Has anyone tried alternative therapies? Kiniseology, accupuncture, homeopathy, NAET?

[WhiteTrash]

There maybe an influx of posts from me tonight, I didnt kniw this forum was on MN!

Has anyone tried any alternative therapies?

We had amazing results with accupuncture after weeks of urticaria (chronic hives) in my (then) 6 month old baby (now 8 months). It calmed it down before we'd even left the building after 6 solid weeks if hell and steroids.

We has kiniseology and medical dowsing. I didnt believe what the latter told me (too sceptical) saw an amazing kiniseologist this weekend who found exactly the same as the MD and after home trials....turns out they were both spot on.

Using homeopathy to gain control of his eczema and next NAET to reduce the severity of his reactions.

Does anyone else have any experience?

is this a troll?

Why would it be a troll?

Natural remedies are as old as the hills. Rather any of that than chemical drugs thank you very much!

Acupuncture has been around oh what, 3000-odd years?

OP, you just have to "shop around" and see what helps best.

I've had good results with acupuncture and homeopathy, NAET not so much but then it's also to do with the practitioner that you end up

Good luck with getting to the bottom of the problem - and curing it!

Haha! No troll! I did expect to be flamed though. God forbid someone mentions alternative therapies in MN!

Ive no doubt that some people might have tried it though.

I noted the tumble weeds go by after I posted this thread though, how funny!

Thanks for your reply suburbophobe.

Whitetrash, you were on another thread earlier asking about the possibility of your baby having an anaphylactic reaction to traces of egg and/or dairy on the skin. Given the severity of your baby's allergies, I do feel strongly that you would be unwise to trust in alternative therapies as a means of treatment.

I don't want to start or get into a long discussion about alternative therapies, but I don't want to leave you unanswered. I can understand that you might be feeling desperate to 'cure' your baby, and that you are perhaps willing to give almost any treatment a go, but I'm afraid you are unlikely to have much success with the treatments you mentioned.

For example, homeopathy works about as well as placebo, although there is no evidence that it works any better than placebo... The power of the mind is an amazing thing and I am willing to believe that some conditions do respond to homeopathic treatment for this reason (e.g. the kind of food intolerance which is exacerbated by stress might get rather better if the patient believes that it is going to improve) - however, anaphylaxis is very, very unlikely to fall into this category.

As you're new to the allergy board, you may not know that there have been lots of discussions about kinesiology etc. here in the past. I don't think we are all are particularly anti-alternative therapies in general, but there does seem to be a general consensus that treating life-threatening allergies using these methods is pointlessly expensive and often downright dangerous.

Please be cautious!

Thanks for your reply.

I know now I should have been clearer in my OP though.

Im not looking to cure my baby at all, honestly Im not that naive.

We used kinoseology along with skin prick test because we kept hearing how unreliable they were. So we thought we'd do both and discuss the outcome (Dp and I). I, by no means, take the kiniseology test as gospel. She WAS good though.

We are usin homeopathy to get some 'control' over his eczema. At the moment its every inch of his body having to use steroids regularly but under care of an excellent dermatologist. If it doesnt work I can at least fe that I tried everything. If it does work (even placebo, theres a lot to be said for placebo!) then fantastic!

NAET - We're doing this, not to cure him like I said. But to if theres even a minute possibility that we can dampen the severity if his reactions then Im willing to try anything.

However, we will never EVER expose him to the culprit foods. If (or rather when) it accidentally occurs we have an epipen, steroids and antihistamines.

I hope this makes you feel a bit better, Im not being dangerous at all.

Thanks for your reply though.

"hope that makes you feel better" makes me sound like an idiot. I didnt mean that bit how it sounded.

It was meant to mean I hope thats clearer as I probably should have been in my OP.

ok not a troll , a bit naive perhaps, and money to burn.

irish chap died from kinesology, after he was cured, and then fed his allergen.

oh, and plenty of uks immunologist are seeing children, with rickets after being on diets prepared from such alternative practitioners.

I prefer seeing main stream docs, at least they have years of training and education studying the human body etc.

if i wanted a placebo, i would buy my kid a packet of smarties and lie. but thats a little unethical as well dont you think?

oh as for happy coincidences, for instance it doenst take a rocket scientist to say, diagnose dairy and wheat intolerences, they are , after all the most common. get a good book on intolerences written by a immunologist, its cheaper, safer and worth a try first.
certainly wouldnt bother seeing them for IgE .

oh, and if you are lactose intol or milk intol, remind your homeopath not to ever get the drops on tablets with lactose in......just a thought.

Hes not intolerant. He has a dairy and egg allergy.

And as I said before I have absolutely NO intention of these items ever entering his diet.

FWIW a practicing homeopath has to have 4 years studyinv the human body before they qualify.

well,if you believe its possible for water to have a 'memory' go ahead.

and i added the ige stuff for others to be aware off. one death (that i have heard of) is one too many in my opinon.

homeopathy does have good results in small studies, but linked to placebo, but has failed any bigger in depth study.

german manufacturers of the bottles of homopathy stuff have been asked by nhs to take part in larger studies, but have refused.....I wonder why?

Some alternative stuff is good, desen is still used for ige allergies, and works. Thats passed studies and is world recognised by medical bodies as actually working.

other than that, for every good story, there are thousands where crap advice and placebos have hurt people.

Desen?

desentizistation treatment for hay fever, and bee stings.

Oh right thanks.

I feel it's important to choose a complementary or alternative practitioner on a recommendation. The practitioner needs to be licensed, registered and insured. Herbalists, Homeopaths, Acupunturists and Osteopaths have studied either a 3 year full time or 4 year part-time course to become qualified in their field and subsequently registered and insured with their relevant governing bodies. You can 'learn' to be a Reiki Master, or a Kinesiologist over a weekend. I would check to see if the 'practitioner has any other more 'staid' qualifications to support their discipline.

We tend to choose alternatives since the conventional route hasn't fully addressed our health needs or expectations. Surely, if the placebo effect was the only reason treatments such as homeopathy worked, why didn't the placebo effect work when conventional methods were sought, since we had more belief in them?

Does water have memory? Dunno. But if you apply the same methodolgy to analysing a hypnotherapy CD, it's the same as a Lady Gaga CD... and a book on meditation is the same as book about weaning.

When a conventional medicine is given, it is prescribed to have an action. The medication must therefore be 'material' in nature. When a homeopathic medicine is given, a relaxation CD is listened to or a self-help book is read, they are 'prescribed' to evoke a reaction... Hopefully, a favourable one! Hopefully, you can see that something doesn't have to be 'material', to evoke a reaction.

"Surely, if the placebo effect was the only reason treatments such as homeopathy worked, why didn't the placebo effect work when conventional methods were sought, since we had more belief in them?"
Because it is probably a coincidence they worked at the time, ie the illness has run its course.

I was speaking to someone with a child with nut allergy, who had spent years going to see an alternative therapy and his allergy had seemed to improve
which she put down to the alternative therapist.
My DS who has never seen a alternative therapist completely grew out of his peanut allergy with no treatment at all.

I was also told a story by a cranial osteopath. He was due to see a 5 year old with gigantism and had never spoken a word. The appointment was delayed because the boy was ill for a few days.
When the mother bought the boy in, she said the boy had spoken his first word the day after the original appointment would have been. If the appointment had gone ahead she said she would have been sure that it was due to the cranial osteopath. The osteopath said that he now never made claims of a cure for anything like that now because he realised it could easily be a coincidence.

agree with greenbananas, my (allergic) asthma was treated with homeopathy left untreated and as a result I am left with permanent lung damage (scarring). affects me every time I have a cold and might lead to more problems later in life.

Mousymouse are you blaming homeopathy for that? I personally would blame the allergy itself or the fact that no conventional medicine was sought (if it wasnt).

As I said before I would never, ever do this instead of regular meds. But as well as. Western medicine is helping the aftermath of his reactions. I wamt homeopathy to help stop his body reacting. If it cant, we'll just have to bimble along as we we are, smothering the symptons with western methods and keep being told he'll grow out of it.

FWIW the practioner we are seeing is totally qualified, insured and has years of experience.

Hi Whitetrash - I took my daughter to see a Kinesiologist about her eczema - she was advised to avoid wheat, dairy, pork and refined suger, recommended some supplements and basically her eczema, itchy eyes and snorty nose were all sorted out.

So I have great respect for alternative therapists and the power of natural remedies and I was hugely sceptical to begin with and only went as a last resort.

white I wamt homeopathy to help stop his body reacting.
well, that was what my parents were thinking. it didn't work. taking conventional medicine could have prevented me having damage. and yes, I blame my parents for not listening to the specialised dr but to a quack instead.

but as you are plannng to complement western medicine and not using it instead all is well and I hope it works for you.

malakadoush, avoiding those common foods is quite common sense really, its the first normal elimination diet, and no 'testing' would have proved that.

the majority of intolerence is caused by those foods. and cutting out refined sugar, well obviously young kids shouldnt have much of that in the diet.

can i recommend a good book ? by proff J Brostoff, the guide to food allergy and intolerence, published by Gamlin.

its cheaper, explains intol and the diets , and written by a immunlogist.

oh, and did this alternative chap just give you a list of food to avoid, or give you a decent diet plan for a child and their dietary requirements?

When I said his body to stop reacting, I meant his skin.

After his first anaphylactic reaction he had an aftermath reaction of urticaria and severe eczema over every inch of his body. Some people carry on 'reacting' for a while (sometimes months) afterwards, despite the culprit food no longer being present.

Conventional meda could do nothing but keep giving him steroids, Im hoping to lessen that.