Random Thoughts XIV: Homeopathy. Baloney or Testimony?

Working as a Vitamin Associate at an Apothecary, I get asked a lot of questions on what works and what doesn't. I get a lot of questions on Homeopathy. The thing is that the questions mostly come from within.

People that request homeopathy in our store know what they're getting into. They have already tried it and it works for them. They may even have their own homeopathy person that guides them and tells them what they should take and why.

Sometimes, I get a newbie. They want to know what is the best thing for them but they're on certain medications that would restrict the usual pathways to get over their ailment. Based on the recommendations of others, I would offer them a homeopathic remedy. You have bruises or muscle pain? Let's give you some arnica. Got a cold or flu. Alpha CF or some oscillo....(it's a really long word). Most of the newbies, take my word for it and go forth. They usually come back and give me feedback (mostly positive). Every once in a while, a newbie would ask me how does this stuff work? It's funny...because I've been asking myself the same thing for the past 5 months.

I started my quest to find out about homeopathy. What exactly is it? Does it really help? What do these numbers mean and where in the heezy do they come up with these names? When I first started on my quest, I got some answers but since I wasn't present and in the moment (more on that throughout my blog), I didn't pay much attention. I just knew that 30cc is probably stronger than 200cc but we still give a person 200cc when they have acute pain (this is in regards to arnica. When I explain more, come back to this sentence and see if you can understand it better).

Unfortunately, the more I tried to make sense of it all, the more questions I had. The more frustrated I became, the more I strayed away from homeopathy. I got the "itching for this scratch" again because I realized that I'm offering people these products and I STILL don't know why! I don't even know what half of the ingredients in these things are.

I love Inspector Gadget. He was bungling and sometimes an idiot but he certainly had a gadget for everything. Today, I am not bungling and certainly not an idiot, but I have this gadget that helped me immensly with finding a solution: Twitter.

So I got on twitter and asked about homeopathy. Out of all the responses, I got two that really caught my attention. One response was in support of Homeopathy and the other was totally against it.

Here's some things that I learned from the supporter, Debby Bruck:

• Homeopathy is not "like treating like" (as I previously thought and was told). It's "similar treating like." So that means that if you have muscle spasms, homeopathy will look for a substance that will give a similar reaction in an otherwise normal person and give it to you. The theory is that the similar thing will help your body to increase its immune support to heal you. "Like treating Like" is actually called Isopathy.
  
• Homeopathy is a truly holistic approach. The homeopath will look at your physical, mental, and spiritual "fitness" (or lack thereof) before "prescribing" any holistic remedy.
  
• Unlike herbs and other supplements derived from herbs, homeopathic remedies are regulated by the FDA.

Right before I was going to ask her a barrage of questions (she motivated me to have an interest again), I got a reply from another Twitterer that homeopathy was garbage. I read his article and found it to be very informative. This twitterer is a Pharmacist from Canada named Scott Gavora. Being a former Pre-Pharmacy major in college and working in a hospital pharmacy in my teens, I was very interested in what he had to say. He basically made the correlation between homeopathic remedies and allopathic pharmaceutical drugs.

Before I provide you with links galore, let me give you my synopsis on both views:

• I was never a fan of pills. Once I started working at the Apothecary, I began to understand the nature of pills and began to appreciate them. Even more than my disdain for pills was my hatred for pharmaceutical drugs. Not the drugs themselves (since they actually do help people) but the side effects and the marketing for these drugs are too much for people to bear. The US is a country filled with "followers." You tell them this is "brand new" and will "cure you in 2 days" and Americans are all over it - even if they don't need the drugs. The worst part about it is that during these commercials, they will run down the side effects so quick, all you may hear is "fatal." However, most Americans don't care about the side effects because its "new" and "fast." With that said, I appreciate the pharmacist's honest and accuracy in talking about pharmaceutical drugs but I'm not buying it. I'd rather get placebo and pray to God that my faith will carry me through.
• I'm still a little fearful of homeopathy. So if I had the runs, I would take something that would give a similar reaction to the runs in an otherwise healthy human? Why can't I just drink water and eat apples? Get some more fiber in me or drink some herbal tea that will work that out? I'm a huge fan of the simple stuff.
  
• Even though I'm fearful to try homeopathy, I am still very intrigued with it and will continue to look into it. It's best for me to keep an open mind and still be mindful that allopathic medicine DOES have its place and is needed by thousands (or even millions) of people.
  
• Both views have allowed me to appreciate this quote from Sri Gurudev, Sri Swami Satchidananda - Truth is One, Paths are Many as well as the concept of "bio-individuality" from Joshua Rosenthal. What works for one person, may not work for another. One man's pleasure is another man's poison. You just have to be aware of which is which (for you).

For all of those people who are interested in homeopathy, I have one piece of advice:
If you are going to take the pills, do not drink coffee, peppermint tea, or eat chocolate 20 - 30 minutes before taking the remedy. These things constrict the blood vessels, making it more difficult for the pills (which are actually sublinguals, meaning they melt under the tongue - no need to chew or swallow anything) to be assimilated into the body.

Now it's time for you to Do Right For Yourself! and make your own decisions. Here are some articles and blogs for you to look at. Comment on what you think on this blog or send me an email or a tweet. I like the phrase "help me to help you."


Homeopathy FAQ
Homeopathy as a "pseudoscience"
More Homeopathy Q&A (I'm providing this link because they do talk about the "like treating like" concept)

I have a lot of things in my head that I want to talk about. I hope you like my Random Thought. Trust, more posts will come out very soon.

Until next time, stay strong, stay healthy, and fight dis-ease!

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