My 8mo old baby has recurring bouts of impetigo and eczema. The history of how this has been dealt with is very complicated, but he has had constitutional homeopathic treatment (badly managed), energetic medicine treaments (NMT) which were very successful, but we weren't able to afford to complete the treatment.

He still has relatively small outbreaks which I know would probably be cured with maybe one or two more doses of an appropriate homeopathic remedy, but I can't afford homeopathic care right now. I'm using Florasone cream (10% cardiospermum tincture and potentized cardiospermum) and Chinese pearl powder cream. I know that I'm probably causing problems by suppressing the rash in this way, but I don't know what else to do at this point since I'm on my own. I have too much respect for the power of homeopathic remedies to attempt to prescribe anything myself as this is a very deep problem.

So, based on your understanding of the healing process, how badly could I be hurting him by applying creams? Is what I'm doing less damaging than using hydrocoritizone? (which I would never do).

If I were to type up all the details of his medical history based on one of the questionairs on this forum, would anyone here be willing to help me with a prescription and in figuring out the potency and method of delivery? I know that it's not a good way to prescribe medicine, but I do have some years of experience myself and have a pretty good idea of how to assess a case. I do need help though. I won't touch this without some advice. I feel that he is so close to being free of this if we could just dose him one more time. I wish I could afford a consultation, but I can't.

I totally understand if no one feels they want to touch this, but I would really appreciate it if someone would try.

Jamesina,

Suppression is suppression - no matter whether it's from an antibiotic, steroid or 'homeopathic cream'. You're better off using something like aqueous cream to soothe the baby when the eczema flares up - rather than suppressive creams.

The impetigo is a different scenario from eczema.

My daughter had it a few years ago - and we were in a situation where we had to use something suppressive or risk losing airtickets for the whole family. She was literally covered in impetigo -- it had spread over her during the previous two weeks - to a point where she couldn't really go out because she was oozing all over everything. Up to that point we were cleaning the open sores with saline solution - trying to keep them dry/uncovered during the day (only covered at night to try to stop it from spreading). We used one remedy which helped initially, but another remedy was then indicated which we didn't have. And it didn't arrive in time for our trip.

The suppressive treatment we used is something I regret to this day because she ended up having so much trouble with her case over the next year. We didn't use steroids -- she had a short course of antibiotics. It not only suppressed the impetigo - but it compromised her immune system. And for a good while, she had no clear signs or symptoms to confidently prescribe on. I share this only as a very real caution.

In my opinon - and from my experience with this incident with my daughter -- there is no situation that warrants the use of suppressive measures with something like impetigo. I realised from this experience, if one of us comes down with something like impetigo again-- we just have to alter life until the disease is under control - or managed - then cured with homeopathy. The consequences of using suppressive measures - even as a 'temporary' measure ---- just wasn't worth it. It's easy to look back now, but my daughter paid the price for the decision we made at the time. And I carry the responsibility for this and the consequent guilt to this day.

You will need to consider that if people do jump in with advice on this board (or any bulletin board) -- you will get several differing opinions. Then you're faced with choosing who's giving the best advice - who knows what they are doing. And then - who do you listen to for management as the case unfolds, etc? Because it most likely won't be a matter of one remedy/one dose and it's all fixed.

Is there no homeopath you can go see in person? If not, perhaps you'd consider consulting someone online who's had sound training and experience. Perhaps one of them will work out an affordable fee for you.

Best of luck,
Lisa

Dear jamesina
all in agreement with previous post by 'LisaAnnan",take her advice.
Yes that is correct suppression is the worst,for proper healing to happen.
To see a classical hom. is your best bet perhaps we can find you a hom. clinic?
Where is WA? Washington usa,or west Australia?
Perhaps a link on line for this mothers help.............try
www.homeopathic.org
Anyone else...........?

Was the baby vaccinated?
If so this a adverse effect from the vaccine
This also must be addressed.

Gina Tyler

with all Lisa has said.
If I can help would be happy to do so but others may be better
able to deal with it, see what offer you get.

The closest classical homeopath here is about 2 hours away. The homeopath we saw a few months ago is three hours away and I was not happy with her approach. We really cannot afford another consultation as we have already spent about $900 treating this.

Gina, no he was not vaccinated. He did recieve antibiotics though right before his homeopathic treatment which I will regret until my dying day. He's had nothing but trouble since.

Lisa, he actually has eczema which sometimes becomes infected with staff, impetigo right? Your experience sounds similar to mine. His impetigo was all over his body and just dripping, especially on his face. He looked monsterous. I now have this terrible and irrational fear associated with outbreaks because this has been so horrifying. Even small outbreaks give me anxiety attacks. Also, my husband doesn't understand natural healing, and he gets very angry with me if I don't try to control the outbreaks with topicals. So that's why I've been using them against my better judgement.

passkey, if you're willing to take a look at his history, I would be very happy to type it up. It would probably be quite time consuming, so I won't try it unless someone is willing to try to help.

Thanks for your replies!

hi i take it WA does not mean Washington state usa? If by any chance it is there is a free clinic in your state called Bastyr university .
In australia not too many homeopaths................

Gina Tyler

Actually, I am in Washington state, about 3 hours from Seattle. I did not know that Bastyr had a free clinic. That's interesting. But my ND was trained at Bastyr and her homeopathic knowlege is quite limited. She tends to use a lot of combo remedies and prescribes singles in a very cavalier fashion with little to no instruction on how to use them properly.

Are all Bastyr trained ND's that limited or are there some who specialize in homeopathy?

I'm thinking of repeating the last remedy given to him. I gave him Hepar Sulf 10x over two weeks ago for the end stages of croup. He responded relatively well given the fact that I gave him two doses in two days in large amounts after foolishly reading and following the instructions on the vial. He did have a pretty bad aggravation of his impetigo for about three days, but both the cough and the rash cleared completely within one week of receiving the dose. About a day after the rash was completely gone, he began to break out again in nearly the same fashion. He is still free of the cough, but his nose is now stuffy, the rash is back, and he sometimes has puffyness around his eyes and pulls at his ears. He itches his scalp and pulls his hair and has a very sweaty head. He's also very pale and slightly yellowish.

If I repeat the remedy, I will use the split dose method in water solution recommended by David Little. I think he will respond much better that way.

Any thoughts on this? Might there be a better remedy to follow Hepar given his symptoms? I would so much rather consult a homeopath about this, but I really feel quite sure now after many days of study about my remedy choice. I'll hold off until I get some more feedback though.

Thanks for all your thoughts!

Jamesina,

You're saying his eczema seems to get infected ("with impetigo"). We don't really work with 'disease names' as such. We take the symptoms -- weigh them up -- and analyse what's going on. You'd really need to post his case for anyone to tell what's really going on. In other words, we wouldn't diagnose 'impetigo' - instead we would ascertain the type of rash he gets -- where he gets it -- we'd look to find out what seems to bring it on/out -- and look for the modalities (what makes it better, worse, etc).

If you're wanting help with his case - please for the love of this child do not give him anymore remedies without the proper support/help/guidance of a qualified homeopath. Otherwise you'll end up mixing up his case. You could be lucky and just happen to get it right - but it's rare that that happens and not worth the risk. Wrongly given homeopathic remedies can also be suppressive. Then you're left with uncertainty ...an unclear pattern of symptoms and possibly a sicker child.

Be glad he's breaking out in the rash again -- it means the symptoms haven't changed completely or been successfully suppressed. Any good homeopath should be able to work out what he needs now. And the follow up is VERY important so you can get to the root of the problem (his susceptibility to this).

With my daughter's case it was so 'successfully' suppressed (from a mere 4 doses of antibiotics!!; Amoxicillin 250mg twice a day for 2 days) that she never broke out with impetigo again. Not once since.

I will tell you that, shortly after giving her those 4 doses, and arriving at our destination - we were thinking we'd see an outcrop of the rash again. My thought was 'surely' 4 doses of an antibiotic couldn't successfully suppress what was SUCH A HORRIBLE outcrop! Boy was I wrong!! I really thought that's what would happen...but unfortunately, it didn't..and my child was left with a very mucked up case which my homeopath (God bless her) had to untangle over the next few months. The worst part is that my daughter is the one who suffered because of my haste.

If you want help - post his full case. Don't try hepar sulph again without finding out if it is indeed the indicated remedy right now (indicated by his current set of symptoms).

I personally will not prescribe online (perhaps rarely for an acute/injury in an emergency). Perhaps passkey will help you - he's indicated so above. Maybe Gina will have time to work with Passkey on it? I can recommend Hans Weitbrecht who is a sound prescriber - very skillful - and to my understanding he will assess a case before agreeing to take it on (privately) online. I don't know about Hans fees offhand, but one can always email him and ask if he will work with you. Gina mentioned Bastyr -- I don't personally know much about Bastyr -- about the training there - how sound it is or might not be. Maybe Gina can tell you more about them.

You have an opportunity to get the baby sorted out. Please don't step in my shoes and make similar mistakes that I made. By that, I mean 'trying' a remedy that you think might help. I have every sympathy for your situation and hope things will be resolved soon.
Best wishes,
Lisa

__________________
"The significance of a fact is measured by the capacity of the observer."
Carroll Dunham

Dear jamesina
you are correct they are not classical trained homeopaths at Bastyr.
All forms of alternative meds are taught there,its a school with students. This is why perhaps the botched up method of homeopathy,one must look for one of the classical homeopathic teachers,then i'm sure you can get somewhere.
When you dont have funds this is the end of your rope...a clinic....with students .
An internet online discussion about this remedy and that remedy is not good for your babies healing,my first casetaking is 2hrs long even for seeing a baby. How can this be done here on the forum?
Here is a name i found via the National center for Homeopathy directory;
www.homeopathic.org
judith Reichenberg-Ullman
425-774-5599
or her husband
Robert Ullman
nw center for homeopathic medicine
131 3rd ave N Edmonds washington
Give them a call perhaps fee's can be paid in some other way.
Gina TYler

I actually called the Ullman's office once. The fees are very high, though not unusual for the area.

Lisa, I realize he needs the care of a homeopath. I know I don't have the knowlege of a trained homeopath. But I have been studying and prescribing for my family for 15 years, so I'm not completely in the dark. What would you do in my situation? My husband absolutely forbids me to spend any more money on alternative healthcare. But my child desperately needs help for his immune system. He gets sick constantly and my constant fear is that the next illness won't be a simple cough or cold but something much more serious.

I do understand the basic principles of homeopathic prescribing, Herings law of cure, the totality of the symptoms, etc. I don't give a remedy before very carefully studying for days using several repertories and materia medicas . I never give a remedy on a whim. And I watch his reaction to the remedy very carefully in an attempt to assess whether it reflects that I've made the best choice, only a partial similimum, or the incorrect remedy. I know how to antidote in a worste case scenario. I have made my share of mistakes and have learned a great deal. I have the deepest respect for the power of the remedies.

I checked Hans' websight. I don't know how to convert Euros to dollars, but his fees for an online consult seem similar to the homeopath we saw in Seattle. Otherwise I believe I would trust him to help me, he seems very knowlegeable.

I have not dosed him yet. I believe I will go ahead and post his history however long it takes and see if anyone wants to make a suggestion. I will not treat this as a true homeopathic consultation, but getting input from a trained homeopath would be better than nothing at all. My only other choice is to go to his PCP who will just tell me to put hydrocortizone and antibiotics on it. That's not health care at all in my opinion as it does nothing but harm. And as far as the weak immune system, he'll either tell me it's normal or put the poor guy through a bunch of invasive tests that will tell me what I already know, his immune system is weak.

And about putting a name on an illness, I realize you need no name for the illness in order to repertorize the symptoms. I'm just used to naming it since most people only understand illness from that perspective. Also, my repertory has rubrics with disease names which are sometimes very helpful to me. The rubric for "impetigo" helped lead me to the remedy I am currently considering.

Thank you!