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

Herbal remedies aren't the same as homeopathic remedies as they contain active ingredients.
There is some evidence to show that acupuncture can be effective.
There is no evidence whatsoever to show that homeopathy works.

LiesDoNotBecomeUs that has reassured me, acupuncture was next on my list to try.

This ^^

I have benefited hugely from osteopathy and acupressure when doctors could only prescribe painkillers and physio.
I use acupressure on myself regularly to loosen tight muscles.
Reiki works, it may be woo and i don't know how it works but it does.

I do believe in some alternative therapies however homeopathy isn't one of them. However I could be completely wrong, I don't profess to be a fountain of all knowledge!

If you can afford it and it isn't going to do you any harm, then maybe give it a go. It can't hurt and there is a chance however small, that it may work.

My cousin believes all this, and her daughter carries crystals everywhere. She is very defensive of it, a bit cultish, says people who don’t believe are closed minded etc. She’s also a really nice person, desperately trying to make sense of things (child has cancer). It’s easy to be drawn in. But it’s absolute nonsense, aside from placebo powers. You could get the same from praying, if you believed in prayer/god. Even if the people who believe in it, or practise it, are often good people, it’s actually very unethical, which is why it’s not given on the nhs. Save your money. Spend it on private healthcare as a pp said. Or even, on other things that might make you hopefully feel a bit better/less stressed (stress being a cause of / linked to many health problems, even if not in your case). e.g. spend the cash on a lovely massage or really high quality food. Chronic pain sucks, very good luck op.

Have you consider that menopause could be causing issues at your age - have you tried hrt?

@billy1966 but no homeopath can have a good reputation because they’re all selling snake oil. Good and bad homeopaths don’t exist.

Thank you Doodaadoo
I am 100% in perimenopause RoundLikeaCircle which seems to have exacerbated all of my existing issues. I tried hrt but sadly, the utrogestan made my digestive issues a million times worse

My experience of homeopathy:

My mum was introduced to it when i was very young, after a very similar situation to yours - she was told she had a wheat and gluten intolerance and Vitamin B12 deficiency. She is a completely changed woman since this discovery, and not necessarily in a good way.

I was introduced to it shortly after, having a ‘remedy’ made for me every 6-8 weeks - it was described to me throughout childhood as the remedy is like peeling a layer of onion off - the layer of onion being a health issue or vague imbalance in something (none of which i ACTUALLY experienced e.g a gut problem or deficiency in something). I never remember being ill but i do remember these remedies came in either a liquid (vodka spun at high speed) which tasted rank as a child, and as these tiny white beads which melted under the mouth.

My mum today is someone who is so deeply down this rabbit hole of homeopathy/spiritualism/anti medicine/anti-government that she’s barely recognisable. (One thing turns into another, started with homeopathy). She has lost so many friends as a result. You can’t have a conversation or discussion with her about anything without it coming back to alternative medicine/lifestyle. Only her viewpoint is the right viewpoint.

she still pays this ‘amazing friend’ (homeopath) about £80 each time! Approx £15K in total.

Won’t wear makeup, eat certain foods (inc specific fruit/veg) because she told her not to due to ‘health problems’. Wouldn’t have a smear test or covid test as the test stick contains chemicals on the end - told by homeopath. Meanwhile the homeopath is a well presented lady with holiday homes abroad, fake nails, hair dyed and well styled (with no doubt hair products which my mum is told she can’t use).

The ONLY benefit from this is knowing that my mum does feel better as a result (no doubt a placebo effect) and i’m glad she doesn’t feel taken for granted or unwell.

The phrase "it's just a placebo" is supposed to mean that "it" does not help, but the placebo effect describes something that does help, but in an non-identifiable way.

The modern medicine knows very little about some of the treatments that are widely used: the medication works, and this is enough evidence, but in many cases the underlying processes are not well understood.

Then your doctor is implying that it’s caused or made worse by stress… seeing a counsellor would indeed help with that.

Can I question this, since I hear that hrt can help a lot of conditions we start getting at this age (im a similar age). Yet I (& maybe the op) don’t have any of the classic menopause symptoms, like hot flushes or brain fog or insomonia, in my case at least it’s just aches and pains that I thought came with age. @RoundLikeaCircle was the same for you and did you go on hrt? It may be what the op needs!

Emmmaa the tragic thing is that I could easily fall down this rabbit hole too, I would end up so deep in and it would collapse behind me and I wouldn’t get out. I could easily become you mum as I’ve become so desperate. I don’t want to end up like that. I want to feel well and live a regular ‘normal’ life.

Teaandtoast3 I have had years of counselling, CBT and gut directed hypnotherapy, nothing has helped ease this issue and it has become worse as I’ve become older.

But her mum does feel better.

This is a touchy subject and I’m aware that a lot of people are very against homeopathy.

I use homeopathy and have done since I was a child. I also use conventional medicine. If I break a bone I go to the hospital. If I need antibiotics I take them. But I have found homeopathy an incredible complimentary therapy.

You can easily find people who poo-poo it and to be honest I’m very wary of letting people in my life know I use it as I know it sets off a big reaction and I’m often thought of as a bit naive and stupid.

If you wish to try this alternative therapy I’d advise going for the initial appointment and getting the tinctures and seeing how you feel and whether you feel this is for you. There is no pressure to have additional appointments if you don’t want them. See how you feel after one.

I’m sorry it just sounded like they were
implying work based stress if other patients retire and it gets better.

It sounds very difficult. I do hope you find something that gives you some rest-bite very soon. Personally in your situation I would try everything! So do some acupuncture, cupping, massage, reiki, herbal remedies… the more things you try the more likely you are to find something that helps. 💐

I was sent to an nhs homeopathic clinic run by a qualified medical doctor when my GP couldn’t work out what was wrong with me. I can’t say the treatments helped but what did help me mentally was the holistic approach, having someone sit down and listen to everything that was going wrong and to have them empathise and make suggestions. Someone giving me an hour and a half of their time to say they believed me was something I hadn’t had before. That was invaluable for my mental health which was starting to be affected by forever being dismissed by traditional doctors.

In the end what I’d been experiencing began showing up in the traditional NHS tests and the nhs started to treat me for exactly what the homeopathic doctor said she believed I had 7 years before. It is quite a serious condition and will likely be the cause of my death.

I think there’s a lot to be learned from the kindness and listening of homeopathic
practitioners and more doctors need to be taking a holistic approach to people’s health but the “medication” they offer is a load of crap.

I've found that watching Neighbours works for me. A few times I've been sick, then after watching Neighbours for a day or two, I'm much better. Correlation is causation, after all, isn't it?

That's why they had to bring it back after cancelling. It's hardly a coincidence that the NHS was under the worst strain ever after it had been axed.

NotQuiteHere at a cost of £15K!!
MummyJ36 tbh, I probably would if it were cheaper but I really don’t want to waste £140+ on a placebo.
Thank you Teaandtoast3 I may try acupuncture as it does seem a bit more effective.

Yes, I visited a homeopath. I was told to stop all prescribed medication. It didn’t end well.

when my kids were younger I took them to an nhs homeopathic hospital in London and it was staffed by peds gps who also had studied homeopathy.
i think you might find it helpful to post your health issues and have others tell you what they have done.
personally I do believe in homeopathy but I don’t think so much needs to be spent on it - google nelsons chemist it’s in London and they can over the phone make up things and post to you.

Don't be so quick to rule it out OP. I used to think it was a load of bollocks until my baby started teething. Hand-in-hand with teething was horrific nappy rash, despite my best care. I tried e v e r y t h i n g I could find to help the teething and nothing worked. Baby was inconsolable. As a last-ditch fuck it I tried homeopathy, I was that desperate. Amazingly it worked and very fast too. I have no idea how but ever since then I've had a more open mind.

@Teaandtoast3

What's 'rest-bite'?
Acupuncture, cupping and reiki are also nonsense.

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