Confused about homeopathic medicines? please help!!?

Question

i just got a homeopathic book.."everybodies guide to homeopathic medicines" by stephen cummings and dana ullman.

and it was saying something like "if the asthmatic is sweet and affectionate or perhaps tearful and clingy, feels oppressed by warm and stuffy rooms, has little thirst, PULSATILLA is the probable remedy"

what does that mean? can someone only described as that take that medicine for asthma?

is it also based not only on symptoms but by there personality?

so if i said i had a cold, but i have depression would u recomend something different than if i said i was happy?

explain how this works??

whats the process for choosing a homeopathic medicine if i had a cold?

thank u!

Answer 1

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Answer 2

Okay, so you've asked alot of really good and important questions here, and I'll take them one at a time:  1)  "What does that mean?  Can someone only  described as that take that medicine for asthma?"  The answer to this is a profound yes, most of the time, and sometimes a no.  You're trying to match the symptom profile and the personality/constitutional needs of the patient to the correct remedy.  You're searching for the best "fit".  But there are many other things to take into consideration as well.  The word "probable" in this case means that you need to do further research, comparison and study between the Pulsatilla profile, and all the others listed as being for asthma, such as Antimonium tartaricum, Kali bichromium, Arsenicum album, and many others.  I would point out that boys, and even men can be just as clingy, weepy, whiney and not wanting to be alone as girls can, thank you very much.  And if you've ever babysat before, or dealt with a whiney, clingy, possibly teething two year old boy, you'll know just what I mean.  2)  "Is it also based not only on symptoms but by there [sic] personality?"  Yup!  You got it!  And if you think about it, doesn't it make a LOT of sense, as you're customizing the treatment to the person and their way of being in the world?  If you take into consideration that the mind is not separate from the body, is not separate from the spirit, is not separate from the emotions and emotional body, is not separate from the soul, doesn't it actually make FAR more sense to treat the person, rather than the disease?  Given 100 people with the same disease, you will get at least 10 different types or manifestations of this disease, and sometimes, many, many more.  3)  "What does that mean? Can someone only described as that take that medicine for asthma?"  In classical homeopathy, yes.  In modern homeopathy, no.  This is why there are combination remedies (Compounded remedies) available on the market nowadays that work for far more people than a "simple" would.  What's also true is that the remedy a person needs to use can and often (in fact almost always does...) change during the course of the illness.  Homeopathy can be very subtle.  You're only supposed to take a remedy until there is a change in your symptoms.  Sometimes the symptoms get worse (especially as you get into an illness and precipitate a healing crisis).  Sometimes the symptoms get quickly better.  It varies from person to person, and illness to illness, so paying attention is extremely necessary.  4)  "So if I said I had a cold, but I have depression would u recomend [sic] something different than if i said i was happy?"  Yup.  You got it.  See?  You really do understand more about homeopathy than you think you do.  5) "whats the process for choosing a homeopathic medicine if i had a cold?"  Essentially, it's a process of choosing which remedy matches the symptoms of your cold most closely and which remedy matches your personal profile most closely.  There will rarely if ever be a "perfect fit", but as you come to know the hallmarks of each remedy, and come to see yourself more clearly, choosing the "correct" remedy for  yourself and your loved ones will become eminently easier.  Think Aconite for quick, sudden, intense onset, often w/ fever, and often with the sense on having been hit by a truck (and wishing it would back up, run you over again and finish the job...);  Think Allium when there are streaming eyes, clear mucous from nose, red eyes (just like when one is exposed to onion, which is what Allium is, red onion.), Belladonna is more a left-sided remedy and is often used in hot (ie fever or sunburn), intense (ie hallucinatory or intense onset), eyes dilated widely/patient may be hallucinating or completely out of it.  It is useful w/ fevers, delerium, flus, earache, splitting headache (especially if it is left-sided), throbbing pains, wild dreams, DT's or drug withdrawal, etc.;  Sulphur is useful for those who pick at themselves.  A hallmark of Nat. mur is kids or people w/ a runny nose who l**k it and crave salt.  Lachesis people talk alot, almost compulsively  (Think, "Verbal Discharge")  These are some of the details that make homeopathy wonderful, and specific and utterly a joy to learn.

Answer 3

Homeopathy is a system in which mind symptoms are equally considered with body symptoms of ailment in order to arrive at a medicine.

       See the mind symptoms of Pulsatilla by Boericke. :  Weeps easily, Timid, irresolute,  Fears in evening to be alone, dark, ghosts.  Like sympathy.  Children like fuss and caresses.  Easily discouraged.  Morbid dread of the opposite s*x.  Religious melancholy.  given to extreme pleasure and pain, Highly emotional, mentally, an April day."

        The symptoms may vary from author to author but Pulsatilla is considered as a temporamentally women's remedy.  For the women with weeping characters, timidness etc. it suits  much more than others.  The person with these kind of mental behaviours are normally called a Pulsatilla constitution.  The diseases are not known by the name of disease in homeo it is known by the name of the medicine.Like Pulsatilla patient, Calcaria Patient, Phosphorus patient etc.

       The next two symptoms mentioned are modalities.   Modalities plus  constitutional medicine + one or two specific symptoms correctly falling in place(minimum three legs are required for  a stool to stand eruct, similarly  minimum three major symptom pictures should conform), the medicine will not fail, the cause or the kind or the name of the disease is immaterial then.  The medicine will cure whatever be the ailment if a substantial speficific symptom picture is tallying.

       Saying happy is different from the temperament you are depicting.  Leave that to the doctor to judge what is your constitutional remedy.  Even if you say i am happy, many other symptoms which you are nerrating or the person accompanying you are nerrating or what the doctor sees personally in you and other physical symptoms would help the doctor judge that you are lying and internally you are not happy while you are saying so.  And if you are actually happy from inside out, you are at that point in time is not a Pulsatilla Patient and should not be considered for adminstering Pulsatilla.  In other words, administering pulsatilla to you at that juncture would not get desired results, though it may be suitable for you at another time.  

      Here again, the doctor would first check the respiratory symptoms of Pulsatilla. And there you will find a large amount of symptoms which indicate to respiratory ailments, which should be satisfied first to confirm that you have asthma or an ailment imitating asthma. Then holistically evaluate your malady in conjunction with the constitutional and temperamental aspects in mind to arrive at a single remedy.  There is a process called Reperterisation to arrive at a medicine.   The author was circumventing it and giving you a short cut to arrive at a medicine.

Answer 4

I think that's a nice question. I don't really have a lot of knowledge in homeopathy but I really like it. My understanding, which you can verify somewhere, is that there are constitutional remedies which deal with these personality traits. It's not exactly a personality trait though, to dislike stuffy rooms. Or to feel hot or cold. It seems like constitutional remedies deal with chronic symptoms while there are remedies for acute symptoms also. Does a good homeopath give both, alternately.? I myself don't know but I am sharing my feelings about this with you because I also have been bewildered by homeopathic books over the years and have come to the conclusion that good self-diagnosis will take further deep study which, up till now I've not had time to do.

My other conclusion is that it is great if we can find a qualified practitioner but I hope someone who is one will clarify this matter for you here in answers. I live in an Asian country where there are so many homeopaths and they are so cheap, but I find very few who are qualified. So it can be necessary to know how to self diagnose, for so many reasons. Good luck with your studies.