Do you believe that homeopathy works?

[*MamaJen*]

What do you think, and why?

ETA: Can someone tell me how to edit typos in a poll?

[MountainMamaGC]

I wasnt sure at first. I must admit when my DD passed out sleeping after taking teething tablets I was quite impressed. In the back of my mind i was thinking its a coincidence. I was a chemist before becoming a SAHM so i was skeptical. Then there was a lot of coincidences and she is a baby so i mean how can this be a placebo effect? Then when my wisdom teeth were bugging me I jokingly took some teething tablets. Wouldnt you know it, the irritation in my teeth/gums stopped. I totally believe they work. I also think that there is something to the enery imprint in the water theory and giving your body a clue as to what its fighting. Just because you cant prove how it works doesnt mean its doesnt work. Like my husband says, you cant argue with results.

[barefoot mama]

When appropriately prescribed, homeopathy works absolute miracles.

I have been witness to hundreds of cured cases, both for acute problems and chronic conditions, including things western medicine has no treatment for.

[lablover]

I believe it does. DD has been seeing a homeopath for over a year. Lots of acute issues have gotten better with remedies. Of course I would always wonder, was it a coincidence, is she just naturally improving, etc. But there are two specific instances there is no question that the homeopathic remedy worked. One was when she had a fever and it climbed to almost 104 in the evening. She had become extremely cranky, flushed, wouldn't eat, really miserable. After calling the homeopath and giving the right remedy a certain way (we tried another remedy prior with no results), an hour later her temp was down to 100 and she was acting normal and eating. The other time was just last month when she woke up in the middle of the night with bad croup, really gasping for air. She tends to get croup due to allergies 2 or 3 times a year. After the remedy she was breathing normally within 45 minutes and didn't make a sound the rest of the night. There have been other instances where I'm pretty sure the remedy worked but I can't prove it. Now constitutionally, we have yet to see results for her chronic conditions.

[Llyra]

I'm not a believer, no. Of course, I can't argue with other people's experiences. But I'm a hard nut to crack; I don't believe in much that I can't see, touch, and reason through. Homeopathy doesn't make sense to me.

[Periwinkle]

Nope. Modern day snake oil.

[belltree]

Nope, for three reasons - a) it never worked for me, b) it just doesn't make sense to me and c) none of the arguments have been able to convince, that it works above the placebo effect.

However, I am a firm believer, that modern medicine needs to understand and implement the placebo effect much better, than it has done so far.

[thtr4me]

Woohoo, my first post!

I was very skeptical about homeopathics when I first heard about them. I now find that a few of the remedies have worked for me, and some have not. We LOVE the teething tablets, and could not have made it through teething without them. They really seemed to help. The other big one for me is the blader irritation remedy. I deal with chronic bladder infections, and was so tired of going on antibiotics, and occassionally having to switch when one stopped working. I tried the homeopathic bladder irritation remedy out of desperation, and was shocked when the pain stopped within an hour. After two infections in a row that antibiotics failed to help, I used the bladder irritation along with cranberry tablets, and was better in just a few days. I have also found that a little arnica cream seems to work wonders on my DS's many bumps and bruises, and ones we treat heal much quicker than ones we don't (also useful to reduce swelling when he will not tolerate an ice pack). So while I remain skeptical, I have found a couple that really do seem to work, and am open to at least trying them.

[KatWrangler]

I don't know for sure, but I am leaning, No.

[Amylcd]

It has never worked for me.

[k9sarchik]

Yes, it has worked for everyone in my family including my dog.

If homeopathy doesn't work....its the wrong remedy. You know you have the right remedy when it works pretty quickly.

[4evermom]

Originally Posted by Llyra

I'm not a believer, no. Of course, I can't argue with other people's experiences. But I'm a hard nut to crack; I don't believe in much that I can't see, touch, and reason through. Homeopathy doesn't make sense to me.

Same here. Took some stuff to make the midwife happy. No results except to boost her confidence, lol.

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by barefoot mama

When appropriately prescribed, homeopathy works absolute miracles.

:
That's my opinion, anyway.

[muttix2]

I completely believe in it. I always turn to homeopathy first and it always works. For me, saying "do you believe in homeopathy" is like asking a more mainstream person "do you believe in medicinal drugs". Absolutely and without doubt. Of course I still research to see any possible side effects like I do with any herb or homeopathic.

[OGirlieMama]

Originally Posted by Llyra

I'm not a believer, no. Of course, I can't argue with other people's experiences. But I'm a hard nut to crack; I don't believe in much that I can't see, touch, and reason through. Homeopathy doesn't make sense to me.

Same here. I did try teething tablets when I was beyond desperate with my twins, and they didn't do a darn thing. I would've been thrilled to be proven wrong at that point and would've become a true believer had they helped!

[FrannieP]

Originally Posted by k9sarchik

Yes, it has worked for everyone in my family including my dog.

If homeopathy doesn't work....its the wrong remedy. You know you have the right remedy when it works pretty quickly.

Ditto!

[barefoot mama]

About homeopathy:

It won't work if it isn't the right remedy. It isn't as simple as "I have a headache, so I'm going to take "x" remedy", or "My baby is teething, so I will give "y" remedy". Sometimes you can luck out and get the right remedy that way, but most of the time, you have to look at each case individually. The symptoms that are unique to you are the ones that will point to the remedy, and there are thousands to choose from.

Homeopathy works 100% of the time, when correctly prescribed. Sometimes the wrong remedy or wrong potency is chosen, but if you have a good homeopath, that shouldn't happen very often. And they should be willing to look at that and correct it if possible.

I truly do not know how people raise children without homeopathy. (That one is my own personal opinion )

[pixiepunk]

i know it works, it has worked for me and for members of my family. my old pedi (only our old pedi because we had to move, she was amazing) was also schooled in homeopathy. she was an excellent medical doctor and prescribed homeopathy when it was indicated rather than whipping out the prescription pad for every stupid little thing.

the thing you have to remember about it, especially the combinations that are popular like the teething tablets and a lot of hyland's combinations, is that using a combination remedy is sort of like taking Nytol for a headache. it might work on your headache, but there's so much other stuff and not enough of what would attack your headache,so it might not really work at all. and for a headache and you want an OTC remedy just take a tylenol or whatever. it's the same with the homepathic multi remedies. you're throwing a half-dozen different remedies at a symptom to see if any of them help, when it would be better to identify the symptom and treat it directly without the other remedies interfering. alot of people don't have success with combination formulas. that doesn't mean homeopathy doesn't work, it means people don't know how to use it.

ETA - as for not believing what you can't 'see' or directly account for... sometimes things just work. whether you believe, for example, that acupuncture works because it clears energy channels in the body, western studies have now conclusively shown that acupuncture works for a lot of ailments. 20 years ago acupuncture was your 'snake oil'. the same is true of yoga. whether you believe the yogic reasons behind why it works, there is no escaping the reality that it makes people feel better and that it improves health and well-being. just because the explanation of how something works doesn't jive with how you think doesn't mean the explanation is bogus or that it isn't real.

[Porcelain Interior]

Where's the sometimes option?

The truth is it doesn't always work, neither does standard medical care.

I use both, preferring a natural option first.

[belltree]

Originally Posted by k9sarchik

If homeopathy doesn't work....its the wrong remedy. You know you have the right remedy when it works pretty quickly.

I don't know - I was seeing a homeopath for years when I was a teenager, other people loved her, it never did me any good. Animals and babies can be influenced by placebo as well.