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?

So your best argument is the Daily Mail?

Why a we bullies for trying to help you to stop wasting your time and money (and persuading others to waste theri time and money) on something that doesn't work?

2infinity - This is not even sarcasm.

It is what remains when you show people the facts over and over, and they just refuse to see it. And some turn back and call you "narrow minded".

This is a belly laugh.

OP I am qualified in both complementary health and in "normal" healthcare. Homeopathy brings out some very strong opinions but ultimately it will not do you any harm so you may as well give it a shot as long as you continue any prescribed medication whilst using it.

I have used it myself and have had good results despite being sceptical. You have nothing to lose and should not let vociferous posters put you off.

Homeopathy in itself will not do you any harm, because it is just water, but you are propogating a lie ("homeopathy works") that can and does do harm.

It can and does harm when people are stupid enough to replasce conventional medicine and advice with it which I would never recommend. As COMPLEMENTARY i.e as well as, it is not going to cause any problems.

Some recent papers have suggested that the major effect of SSRI antidepessants and some other widely used drugs is placebo based and they do have side-effects. We weight these up in a benefit-risk ratio for each patient and I do not see how there can be anything other than potential benefit if the patient is well-informed as to maintaning her conventional treatments.

What does she have to gain by not trying it? Absolutely nothing.

"so you may as well give it a shot as long as you continue any prescribed medication whilst using it."

So your medical advice is for people to use both effective medicine and "effective" homeopathic remedies at the same time?

In your professional opinion, could that not be dangerous?

If someone suffering from high blood pressure takes medication for this condition and some homeopathic pill (which you say is effective), could that not lower his blood pressure too much?

"What does she have to gain by not trying it?"

Intellectual integrity?

Doubtful Cote. I don't want to stray into defending homeopathy here as I'm not a homeopath and, as I said before am a bit sceptical anyway.

As I understand it from a homeopath friend, homeopathy tries to encourage the body to reestablish its own balance, it doesn't act directly to do a specific thing to a specific symptom. I guess it's kind of like saying would a diabetic be harmed by following a healthy diet as well as taking hypoglycaemic tablets as they both aim to reduce blood sugar.

I guess you'd just be monitoring the patient anyway to see the effects

My question was, how can you actually be sure that science wont catch up with homeopathy and prove you all wrong?

Because there is nothing to catch up with.

It sounds as if Opus is saying that a placebo works better than no placebo. Which is true. I think there is a place for "here is a pill with nothing in it that might make you feel better". I do not think there is a place for claiming that a non-existent amount of arsenic and repeated baging on a horsehair saddle makes the sugar pill do anything more than a sugar pill that has not had that treatment.

Well here's some more research for you about the effect of Carcinosin 30 and Phytolacca 30 on breast cancer cells.

www.homeopathy-soh.org/research/research-and-the-society/research-news/breast-cancer-cells/

Now I'm leaving this forum as I have better things to do with my time than get petty with a bunch of denialists.

at denialists

The trouble is that the paragraph you linked to says nothing about the methodlolgy of the test, the qualifications of the testers the funding of the experiment. All it says is that something was observed in vitro, but it says nothing at all about what, how and where.

seeker This is a problem with all testing, not just homeopathic. I was shocked to read recently how much research is buried by big drug companies while only the favourable stuff is published.

I'm sticking with my original view that I don't understand and I'm rather sceptical but if it makes somebody feel better, whether by placebo effect or otherwise, then it's ok. I don't understand why people who don't believe in it feel the need to force others not to try it. Who cares?!

Absolutely - you're right. But somehow, when it's homeopathy, we're expected to accept a rejected research proposal from somebody applying to do a MSc at the University of WoopWoop as conclusive proof. And if anybody challenges it, the homeopathy brigade melt into the ether, leaving only a memory behind.

If homeopaths' aims are to make someone feel better why don't they fess up and say that having a chat and some pills of nothing just does make people feel better?

Why all the pissing about with the dilutions and the succussion and the "oh it's very important that you take a non-existent amout of this herb, not that herb".

"homeopathy tries to encourage the body to reestablish its own balance"

That is vague mumbo-jumbo. And that is all they've got.

My 1 year old daughter was diagnosed as asthmatic and was under the local asthma clinic and had to have regular inhalers (spacers). I took her to a properly qualified homeopath who, having carried out a very thorough interview concluded she did not have asthma. All I can say is with one course of his treatment she has been totally asthma free ever since - I kept her inhaler for many years though just in case. She is now 20 with no signs of weeziness or asthma. The placebo effect works on us adults but not on babies. All I can say is we don't know everything about how the world works yet and sometimes conventional science has to catch up. To ignore evidence is bad science in itself. (PS this DOES NOT mean that if your child has asthma you should not heed medical advice - it just so happened that I realised she had no need for the inhaler any more but I DID keep it handy!)