Anyone used homeopathy? Does it work?

[extraconfusedhelp]

I have PCOS and just went to see a homeopath today. She has given me something to take.

I just wanted to find out if anyone has been treated by a homeopath before? And how quickly the treatment worked?

serapisbey - maybe those who criticise homeopathy (or "slate" it, as you say), have been ripped off as was I!

I spent £50 a few years ago (so v steep then) for about a 45 min consultation with a homeopath, what she gave me didn't work (of course not) and most of the consultation was taken up with paperwork - I understand this is an important initial stage but even so... She did at least listen to me and treat me "as a human being", which of course was nice and not doubt is of benefit to the patient.

However, my GP also treats me as a human being but for free (and has to do so in a short 10min slot). He also has years & years of medical training and a first class mind so I respect him. I'd be surprised if there are many homeopaths of a similar calibre or with comparable knowledge of the human body...

Testing doesn't remove side-effects, peatfruit, any more than measuring your height makes you taller.

Testing lets you know what the side-effects ARE, so you can let people make an informed choice about whether or not the cure is worse than the disease.

Rule of thumb - if it works, it has side-effects. If it doesn't have side-effects, it doesn't work.

And of course SGB is correct - either you believe in the woo, and you're an idiot - or you believe in the money, and you like ripping off vulnerable people.

springchicken, completely agree!

And don't forget, if the condition gets worse - this is good! this is the "healing process"..........
Win win

Takeitonthechin do you know anyone who has shut their finger in a car door without bruising? How come that's ridiculous?

ppeatfruit, I assume you mean you used Arnica cream and Arnica homeopathic tablets. Arnica cream is naturopathy, not homeopathy. i.e. the cream actually has some Arnica in it - which is very good at helping bruising. I don't think anyone would say that herbs can have extremely profound effects (and side effects btw). It is when they are diluted and diluted and diluted beyond all reason that people start being sceptical.

There are many things that can't be explained rationally in this world, can't we accept that is the case and agree to disagree like the 'rational people' we are.

OP- as an alternative, a friend of mine had PCOS and was advised to try a low GI diet. She stuck to it for 6 months and it did hugely improve her symptoms and she was able to get pregnant naturally.

Maybe she would have anyway, maybe it did help, but in any case, at least she got a healthy diet out of it so there was an upside, unlike with the magic water.

There are many things that can't be explained rationally in this world, can't we accept that is the case and agree to disagree like the 'rational people' we are.

Like what?

I used the pills and kept his finger in homeopathic arnica lotion not the cream. There were no side effects BTW and no homeopathic or natural remedy has side effects In my experience .

Like telepathy,real spiritualism, and the need of many people for religion\spiritual experiences etc.

"no homeopathic or natural remedy has side effects In my experience ." You are absolutely joking right? No homeopathic remedies fine, but you honestly think that no natural remedies have side effects? And that's where I bow out of this thread.

and that's why, for example you have to declare what you're taking to your GP - st john's wort, for instance, interferes with the workings of the pill. So, yes they DO have side-effects in some cases, don't be so naive!

homeopathy = hocus pocus, placebo effect possible, no side effects
herbal medicines = medicines with effects and side effects. most modern medicines (if not all) have their origins in plants or other natural substances (aspirin, antibiotics, cancer meds).
on consulting a homeopathic healer my mother halted all my convetional asthma meds (as they would interfere with the sugar pills)...not funny at all. am lucky to have escaped with only minor lung damage.

Natural remedies include atropine, aspirin, St John's Wort, digoxin and morphine.

All of those have killed people, some have killed quite a lot of people.

Define "side-effect"?

ppeatfruit I am sorry but you seem very badly educated on all of this.
Arnica is not homeopathy.

Natural remedies do have side effects. I took chinese herbs for severe eczema, which worked- but also got liver inflammation which could have killed me.

You do seem to be missing the point and not listening to what people are trying to explain.

If I took a homeo remedy for my cold for example- I might say that because my cold cleared up in 7 days the homeo. worked. But as we all know, colds clear up anyway with or without treatment.

Do you get it now? You cannot prove that just because someone takes a homeo pill and they get better that it was the pill that worked.

Convnetional drugs have been tested thousands of times on thousands of people using double blind trials- do you understand what they are?

You can take arnica in homeopathic doses, which, by virtue of their dilution are obviously MUCH more powerful thant the non homeopathic version, which actually has active ingredients in it.

The homeopathich version is what we doctors call h2o - or "water".

And of course natural remedies have side effects.

Ppeatfruit, if you believe in telepathy and spiritualism as well as homeopathy, do you have any money left at the end of the month? You mist be a right magnet for rip-off artists of every shade.

Homeopathy is very good for things that get better on their own.

Anyone who doesn't know the difference between natural remedies with ingredients in and homeopathic remedies that do not contain any ingredients should not be listened to as a valid source of information.

" but it's not quick like allopathic medicine, this is because it works with the underlying cause of the problem not the symptoms"

So all that real medicine does is alleviate symptoms, while homeopathy cures the actual disease

Like, when you take antibiotics and you only see the effects after the second day, is it only to attack symptoms like soreness of the throat, or does it attack the cause of the disease, the bacteria you are infected with?

I believe in telepathy. And spiritual stuff. But I don't spend any money on it, far too poor for that! :o (And even if I weren't I doubt I'd be taken in by a rip-off artist.)

CheerfulYank - I knew you were going to say that.

Let me send you some cash then! :o

I am not prepared to "agree to disagree" with something that can damage people's health (by persuading them to avoid effective treatmetn for illneses) or which may be rippping them off.

People talk about the evils of "big pharma" - and they are many and hideous. But then they talk as if Nelson's is a mom and pop operation run on a not for profit basis out of sheer altruism!