Gastro-intestinal disorders can sometimes be relieved by simple kitchen cupboard methods.
Indigestion, for example, can be quickly eliminated with a teaspoon or more of baking soda in 4 ounces of water to which the juice of 1/2 lemon is added.
Often raw vinegar can be the catalyst for relief when a splash of it is added to 4 ounces of water.
When using homeopathics it is useful to know that the remedy doesn’t have to be digested to be effective; it just needs to be dissolved in the mouth.
Three Leading Remedies for Gastro-Intestinal Complaints
1.) Arsenicum album
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Abdominal pain
- Exhausted by illness
- Restless, changing position
- Anxious about illness and being alone
- Fears illness could be fatal
- Very thirsty
- May be fever
- Often chilly and craves being under blankets
- Worse at night
- Drinking even a little causes vomiting
- Cramping in abdomen
- External warmth is soothing
- Burning in rectum from diarrhea
- Good for food poisoning
2.) Nux vomica
- Use when illness brought on by stress or over-indulgence
- Heartburn
- Nausea
- Dry retching
- Headache
- Irritability
- Worse in morning
- Bloating
- Gassiness
- Desires vomiting for relief
- Urge for bowel movement with little excretion
3.) Sulphur
- Complete loss of, or excessive, appetite
- Food tastes too salty
- Drinks much, eats little
- Desire for sweets
- Weak and faint about 11 AM
- Water fills patient
- Abdomen sensitive to pressure
- Internal feeling of rawness or soreness
- Abdominal movements as of something alive
- Morning diarrhea drives patient out of bed
Other Remedies to Learn and Consider for Further Study:
1.) Veratrum album
- Violent and voluminous diarrhea with vomiting, may be simultaneously
- Watery stools with greenish color
- Cramps in abdomen relieved by diarrhea
- Motion aggravates
- Chilly
- Very weak
- Very thirsty for cold water
2.) Aloe
- Aversion to meat
- Flatulence after eating
- Nausea with headache
- Pain around navel, worse with pressure
- Abdomen is full and heavy, hot and bloated
- Weak feeling as if diarrhea will come on
- Stool passes without effort
- Constipation pressure in lower abdomen
3.) China
- Vomiting of undigested food
- Slow digestion
- Hungry and longing for food which stays undigested
- Flatulence
- Belching of bitter fluid with no relief
- Worse eating fruit
- Internal coldness of stomach and abdomen
4.) Phosphorus
- Much vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Restlessness
- Thirsty for cold drinks
- Better to use Arsenicum first unless vomiting triggered by smallest amount of liquid
- Warm water immediately aggravates
- Weakness in abdomen
- Feels hungry
- Involuntary stools
5.) Pulsatilla
- Symptoms from poor diet or excess of rich foods
- Look also for general symptoms of remedy
- Symptoms not too severe
- Heartburn
- Heaviness after eating
- Coated tongue
- Cold drinks relieve
6.) Ipecac
- Extreme nausea possibly with no diarrhea
- After vomiting, still no relief
- Not that ill, but maybe a fever and weakness
- May be caused by excessive eating
- Vomiting can be almost nonstop
- Pains in abdomen
- Lots of gas
- Green stool
7.) Bryonia
- Digestive symptoms are aggravated by motion
- Small amounts of liquid may cause vomiting
- Pressure on abdomen helps
- Diarrhea worse after waking
- Desires to be still
8.) Podophyllum – this remedy is not commonly found in remedy kits and is of immeasurable value during a bout of severe diarrhea. It would be prudent to purchase it separately to keep in your stock.
- Common for diarrhea
- Frequent and voluminous diarrhea
- Completely liquid stools
- Sometimes with headache
- Vomiting seldom accompanies the diarrhea