​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. 

Here we go again. We’re springing forward. Whoo hoo! Enter your own favorite sarcastic noise or eye roll here. 

​Why do they insist on messing with our body clocks like this? Despite the books (Downing 2009; Prerau 2006) and articles I have read about Daylight Savings Time, I still can’t make heads nor tails of why we are still engaging in this ridiculousness. Alas. 

25% of the human population (in more than 70 countries), (Folyovich et al. 2020) endures this nonsense twice a year — resulting in “negative health effects, with 150,000 incidences in the US, and 880,000 globally” (Zhang et al. 2020). Even the American Academy of Sleep Medicine agrees with me, stating, “It is, therefore, the position of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine that these seasonal time changes should be abolished in favor of a fixed, national, year-round standard time (Rishi et al. 2020).

Manfredini (et al. 2019) did a meta-analysis of Acute Myocardial Infarctions (heart attacks) and Daylight Savings and found the risk “increased significantly” after the spring shift. For further sleep deprivation research, see my previous article.

If you’re like me, it doesn’t matter if you attempt to mitigate these effects by going to bed early or sleeping in… it’s when your body tells you it’s one time and you look at your clock and it tells you it’s another time. Yuck.

Well, tomorrow morning (or afternoon — whenever the painful effects of this clock tinkering kick in), I plan on taking a dose of Hyland’s Awaken*: “Natural relief of fatigue, drowsiness and irritability.”

Awaken is a little bottle of relief. Relief after a lousy night’s sleep or after having to wake early for an appointment or after a fun late night out or even as a result of travel between small distances between time zones… as well as from being compliant with this silly clock changing thing. [Is it apparent that I find this a great annoyance?]

What causes this relief?
Let’s look at what is in Hyland's formulation and why they included these homeopathic remedies (all in X potencies):

Kali Phosphoricum
Known as “one of the greatest nerve remedies” (Murphy n.d.) and is one of the original 12 Schuessler Cell Salts. Cell Salts are composed from the basic minerals that cells require (Cell Salt Tissues 2022). Kali phos is helpful for drowsiness and yawning, forgetfulness and irritability.

Mezereum link to photo
Is a pretty little flower, aka Spurge Olive — this homeopathic remedy is made from a tincture of the fresh bark just before it flowers in the spring. Mezereum can help with mental dullness, irritability, laziness, yawning and sleepiness, in general.

Natrum muriaticum
Is simply common salt and is another of the original 12 cell salts. Nat Mur (as it’s known) is notable in terms of sleepiness in the late morning, mental dullness with sleepiness and weakness from loss of sleep. Nat Mur is also an excellent headache remedy — another possible symptom following not getting enough sleep.

Phosphoricum acidum
As a homeopathic remedy is amazingly helpful in “collapsed states” (Morrison 1993). Waking up is difficult and sleepy by day, gloomy, dull and weakness with the sleepiness.

Sepia
Great sleepiness during the day as results from an unrefreshing sleep (which is bound to be the case when the powers that be have goofed with our clocks!)

Staphysagria
Sleepiness with: difficulty opening your eyes, indigestion and an inclination to lying down. Murphy (n.d.) notes “violent yawning and stretching bring tears to the eye.”

Sulphur
Headaches, even migraines, from a loss of sleep and overpowering sleepiness (specifically while working).

Thuja occidentalis
Also addresses headaches and sleepiness as well as restlessness and tossing about during sleep.

Here’s to sweet dreams. Maybe if we all concentrate really hard we can make this clock changing thing disappear! 


Julia Coyte, CHom
Classically Practical homeopath


#wellnessawaits

If you suffer regularly from poor sleep, contact me to see if homeopathy may be of help to you.

* I have no affiliation with Hylands, I just like their product.
I usually like to provide a link for remedies, but Hylands.com no longer shows it. I see it is still available on lots of other websites, though. Hmmm. I hope Hyland’s is not taking this remedy away! The good thing about homeopathy, though, is you can make your own mixture based on the remedies and even tailor it to your specific needs.

Reference list
Cell Salt Tissues, 2022. Buy Schuessler Salts | Cell Salts Tissue Salts World [online].

Downing, M., 2009. Spring forward : the annual madness of daylight saving. Berkeley: Counterpoint.

Folyovich, A., Biczó, D., Jarecsny, T., Al-Muhanna, N., Jánoska, D., Béres-Molnár, K. A., Dudás, E., and Toldi, G., 2020. Daylight saving time and the incidence of thrombolysis to treat acute ischemic stroke. Revue Neurologique[online], 176 (5), 361–365. 

Manfredini, R., Fabbian, F., Cappadona, R., De Giorgi, A., Bravi, F., Carradori, T., Flacco, M., and Manzoli, L., 2019. Daylight Saving Time and Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Clinical Medicine [online], 8 (3), 404. 

Morrison, R., 1993. Desktop guide to keynotes and confirmatory symptoms. Accessed through Radar Opus. Nevada City, Calif.: Hahnemann Clinic Pub.
Murphy, R., n.d. Homeopathic Remedy Guide. accessed through Radar Opus.

Prerau, D. S., 2006. Seize the daylight : the curious and contentious story of daylight saving time. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press.

Rishi, M. A., Ahmed, O., Barrantes Perez, J. H., Berneking, M., Dombrowsky, J., Flynn-Evans, E. E., Santiago, V., Sullivan, S. S., Upender, R., Yuen, K., Abbasi-Feinberg, F., Aurora, R. N., Carden, K. A., Kirsch, D. B., Kristo, D. A., Malhotra, R. K., Martin, J. L., Olson, E. J., Ramar, K., and Rosen, C. L., 2020. Daylight saving time: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine position statement. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine [online]. 

Zhang, H., Dahlén, T., Khan, A., Edgren, G., and Rzhetsky, A., 2020. Measurable health effects associated with the daylight saving time shift. PLOS Computational Biology [online], 16 (6), e1007927.