Spider bite time February/March 2017

Taking a detour from talking about the flu, I'll write today about a very common thing happening now with already two patients coming to see me for this: spider bites!

Now, you will read all kinds of information from spider loving people that spiders do not bite. however, when you see two little bite marks right next to each other, it's hard not to believe it's from a spider. Still, whether the bite is from a flea, spider or mosquito, the homeopathic treatment will be the same.

Most bites look like this:

There is a clear central pore which looks like an injection site. You will not see this in eczema or in contact dermatitis. Many spider lovers will try to convince you it's one of these. Of course, it could be a flea or mosquito bite. But there are not mosquitos in the northwest right now. I've seen spiders at my house and the two patients do have cats.

The homeopathic remedy is always chosen based on the symptoms. Here they are listed:

better with cold applications

Ledum: number one remedy for insect bites. The area is cool but cold or ice applications feel good. The area may be red, bruised, and feel boggy.

Apis: Similar in look to Ledum and feels better with cold applications. However Apis type infections are bigger with more swelling and looks a bit more like hives. Usually there is an allergic component to the reaction.

Lachesis: the area can feel like it is burning or have an icy coldness to it and there is marked swelling as with Apis. It feels like the bite will burst. Sensitive to heat, touch or pressure.

Sulfur: also markedly swollen and warm and worse with heat. Itchy.

Advanced infections (I decided to spare you the picture of this, but feel free to google it!)

Rhus tox: swelling, pitting, purplish. Drains pus. Feels better with heat application

Hepar sulph: boils that turn into cellulitis which is very painful. Very sensitive to touch. Usually later stage when a different remedy was indicated at first but then the infection became worse.

If the lesion is not a bite but is a MRSA infection, a bleach/water application or bleach bath (1/2 cup of bleach added to a full tub of water) will usually do the trick. However see a doctor if you suspect MRSA or if you were bitten by a brown recluse spider. Just take the above homeopathics in addition to seeing the doctor.

Bryonia, dryonia --the horrible 2016-2017 flu

I think I've finally figured it out! The homeopathic remedy for this years flu.

It has been tough. People have had sinus inflammation, severe headache, cough, even pneumonia. Pretty much every symptom in the respiratory tract. Antibiotic herbs or even antibiotics have not helped the sinuses or cough. It's definitely been viral. Even the pneumonia has been viral only. I have resorted to using lomatium--the most potent anti-viral herbal tincture we have--for treating this flu (and it has worked). But the homeopathic for this flu eluded me.

We tried Belladonna because of the intense headache and quick sinus inflammation. I tried Gelsemium because although some of the symptoms (especially in the nose) come on suddenly, most of the other symptoms develop over a series of days, starting with having a chill. We have been using Droseraplex (a combination of homeopathics including Drosera, Belladonna and others) for the cough and headache together, but it has only helped reduce symptoms during the virus (especially the cough) rather than stimulate a very speedy recovery. Speedy recovery is what we want when using homeopathics.

I had this flu and it was bad. Then I felt like I was getting it again. Took lomatium.  Then a few weeks later felt like I was getting it again. It started with feeling chilled--like not being able to let any cold air touch my body. I don't like having to have a space heater next to me all the time. It makes me feel like a wimp. I especially felt cold after getting hot and sweaty, such as when I left the gym the previous 2 mornings after a workout.  Then I got pain in the sinus which leads to a frontal headache. I did NOT want to get this flu again.

I also realized that my nose had been VERY dry and I had woken up in the night with a dry throat. Heating houses in winter dries the air. Dry mucous membranes do not defend the body against invaders as they should. I got out the humidifier. Then I realised the remedy: BRYONIA.

Bryonia-dryonia. That is what Dr. Will Taylor, M.D. and homeopathic doctor and professor, used to say so that we remembered the state of the mucous membranes when Bryonia is indicated: dry.  My nose was so dry even a saline rinse with a neti pot did not help. I considered putting vaseline or some herbal salve in there. But luckily I remembered about Bryonia.  Here are the list of symptoms that seems to match this particular flu:

Nose: dry, painful. Cold air moving into the nose and sinuses hurts. Nose and sinus can also feel burning and inflamed.
Head: severe headache. This seems to be the hallmark of this flu. The headache, which at first is in the frontal sinus and then extends to the rest of the head, brings you to tears.
Ears: shooting pain in the ears
Eyes: eyes are sore, moving them hurts
Body: chilled. Worse with cold drafts, person wants to be wrapped up and laying in bed. Chill can be felt as achy pains or sharp pains and most of the pain is in the muscles. The chill and ache was so bad at first that I considered Eupatorium. It had even pushed me into buying a hot tub last month (which I had been looking at doing for awhile) and spending more than twice as much as I thought I would to do it! Bryonia can also treat swollen inflammations with sharp pains, such as those that come from gout, but I haven't seen this during this flu.
Respiratory: cough. Dry cough which is painful, breathing deep produces cough so the patient tries to only breath lightly. Holding the chest may diminish the pain. Pleurisy, pneumonia, bronchitis.
Gastrointestinal: constipation from dryness in the intestines. Stools can be hard, dark or black tinged, and there can be rumbling and abdominal pain. There has not been much vomiting with this one.

Here's a pic from Portland to help you remember a little about Bryonia and see how well we fare in snow. The below freezing temps dries out the air. Then imagine pushing a bus, getting hot and sweaty, then standing out in the cold and getting a chill. Perfect environment for a Bryonia flu!

I just ordered this supplement to better treat this flu.

It has the typical cough homeopathics: Drosera, Spongia, and the flu inflammation/pain remedy Belladonna, but also has Bryonia, which the Droseraplex did not have. It will be in tomorrow and we will start using it. Then I'll post and update. For now, I am taking Bryonia 30x and immediately after the first dose, my nose was became more moist and the sinus pain diminished greatly. You can usually find Bryonia at your local health food shop but this combination remedy pictured here is only available at doctor's offices.

Call the office at 360-433-2727

Ipecac--Vomiting Remedy? Northern West Coast October/November 2016

Most of us grew up in a house with a bottle of Ipecac syrup in the medicine cabinet.  It was there for accidental poisonings--like when the baby gets into the cleaning solutions or an open medicine bottle. It's actually rarely recommended these days, but the use of homeopathic Ipecac has many uses and in fact we just used it yesterday.

Carapichea ipecacuanha grows in South America and has long been known for it's emetic properties. Emetic means "induces vomiting" but it also can cause coughing to the point of expelling mucous, such as in the case of bronchitis. Basically it has an upward force, whether stomach contents or stuff in the airways it causes it to move up and out.

Homeopathic dilutions of Ipecac have the opposing effect.  As we know with homeopathy that like cures like, homeopathic Ipecac relieves vomiting and coughing.

When is it best to relieve vomiting and coughing? When the vomiting or coughing is not producing a good effect. Certainly if someone did ingest something not good for them, vomiting is the body's way of getting rid of it.  But in the case of a stomach flu, the virus will not be gone from the body after vomiting, it is only creating unpleasant symptoms. Similarly, if someone has motion sickness, vomiting will not alleviate vertigo. 

In the case of bronchitis, if a person does have a wet cough, certainly we want to expel the mucous. But in a dry viral cough or even asthmatic cough, the coughing is not producing any good effect. Pertussis (whooping cough) is a dry persistent cough where the child will cough and cough until they vomit.  This is the perfect time for using homeopathic Ipecac.

In Vancouver, WA there are two types of illnesses beginning to go around the schools. One is a 24 hour stomach flu and the other is a cough.  Both can be perfectly treated with Ipecac.  Two nights ago my daughter woke with a stomach ache and nausea in the middle of the night. She spent the next morning vomiting, not even able to keep down water. Her fever was 100.9.  I gave her a dose of Ipecac 30c homeopathic pellets (put under the tongue or in the mouth and let dissolve).

She did not vomit again after that. She was able to eat a little food that afternoon and able to drink two glasses of water.  Her fever stayed at 101 until the late evening.  That is Ok. Fevers are there to fight off viruses.  For the fever we only gave more water. This morning she woke fever free and feeling fine.

Did the Ipecac change the length of the illness? Probably not. But it did help the symptoms while she was ill, ensuring that she did not get dehydrated and she could feel better on her day off from school. In the same way, Ipecac will likely help a case of pertussis or dry cough (though there are a couple of other remedies also great for this), but the person taking it may still be contagious even as their cough quiets down.  A person with an asthmatic cough can be helped with homeopathic Ipecac, but they should probably also get their allergies eliminated (through NAET) to take care of the problem permanently.

Ipecac is not recommended much anymore. But homeopathic Ipecac definitely is! If this is not in your medicine cabinet at home, go out and get some. It may save you when vomiting hits in the middle of the night.

Available at Chuck's Produce, Natural Grocers, Whole Foods and New Seasons Market

Puke Bucket Time Hits the West Coast--Veratrum album (and Ipecac)

Veratrum album                                                                  Ipecac

The stomach flu has hit the west coast.  Much of it was being blamed on Chipotle, which accoring to lab tests had something to do with some of the symptoms going on. Then there is Norovirus going around.  Basically, people are being hit with vomiting and other gastrointestinal symptoms really fast.  Sometimes it comes on at night, other times people have to turn around and go back home while on their way to work. Either way, the symptoms get bad quick.

The vomiting can start with dizziness, headache, abdominal cramping or coughing.  Typically with a Veratrum album flu, there is abdominal distension as well as diarrhea.  Vomiting is forceful, causing projectile vomiting and dry heaves. If it starts with a cough, head to the bathroom if there is any nausea present.

Because this flu comes on so suddenly, one might think they have food poisoning. However, even in cases of food poisoning, Veratrum album is useful for calming the dry heaves and diarrhea and returning the gastrointestinal system to normal after the offending agent is out of the body.

I have included Ipecac with this prescription because when a person is vomiting and dry heaving all night long, you don't want to wait a few hours to figure out if the prescription was exact.  Ipecac is also for nausea and vomiting and vomiting with a cough. It is a perfect example of homeopathy. Full strength Ipecac (found in Ipecac syrup) is used to induce vomiting when a child has eaten poison. Homeopathic Ipecac brings the energy back down, relieving vomiting and coughing. Like cures like.

Since this flu seems to come on suddenly and many times at night, I advise everyone to go down to the health food store and get Veratrum album 30c or 12c. Ipecac is also useful to have on hand as it relieves the nausea of carsickness and even nausea of pregnancy. Generally speaking, in situations other than food poisoning, nausea and vomiting does not do us any good. It is just a symptom of a flu virus, inner ear problem or sequalae of riding on a boat or driving on a winding road. Keep these remedies on hand ...especially this winter!

Belladonna December 2015

Belladonna--the name sounds so innocent, literally meaning "Beautiful lady". The purple flowers hand languidly from arched stems, seeming to mind their own business, offering up unassuming beauty to passersby.  However, the foliage and enticing berries which the flowers give way to in Autumn are extremely poisonous, giving the plant it's other common name: deadly nightshade.

The berries are mild tasting and many children have died by eating them. Women used to use a mild tincture of this plant to make their pupils dilate, which was thought to be beautiful. Too much of this tincture or eating the berries of this plant could result in any one of these symptoms:

• hallucinations
• high fever
• cramping pain in the abdomen, particularly along the transverse colon
• pounding headache, with so much pressure the eyes feel as though they will pop out. Headache is worse with coughing, light in the eyes, noise, mar, motion, stooping.
• sinus pain (frontal or maxillary), better with hard pressure, worse from stooping forward
• severe ear pain, throbbing
• tonsillitis with severe pain and exudate (white spots). Air passing over the tonsils makes it hurt worse
• constipation
• cold hands and feet but hot face

All of these symptoms fit a flu that has been going around.  The interesting thing about the Belladonna flu is that is is typically short lived. There are two flus that have been going around whose symptoms seem to last longer than a day or two. See my previous post regarding Bryonia and Hepar sulph.  If Hepar sulph doesn't seem to fit because there is not a lot of mucous, try Belladonna for dry sinus congestion/inflammation.

People with Belladonna symptoms over the last two weeks, though, have had sudden recurring bouts of abdominal pain across the transverse colon, hot flushes/fever, nausea, and feeling sick. These symptoms will get somewhat better, then return in a day or two. Usually Belladonna flus don't have a remitting/recurring style, but this year it seems to. Belladonna has worked very well for treating the abdominal cramping and fever lately.  Three patients so far have had intense cramping resembling a gall stone attack. Imaging has shown no stones and one patient did have a gall bladder polyp. Belladonna is a cholecystitis (gall bladder inflammation) remedy. So far over the last two weeks it has worked better than colocynthis and chelidonium which are more often used for gall bladder symptoms and cramping abdominal pain in the epigastrium.  Also Nux vomica, which is typically used during holiday time for over indulgence in rich foods, has not been working well for indigestion this year.

Belladonna is the best pick right now for fevers or abdominal pain that come on suddenly (within minutes to hours). Typically, the person with the flu will feel hot and a little "out-of it"--be it weird dreams or waking delirium at night. Their eyes will look glassy and the pupils will be dilated. These are the hallucinogenic effect typical of a belladonna flu, likely caused by a very high fever. Pregnant women should take care not to let their fever go too high (over 102 F). Taking Belladonna early in the flu onset can prevent this. 

Because a Belladonna flu comes on so suddenly, it is advisable to have some on hand in the medicine cabinet. Luckily, most natural health grocery stores will carry homeopathic Belladonna.  A 30c dose will treat most people, young and old. If you happen to have a 200c dose on hand, that will also work, but take only one dose daily as needed. Babies or young children can probably get away with a 12c or 6c dose, given as needed for symptoms.

And remember: DON'T EAT THE BERRIES!

Hepar sulph (Fall 2015)--the flu that just won't end

In my last post (please read), I told about the Bryonia flu, in which cold intolerance is a hallmark.  While Bryonia marks the beginning of this slowly onsetting flu, when it continues and morphs into the sticky, gluey, stuffy cold you get when mucous fills the respiratory tract and decides to set up camp, you might have the hepar sulph flu.

Hepar sulph is also known as calcium sulfide and is prepared by peeling the calcium rich inner layer of an oyster shell (see pic above) and combining it with sulfur and then treating it with hydrochloric acid. One of the hallmarks of this remedy is the inability to bear cold, so it is a remedy which follows the Bryonia flu well.

Similar to Bryonia, people suffering from the Hepar sulph flu feel worse with cold drafts, want to be wrapped and even their head covered up to protect the ears from cold wind. They feel better in warmth and humidity.  They are also irritable like Bryonia. People in a chronic Hepar sulph state are good workers (similar to Calc carb.--calcium carbonate) but they don't tolerate the imperfections and the annoying nature of other people and thus are known to be 'grumpy'.  At the same time, they are also sensitive and get their feelings hurt easily, mirroring their sensitivity to a slight cold draft.

In the flu state of Hepar sulph, there is much mucous. Take a look at the oyster shell picture above. It does not look clean and smooth. There is a lot of icky matter clinging to the shell. Simlarly, in a Hepar sulph flu mucous is abundant and becomes sticky and thick, coating the sinuses, throat, and bronchioles. It is difficult to expel.  Sinus infection ensues (or what is known as a sinus infection in western medical terms) as well as bronchitis. While these problems are commonly treated with antibiotics in the United States, the medicine does not solve the problem of the sticky mucous.

Hepar sulph is commonly used for tonsillitis and ear infection where the sore throat pain on swallowing shoots up to the ear in a piercing manner.  In a child who does not talk, you may notice them cry out every time they swallow and they may also tug on their ear or cover their ear with their hand  They want to be wrapped up.  Mouth ulcers and cold sores can also be helped by hepar sulph.

Already this year I have had a few people come to me at the end of their course of antibiotics thinking that they need something more--more antibiotics or something different.  I give them something different--homeopathy.  Their noses are still stuffy, they are still coughing. Though they might feel that their production of mucous has waned, the existing mucous still clings to the mucous membranes. Whereas the Bryonia cough is dry, the Hepar sulph cough is wet sounding, yet the mucous is difficult to bring up. When the nature of the cough changes from dry to wet sounding, you know you have to switch from Bryonia to Hepar sulph.

Actually, if people would take the Bryonia homeopathic near the beginning of the flu, I am certain that they would never reach a Hepar sulph state. However most people come to me after having gone to urgent care and having taken antibiotics already.  If you go to your nearest Natural Grocers, Chuck's produce, Whole Foods or other health food store, stock up on Bryonia and Hepar sulph in a 30c dose if you can find it.  Those in a less toxic state or children may get away with a 12c or 6c potency.  You can usually avoid antibiotics by having the proper homeopathic remedies on the shelf.

Forecast: Bryonia

I'm going to do something a little different this time and actually give a prediction. I predict that this season's first flu (in case you haven't had a flu already) will be a Bryonia flu. Also I have a prediction based on a couple of observations that the Bryonia flu will transform into a Hepar sulph state (see next blog post).

Although there have been some indications here and there of Bryonia flu, I haven't seen someone with a full blown case of it. Likely because I have been giving out Bryonia for people's symptoms. What symptoms you ask?

-flu that comes on insidiously (slowly). You feel like you are getting sick for a couple of days.
-back ache
-dry mouth, thirst
-laying still feels better than moving. even the movement of breath through the sinuses and lungs is uncomfortable, especially if it's cold air.
-sensitive to drafts. you want to be wrapped up.
-wants to be left alone.  When someone has the Bryonia flu, they don't want consolation. They want to go home and stay there.
-Headache will usually be left-sided, over the left eye or forehead, extending to the occiput, then the whole head (Morrison, Desktop Guide).
-Lung sequelae of colds and flus: bronchitis, pleurisy, pneumonia with painful coughing.


Try Bryonia if you have an inkling of these symptoms at the start of a flu.  If not sure, there is a great new product in our office that is a combination homeopathic by Hevert called Cold & Flu Relief. It has Bryonia, Aconite, Belladonna, Rhus tox, and other homeopathics that are great for taking at the start of a flu. call the office to get some at 360-433-2727.