
4 x high acidophilous tablets
Ginkgo biloba (added this week)

Intermittantly:
Niacin
Zinc

homeopathy

Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 12:48 pm
by Selmahope
Had first consult today and he said he thought he was 80% sure he could help me and had reversed illness in most of his MS patients. I dont know-I am so sick now with MS plus a million more symptoms-the only other alternative I have hardcore antibiotics with a lyme doc whch I am so terrified of since I'm in such a weakend state/so ill right now. If I get sicker I'll get bedbound and may not be able to feed myself. I have had horrific reactions as a result of both herbs and now a few drugs I took in November that sent me in this downard spiral I'm in right now.

I now I'm skeptical about homeopathy- I know I'm desperate right now!

Posted: Fri Apr 09, 2010 4:06 pm
by Absentee
I have to second the call for Chinese acupuncture with Chinese herbs. I believe it has helped me greatly. I would not dismiss homeopathy but I do think that homeopathy is a gentle treatment and what we with MS go through does not seem to respond well to gentle technique. Chinese acupuncture is anything but gentle. And I say Chinese acupuncture because the needles are set deeper than in the Japanese form. The Japanese form was too gentle for me and did little to push back symptoms. Chinese on the other hand has truly helped me get stable (although if you ask my neuro, it is the Copaxone).

Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 12:06 pm
by Wonderfulworld
Selmahope I know how desperate you can feel for help when you're getting worse, but all I know is that looking back I spent about the equivalent 7000 dollars on the homeopath and it did not make a difference. My homeopath also said from the outset that she could reverse the MS....it was pure fiction.

Is there any chance you can investigate if you've got CCSVI? It seems very hopeful for some MS'ers.

Also the Best Bet Diet can work for some, although it's extremely restrictive but I did experience huge improvements in my MS when I was on it, and within 2 weeks of starting it. I am not on it now because it took a lot of time to shop, organise and cook for it, but I hope to resume it soon.

diet

Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 12:21 pm
by Selmahope
I hear you on the homeopathy. The antibiotics lyme md terrifies me sinceI've become so so sick on first herbs and now drugs -but have been declining prior to this explosion and new I had to do something to change the course of the illness.

I don't fit the exact MS profile and still have no real diagnosis -all I know is this goes way beyond fibromyalgia and has been progressive since onset of optic neuritis 4 years ago with these huge explosions/worsening brought on my herbs first and now drugs/herbs -no fatigue, no lesions-and and so many weird symptoms that go beyond MS? the jerking, twitching, head stuff, nervous system in overdrive, shaking all over plus the numbness, burning ,dizzy ,speaing, swallwoing , gait, muscle weakenss etc etc? whatever I have is affecting every part of me, even the ability to type and I have little to no appetite since so dizzy/sick/weak neck.

I don't know- no local place to easily get checked out for CCSVI (non in Boston which would be closest place-and I'm to ill to travel right now and even go through anything that might be remotely painful/put stress on my body.

My diet has been sooooooo good last 12 years and really before too-It was good before this downward spiral but in the last 4 months went totally gluten free and sugar free-still eating eggs, meat, veggies, fruit, yogurt--I tried low carb for a couple of weeks and did not make a difference-

I've lost 20 lbs in last 4 months since being so ill and really can' afford to lose anymore.

Doing IBT 4.5 inches on king bed- I think it is making my arms even more numb since I'm covers over the head/side raised arm sleeper-but not sure.

I guess the only thing on diet I'm not doing is the dairy free, low sat fat, no legumes part- is that right? I was tested for food sensitivities 2 years ago and showed no sensitivities-slightly sensitive to sweet potatoes and asparagus! that was it.

Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2010 3:33 pm
by Bethr
Hi Selmahope, I still think you should still look at Porphyria. My sister got optical nueritis when she was at her worst and sounds so similar to you with the other symptoms. Porphyria would flare up if you cut out sugar, that's a given, to stop an attack they pump you full of glucose and you have to eat high carb religiously every two hours, even over night if necessary (if you can eat).

If it is some type of Porphyria, you'd be spiralling out with a low sugar, low carb diet. Is this a clue?

Hope that helped.
Cheers
Beth

Say 'no' to homeopathy!

Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 9:50 pm
by ScutFarkus
You should save your money. Homeopathy doesn't work.

Scientifically, homeopathy cannot work, since the explanation of how it works defies what is known about physics and chemistry. It involves diluting ingredients to the point that a typical dose doesn't even contain any molecules of the original "active" ingredient. Thus, there is no known way to differentiate between a homeopathic treatment and water. Similarly, there's no way to start with a "pure" substance, since you can't detect any homeopathic containments. In theory, our oceans are now homeopathic remedies for everything!

But more convincing to many, well-controlled clinical trials have consistently shown that homeopathic medicines simply don't work. They are no more effective than placebo.

For illnesses like MS, where the normal course of the disease involves fluctuations in symptoms, it's very easy for a homeopath to claim success for changes that would have happened anyway.

For more info, check out these links:

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=2558
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/homeopathy/

/Scut

Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 3:18 am
by gymbuff
It seems to me that what you are saying could be applied to any medication. It is claimed that Tysabri slows the course of MS but if no one knows how fast it is progressing how can it be claimed that it is being slowed.

"For illnesses like MS, where the normal course of the disease involves fluctuations in symptoms, it's very easy for a homeopath to claim success for changes that would have happened anyway."

The same can be said for the chemical treatments available for MS.[/quote]

Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 12:37 pm
by ScutFarkus
gymbuff wrote:It seems to me that what you are saying could be applied to any medication. It is claimed that Tysabri slows the course of MS but if no one knows how fast it is progressing how can it be claimed that it is being slowed.
ScutFarkus wrote:For illnesses like MS, where the normal course of the disease involves fluctuations in symptoms, it's very easy for a homeopath to claim success for changes that would have happened anyway.
The same can be said for the chemical treatments available for MS.
Yes, exactly! This is a property of our condition, not of any specific treatment. This is unfortunately why it's so difficult to separate effective MS treatments from ineffective ones, and why anecdotal reports of a drug's success or failure always need to be viewed very skeptically.

Double-blind controlled clinical trials (with lots of people in both the control and treatment groups) are the best means for teasing out real effects. For drugs like Tysabri and the CRABs, large clinical trials have shown that on average, people getting these medications have better MS outcomes than people who don't get them, in a statistically significant way. That's not to say either group of people is entirely satisfied with their results, nor that every person with treatment does better than every person without treatment, merely that there is a real effect. Homeopathy has failed this test: overall, people receiving homeopathic treatments do no better than people receiving placebos.

/Scut