To cancel the appointment because homeopathy is a load of crap?

[HowdoIgetbacktothe80s]

I’ve had chronic health issues for years. These issues are getting worse and completely ruining my quality of life.
Despite lots of tests, consultant and GP appointments via the NHS, I am definitely getting worse not better.
I know and appreciate the NHS is on its knees but I am fed up waiting up to a year for consultation appointments, having them cancelled at last minute (one was even cancelled whilst I was in the hospital waiting room ffs!) and when I eventually get seen it is often a rushed 10 minute appointment. I am getting nowhere fast and pretty desperate right now despite investing so much in the hope of feeling well and trying many things myself. I don’t want to keep taking up NHS space when someone worse off than me needs the services, I would love to find someone out there who can help me heal.
I am contemplating turning to ‘alternative’ healthcare. I asked on my local town’s FB group for recommendations and several recommended a local homeopath.
I have had a 30 minute free call with her. She was so very lovely and for the first time I felt listened to and validated.
She explained how she had experience of my health issues herself and how homeopathy could indeed help me. She said that because my issues were long standing it would take some months to start to feel better.
So I have booked to go and see her in a month.
The consultation is £100 with the homeopathic tinctures being an additional £25 which she said would last about a month and I would probably need to see her for several months. Each follow up appointment will be £80 (probably every other month or so). She wasn’t pushy at all and it was left up to me to make any decisions.
I have told my dh and friends and they think it’s a utter waste of my money and homeopathy is nothing more than a placebo. They truly believe I will not get better via this route but am now having a wobble about it as it is a lot of money for me if it doesn’t help.
Of course if you look on the NHS website it will tell you much the same. But the NHS hasn’t been able to help me and I am now at a loss, stuck in limbo land and getting desperate.

What is everyone’s opinion or experience on homeopathy?
Should I pursue this route or cancel now?
I dare say that am going to get flamed on here. I know I am probably grasping at straws but I just want to feel better.

YABU - homeopathy is useless, you may as well throw the money down the drain don’t be so gullible!
YANBU - I believe in homeopathy, it works

No it hasn’t

Yes it has.

I think you have mixed me with someone else sweetheart. I never mentioned a husband.

Hmm, my cousin tried homeopathy for similar digestive issues and found it treated her so well that she actually quit her job and retrained in homeopathy. She now runs her own business in it.

she is honestly one of the nicest, most trustworthy people, she definitely believes in its powers and isn’t setting out to fleece people. I’ve never needed to use homeopathy so don’t have personal experience but it worked for her and goes to show they aren’t all out to try to make a quick buck.

The only way to clinically validate that though would to have your 'twin' with the same ailment take a vial of water instead of the homeopathic medicine..... wait a minute ...

I once read that homeopathy is like tipping a teaspoon of medicine into a swimming pool. It's very little more than water. There's probably a placebo effect going on, but I wouldn't waste money on it.

The nicest, trustworthy bit is the key there -happy people make people happy, and happiness is the best medicine. To my mind, she is actually a therapist and the homeopathy bit is a medical irrelevance. The only downside is if people with serious ailments forgo conventional medicine that could provide a cure rather than trying that first.

@nilsoften yes, to be fair I don't think she tries to treat major illnesses like cancer or anything. I follow her business on social media and it seems to be focused on things like chronic pain, digestive issues, bad colds that won't go away, etc.

I used to work in a pharmacy and was told that there's no scientific evidence for it working and not to advise customers on homeopathy but that it was their choice to buy it (we sold it in our chemist) so I was always sceptical about it. HOWEVER....

7 years ago I caught peringual warts from a public shower and tried everything (wart medicine, freezing, apple cider, duct tape) but they would always grow back after removal. Last year I read a thread on here recommending Thuja homeopathy and I thought I'd try it expecting it to be a whole load of tosh but the cream & pills were very cheap so I bought them. I couldn't believe it. Every single wart fell off and they haven't returned in almost a year 😬.

I also read on the Amazon reviews that it worked for people's dogs and I'm pretty sure the dogs didn't know what they were taking so how do you explain the placebo affect with in those cases? I can't believe it worked, peringual warts are notoriously difficult to remove permanently.

But anecdotes are not facts. There's a good chance that your ailment was going to heal anyway given time and you just happened on to homeopathy at that sweet point in the disease. As a result you sincerely believe it cured you and when you saw thread on the subject you recalled your experience and shared that. Mumsnet has something like 8 million visits a month and so confirmation bias suggest all those that had that that had a happy coincidence are far more likely to report that than all those for whom it had no effect. Well, that's what I believe anyhow...

@TreehousePine

sciencebasedmedicine.org/is-there-a-placebo-effect-for-animals/

Acupuncture is not nonsense, it has a very long history. It's just Eastern not Western that's all.

@77toozy

There is no eastern or western in science and evidence based medicine. Just things with a mechanism that can possibly work. This doesn't include the mish-mash of astrology and blood-letting and fictitious 'chi' that is acupuncture.

@77toozy
And it doesn't have a long history.

Thing is, homeopathy - or 'natural medicine' - covers a whole lot of stuff from the use of herbs (certainly worth looking into) to clasping bits of rock (probably less investigation).

But this thread neatly illustrates the problem...

Someone posts saying that homeopathy was wonderfully effective in treating - indeed, curing - a loved one's longstanding and debilitating digestive issues.

Someone else (me, actually) posts saying that homeopathy had absolutely no effect on at all on a loved one's longstanding and debilitating digestive issues, and actually made things worse, because the practioner had airily promised a cure.

What is the uninvolved bystander supposed to do with those two bits of information? Because it matters, doesn't it? This isn't theoretical. It's about the possibility of helping people with longstanding and debilitating digestive issues.

Well, seems to me that if you have such issues there's one of two responses.

One is, 'Well, what the hell. Give it a go. What have I got to lose?"

And the other is, "Well, has anyone figured out what's going on here - by asking questions and testing stuff and eliminating variables and all that?"

But without proper scientific analysis, you're just doing it hopefully, rather than rationally - which only increases your vulnerability.

I know you’ve cancelled it now but for what it’s worth, I don’t think it’s as black and white as “homeopathy works / it’s all rubbish”. The placebo effect is a powerful thing but more than that, it sounds great that she listened to you for some time on the phone and you finally felt listened to.

If the money wasn’t an issue, I’d do it. Not because I believe in it - I don’t - but sometimes it’s about more than that.

Wishawisha there are so many positive stories on here that I am kind of regretting cancelling but I can’t afford for it not to be effective. Like you say, if money was not a problem for me I would go for as many alternative methods as possible and see which one works but sadly I just can’t afford it.

There seem to be quite a few posts confusing naturopathy with homeopathy. Not the same - very very different.

Naturopathy is the use of medicinal plants and herbs. Lots of scientific studies than many work. Many of our "modern" medicines have their basis in plants and herbs.

Homeopathy is completely different and is about using minute, miniscule amounts of something, so incredibly dilute, that is supposed to create the same symptoms, in order to eradicate them. The more dilute the better as water has memory of what ever was added. This has absolutely no scientific basis what so ever, and has never been shown to have anything more than placebo affect in multiple (thousands) of peer reviewed studies, and the effect of having someone simply listening and caring.

@TreehousePine 's post is an example. Thule cream is naturopathy not homeopathy.

@JusteanBiscuits. I have to correct you about the Thuja. Thuja pills would have been homeopathy but the cream will be tincture, made from measurable/detectable amounts of the Thuja tree, and therefore naturopathy/herbalism. The poster did both, so she did both homeopathy and naturopathy. Thuja does work incredibly well for warts as well as other stuff. If you do a search on PubMed there are lots of papers reporting therapeutic effects from homeopathy, eg this one pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24299603/. A lot of these papers are from Indian scientists and medics as homeopathy is part of the official health system there.
In fact there are many papers on PubMed reporting beneficial effects from homeopathy. I and my scientist husband use homeopathy for lots of health conditions and have found it very helpful when nothing else has worked. I don't advise treating yourself unless you are experienced – consult a professional registered homeopath.
Unfortunately for those who like to dismiss homeopathy as placebo, the way it works rules this out. If you hit on the right remedy it typically makes you worse for a short period before an amelioration or cure. I would much prefer if it didn't do this as the aggravation can be unpleasant, even if temporary. Also it works best on animals and babies, who don't know what's happening so don't respond to placebo. Some of the most enthusiastic users of homeopathy that I know are farmers and vets who use it on animals.

so.... homeopathy uses the principle that drugs are more effective the more diluted they are... but that logic, just drink water and save your money. also the prescribed things that are actually poisonous. if I had my way, it would be illegal.

It does help with some muscular problems and I believe with migraine. To do with stimulating the nerves somehow.

That is NOT what a placebo is. A placebo is something without a therapeutic effect that a patient believes is effective. If there is a perceived benefit it is usually only for a short while.

That is rather faint praise!

Exactly! The mind is extremely powerful and we also know that, for example, nutrition can have a major effect on well being so not all alternative thérapies are bs. However, if you are struggling to afford this cost then I'd hesitate to go, the stress of worrying about paying may outweigh any potential benefits

I've used it for chronic conditions and it has helped a lot, however it was too expensive for me to carry on with ..
I've used homeopathic treatment for Warts (all over my right hand when I was 16) No warts now.
I've used for PMS, my behaviour changed, low thyroid, and my hayfever which was so awful I couldn't leave the house without a mask/glasses, it took time but my symptoms eased, a lot.
I think you have to be open to alternative therapies and find a therapist you like and trust.. if you are in London I can send over a very reputable place, DM me.
Best of luck