Diarrhea is everywhere you look. Wait. Let me rephrase that. News coverage of diarrhea is everywhere you look this summer. While it may be the media’s medical darling of the season, the condition is nothing new to homeopathy.
I’ve written about it briefly in Disasters, Diarrhea, Dysentery and a guest blogger covered it in animals (which also works for humans) in Diarrhea Remedy (for Any Kid). I devoted Podcast 176 to the subject, as well as a fairly recent Monday Night Live covering diarrhea from cyclosporiasis or any other cause.
And that brings us to the topic I would like to flush out today. (These puns just write themselves, my friends.)
Indeed, the cause behind many pronounced symptoms — such as diarrhea — doesn’t always matter.
The sufferer has diarrhea.
That’s generally all we need to know.
Other details may help guide us to the most appropriate remedy: Its frequency. Its urgency. Its volume. Its noteworthiness.
But at the end of the day, they have diarrhea. That’s it. Full stop.
Now, they could go to a gastroenterologist — and I’m not saying one shouldn’t — but the gastroenterologist might diagnose it as, say, irritable bowel syndrome. The sufferer didn’t call it irritable bowel syndrome. They called it annoying, life-shifting, downright awful diarrhea.
In homeopathy, must we have the syndrome name, or can we simply use the fact that there is voluminous diarrhea that is frequent with urgency?
For the most part, I’m going to say a resounding yes. That’s the whole idea behind Practical Homeopathy® and health autonomy: We have more control in our lives than we think we do.
Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that often we need a good, solid diagnosis from a health care provider, but many times we don’t need to go that far. (I discussed more on when etiology matters and when it doesn’t in last week’s Memo to Mighty Members # 327.*)
In this case, no matter what syndrome or microorganism is causing the runs to the bathroom, we can simply choose a homeopathic protocol appropriate for voluminous, frequent and urgent diarrhea. Whether it’s called irritable bowel syndrome, garden-variety diarrhea, amoebic dysentery, Montezuma’s revenge, or cyclosporiasis, diarrhea is still diarrhea in the end. (The jokes just keep on coming, don’t they?)
Aren’t there nuances?
Indeed, diarrhea can present in different ways. Sometimes it’s associated with cramping. Sometimes it’s associated with grand fatigue. Sometimes it’s associated with fever. We would consider all those nuances.
We might choose China 200 because of dehydration, fluid loss and grand fatigue. Another consideration might be Nux vomica when diarrhea follows too much alcohol consumption.
But why not start with …
Garden-variety diarrhea
We might choose Arsenicum album 30 for diarrhea, as I discussed with my husband’s bout after eating Bad Turkey. This medicine is especially useful when a burning sensation accompanies the diarrhea.
However, I believe one of the top medicines for explosive, severe, debilitating diarrhea is Veratrum album 200.
My friends, Veratrum album 200 and Cuprum metallicum 6 — either mixed together in the mouth or alternating — is a gobsmacking protocol for extreme diarrhea. Generally, this Banerji Protocol is utilized every couple of hours and after each “bathroom visit” until very much better.
In The Academy of Practical Homeopathy® and some of my Protocol Courses, I teach other remedies to consider for diarrhea as different symptoms appear. I also teach a specific protocol for irritable bowel syndrome in my more structured educational offerings. (In the aforementioned Monday Night Live, I misspoke when I recalled having written about IBS in a previous blog. Indeed, that particular protocol requires more foundational knowledge of homeopathy because of the remedies employed, so it is not included in the public blog.)
So, let’s solidify
Even before you know the name of the underlying condition, you know what you’re dealing with. It’s diarrhea. You know exactly what it is.
That doesn’t mean it can’t be useful in certain conditions to know the etiology. For instance, it’s very useful to know that a thyroid problem is Hashimoto’s and not a tumor.
But with a common condition such as diarrhea — especially when you’re just starting out with homeopathy, as many of my blog readers are — just look at it as diarrhea. “Just give me the facts, ma’am,” as Sergeant Joe Friday used to say.
Now go pass on the good news of Practical Homeopathy®!
Warmly,
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Disclaimer: Joette is not a physician, and the relationship between Joette and her clients, students and followers is not that of prescriber and patient, but that of educator and learner. It is fully the learner’s choice whether or not to take advantage of the information Joette presents. Homeopathy doesn’t “treat” an illness; it addresses the entire person as a matter of wholeness that is an educational process, not a medical one. To be treated or diagnosed, Joette believes that the advice of a holistic physician is in order.
Claims based on traditional homeopathic practice, not accepted medical evidence. Not FDA evaluated.
