Is it a con or can it help my sick child?

[Nightswimminginoldpants]

Homeopathy?

Feeling a bit vulnerable at the moment, so not sure if it’s clouding my view.

Dd is ill and I’m getting desperate. Have been talking to a homeopathist online, she is very intent that homeopathy will help my Dd get better.

Does it work?

I don’t believe in homeopathy but apparently there can be a strong placebo effect even if you don’t believe it can work. It can’t do any harm alongside conventional treatments but I’d be extremely wary of using it as sole treatment.

What bollocks have you been reading?

Tried it for my DD eczema when she was young
did SFA

Con.

As a mum of kids with autism, anxiety and tics I'm quite aware of PANS/PANDAS and how controversial the diagnosis even is, let alone the treatments.

Are the symptoms sudden in nature or more gradual? FND often starts suddenly and can be prompted by stress.

Homeopathy is just placebo. You'd be better with a good multivitamin. Which might be helpful.anyway as deficiencies of things like iron, zinc, vitamin D etc can mimic symptoms sometimes.

If your child is suffering from dehydration it may help, because what they are selling you is water.

If your child's illness is psychosomatic the placebo effect of the water they are selling you may help.

Otherwise no.

They are selling you water.

The fact this was ever available as a 'medicine' on the NHS is a damning commentary on the state of things at that time. It was withdrawn in 2017, backed by a court judgment, because there is absolutely zero evidence for it doing anything at all (except hydrating you).

Because it's water.

I would look at a medical herbalist.Must be fully qualified and belong to a professional body.They treat the whole person and prescribe exactly what is needed.It is important you choose medically trained .Good luck.

It can sometime help alongside prescribed medicines, the thing is to know what it is, how it work, that its not dangerous and that it can be mixed with other things. Do NOT stop actual medical treatment in favor of untested options.

Homeopathy was the bases of modern medicine so none medical things can work. The thing is that you need to know its legit. Some things online claim to be 'natural cure' but are just crazy anti-medicine people suggesting really dangerous made up ideas.

As an example of a real 'non medical medicine': Take the thread the other day of the lady that treated her chin hair by changing her diet to eat Tofu. That is a legitimate thing as 'Soy' is a natural source of estrogen so if you eat enough often enough it will alter your hormone balance. It use to be very common 'home treatment' option for some infertile people who couldn't afford Clomid but without medical guidance you could also 'misbalance' your hormones in a different way.

What is it you are considering using?

PANS and PANDAS are speculative diagnoses that aren't widely recognised by the NHS. There's no way to prove that a bout of strep throat, or other illnesses, is the cause of later behaviour change. The diagnosis is spread by online advovate groups, not doctors.

Hi OP. I cannot speak for the person you are talking to and wether they are diagnosing correctly. But when my daughter was 2/3 (many years ago)she had an allergic reaction, and after that she would cough at night and bring up tons of phlegm. Every night.This went on for months. Backwards and forwards to hospital. Loads of tests. They had no idea what to do. It eased for a couple of months in summer and i thought great. But then it came back. I was desperate. A friend told me of a nurse who also specialised in homeopathy. I went to see her. She suggested something for her, told me there might be a reaction in first 48 hours(which there was, all described to me) and then , she was better. It was amazing. The NHS go backwards and forwards on wether they back homeopathy, but for my child it worked. Do your own research on line. The Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine might have advice. I did use homeopathy over the years for her for minor illnesses, coughs, colds etc, as she didn't tolerate calpol etc very well and would throw it up. Of course it depends on your childs circumstances and what the problem is, and not an alternative for conventional medicine, but there is no evidence to say it does any harm.

I use arnica cream a lot, actually was recommended by my Pharmacist, works brilliantly for bruises and joint pain. The ingredients are various emollient and preservatives and arnica extract.
My thoughts on homeopathy are if it works for you then knock yourself out. Placebo can have an an extremely strong effect and there are many things we don’t quite understand or truly know why they work but seem to. I have seen dogs in India riddled with mange and maggots cured using homeopathy so am not quite as sceptical as others on this thread. It definitely won’t harm to try it.

"It can sometime help alongside prescribed medicines, the thing is to know what it is, how it work, that its not dangerous and that it can be mixed with other things."

"Homeopathy was the bases of modern medicine"

There is no scientific evidence that homeopathy is effective.

That some members of the Royal Family are understood to have used homeopathy is also no evidence of its effectiveness.

Because, sadly, we are mortal beings and some illnesses cannot be cured. Homeopaths prey on those who are struggling to accept this.

Statins lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. This fact is not altered by the fact that there may sometimes be over prescribing to the worried well (maybe sometimes by doctors with a financial incentive).

Obviously I know nothing about your individual case, but medical misogyny exists and you wouldn't be the first woman to be told her physical problem is in her head.

Isn't it funny how homeopaths prescribe homeopathy, which literally has nothing in it and cannot cure anything, ever... because they get paid? What do you think the difference is? Doctors are at least constrained by some rules around professional ethics and whatnot. Homeopaths get to go direct to the gullible and tell them whatever bollocks they like.

If it contains emollients and other ingredients at a normal level then it isn't homeopathy. Arnica is herbal, not homeopathic.

"The NHS go backwards and forwards on wether they back homeopathy,"

The NHS should not be including in their guidelines any "treatments" for which there is no scientific evidence.

And of course homeopathy doesn't 'work' for anyone. The consultation and use of the 'treatment' has a placebo effect.

ooh, I've been a GP for 20 years. Do tell me more about this money that I'm supposed to be paid by drug reps to prescribe their medicines, because I've never heard of it. I'm excited now, I must be owed a fortune in bribes dating back over 20 years if what you say is true.

Or you could be talking complete bollocks, and not understanding that PMDD is a medical condition for which SSRIs are a recognised treatment, and that although you have to treat a couple of hundred people with a statin for primary prevention to save one life, when used at scale they have saved many thousands of lives.

Worth bearing this in mind, and your point about the mixed opinion on PANS is valid, but also worth bearing in mind that the NHS can be notoriously slow at updating its protocols in the light of new medical advances. I’m not sure I’d take the NHS as the arbiter of what’s real and what isn’t, or what is the most effective treatment, if I’m honest. It can take years for them to catch up at times.

It's very telling that a lot of the people on this threas claiming homeopathy works don't actually seem to be talking about homeopathy...

Of course it doesn't work, it's just water.

You can say absolutely the same about many other treatments.

We’ve tried both antibiotics and Ibuprofen, just keeps getting ill again each time she has a standard illness 😔

OP, my thoughts are with you. I'm sorry that you and your child are going through this tough time. You sound like a very caring mum.

Of course, but licensed medicines have been proven to actually work over and above placebo effect.

Homeopathy - no.

However, I think alternative medicine and treatments are worth exploring alongside conventional medicine.

Acupuncture being one example.

It’s nonsense- no evidence to support its effectiveness.