Dear Kevin,

As you know, treatment was administered for my son. He was given Sulphur 30C, 2 pellets 3x a day for four days. This low dosage was a concession to me since he had two previously bad experiences. I know that most homeopaths strongly suggest 200C however, we wanted to move more carefully. It turned out to be a good choice.

This is what transpired. On the first day - nothing. On the second and third day, all symptoms were completely manifested to a feverish pace. Specifically, non-stop talking, pacing and fideting. (I know that this is a good sign, but it seems that time stands still during this period). By the fourth day, these symptoms had subsided significantly - but not completely.

On the fifth day, I decided it was time to speak with the teacher in order to find out how school was this week. By this point, our imagination was way over the charts.

This is the school report: it has been the best week ever since the beginning of the term. In fact, he's done so well, he was assigned to help a few classmates with their classwork. My son was articulate, bright, very quiet, cooperative, etc. every day this week. It was the complete opposite from our experience at home.

At this point, we will take notice of any changes for the next four weeks.

Any suggestions? As always, I appreciate your input.

Dear Gail

I don't know whether you welcome responses from people other than Kevin, but it seems clear that you must wait and watch for the moment. There is nothing to be done while your son continues to improve.

Kind regards,
Anna

Dear Anna,

Yes, I do welcome advice from anyone. But, I addressed the message to Kevin because he had done the final analysis on my case.

I was wondering though, how long will it take until we see results? Thanks.

Gail,

It took about two months of steady improvements for my son. It wasn't the homeopathy alone that helped him to get better, it was our improved discipline methods with him. The more positive you can be toward helping him past these behaviors and the teacher, the more improvement you will see. What is holding my son back right now is his teachers attitude toward him and her continual negative feedback to him. For example...if he breaks a rule, his name goes on the board and if he has a good day he is supposed to get a sticker (positive reinforcement). I can tell you, she never forgets to have him put his name on the board but in the last three weeks he has got ONE sticker out of six or so good days. Keep up the continual communication with the teacher and encourage her to keep encourageing and praising your son's improvements, THIS will make a marked difference in his behavior for you as well.

Gail,

This sounds good.

I am a bit unclear what you mean by your observation that after the first days, his behavior at home got better, but not completely better. If you can, please tell more about how things are going.

You will have to hang onto your patience and wait and watch.

About when to repeat: the general rule is to repeat WHEN SYMPTOMS RETURN. So, you will probably ask, when do you know when the symptoms have returned...versus...a continuance of the "aggravation period"?? You can differentiate an aggravation by its subtle differences from the "normal" symptom picture. Something about it "feels" different, something about it seems remarkable. This can indeed be vague, but more often you can tell the difference, by the unusual degree of symptoms severity, for example. It sounds, from what you have reported, that there has been a remarkable worsening of the symptoms. For now, you can say this is an aggravation period, and watch and see what happens.

Alright, so, if you begin to notice that the original symptom picture and its usual "normal" displays return, then, it is often the time to repeat the remedy. When or will this happen? We don't yet know. It's the "wait and watch" thing, which can, as you say, be very annoying. Stick with it, though. Don't dose again, unless you are sure there is a return of the original symptom picture WITHOUT ANY REMARKABLE CHANGES (except maybe a reduction in severity...but let's wait to discuss that if and when it occurs).

You will have to get the input, also, from your local homeopath, as I've previously stated several times.

I would differ with your comment about "most homeopaths preferring the 200 potency" in this situation. Actually, in Part 1, i suggested that your local homepath consider the LM potencies, given that your son had such bad experiences with the 200 potencies other homeopaths had previously given him. 30c may be a fair compromise. I see no reason whatsoever for you to worry about the 30c being too low!!!! The LM's are usually gentler, and if your son has a sustained aggravation (even with the noteable improvements), you may yet want to consider the LM's.

Please keep posting, and let us know what your local homeopath is saying. Keep a detailed journal of your observations, because children are usually VERY responsive to homeopathic remedies, and your son may go through a rapid healing process. It is best to follow any and every change, as they unfold, so you don't get confused about what is happening.

Again, do NOT repeat remedy until some weeks have allowed the time to observe. If you feel the temptation to repeat, you may post your reasoning here and get some input. Alright?

The other poster here suggests another issue, and that is the idea of how much of a role "discipline" plays in the healing process. I say none at all. If you reread all of Part 1, you will see that I addressed this subject a number of times. In my opinion, a well and healthy child requires love from his or her parents, and, in the case of Sulphur children, quite a bit of attention. Even after your son has experienced the joy of healing through homeopathic simillimum, he will yet be, basically, a Sulphur child. He will be assertive and talkative (though not aggressive and hyper-talkative as he is now in the not-well state)... he will be stubborn (though not constantly aggressively so as he is now)... it will always be vital to him that others hear his point of view (but he won't be always shoving his viewpoint down ppl's throats as he tends to do now)... he may prefer disorder to orderliness (but these things change as the Sulphur child grows up, and are only a development of his character, not necessarily any symptomatology)... and so on.
In general, I believe you CANNOT discipline a mental symptom to go away. Parents usually EVENTUALLY learn this point, and most parents, therefore, begin to use suppressive allopathic drugs to "control" their "hyperactive" children. Gail, I believe, from our extensive previous discussions in Part 1 of your son's case, that you take the position of wanting to heal him...or else you wouldn't yet be here. I am writing out a synopsis of my believes about "discipline" here mostly in response to the other poster's comments...and for purposes of other ppl who may be reading this thread with the hopes of using homeopathy for betterment of health. There is, as you probably already have discovered, tremendous pressures to use mind-suppressive drugs in these children. It is shocking the numbers of grammar and high school class children who are taking prescriptions such as Ritalin for their "hyperactivity". I will venture to state that many many ppl on this discussion forum are commending you for expending your time and energies to search for healing answers for your son.

So, having said all of that, I will only add that one IMPROVEMENT you can look for on the homefront in regard to your son's behavior is that, EEVEN THOUGH HE MAY YET BE ACTING UP, you will begin to see that when you instruct him or need to chastise him, HE WILL BE QUICKER TO LISTEN TO YOU AND WILL MORE READILY ATTEND TO YOUR COMMANDS. Understand that he may always DISPLAY an unhappiniess or disgruntledness in being told what to do by mom and dad at home, but the improvement will be that he WILL listen to you much more readily than before. It may take weeks or some months for you and your spouse to see this pattern of improvement. Remember always, that Sulphur people do NOT generally like being told what to do...but you can see the difference, over time, between the state where your son cannot choose disobedience (mental symptom is when the child's behavior is beyond that child's choice or control; he MUST act in this unbalanced disruptive manner)...versus... where he is simply disgruntled at being told what to do.

Looking forward to your further replies!!!!

[This message has been edited by kevin seymour (edited 24 January 2000).]

Excellent evaluation as usual Kevin. Thanks on behalf of all of us that follow the threads you answer. I like your common sense approach.

While on the subject on returning symptoms, A person was given a remedy, which he took for a month, he felt he was cured, but the symptoms returned, is it a good idea, to give one dose same remedy in higher dose. He was told to stop taking the remedy soon as he felt he almost cured, but he didn't he kept on taking the remedy , he was taking C remedy, when his bottle finished after a month, he started taking X remedy.

Dear Kevin,

It's nice to hear from you again.

I want to clarify a point about parental decipline, which is often mentioned. We don't have a decipline/defiant problem with my son. Fortunately, he doesn't exhibit any anger. His personality type (as you described) is strong willed. We don't have a need nor do I believe in the "reward" system that works for many parents.

Regarding his status: (1) school: as you may recall, he is in an advanced program in a private school. I spoke to the teacher because the work was becoming too easy for him. Once the more challenging work was offered his behavior improved significantly. We're certain that much of the fidgeting, etc., was due to boredom. Also, we continue to provide interesting challenges i.e., he made his first monster model, Wolfman.

(2) Home - he continues to talk excessively, he is still strong willed and fidgets. We hope that over time these will moderate with help from homeopathy and maturity. We are very patient. Also, we accept that these traits are a big part of his personality.

Overall, there are improvements but we would like to see more. Also, even though he eats well, I've made changes. This includes less spaghetios and syrupy food. He doesn't seem to be missing them. (Homepathy must be working).

February is a very busy, hectic, exciting month. Many things coming up. I will keep you informed of any changes, improvements, etc.

Best regards.


[This message has been edited by Gail-K (edited 25 January 2000).]

Great, Gail!!

Alright, so, you will re-evaluate in 2-4 weeks AFTER the dosing, yes? As long as you continue to see improvement (including stability of an improved state, e.g., he isn't so much craving the syrupy stuff, and, perhaps, greater behavioral and concentration improvements upon receiving increasing challenges[?]....) wait. If you feel he has plateaued, then can begin to re-evaluate and consider giving another dose. If, at any point, there is any tremedous change in his picture, you will need to report this.


To Gary: You do NOT automatically go up in potency. If a particular potency is working, and the "consitutional picture" is still embraced by that same remedy, then you first repeat the same potency. In other words, exhaust the potency you are currently using BEFORE moving to another potency.

To Ricky: Thank you. I appreciate your greetings!!!!

[This message has been edited by kevin seymour (edited 27 January 2000).]

Dear Kevin,

Glad to hear from you. So far February has been a busy month. Last week was my son's 7th birthday. Everything went very well, birthday party and all. We have one more hurdle to get through, school vacation.

However, I am happy to report that up to now there seems to be an improvement. This is confirmed by his teachers. As always, he continues to love school. Recently, I campaigned for more challenging work. This seemed to really inspire him. Unfortunately, it didn't make some parents too happy (so be it, too bad).

The talking and fidgeting still continues, but to a lesser degree. He doesn't appear to be as nervous.

Regarding food: he has been asking for eggs almost every morning. This is a change from the syrupy foods. Also, does not ask for spaghettios. Instead, he's been asking for a good hearty bowl of soup.

We're still trying to get him to play solo, without our involvement. We take this in small steps. Overall, we believe there have been improvements.

Btw, would you have the time to look at the case posted "need second opinion for ADHD child"? It's posted under Cynthia. We had been in touch through e-mail and she really needs some great advice from this forum. Up to now, there hasn't been a response from the homeopaths. I've mentioned my case to her as a reference guide. Thanks.

I'll let you know how things went after our vacation. My son often gets very nervous during our vacations, we hope it will be different this year. We have many activities planned. Will be in touch. Regards.