I have seen a lot of information on this discussion about steroids being dangerous and hampering homeopathic treatment -- it is all very discouraging. My husband has been taking steroids for six years now ever since bizarrely coming down with asthma all of a sudden on a camping trip (there is also a family history). I'd really like for him to see a homeopath who could help him get off these meds, but he is less than enthusiastic because of my so/so experience with the homeopath I was seeing (check out the "Choosing a practitioner?" thread for the whole long story). I am now switching homeopaths and hoping that some better results in me will encourage him to try too.

Does anyone know of a case where asthma has been cured or greatly helped by homeopathy? Of course I understand that in homeopathy every case is different and the "disease" is not so much the issue as the total symptom picture, but it would be nice if I could show him an inspiring story to encourage him. He dislikes the side effects of the meds (and taking the huge doses seems to take up quite a bit of precious time, esp. in the morning), so he would like to taper off but I think he is very afraid of having an asthma attack and might be reluctant for that reason.

[This message has been edited by CRA (edited 07 January 2001).]

Hi CRA,

There are many examples of asthma cases being significantly improved if not cured with homeopathy. Use of steroids makes things difficult, but not impossible in every case. Have you seen Will Taylor's website? It is accessible at
www.similibus.com. He has an article on treating patients who take allopathic medication--what can be done with homeopathy in such cases. I know he has written also about how asthma is treated allopathically lately, and how that has become a problem. Seems that steroids are not almost automatically administered as a first aid treatment--yet when he was in med school, he was taught that this was only to be used in severe chronic cases, as a closer-to-last resort. Anyway, I can't remember if this article is on his website--but I think I may still have a saved copy of it somewhere. Take a look at his site and if you can't find it there, email me so I can send you a copy of what I've got. That should provide you with some idea of what's involved, and give your husband some reasons to think about homeopathy.

Hope it helps!
Divina

Asthma all of a sudden on a camping trip is a key for Rhus Tox. Check that against his symptoms in a materia medica - especially if he got cold and damp on the trip.

Wow, that's uncanny -- he did start having trouble breathing the morning after we spent a cold, damp night in rather makeshift sleeping arrangements! I will be sure to check that out. Is there a place where I can get materia medica information online? Of course I wouldn't want to mess anything up by trying to treat him myself -- hoping to get him to a trained professional. But the Rhus Tox info is very interesting; thanks!

Hi Divina,

Thanks for that link. The article on treating through allopathic medicine is very, very interesting. Incidentally, what exactly is an LM potency? I wasn't able to find the other article, about the treatment of asthma with steroids. I will send you an email.

In my husband's case, he takes a "maintenance" drug by inhaler twice a day (the dosage he needs to breathe easily has been steadily increasing ) as well as a "rescue" inhaler for when he is having extra trouble. Needless to say all kinds of other problems have arisen; plus, the cost of his prescriptions has also risen steadily -- just one more reason to get him off the drugs. So your advice is very welcome. Thanks!

[This message has been edited by CRA (edited 07 January 2001).]

[This message has been edited by CRA (edited 08 January 2001).]

Hi CRA,

I'll send that information out to you asap. You can get scads of materia medica information online right here on homeopathyhome.com! Just go to the homeopathyhome.com site and click on Resources--then click on the "Books Online" link. You will find a list of many materia medica books--including Allen's encyclopedia and Boericke's materia medica--and also Kent's lectures on materia medica. Click on any of these to find a list of remedies, then find Rhus tox and give it a look.

I'll send off that article tomorrow morning cause I'm tired and need to sleep...sorry! Have a good night where you are...
Divina

Divina, thanks so much for the info. It looks pretty tasty!

I looked up Rhus tox and it didn't sound much like him -- especially all the stuff about stiff joints. He does tend to get back pain high up, between his shoulder blades, he tends to like hot showers and hates getting cold after bathing, but I wouldn't call those dominant characteristics of his. I usually think of him as a sulphur type (coarse straight hair, ruddy complexion, cheerful, overweight, untidy, intelligent, tends to hoard things, hates waking up in the morning, likes sour/spicy food and cold drinks), and sulphur is listed under rhus tox as an antidote. But then, the rhus tox info I was looking into didn't say anything about sudden asthma while cold and damp, either; probably I just don't know enough to match the symptoms up with the remedy.

He said that his lungs feel worst if he has to exert himself in cold, dry air, and he is helped by warmish, moist air (e.g. while swimming in a heated indoor pool). But I suppose some symptoms could be either caused or masked by the inhaler.



[This message has been edited by CRA (edited 09 January 2001).]

Many asthmatics get a lot better when they avoid all milk and its products ........but the idea of Rhus Tox here is fascinating hope it works

Well, that's interesting. He does dislike milk (unless it's chocolate flavored, but even then he drinks it very rarely), and was unable to drink milk at all as a baby because it upset his stomach. Hmmmm...

[This message has been edited by CRA (edited 09 January 2001).]

Another thing that is unusual about him is that he has terrible circulation in his legs, has a couple of bad veins, and his legs bruise very easily. He's always getting nasty big reddish-purplish bruises, about the size of a large coin, on his legs for no reason.

So... anyone care to say anymore about rhus tox one way or the other? One question I have is whether this is an acute or chronic condition (I think it's chronic, but I have a hard time knowing the difference sometimes ). Any and all comments are welcome.