Our overseas visitors just left us after a very enjoyable time.

One (dare I say) benefit of staying at the home of an enthusiastic homeopath is that some issues can be addressed in a relaxed fashion. Among other ailments, we addressed a long-standing case of plantar fasciitis; pre-wedding emotions for the mother-of-the-bride were handled nicely with Ignatia; bug bites were avoided and (if we didn’t get the OHM* bug spray on in time) helped; sunburned shoulders were quickly cooled with Similasan’s Burn Recovery*™; jangled nerves following an off-road adventure were met with Aconite (remember! Aconite rhymes with Fright!); Nux vomica came in handy the morning after the late night festivities and a custom Bach Flower Remedy blend for the bride herself proved useful for the ubiquitous pre-nuptial butterflies. Did I mention it was a nice, long visit with plenty of time to get the chance to show off what homeopathy can do!?

The day before the return flight, painful ears as a result of flying was brought up. So, I sent along a tube of Kali mur. When she landed, she texted to say that she did not take the remedy for the first flight and her “ears were yuck. Took them for the second flight and for the first time no need to keep moving jaw to pop ears, also when landing.” 

Kali muriaticum is one of Schussler’s 12 original cell salts and is known to help the body clear congestions. (In this case, I gave her the 30c potency, but I’m sure the 6x "cell salt" would have worked just fine, but may have needed to be repeated more frequently.) This remedy is known to be helpful for blocked eustachian tubes, middle ear conditions, swollen glands and when crackling noises are heard when blowing the nose or swallowing. Robin Murphy talks about "snapping, itching, as of a plug in ears". That pretty much sums up the discomfort one can feel in one's ears when flying and Kali mur did the trick for her.

Her husband jokingly asked if I had “anything for the annoying fellow passengers.” Yup. Nux vomica would be worth a try for that because, after all, it’s not necessarily that the fellow passengers are annoying, it’s the fact that one is being annoyed by one's fellow passengers.

Whoo hoo! I love it. Homeopathy works so quickly and so effectively for so very many conditions. I truly wish everybody knew about this amazing medicine!


Julia Coyte, CHom
Classically Practical homeopath


#wellnessawaits


* OHM products are only available to professional homeopaths and their clients.
​
** I have no affiliation with this company, I just like their products.
I have never used it, but I bet Similasan’s Itch Relief would work well, too!

Our first houseguests in over 2 years have arrived. A lovely thing, I can assure you!

After enduring this enforced time of not traveling, I (happily) forgot how horrible jet lag is, but I am reminded of its nastiness as I watch our over-seas visitors make the adjustment to the new time zone.

Why do we feel so exhausted after getting off a plane? All we do is sit (and eat), watch movies and maybe snooze a little bit for all those hours. We should be refreshed, like we had a day of relaxation! Yet, when finally stepping off that smelly tube with wings, it’s not at all uncommon to feel like you’ve run a marathon and got hit by a truck when you crossed the finish line!

The experts say it’s precisely because we’re sitting for long periods of time in dry air and become dehydrated, etc., etc., etc. Whatever the true pathophysiologic reasons are, jet lag is a miserable feeling.

Mainstream medicine has nothing to offer, really. Melatonin (Cipolla-Neto and Gaspar do Amaral 2018) apparently can help, and you can see how it would work (Herxheimer and Petrie 2002). Though short-term melatonin use is generally regarded as safe, I must admit, I wouldn’t mess with my hormones in this way (because melatonin is indeed a hormone)… especially when homeopathy has some simple answers. For more information on possible side effects of melatonin: (Bauer 2017; American Sleep Association 2022; Drugs.com 2021).

So, what did I do for our tired guests?
In anticipation of their arrival, I left two remedies on the dresser in their room:
JetZone: Jet Lag Prevention & Helios’ Jet Candy

JETZONE, remedy information as listed on the packet:
Arnica: Sleepless and restless when overtired
Cocculus: Constant drowsiness after loss of sleep
Kali phos: Weak and tired from overexertion. Headache from fatigue.
Gelsemium: Insomnia from exhaustion
Nux vomica: Heartburn, anxiety and restlessness
Argentum nitricum: Mental anxiety

Jet Candy, by Helios:
JetCandy doesn’t list their reasonings for including the remedies, but I will fill in the blanks.
Arnica
Bellis perennis: Another trauma remedy. Some call it a “deeper” Arnica.
Cocculus
Gelsemium
Petroleum: I wrote about Petroleum’s role in seasickness here. In short, Petroleum is particularly helpful for nausea.

There are other homeopathic combination remedies for jet lag, these are just the two I happened to have lying around. 

No-Jet-Lag, by Miers Labs:
No-Jet-Lag doesn’t list their reasonings for including the remedies, but I will fill in the blanks.
Arnica
Bellis perennis
Chamomilla: Oversensitivity, anger and for when falling asleep is difficult.
Ipecac: Nausea, headache
Lycopodium: Gas and bloating; frequent waking and unrefreshing sleep


Jet Lag Relief, by Boiron 
Arnica: Relieves muscle pain and stiffness
Cocculus: Relieves nausea associated with jet lag
Nux vomica: Relieves drowsiness and digestive problems associated with travel

What do all of these jet lag combination remedies have in common? Arnica montana. Arnica is a well known homeopathic remedy for injury and trauma. Let’s face it — changing time zones is absolutely an assault on your person. It affects your body, your mind and your emotions. If you are unable to get your hands on one of these combo remedies prior to your trip, bring along a tube of Arnica and half your battle will be won.

Jetlagreview.com (who knew such a thing existed?!), claims to be “the #1 source for helping people find effective ways to effectively combat jet lag.” I have no idea who is behind this site, but I was very intrigued to see 1/2 of the products they review are homeopathic (the others are vitamins and/or herbs).

No-Jet-Lag is jetlagreview’s #2 Silver Award Winner, for whatever that’s worth.

If you find yourself headed overseas, pick up one of these combination remedies and slip it in your carry-on. They’re all slightly different, but basically the same and any one of them will certainly be better than nothing. Or, take along just a tube of Arnica and see if one of these can’t put a little spring in your exhausted tourist step!


Julia Coyte, CHom
Classically Practical homeopath


#wellnessawaits


* I have no affiliation with any of these products. I have used Jetzone and No-Jet-Lag, to good effect. Follow the directions listed on the packet.

Reference list
American Sleep Association, 2022. Melatonin Side Effects [online]. American Sleep Association. 

Bauer, B., 2017. Pros and cons of melatonin [online]. Mayo Clinic. 

Cipolla-Neto, J. and Gaspar do Amaral, F., 2018. Melatonin as a Hormone: New Physiological and Clinical Insights[online]. academic.oup.com. 

Cleveland Clinic, n.d. Jet Lag: What is it, Symptoms, How Long Does it Last & Treatment [online]. Cleveland Clinic.

Drugs.com, 2021. Melatonin Side Effects, Uses, Dosage (Kids/Adults) [online]. Drugs.com. 

Herxheimer, A. and Petrie, K. J., 2002. Melatonin for the prevention and treatment of jet lag. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Jet Lag Review, 2022. Top Products [online]. jetlagreport.com. 

​Practicing homeopathy is a lot like doing a puzzle or decoding a mystery  — there is a lot of sleuthing to figure out the right remedy. In taking a classical homeopathic case, accurate details are the key — the more, the better!

Practical homeopathy is often much easier — the majority of the puzzle has been worked out already through tried and true symptom/remedy matches and often you just have to fill in the blanks, so to speak.

What both of these homeopathic methods have in common is the gathering of symptoms… which makes sense since homeopathy is a methodology based on symptoms, symptom gathering is very important!

So, though practical or clinical homeopathy has made figuring out the correct homeopathic remedy for a given situation much easier, (especially when it comes to the Banerji Protocols!), details are still very important.

For instance, headaches.

What’s in a headache? An awful lot, as it turns out. 

Headaches can be very difficult to treat because no two people experience the same headache pain. What one person calls a sinus headache is often very different to what another person calls a sinus headache. Sometimes people say they have sinus headaches and, yet, their sinuses don’t seem to be involved in the pain … at all. According to the Mayo Clinic, many people (up to 90%!) who claim to have sinus headaches may actually be suffering from migraines (Mayo Clinic 2018). I have come to understand that when someone tells me they suffer "sinus headaches", they just mean that it’s worse than their “normal” headache, or what they interpret to be a "normal" headache. 

Regardless of whether it’s a sinus headache or a migraine or a tension headache, getting the details on how a person experiences their headaches can be difficult. In the moment, the pain can be too great to be able to get much detail. After the fact, many people don’t even want to go there — to put themselves back into that pain — to remember what the details were. 

A while back, I encountered a young man who asked if I had any headache medicine. He was looking for mainstream over-the-counter meds, but, I being a homeopath, began down the homeopathic road, instead.

He proceeded to tell me about his usual headaches that he has been experiencing for years, which he described as “sinus headaches.” So, I started to question the quality of the pains and the location of the pains, etc.

This was not a formal consultation, just a casual encounter. I tried a headache combo remedy for him, but nothing happened. Then, based on his description, I moved to the Banerji Protocol for “sinus headaches with acute pain,” Sanguinaria 200c mixed with Belladonna 3c, taken every 30 minutes (Banerji and Banerji 2013, p. 118). Well, that did something, but it did the wrong something and he soon began to feel nauseous.*

Then, I learned the all important missing piece to this particular headache puzzle. He had a few too many drinks the night before. It didn’t matter that he thought he was experiencing his “usual” headache pain because on top of that usual pain was sitting a few alcoholic drinks which likely had a causative effect. 

More importantly, homeopathically speaking, he left that detail out of the information he provided. If he had included that little nugget, my homeopathic questioning most likely would have stopped abruptly and I would have given him a dose of homeopathic Nux vomica.

The go-to remedy for one who has had “a few too many” is Nux vomica. According to Schroyens Synthesis repertory (2012), there are 102 remedies applicable to symptoms following intoxication, with Nux vomica (and one other) being the most highly indicated homeopathic remedy.

Why? Because Nux vomica is very highly indicated in the following headache symptoms, according to Murphy’s Repertory:

• A heavy sensation in the head, especially in the morning
• When your head feels as if you are intoxicated 
• A pulsing/throbbing sensation on the top of your head.
• As if your head is being squeezed
• Pain when shaking your head, particularly a sharp pain in the temples when shaking your head
• A headache that feels better by wrapping your head
• A headache with chills
• Pain in the eye with a headache that is felt in the back of your head 
• Headache during vomiting

Nux vomica is also one of the largest liver remedies in homeopathy and as the medical literature has taught us, the liver is involved to help you cope with ridding your body of the toxins from the alcohol (Jung and Namkoong 2014).

Homeopathic Nux vomica is very highly indicated in the following liver symptoms, again, according to Murphy: pain in the liver, atrophy of the liver, enlarged liver, a sensation of fullness in the liver; hepatitis infection, jaundice; congestion in the portal system. **If you are experiencing chronic liver issues, please work with a professional homeopath alongside your physician.

What other symptoms does homeopathic Nux vomica address which may be experienced after “tying one on?” — according to Phatak (2005):
​

• Stool issues: Diarrhea, constipation, (see also, The Eagle has Landed) or frequent stools
• Feeling better following bowel movement (after all, you're bound to feel better when you get that poison out of your system!)
• Abdominal pain
• Irritability and bad temper — little things irritate
• Aversion to food
• Lying in bed makes you feel better, but rolling over in bed makes you feel worse
• Moving makes everything feel worse — with an inclination to sit
• Offensive breath
• Bad taste in the mouth
• “Dull, beclouded, difficult comprehension, stupefied” — thinking is difficult.
• Sour burps
• Gas, and/or noisy guts
• Heartburn
• Feeling lethargic
• Noise makes everything feel worse
• An acute sense of smell 
• Feeling worse in the morning
• Trembling
• Dizziness
• Heart palpitations
• Vomiting — (better out than in!)

These keynote symptoms for Nux vomica sound to me like a pretty comprehensive list of symptoms which follow intoxication (Jung and Namkoong 2014; Mayo Clinic 2017).

Getting an accurate account of one’s symptoms is imperative to getting the best-matched homeopathic remedy. Without the details, well, it’s GIGO (TechTerms.com) — “garbage in, garbage out.”

On that note of garbage, I recommend you keep the garbage out of your body, too, but if you find yourself in this compromised position, Nux vomica may well help set things back in order.

Julia Coyte, CHom
Classically Practical homeopath


#wellnessawaits



* REMEMBER, when you take a remedy which is not well indicated, the homeopathic remedy can actually cause you to experience some of the symptoms the remedy is intended to treat.

Reference list
Banerji, P. and Banerji, P., 2013. The Banerji protocols : a new method of treatment with homeopathic medicines. India: Pratip Banerji.

Jung, Y. and Namkoong, K., 2014. Chapter 7 - Alcohol: intoxication and poisoning – diagnosis and treatment [online]. ScienceDirect. 

Mayo Clinic, 2017. Hangovers - Symptoms and causes [online]. Mayo Clinic. 

Mayo Clinic, 2018. Sinus headaches - Symptoms and causes [online]. Mayo Clinic. 

Murphy, R., n.d. Repertory, version 3. Accessed through Radar Opus software.

Phatak, S. R. and C Jeevanandam, 2005. A concise repertory of homoeopathic medicines : alphabetically arranged. New Delhi: B. Jain Pub.

Rozencwajg, J., 2010. Organotherapy Drainage & Detoxification. Emrys Publisher.

Schroyens, F., 2012. Synthesis : repertorium homeopathicum syntheticum. Accessed through Radar Opus software. London: Homeopathic Book Publishers.

TechTerms.com, n.d. GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out) Definition [online]. techterms.com. 

The crud has hit my house. It entered surreptitiously on New Years Day and didn’t let itself be known for a few days after that. I helped my son through it, homeopathically speaking, and then it was my turn.

In general, it is much harder to help yourself, homeopathically speaking, than it is to help someone else. When you are helping someone else, you are logically interpreting symptoms. When you are trying to interpret your own symptoms when you’re not feeling your best, you’re lucky to have logic still involved in the process at all!

Anyway, I am unofficially on day 8, though I didn't test positive until 2 days ago. I don’t feel terrible, but I don’t feel great. I certainly have felt much worse in my life. The low-grade fever doesn’t want to budge. I have a terrible smell/taste in my nose. (I didn’t lose my sense of smell/taste — in fact, they have become highly sensitized.) I do not love the lack of energy, mental or physical. I know people who currently have “it” or just had “it” and they took the Ivermectin or the HCQ and some felt better immediately and some are still struggling to feel better.
​
It was this last piece of information that made me realize that I’m doing pretty well with my remedies. I have not had the “painful shivers” or the loss of smell; I have been sleeping like a baby. I don't have a painful, rib-breaking cough. Aches have been minimal and are now completely gone. I have a lot of snot but I don’t have that bursting headache that some people are getting. (My left eyeball was tender when I moved it for a couple of days, but it was annoying, not unbearable.) I am now coughing a bit, but it feels like a forward movement — clearing that stuff out. I can breathe just fine and my lungs aren’t involved. (I did turn into a mouth breather for a couple of days, but that’s gone now, too.) Everything has stayed from the neck up and I appreciate that fact!

What remedies have I used?

I’ll be completely honest — everything! If a symptom appeared, I tried a remedy. Sometimes the remedies felt futile (like for the fever that won’t budge) and sometimes they seemed to help pretty quickly.

To keep this article brief — and so I can get back to the business of getting well and kicking this garbage to the curb! — I will list a few remedies that have been very helpful for me and for my son and friends.

My son started out with extreme restlessness and low/mid back pain: Nux vomica. (In hindsight, Rhus tox could have been helpful here, too, but it wasn't presenting that way at first.)

He had the painful shivers and very painful skin. Fortunately, his skin wasn’t so painful that he couldn’t have anything touch it (Krajewski et al. 2020), but it was uncomfortable for him. He found great relief from hot water: Rhus toxicodendron.

He had some dizziness for a quick minute but an old bottle of Heel’s “Lightheadedness” quickly cleared that up.

We used a few other remedies for him here and there, but these were the big movers for him.

That’s the thing with acute diseases — you have to chase the symptoms. A symptom shows up, a remedy helps it and another symptom moves in to take its place. It’s not like clearing up a chronic condition where you want to stick with A remedy or a group of remedies for a while. You have to react quickly with the changing symptoms of an acute.

My yucks started out with severe dizziness and nausea and vomiting: Ipecac.

After 2 days, everything was very much improved and I thought I was good to go and then the new version of symptoms set in a few days later.

Oscillococcinum — the Flu remedy.

I literally have not yet figured out the low grade fever thing. (Very frustrating!) But, it’s not terrible and I guess I have to let my body do what it’s doing and trust that it knows what it’s doing. Generally speaking, though, Ferrum phos is an excellent remedy for low-grade fevers. I have also tried fever combination remedies, to no avail.

Eyeball that hurts when moving it: Bryonia. Bryonia on its own wasn’t doing the trick, but mixing Aconite with the Bryonia did do the trick. [Aconite/Bryonia is a Banerji Protocol to ward off the yucks of any kind, but homeopathic legend has it that when you add Aconite to a remedy that should be working, but isn’t, it’s like a power boost and it certainly seemed to be for my painful eyeball.]

That moment when the bed felt too hard to get comfortable: Arnica. This, too, can be Bryonia, but given that I wasn’t having the eyeball luck with that remedy, I moved on to Arnica.

Last night, when the coughing started in the middle of the night: Boiron’s Chestal Cold and Cough. I haven’t had to repeat it yet, so that must have done the trick. [note: having combination remedies available are extremely helpful in the middle of the night when you can’t get your brain to figure it out!]

Nux vomica helped with my stuffy nose and gas. 

Arsenicum album helped early on with a burning sensation deep in my nose.

For the most part, however, I have now accepted that perfection really is the enemy of the good. I don’t feel great, but I am thankful that I have a lovely husband and sons who are keeping the home fires burning, literally and figuratively.

On that note, my husband has yet to succumb. Hopefully, he is that rare breed that is not susceptible to this virus. Or, it could be that he has religiously stepped up his supplement routine — he said he feels better than he has in a while as a result! — and, at any little hint of anything, he turns to his tried and true: Boiron’s Cold Calm.

Who knows? They say children experience positive growth after an illness — we certainly noticed that when our little fellows got sick — maybe that can be true for old homeopaths, too! I have come to the conclusion that my body just needs to experience this sickness for whatever reason. I’m not sick in bed. I can even still beat my husband in gin rummy, and he's no slouch at the game! I am tired and don’t feel great, but I am not down for the count and I believe it is homeopathy that is responsible for this small blessing. It just is what it is. I haven’t been sick in many years! I guess it was just my time!

It was Voltaire who proclaimed, “Perfect is the enemy of good.” It has been so very many years now that I have avoided getting really sick. My remedies have always stepped in and fixed everything right up for me in very short order. I now expect perfection and that’s not a reasonable goal.

I will keep on keeping on and I know one day soon, this will all be behind me and I can get back to the business of life!

​
Julia Coyte, CHom
Classically Practical homeopath

#wellnessawaits


​

Krajewski, P. K., Szepietowski, J. C., and Maj, J., 2020. Cutaneous hyperesthesia: A novel manifestation of COVID-19. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity [online], 87, 188. ​

Remember way back when when we used to routinely exercise our immune system? We would be constantly bombarded by germs that if you weren’t strong enough would result in… [play the ‘duh duh duh’ music here] a cold!

There is/was a school of thought that getting and beating these types of attacks is/was good for your health — taking your immune system for a walk, so to speak. 

My family routinely turned to Boiron’s Cold Calm for quick relief almost every time a little “somethin’ somethin’” seemed to be creeping in. 

Cold Calm is a combination homeopathic remedy that can certainly save time and energy if the symptoms are just starting to present and are not quite clear enough to choose just one remedy. Or, when you are the person suffering and the inability to think clearly sets in.

Here are the homeopathic remedies included in Cold Calm with a little more information to understand what’s in it and how these individual remedies may help your symptoms.

Allium cepa is the red onion — you know, the thing that makes your eyes itch and burn and tear up and your nose follows streaming along soon after.

Apis mellifica is the honey bee — you know, the thing that stings you and you swell up… like your nose or your eyes if you have a cold.

Belladonna has a reputation as a “virus interrupter.” More specifically to coming down with a cold, Belladonna can be helpful with congestion or when suffering a headache as a result of stuffiness. It’s certainly helpful if any sore throat is involved. 

Eupatorium perfoliatum, also known as “Bone-set” is an excellent fever remedy, specifically (wait for it…) when your bones ache, including your facial bones as a result of sinus pain.

Gelsemium sempervirens is one of the great homeopathic influenza remedies. This remedy is taught in the homeopathy schools as the 7 dwarfs remedy: for when someone is Droopy, Drowsy, Dumb, Dizzy, Drained — that’s only 5, but you get the idea. An excellent headache remedy.

Kali bich — for when it’s thick! The old homeopathy books call them “clinkers” — that’s a booger to you and me in modern parlance. Lumps of stuff in the nose or throat. Again, another excellent headache remedy if the symptoms fit.

Nux vomica — good for stuffy nose, but even better for sneezing. Nux vomica is also an excellent remedy for the tummy symptoms which can sometimes accompany a cold/flu. And, it’s really good for the short temper that can sneak in there when you’re feeling crummy.

Phytolacca decandra — swollen glands and sore throats, specifically the sore throats where the pains shoot from the throat into the ears on swallowing. 

Pulsatilla — if there is a loss of taste and smell. Stuffy nose; a bad odor in the nose; mucusy, loose cough, bland watering eyes (not burning, that’s Apis mentioned above).

I have heard Cold Calm referred to as "magical" — now you know why. This little mixture covers just about everything one would need at the start of “a little somethin’ somethin’” coming on.

If Cold Calm isn’t quite cutting it for you and you need some further assistance with cold or flu symptoms, book an acute appointment and we’ll see what we can do to get you feeling better quicker. 


Julia Coyte, CHom
Classicallypractical.com


#homeopathycanhelp

Once upon a time, when somebody sneezed or coughed, we all assumed it was either a cold or allergies and we really didn't think very much about it. Now, if you're in public and you have to sneeze or (heaven forbid!) cough… hold it in -- don't even go there!

Allergy season has returned to our neck of the woods. Headaches. Sneezing. Runny noses. Blocked up sinuses. Tickling in the throat. Yuck.

Let's look at a few homeopathic remedies that might be of assistance.

Allium cepa is a go-to remedy for ​runny noses which burn and eyes that water blandly and can present with a dull frontal headache. 

Arsenicum album -- for burning discharge from the nose and the eyes and eyelids may be puffy. Here's a potentially important piece of the allergy puzzle with this remedy: Complaints return annually. (While this is more of a classical homeopathic approach to allergies, Arsenicum album can certainly be applied in a practical or therapeutic way, as well.)

Euphrasia ​focuses on the eyes. Opposite to Allium cepa, Euphrasia has a bland runny nose and burning eyes. The eyelids may also itch and burn.

Natrum muriaticum can have a profuse watery discharge from the eyes and the nose and what comes out of the nose may have an egg white consistency. Taste and smelling may be an issue as well as a tickling in the pit of the throat. 

Nux vomica -- obnoxious, relentless sneezing as well as irritation in the nose and eyes. Grumpiness might just be a part of this picture, too. 

Sanguinaria can be very helpful for sinus issues and facial pain and headaches from the blocked sinuses. 

Wyethia also has the runny nose and sneezing, but it also has the peculiar symptom of an itchy palate -- requesting your tongue's assistance in rubbing back and forth trying to scratch that itch.

There are many, many homeopathic remedies to address the many, many allergic symptoms. If you need help deciding what remedies may best suit your symptoms, or if you are prone to allergies in general, homeopathy can help to strengthen your system and lessen this burden. 

Contact classicallypractical.com to see if homeopathy can help relieve your seasonal allergies now and in the future. 

Julia Coyte, CHom
Classically Practical Homeopathy

#homeopathycanhelp