Do you "very rarely" see conventional doctors? plus home treatment

[emma1325]

If so, how often is rare? What prompts a visit? Do you do any "well visits?" How do you handle illnesses at home?

We don't do any well visits. We have 3 daughters: 9, 7 and 17 months. The older girls haven't been to a well visit in nearly 5 years- and that was prompted by our desire to have titers run. They haven't been to a sick visit in 6 years, when we were still struggling with giving up regular well visits, which always seemed to result in a closely followed sick visit.

Our 17 month old was born at home, assisted by a nurse-midwife, and was only checked over by the nurse twice (birth and 3 weeks.). She has never seen a doctor and (basically) does not get sick.

Our family "sick" policy is a 3 day wait. If by the end of day 3 we haven't seen an improvement, we will make a doctor appointment on day 4. I'm happy to say that has never happened! Typically illness improves significantly by day 2. We treat most illnesses (which are rare and usually mild) with bed rest, increased fluids, EO (usually oregano and eucalyptus), and vitamins D3 and C. Ear pain we treat with a salt sock.

[riverundine]

my daughters are 7 and almost 5. the 7 year old had a well visit once, at 9 months. that was enough of that.

my 4 yr old spent 3 days in the hospital when she was 2 weeks old. we all had a virus that january. she was born at home. we all got sick the day before the birth. we were down for the count after the birth. we kept a close watch on her, but she appeared to be doing fine. at 2 weeks, though, she was slightly less pink when we woke up. our (anthroposophic) family doctor (who had only consulted us over the phone until then) came to the house within 10 minutes and told us to get to the ER. she was breathing fine and her lungs sounded clear when we left the house. by the time we got to the ER she was in and out of consciousness and they were reviving her with needles and fluids in every appendage. thankfully, all was well. her bronchioles were just too small and undeveloped to handle the mucous from the virus. they allowed her to sleep in bed with me, on the breast. she was on fluids and oxygen for 3 days and sent home with O2 for a month or so after (we live at 8500' above sea level, so O2 is low as it is). for this, i am sooo grateful for western medicine. for many things, i am grateful for western medicine.

beyond those 2 experiences, we've had no need for well visits or sick visits. i'm an ayurvedic practitioner, so i go with what i know from that healing realm, turn to our anthroposophic doctor (who is in another state now, but again, it's phone consults) when i feel the need for extra support, and so far we've been healthy and happy.

some go-to treatments i like to have on hand:

we make homemade cough syrup in the fall and keep it in the fridge (warmed up as needed)

homemade garlic mullein ear oil for earaches

ginger tea for tummy aches

d-mannose for urinary tract infections

eucalyptus, lavender, and pinon/juniper EO for the humidifier when a cold hits the house

i have a pretty extensive EO stock, so i utilize those as needed (love floracopeia)

i also have a pretty big stock of bulk herbs, grown in our garden, wild harvested, or purchased from good organic suppliers (banyan botanicals or mountain rose herbs)

with those i make big batches of tea, blended as needed

i like to make these to have on hand for winter:

osha tincture

usnea tincture

goldenseal tincture

childrens cough and cold formula

the above are primarily for the kiddos. i also like to have triphala for myself, along with a liver purifying formula and a wonderful aphrodisiac ;)

[emma1325]

Originally Posted by riverundine 

my daughters are 7 and almost 5. the 7 year old had a well visit once, at 9 months. that was enough of that.

my 4 yr old spent 3 days in the hospital when she was 2 weeks old. we all had a virus that january. she was born at home. we all got sick the day before the birth. we were down for the count after the birth. we kept a close watch on her, but she appeared to be doing fine. at 2 weeks, though, she was slightly less pink when we woke up. our (anthroposophic) family doctor (who had only consulted us over the phone until then) came to the house within 10 minutes and told us to get to the ER. she was breathing fine and her lungs sounded clear when we left the house. by the time we got to the ER she was in and out of consciousness and they were reviving her with needles and fluids in every appendage. thankfully, all was well. her bronchioles were just too small and undeveloped to handle the mucous from the virus. they allowed her to sleep in bed with me, on the breast. she was on fluids and oxygen for 3 days and sent home with O2 for a month or so after (we live at 8500' above sea level, so O2 is low as it is). for this, i am sooo grateful for western medicine. for many things, i am grateful for western medicine.

beyond those 2 experiences, we've had no need for well visits or sick visits. i'm an ayurvedic practitioner, so i go with what i know from that healing realm, turn to our anthroposophic doctor (who is in another state now, but again, it's phone consults) when i feel the need for extra support, and so far we've been healthy and happy.

some go-to treatments i like to have on hand:
we make homemade cough syrup in the fall and keep it in the fridge (warmed up as needed)
homemade garlic mullein ear oil for earaches
ginger tea for tummy aches
d-mannose for urinary tract infections
eucalyptus, lavender, and pinon/juniper EO for the humidifier when a cold hits the house
i have a pretty extensive EO stock, so i utilize those as needed (love floracopeia)
i also have a pretty big stock of bulk herbs, grown in our garden, wild harvested, or purchased from good organic suppliers (banyan botanicals or mountain rose herbs)
with those i make big batches of tea, blended as needed
i like to make these to have on hand for winter:
osha tincture
usnea tincture
goldenseal tincture
childrens cough and cold formula
the above are primarily for the kiddos. i also like to have triphala for myself, along with a liver purifying formula and a wonderful aphrodisiac

Very interesting! Sorry about the newborn hospitalization ordeal. We went through something similar with baby #2, although it left me with less than positive feelings regarding western medicine. My baby was essentially tortured the first few days of her life for nothing-blood tests, IV in the head (multiple attempts before re-trying on the wrist), spinal tap, bili lights, all for nothing. She had a mild fever and the ped on call over-reacted in a major way, and it led to intervention after intervention and interfered with bonding. Luckily I was dead set (and experienced) in bf'ing, otherwise I probably would have given up.

I still value the contributions of western medicine and the potential it holds, but I strive to keep away from it on a regular basis, since medical politics have served in turning it into a whole different animal.

[Chicharronita]

We very rarely see doctors. I tried to go to a couple of "well" baby visits, but after one pedi told me I was spoiling my 4 m.o. dd because I had never given her a bottle, I pretty much gave up. 

I also had a suck-y experience when she had some minor reactions to food. I thought they warranted some testing, but the pedi said to "watch and wait" (He actually was right; they went away. But I wasn't very reassured at the time).

After that I only took her to the doctor several other times for minor things like an ingrown toenail and an earache. I didn't think she really needed to see one for the latter but she insisted so I took her. 

I recently scored good insurance that covers a holistic MD, so I went for the first time since dd was born. I had a bunch of testing done. What's really nice is that he approved a lot of testing that most HMO docs don't do, so I didn't have to pay out-of-pocket for them. 

Originally Posted by emma1325 

Our family "sick" policy is a 3 day wait. If by the end of day 3 we haven't seen an improvement, we will make a doctor appointment on day 4. I'm happy to say that has never happened! Typically illness improves significantly by day 2. We treat most illnesses (which are rare and usually mild) with bed rest, increased fluids, EO (usually oregano and eucalyptus), and vitamins D3 and C. 

That's a good policy! I've also noticed that no matter what my dd gets, there is significant improvement by the end of day 2. She had the chicken pox a few years ago but her symptoms weren't bad enough to warrant a doctor visit. I did take pictures though just in case I need documentation later. 

That's the only illness she's had that went longer than a few days. 

When she was a toddler one winter she had a small cough that lingered. I took her to a homeopathic doctor who prescribed something that took care of it within 24 hours. (Now I suspect that she was low in vitamin D.)

I love how easy it is to use and store homeopathic remedies.

Other than that and the appropriate vitamins and supplements we use the Traditional Medicinals brand teas.