Arnica to treat anaphylaxis? - Page 2

[Panserbjorne]

no, and I said specifically in my OP that it wasn't a remedy for anaphylaxis. The way that homeopathy works (unless it's in an acute illness that is following a particular pattern like chicken pox, a particular strain of flu etc) is to support the individual in their specific responses. A study cannot exist when conducted by mainstream protocols to evaluate this.

For instance, there are a hundred or so remedies that are excellent for improving/regulating thyroid function. Calc carb is only going to work for you if you fit that picture with those symptoms. Your sister may need kali carb. You neighbor, kali iodatum. This is a modality that address the person, not the disease.

Now the way that repertories are built is that case studies confirm the actions of certain remedies. If I look up anaphylaxis in my repertory several remedies are listed. That doesn't mean that they'll work for you. That means that if the response fits the picture then they may. Again, you can't treat based on a single symptom.

There are case studies of individuals, but there are no trials with specific remedies as there are no remedies for *anaphylaxis.* There are remedies for people who experience it. Once again, I wouldn't use them in an acute situation which is what seems to be getting missed here. No one has suggested that a remedy should ever be used instead of emergency medicine in an emergency situation.

[CorasMama]

No, you did say that it was untrue that "There is no homeopathic remedy that will stop an anaphalatic reaction." By which you are saying that there IS such a homeopathic remedy.

[Panserbjorne]

Originally Posted by CorasMama

No, you did say that it was untrue that "There is no homeopathic remedy that will stop an anaphalatic reaction." By which you are saying that there IS such a homeopathic remedy.

those two sentences are not the same. a basic understanding of homeopathic medicine would tell you that there is no "remedy" for any condition. that's not how it works. so while there is no "remedy" for indigestion, there are many remedies that work beautifully when they are well matched.

[4Blessings]

Originally Posted by Alison's Mom

Both my kids have potentially life threatening allergies and carry epipens. I know a classical homeopath who said arnica pellets (to be ingested via under tongue) would reverse a serious allergic reaction. Anyone else heard this or have experience with using arnica in addition to / instead of antihistimines or epinephrine?

I'm curious as to why you are looking for an alternative treatment to epinephrine? It just seems like such a no-brainer to me to reach for the epi-pen if my child is experiencing anaphylaxis. Enlighten me

[changingseasons]

Originally Posted by 4Blessings

I'm curious as to why you are looking for an alternative treatment to epinephrine? It just seems like such a no-brainer to me to reach for the epi-pen if my child is experiencing anaphylaxis. Enlighten me

She's not. If you read the whole thread, you'll see that.

[FAmom]

http://www.romanreign.com/how_to_sur...axis_shock.htm

I saw the topic of this thread the other day, and it concerned me. So, I did a little googling, and found the above link. It is a pretty detailed account of a person's experience with anaphylaxis, including mention of arnica, and how it factors into their treatment regimen.

[Panserbjorne]

In that instance the arnica is being used for the emotional/mental component more than anything *unless* physical damage (like contusions) were sustained during the event. It is excellent for shock and trauma. This isn't really for the physical affects of anaphylaxis-there are better remedies for that.

Regardless that's not part of treatment....it's cleaning up afterwards. That makes more sense.

[sbgrace]

Originally Posted by changingseasons

But both of those things happening at the same time DOES = an anaphylactic reaction. Not all anaphylactic reactions will lead to system shut-down and death. That's why it's important not to apply rules to all allergic people- you need to know your own (or your child's) history and base your decisions on that (plus current symptoms.)





I think the point is to use the alternative medicine to slow/stop symptoms before it turns into full-blown anaphylaxis (anaphylactic shock.) Again, if your child's history shows that they go into full anaphylaxis in less than a minute, you don't have that time to mess around with other treatments. But if they take 10 minutes to reach that state? Maybe giving alternative meds ONE minute to halt symptoms is worth a try. It's a judgment call.

The OP states that the homeopath told her that it could "reverse a serious allergic reaction", NOT that it would reverse a state of anaphylactic shock. So before we continue jumping down others' throats, let's just get that clarified.

My son is anphylactic.
I just want to clear up a couple of things because I think it's important for people to know.

Your previous reactions (severity, time frame, start and escalation, symptoms, etc.) have no predictive value for future reactions. My son's most severe anaphylaxis started with hives within maybe 5 minutes of ingestion of trace amounts of his allergen. I treated them like we had treated hive reactions in the past and we went on. The hives continued. He complained of a "rock in his throat" maybe 15 minutes later. I eventually put him to bed because anaphylaxis didn't register. He was in anaphlaxis but I was unaware. He survived that. He seemed better. He went to sleep. He woke up vomiting, diarrhea, completely swollen everywhere, hives again, pale, etc. about two hours later. I feel very fortunate he survived the biphasic/secondary reaction.

My point is this--that was a drawn out sequence but his next anaphylaxis could be directly to shock and death. Also, research has shown that even a brief delay in epi pen administration leads to an increased risk of death. Most those who die in anaphylaxis did get an epi pen. They just got it too late to reverse the cascade.

For that reason no respected allergist would advise a person to delay an epi and try something else given help is on the way. In fact, you give an epi before you even call an ambulance. The timing matters a lot.

Further, as in my son reaction can go away and then go biphasic (more deadly, often the blood pressure drops) two hours later. So a person is to give an epi pen, call an ambulance, and remain in the ER for I think it's two hours but it may be more to watch for that secondary reaction. So I would worry that even if a child appeared to respond to a treatment you would still be at risk of a more severe reaction later. Anaphylaxis does kill so I would never consider anything as a substitute personally.

[changingseasons]

But even in your example, you had 15 minutes of "just" hives before it turned into an ana reaction. That is the time where I'm suggesting that you could try alternative treatments, NOT after it had already turned ana. Unless you have a history of ana reactions every time (which you yourself said you couldn't predict based on history), what would make you think that it was anything other than just hives at that point? And I'm sorry- even with my DD's numerous severe allergies, I'm not going to inject her with epinephrine every time she gets a hive- we would be doing it multiple times a week. Maybe I've missed your point... ??