I am a 33 year old woman who suffered very mild facial acne from 15 to 18. for the last 10 years, my skins has been wonderfully clear.
At the beginning of March 2001 I took a 'cure' for the vocal chords, which included cortisone via aerosol, and alternate B12 and amoxaphine injections. After 10 days of this, I suddenly got a series of raised white heads in a ring on my throat and round the hairline on the right side of my face. The skin of my whole body flushed hot, itched like mad and was very dry.

After seeing 2 dermatologists, one of whom mentioned ovarian cysts, and the other who defined it as a 'medication acne' I was prescribed topical benzin peroxide and oral tetracycline - which I didn't use. After 2 weeks after the outbreak I went to a homeopath used and lauded by many friends of mine.

He said that the problem was psoric,(this is a particularly stressful time for me) rather than intoxication and gave me sulfur 30ch, 3 granules a day for 40 days and ignatia xmk, 10 drops in water every 10 days for 40 days. He told me to use calendula soap.

After 40 days, things were much better. The heat had gone, the itching was much diminished. He told me to take beer yeast every day, continue with the sulfur and take pulsatilla xmk, 10 drops in water every 7 days for 2 months.

3 weeks have now passed and the spots have got much worse - they are now recognisably acne like. I have had the most terrible mood swings - even suicidal and I have noticed some mild uterine cramps.

I don't know what to do. I don't want to give up on homeopathy but my patience is wearing thin and I'm considering taking the pill to sort things out.

Has anyone any comments?

Holy ****!! Are you saying you have been taking sulpher 30C for over forty days now - every day?? I am just a student yet so wait until you hear from a homeopath on this board but my initial advise would be to stop taking the remedies immediatly. The fact that the problem did subside for a bit is encouraging - when did it begin to subside, how long after treatment was started? When did it begin again? Ypu may now be proving the remdedy or remedies and need to stop taking them to let your system clear things out. The rule of homeopathy is that once a remedy begins to work or aggravates YOU STOP TAKING THE REMEDY - UNTIL INDICATED AGAIN

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Man, do not pride yourself on your superiority to animals. For they are without sin and you in your greatness defile the earth by your appearance on it and leave traces of you foulness after you. Dostoyevsky

I am just backing up what the others have said. One dose of one remedy only is all you should have been given. You are probably proving the remedies. Pease stop taking them at once and lets hope that your symptoms will subside.

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RSHom - Registered Homeopath

Thanks for the response.

I shall see this homeopath one more time at the end of the week to discuss his remedy. From what I've read of homeopathy (Kent's lectures)I too have wondered if I've been proving. However, the heat has gone and overall my skin is much stronger. However, since this homeopath is so highly considered among my friends and he has cleared their problems, I don't want to desert him yet. I also feel it is a big mistake to chop and change doctors - the treatment chops and changes and anxiety gets worse.

Kath

It isn't a mistake to just stop and change doctors--it is actually a wise idea in many instances, particularly when the methods being used are harmful. Yes, your practitioner may be highly recommended by people but he/she's not a homeopath. Sounds like a naturopath who's had a quickie course on how to incorporate some potentised substances into his/her practice, to use just like herbs, nutrition, and other allopathic medicines. Just so you know, sulphur is one of the most overused medicines in the homeopathic materia medica, and it should not be prescribed willy nilly just because someone has non-descript skin symptoms. It should definitely never be prescribed in a dosage routine which amounts to 40 consecutive doses of what a homeopath would only prescribe (after great methodical analysis) once.

Unfortunately, if you want to get better with homeoapthy, you have to find someone who practices homeopathy properly: that means minimum dose of the remedy which most resembles YOUR case (not everyone who's had kinda the same acne you've got--believe me, there's a big difference). Potentised substances only become homeopathic remedies when they are prescribed and monitored homeopathically, and not routinely, as was done in your case. So, I would strongly advise you seek out a classical homepath near you, as it would be far safer.

Divina

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...and deliverance has many faces<br />but grace<br />is an aquaintance of mine

I've stopped taking the remedies from yesterday.

Let's hope things improve!!

Kath

Does everyone else get as sick of hearing this sort of stuff as I do? I see it everywhere...ill-trained, lazy, careless prescribers!! And worse, so-called homoeopaths who obviously don't really believe in the power of homoeopathy, and treat their patients like an allopath would.

Jelly-bean, there is something you must understand about Direction of Cure. A disease moves inward, destroying more important parts of you as it gets worse. When a homoeopath attempts to cure you, the disease should move outwards, with more important areas getting better while things like the skin aggravate.

What this person has done is drive your disease further inward, creating or promoting suicidal feelings. That is almost as bad as a practitioner can do to you. If he continues to treat you, then expect the worst.

This person is dangerous, and either he has your friends fooled into thinking its ok to get more emotionally disturbed as long as your skin looks alright, or he has it in for you personally.

Do your friends talk about feeling better in themselves, calmer, more centred, more compassionate, more loving, stronger? Do they need only a few widely spaced treatments to maintain their health?(once every couple of months). Do most of their symptoms clear up without needing to keep repeating remedies over and over?

If not, then they are probably as much a victim as you have been.

Sorry for the strong words, but this gets me really upset, and gives the rest of us a bad name.

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David Kempson.<br />Dip.Homoeopathic Medicine.<br />Lecturer Australian College of Natural Therapies (Brisbane Campus)<br />Member AHA, AROH, HMA<br />Member Australian Homoeopathic Association. Member#0442.

Succinctly put, David. This message needs to be put in strong, accurate words more often.

Divina

[ 29 May 2001: Message edited by: Divina ]

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...and deliverance has many faces<br />but grace<br />is an aquaintance of mine

Thank you for the interest. I have been off medication for 4 days now and although there are no signs of real improvement, things are not getting worse either. Although I am having doubts about my homeopath's cure - or what he actually he is trying to cure - I can assure you that he has his patients' best interests at heart. Comments such as him having it in for me personally are downright ridiculous.

I'm English but I live in Naples, Italy. Unfortunately, asking around, it appears that most 'homeopaths' repeat dosages here. Finding a real homeopath appears to be impossible.

In any case, what do you regard as the minimal dose - 3 granules of sulfur 30c? What can anticote it - and what can antidote Pulsatilla XMK?

I would be interested to know what the board would have done with my case.