Magpie Medicine: Drugs for Fever, Drugs for Pain, Drugs for Anything

One can’t help but notice that allopathic medicine has a distinct aversion to natural methods yet gets giddy over shiny new objects: a novel imitation food instead of breast milk, the up-to-the-minute new vaccine, the latest pain reliever. I call it magpie medicine.

While drugs of commerce have promotional appeal because the marketplace loves bigger, better and newer, this is a tricky substitute for the reassurance of long-term scientific discovery.

Indeed, each decade uncovers yet another quiver of drugs whose injurious effects are revealed by the mortality or morbidity rates that follow.

How scientific, rational and useful is allopathic medicine when treating normal acute illness? Let’s take a cursory look at one tiny chapter in the history of meds used to treat pain.

In 1900, James R. L. Daly published an article in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal that claimed, “It [heroin] possesses many advantages over morphine…It is not hypnotic; there is no danger of acquiring the habit …” (www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/02/20/147002356/does-tylenol-worsen-asthma-for-kids).

At around that same time, cocaine was the preferred treatment for teething problems in babies (http://wings.buffalo.edu/aru/preprohibition.htm)

A few decades later, parents were directed by their trusted family doctors to administer aspirin to their children and teens at the first sign of fever or pain associated with childhood illness.

It took years before the results were tallied, which showed that by doing so, a deadly illness, Reyes Syndrome, may be contracted.

The next fashionable nostrum was Tylenol, and as always, the public dutifully complied. Recently, NPR released a story about how acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, has been found to cause asthma in children, sometimes within minutes and often with long-lasting episodes (www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/02/20/147002356/does-tylenolworsen-asthma-for-kids).

This an example of how a simple fever has morphed into a chronic or even deadly illness as a direct result of drug use.

Some call these effects “side effects,” but that’s playing down the fallout. Upon closer examination, symptom-reducing drugs like aspirin and Tylenol force a normal and mild childhood illness to develop into long-term disease.

This is quite a price to pay for the reduction of a normal fever, wouldn’t you agree? Particularly when we consider that the body is quite well equipped to heal that fever on its own with a little rest, sound nutrition and patience. To learn more about how to treat fever, see my article Handle Fever With Homeopathy, Not Drugs.

No doubt it’s become familiar, even trite, news that a legal and “tested” drug has been found to cause a more sobering disease than the one it was meant to “treat.”

After years of marketing the safety of the product, how are these insidious discoveries made?

Why by having the public ingest the drug!

We homeopaths, on the other hand, love symptoms. It’s not that we’re sadistic; it’s that symptoms tell all. Symptoms provide clues to determine the remedy that most closely suits the person’s explicit pathology.

More significantly, they are vital representations of the inner workings of the body. When we suffer, our aches and pains offer useful information because we all suffer differently.

Symptoms shouldn’t be ignored or subdued without first categorizing them in our minds and then using them to choose a remedy. Nor should they be removed at any cost.

So, how does homeopathy approach pain, for example?

First, we need to keep in mind that each individual has his/her own tolerance for pain, so it is helpful to know just how intense the suffering is.

Belladonna 30, for example, addresses extreme pain, such as a very painful ear infection, strep throat or certain migraines. If the pain isn’t agonizing, then Belladonna won’t work, because it isn’t indicated.

We also shouldn’t get too caught up with the “condition.” Gripping or colicky pains may alert us to an imbalance in the bladder, but bear in mind that in homeopathy, we are not treating a bladder infection, but the entire person whose imbalance is observable in the bladder.

Similarly, when there is uterine pain with menses, the correct remedy will not merely address menstrual cramps but also the concomitant headache and will invigorate the woman with renewed energy. The entire person must be observed, and the remedy that covers all of the observations employed.

For mild, occasional pain, I wouldn’t administer a remedy. This is where we depend on a good cup of bone stock or a warm glass of raw milk instead. We also don’t want our children to assume that every little scrape and wound requires a pill.

However, if an injury is harsh, the sufferer is clearly shaken and has the potential for concussion or internal bleeding, then it makes sense to administer the remedy in the highest potency you own and repeat every few minutes while on your way to the emergency room.

Continue administering every few minutes until out of danger and then a few more times for good measure. Resolution can occur within a few minutes or may take as long as days later. The more serious the pathology, the faster the remedy acts.

Pain can drive someone to take conventional drugs, but knowing a handful of homeopathic remedies can help keep your family drug-free — highly valuable knowledge even if needed on just a single occasion).

Aconitum and Bellis for Pain Relief (There are others, but let’s learn these first.)

The first and most commonly recognized remedy for an injury is Arnica montana, but in my experience, another equally valuable remedy offers a more calming response: Aconitum napellus. This remedy helps pain that is tender, bruised and causes lameness.

When my son sprained his ankle skiing, we used Aconitum 200C every thirty minutes or so for the initial pain and the shocky feeling that often accompany an injury.

Once the pain was under control, we administered the remedy every hour and then less frequently as it became more manageable. In most injury situations, pain is the only indicator.

Yet homeopathy offers so much more than just relief from pain. It will also support the system in minimizing the chance of infection and even has a reputation for aborting hemorrhages.

By the end of the first day, my son took the remedy every two to three hours, and by the third day, it was only required every four to five hours.

Remember, the objective is not only to reduce pain and minimize swelling but more importantly to protect from gratuitous methods. Each injury, pain, infection and pathology provides an occasion to learn and ultimately guard.

Bellis perennis 200 is a no-nonsense remedy made from the simple daisy but of course, made in homeopathic formulation.

Its action is skewed specifically to contusions, bruises and lacerations, especially to the trunk of the body. So it’s an essential remedy for trauma to the breast such as mechanical injury caused by a mammogram or from a seat belt in an auto accident.

Particularly when the accident is from a blow, think of this remedy. Bellis perennis 200 has a reputation for minimizing the potential of impending harm. It is generally taken as needed for pain, such as every 3 hours or so, and less frequently as it begins to act.

Undoubtedly, we must acknowledge the value of certain drugs such as anesthesia should surgery be required. This is when we must weigh the dangers against the gains.

And it would be irresponsible to simply eliminate medications that are presently being used without forethought and some professional supervision.

However, if we can minimize our reliance on drugs and make prudent, sensible and educated decisions, we’ll have protected our family from the side effects of superfluous drugs of commerce and convenience.