Hi,

I'm a new member here and don't have much knowledge of homeopathy. I was treated long ago with homeopathic drops and seem to remember that "a little of what is similar cures the problem", I'd like to know please what, if any, effect taking a single drop of saccharine artificial sweetener in a cup of tea several times a day has on the system.

I know the obvious - that anything artificial isn't as good as what is natural, but I have binge eating disorder, am morbidly obese by *any* reckoning, and using artificial sweetener is one of the small concessions I am *able* to make in my quest not to gain even more weight. It has been recommended to me that if I only need one drop of sweetener, then I could probably do without it anyway - but for me it makes a big difference. Most of the sugar in my cups of tea (average about 9 in a day) comes anyway from the amount of milk that I use. I have almost as much milk as tea. And I do use full cream milk because I don't like the skinny stuff at all. (As I say, using artificial sweetener is one of the very few concessions I feel able to make)

Somewhere else in these forums, someone asked about binge eating and I noticed that at least one response said how it needed more intensive (psycho) therapy. I know that. I see an excellent psychiatrist, but the fears that generate my need to keep eating are ongoing. (They are related to childhood abuse.)

My only thought at present, however, is: if a drop or two of a homeopathic remedy works in one way on the system, could I expect single drops of sweetener, taken a number of times a day, also to have an effect?

Your feedback and advice would be gratefully received.

With thanks,

riehle

the only effects of a single drop of artificial sweetener would be in the domain of nutrition (or it's lack), and chemical effects.

by contrast, a single drop of a homeopathic remedy is actually much "smaller" than a drop of the original substance, because it is very greatly diluted: a common method of dilution has one drop of substance (you could actually start with your single drop of artificial sweetener) mixed into 100 drops of a neutral carrier, such as water or alcohol. so a single drop of this "first dilution" actually only has 1/100th the amount of substance as your original drop.

and then, one drop of that is put into another 100 drops of solution, and this process is repeated over and over. at the same time, the mixture is "succussed," or shaken, and this seems to further develop the energy in the dilution (no one knows how this works as yet, but think about shaking a can of pepsi, just to get the idea).

eventually, you reach a state of dilution in which you can barely, if at all, identify even a molecule of the original substance. yet the mixture retains a basic energy, and is very potent.

EDIT to add: in fact, if you find a good homeopath, who can find a good remedy for you, chances are that this form of therapy could help you with your problem, to an even greater degree than psychotherapy, and, as a therapist, i don't mean that as a put-down to psychotherapy!

i don't have the links, but if you're interested there are sites at which you can find basic introductory articles to better explain homeopathy. if so, please ask and i will look for the links later on today or tomorrow ... or someone else may have them handy.

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"The need to perform adjustments for covariates...weakens the findings." BMJ Clinical Evidence: Mental Health, (No. 11), p. 95.... It's that simple, guys: bad numbers make bad science.

Thank you for your help BWV11

I would welcome learning more about the effective ways that homeopathy can help someone as psychologically disturbed as I am. I am not *only* a binge eater. I also experience dissociation (and that may not be on the charts for homeopathy! There are traditional psychotherapists who don't believe in it, so I always question whether those who follow other, alternate means of healing are more open to such diverse (and genuine!) experience..

Best wishes,

riehle

hi riehle,

your more than welcome. here is a good site for starters:

http://www.demystify.com/

dissociative states are most certainly "real" ... and they are covered by a variety of remedies. but please keep in mind, that homeopathic remedies are not prescribed for a single symptom, but on the basis of best-match to the totality of your symptoms. finding that remedy is very difficult, requires a homeopath; but when that best-match is found, it will provide relief you might never have imagined.

good luck to you.

bach

__________________
"The need to perform adjustments for covariates...weakens the findings." BMJ Clinical Evidence: Mental Health, (No. 11), p. 95.... It's that simple, guys: bad numbers make bad science.

From the reading I have done on psychology and on eating disorders these are often related to a desire to render the body sexually unattractive.
Also , as one old homeopath said about addictions of all kinds ... they are an attempt to fill a psychological "black hole" with material substances.. in this case food.
The way out of this cul de sac lies in the area of personal development . I explored many things before I was led by Jung to the eastern philosophies of the TAOISM of Chuang Tzu and the I Ching.
There are many differing philosophies but if you keep ploughing through them you will find one that suits you and changes your life . I think you need more than homeopathy .

another perspective on addictions is to view the addiction as an attempt at self-medication. in fact, even philosophies, eastern, mystical, religious, or even materialistic, can have this element of self-medication: essentially, intellectualizing one's problems in an effort at control, escape, to compensate for real or imagined shortcomings ....

interpreting psychology is really as individual a matter as finding the right remedy. even the same interpretation, addressed to different patients, will be presented in a different context, similar to the way in which the same remedy may match two patients on the basis of differing totalities.

in any case, i agree with passkey - the search is vital. keep looking for a match, in therapy, philosophy, lifestyle, career, hobby .... there is a great deal out there that can help in the healing.

__________________
"The need to perform adjustments for covariates...weakens the findings." BMJ Clinical Evidence: Mental Health, (No. 11), p. 95.... It's that simple, guys: bad numbers make bad science.

hmmm, i think i need to back up a bit. there are many things indeed that can help in the healing, but with serious problems, the more intensive therapies are still the key: to me, this means homeopathy first, and intensive psychotherapy second, and possibly some "cleansing" routines - elimination of exciting and maintaining causes.

in the latter category, may be things like improper diet or mercury amalgam dental fillings: fix these, and health will be a few steps closer. if very stressful, for whatever reason, lifestyle factors may also be in this category.

philosophies, hobbies, and the like, however, are further down on the list. once one's system has healed sufficiently, then involvement on these levels may fuel a cycle of healing and growth. but past a certain hard to pin down threshhold, illness destroys the capacity for productive involvement in these spheres. which brings us back to elmination of exciting and maintaining causes, and intensive treatments, which can be long and very difficult, but worth the commitment. once functioning "well enough" again, you will naturally seek out productive and enjoyable activities, not for their contribution to healing, but simply out of joy of being.

__________________
"The need to perform adjustments for covariates...weakens the findings." BMJ Clinical Evidence: Mental Health, (No. 11), p. 95.... It's that simple, guys: bad numbers make bad science.