Homeopathy to the Rescue
by Nancy Holden | |
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It came on suddenly. One night I was sleeping reasonably well for a 57 year old. The next night, the minute I laid my head on the pillow, I started itching, sneezing and blowing my nose. In the course of the next week, I was bombarded with other maladies at night--restless legs, increase in hot flashes, and an increase in pain from fibromyalgia. It was a bad week, but I thought the next week would be better. It wasn’t. One hundred days later-one hundred days of alternating between Benadryl, Tylenol PM, and Ambien-I was still sleeping very poorly.
I showed up at Sujata Owen’s doorstep. She is a homeopathic practitioner at Vital Force Consulting, Inc. in Northfield, Minnesota. My first words were, “I’m a wreck.” And the second ones were, “I’m over the edge.” I wasn’t sure what edge I was over-but I knew I was over it!
I had heard of Sujata through my sister-in-law who had seen her for several years and talked highly of the relief the homeopathic treatments had provided her. I decided I had to try this alternative, because I just couldn’t face years of medications to help me sleep and tolerate my histamine reactions. So, I decided to take the plunge into the unknown called homeopathy.
I’ve had respect for alternative health care and had done some acupuncture, acupressure, and vitamins. But this was unknown. But, I was desperate. I was really desperate. Sleep deprivation is not fun and allergy attacks on top of sleep deprivation is a real killer.
Because I was desperate, I really put a great deal of energy and time into filling out the initial lengthy questionnaire. Sujata’s first words were “You are pretty thorough aren’t you.” I said “You’ve got that right.” I talked and she listened and asked questions for several hours. When I got home from the first appointment, I told my husband, “Don’t ask me to explain it, because I don’t know what homeopathy is and what I’m taking-but I’m over the edge so I’m going to just do what I’m told.
My husband and I talked about some of the fascinating questions and answers that came up in the first session. I took the first remedy-trying to figure out the protocol and the things I had to avoid. There are several things that have to be avoided or consumed in moderation. Some were easy for me to give up-coffee, herbal teas, herbs, magnets, electric blankets. It has been harder for me to give up mint in any form-did you know that mint is everywhere-in gum, toothpaste, chocolates, breath mints- And then it recommends that all chocolate, caffeinated soda, alcohol and black tea be consumed in moderation. By the way, do any of you have any idea of what a moderate intake of chocolate looks like? I don’t!
I had been told that it might take some time-even months-to see a significant improvement. But Sujata also said there might be an immediate improvement. I told her that “would be a miracle.” So, I didn’t expect anything major right away. I know I needed to be patient and let the remedy “do its thing.” Well, you can imagine my surprise, delight, ecstasy when my allergic reactions at night decreased significantly; my sleep improved considerably; and I had a bounce to my step within the first two weeks.
In the ensuing months, I’ve had some allergy episodes, some rather annoying, but they seem to be shorter in duration and not nearly as frequent. I’ve had many good nights of sleep; my arthritic pain in my hands has diminished; my fibromyalgia pain is not nearly as prevalent. I have cut down on many of the prescription medications I was taking. I no longer take a pill once a week for sleep; I have cut out the diuretic for arthritis pain in my hands; I have eliminated the pill for restless leg; I have cut out one of the two pills I was taking for menopausal hot flashes. And I have not taken any antihistamines or Tylenol PM. Wow!
I do miss mint and chocolate. (Chocolate mint ice cream was my favorite!) But, I'm not on edge anymore. I have hope that my health will continue to improve. I feel like I am on the right journey for me at this time. I still don’t know how homeopathy works, but I am convinced it does work.
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