Happy Mother’s Day!

Motherhood is a most rewarding and significant job. We form the next generation. We give birth to them and train them to jump-start fulfilling, robust adult lives. At times, a mom can feel overwhelmed.

In between today’s flowers, phone calls, brunches and presents, let’s lean into a mom’s emotional, mental and hormonal needs to keep her on top of her game.

Before I get into our Mother’s Toolkit list, let me remind you of this: As with all our homeopathic medicines, we would use them according to the suggested frequency until we are very much better. In other words, we observe, observe, observe while employing homeopathic remedies. When our complaint has diminished to the point that it is no longer uppermost in our minds, that’s very much better. It’s time to halt the medicine.

If the condition recurs, we’ll know what worked before and can simply restart the same medicine.

Alternatively, if we utilize a homeopathic remedy and observe no improvement whatsoever — not even a sliver of improvement in areas that I call satellite conditions — then we would also halt the remedy and pivot to another appropriate medicine.

As always, there is more than one way to iron a shirt with homeopathy. When one medicine doesn’t act, we find the next one to try by scouring our repertory. (Students in The Academy of Practical Homeopathy® use Robin Murphy’s MetaRepertory, Fourth Edition.)

1. Sepia

First and foremost, moms need Sepia 200 in their toolkits. However, we don’t simply turn to Sepia because we’re overwhelmed. We only use it under specific circumstances with certain symptoms, such as PMS, extreme irritability or depression.

Sepia is appropriate for many female conditions, most notably when the hormones are off kilter. Maybe Mom just had a baby. Maybe the mom in need of Sepia feels as though she would like to neglect her household duties (and maybe even her family).

Sepia 200C would generally be utilized once every three days until the ship is righted (Mom feels very much better).

Consider keeping Sepia 200 by the bedside because it correlates well with our reproductive system.

2. Ignatia amara

Overwhelmed and irritable, but weepy? It doesn’t feel hormonal; it’s not related to the menses. It’s not related to the relationships with the husband or the children. “There’s just too much on my plate, and I’m overwhelmed.”

That, my friends, is a call for Ignatia amara 200C, twice daily for a few days, until the light at the end of Mom’s busy workday tunnel no longer resembles an oncoming train.

Keep Ignatia in the kitchen, where many moms find themselves when they begin to feel overwhelmed.

3. Kali phosphoricum

What do we do for the mom who takes on too much intellectual work?

For instance, what if Mom is studying for something or keeping the books for the family business? What if she’s doing so much intellectual work (while already fatigued from being a mom) that her brain feels like it’s going to explode?

That’s Kali phos 6X, twice daily, until very much better.

That’s a good one to keep on the desk, so it’s right there when the work seems insurmountable, and the intellect starts to sputter.

4. Aurum metallicum

Many moms feel overwhelmed, yet some may fall headlong into depression. Frank depression. Deep depression.

Loss of interest in the family and activities that previously made Mom happy is an indicator that true depression has set in.

But fear not. Aurum metallicum 200C, generally employed once every three days, has historically been shown to bring Mom back to center.

A great place for Aurum is in the handkerchief drawer. When Mom reaches for something to wipe her tears, she’ll be reminded of the Aurum and can get back on the road to feeling better.

5. Phosphoric acid

Also known as Phosphoricum acidum, this medicine has everything to do with great fatigue from having used synthetic drugs of commerce recently. For instance, if Mom just had surgery, of course, she had drugs (anesthesia, at the very least). If Mom had a urinary tract infection, a conventional doctor might have prescribed antibiotics.

Now, instead of tackling the tasks at hand, Mom might say, “I’ve had it with everything. Everybody, leave me alone. I just want to watch a movie.”

No matter the pharmaceutical offender, if Mom has felt fatigued ever since taking that drug, she ought to consider Phosphoric acid 200C, every other day, until the ennui melts away.

Maybe keep Phosphoric acid tucked under a pillow on the sofa. After all, with heavy fatigue, the sofa is often where we find ourselves; we take to our fainting couch.

6. Cocculus

Moms are often pulled in several directions simultaneously. It goes with the territory. These days, moms might find themselves part of the growing sandwich generation — caring for babies while also caring for aging parents. This is a unique type of overwhelm.

Most often, Cocculus indicus 30C, twice daily, until very much better, should be the ticket.

So, let’s put Cocculus by the bedside of the person Mom is caring for. If it’s the baby who is sick, the Cocculus should be by the crib. If it’s the grandmother whom Mom is taking care of, then put it by Grandma’s sickbed. Whether it’s Dad who Mom’s caring for or even the family dog … the little tube of Cocculus should be in the same room as whoever it is Mom’s caring for. That’s where she’ll need it most.

If you enjoy this content, please share it. Also check out my podcasts, Monday Night Lives, and connect with me on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

Pass on the good news of Practical Homeopathy®! And have a Happy Mother’s Day!

Warmly,

P.S. Struggling with other feminine conditions? Mood swings? Hot flashes? Painful menstrual cramps? Urinary tract infections? Acne? Breast pain?

We, women, are more tampered with than any other demographic. Most women are more likely to consult a doctor or psychiatrist, and you know what that results in — more drugs. Learn how to rely on Practical Homeopathy® instead.

My course, Feminopathy: How You Can Correct Female Ailments Using Safe, Inexpensive and Effective Homeopathy, is written specifically with women of all ages’ unique issues in mind. One course can cover your needs as well as those of your mother and your daughters.

And remember — all my Mighties (Joette’s Mighty Members) qualify for a 10% discount on course purchases. If you need assistance getting your discount, email [email protected] for more information.

In this podcast, we cover:

01:00   Introduction: Get Rid of Headaches With Practical Homeopathy®

01:41   Different kinds of headaches

04:12   Two personal examples: barometric pressure and dehydration headaches

06:12   Success Story: Barometric headache

09:31   Different homeopathic medicines for different headaches

            JoetteCalabrese.com

            Don’t Forget Sepia for Headaches

            April Showers Bring Sinus Headaches

            Make It Stop! Escape from the Prison of Chronic (and Acute) Pain

11:05   The beautiful truth of our bodies and homeopathy

Additional resources:

Joette Calabrese on YouTube (Monday Night Lives)

Joette’s Learning Center

The Academy of Practical Homeopathy®

Gateway to Practical Homeopathy®: A Guided Study Group Curriculum

Joette’s Study Group, Find Your New Study Group Friends

Joette’s Mighty Members

FindAPracticalHomeopath.com

Kate:

This is the Practical Homeopathy® Podcast, episode number 169, with Joette Calabrese.

Joette:

Hi, I’m Joette Calabrese, and I welcome you to our health care movement — yours, mine and the countless men and women across the globe who have retaken control of their families’ health with Practical Homeopathy®.

So, for the next few minutes, let’s link our arms as I demystify homeopathy — what was once considered an esoteric paradigm — into an understandable, reproducible, safe and effective health care solution available to all.

This is the medicine you’ve been searching for — my unique brand of homeopathy, PRACTICAL Homeopathy®.

Introduction: Get Rid of Headaches With Practical Homeopathy®

Kate: (01:00)

Welcome back to the podcast. If this is your first time here, you’re in for a treat today. Or maybe a better way to say it is, you’re about to get out of a real pickle.

We’re diving into headaches with Joette — from the extremely painful ones that knock you flat to that dull ache after a long day in the sun. But even more importantly, we’ll hear exactly what Joette did to finally relieve her headaches for good.

Now, I know most of us listening have dealt with a headache at some point, even if it was just a mild one. But Joette, earlier, you were sharing how we can approach different types of headaches in a smarter way. So, can you start by explaining what you mean by different kinds of headaches?

Different types of headaches

Joette: (01:41)

Oh, absolutely, Kate. Headaches come in all shapes and sizes: dull, throbbing, sharp, stabbing, tight-band-like pressure around the head, pain behind the eyes, or sometimes a heavy squeezing sensation. And then there are migraines, which are in a league of their own.

So, let me clarify the difference between a regular headache — even a really painful sinus one — and a true migraine.

Now, migraine is far more than just a bad headache. It often brings debilitating, throbbing pain, sometimes on one side, sometimes both sides, that can leave you in bed for days. Lights, sounds, movement, or certain triggers can worsen it, along with nausea, vision changes, even fatigue or irritability.

So, whether it’s a headache or a migraine, the key is to investigate before reaching for the homeopathic medicine. We want to try to find the cause, if possible. If we can’t pinpoint it exactly, at least narrow it down to the specific symptoms, because sometimes the cause can give us very good information.

Kate:

So, you are saying that headaches don’t usually just appear out of nowhere.

Joette:

Well, sometimes it feels like that. But if you look a little closer, there’s often a trigger — not always — but often there can be. It can be a long day in the sun, sudden weather, pressure changes, too much screen time, dehydration, or even stress, or, let me also add, food intolerances that you hadn’t considered in the past.

So, if the cause isn’t obvious, then, okay … then, focus on the symptoms instead.

Where exactly is the pain? What does it feel like? Is it only at night or in the temples or dull pressure behind the eyes?

We often slap the broad label headache on everything and stop there because most people are accustomed to just simply taking a drug for just pain regardless of where it is and how it presents. But these details that I’m listing really matter in homeopathy.

Kate:

So, I’m wondering if the cause and symptoms are the real clues to how we look at this. I think that’s really smart.

Joette, why does the type of headache even matter? Isn’t it all just the same thing in the end?

Joette:

Not really. Once you understand the difference between migraines, certain common headaches, their causes, their unique symptoms, everything changes.

Two personal examples: barometric pressure and dehydration headaches

Joette: (04:12)

So, let me share two personal stories that show the cause made all the difference in the pain I experienced.

The first one was years of barometric pressure headaches back in Buffalo, New York, that I suffered over a long period of time — as I said, for years. Every time the barometric pressure changed — the weather shifted — I’d get these intense sinus headaches.

The pain would start above my eyes and spread, feeling like — I don’t know — a vice grip, squeezing my sinuses in my whole face. It was miserable and predictable with the forecast, but only once I recognized that. I never realized that.

And living on the Great Lakes, there was always a barometric pressure change. One was rolling in, or one was rolling out. But once they started up, once the headache started, it was practically unstoppable until the pressure changed in the weather.

I’d be foggy, irritable, in lots of pain just trying to function.

The second time, some 40 years later, was after I moved to Florida. The intense sun and heat led to dehydration headaches that became my new normal.

Now, why would I be in the sun? Well, because I made a point of walking on the beach every day. And I also made a point of sitting in the sun every day, in addition to that walking, for, I don’t know, 15 minutes, an hour. But you can’t sit much longer at certain times of the year.

And I would sit in the sun without sunscreen, I might add, my friends. I’d end up with that dull, however, exhausting ache, a heavy draining, and often hitting in the late afternoon or evening after having been outside in that draining sun. It felt like my whole head was worn out, and it kept coming back no matter what I did.

Kate:

Oh, that sounds miserable, Joette. I actually can’t imagine dealing with nagging headaches like that all the time. I don’t get headaches, which I’m thankful for.

So, tell me, how did you make it through those periods, and what changed? You don’t still suffer from headaches today, right?

Joette:

No, I don’t. So, the first headache was before I knew enough about homeopathy. I thought the answer was over-the-counter pain relievers or even prescriptions.

And now, I never got a prescription. I’d only lived on … I believe the medicine that I used on a regular basis was a cover-up. It was a band-aid. And it was “222s,” is what they were called. And I used to go to Canada to buy them because you couldn’t buy them over the counter in New York State. And they had codeine in them.

So, I would take a codeine drug every time the barometric pressure came in. Now this, again, this was a good 40-some years — something like that. And it would dull the pain, and I would relieve the pain, actually, for hours or even a day if I was lucky. But the headaches always came roaring back once the next barometric pressure change came back in again.

So, it was a haphazard cycle, not a real solution.

But once I started to learn a little bit about homeopathy, I realized that there are specific medicines that matched the headaches perfectly, something that I hadn’t noticed up until that time. The first one — and I’ve talked about this so many times, perhaps this is old news to some of you — is the medicine Kali bichromicum. Sometimes people call it Kali bic, and that’s for those extreme sinus headaches triggered by barometric pressure changes.

So, the second medicine that I used specifically for those dull, exhausting headaches caused by dehydration was China — C-H-I-N-A — which is also sometimes called Cinchona. (Both of those names are used for the same medicine.)

So, China … and I used it specifically for when I got those headaches right as they happened. And it was often because I was dehydrated. I had not been drinking enough water and had not been adding anything to my water, such as salt.

Kate:

So, that was when you were out in heat and just ….

Joette:

Perspiring.

Kate:

Yeah. Right.

Joette:

And it didn’t take me long to figure this out once I realized, and Perry and I kind of watch each other about this because if we find that we’re exhausted throughout the day, we’re thinking: “Oh yeah, of course. We’re not rehydrating. We’re not drinking enough water with electrolytes or with salt in it after having walked on the beach in that hot weather or after having sat out in the sun for 15-20 minutes in the afternoon.”

So, these beautiful medicines were the real game changers for me. They didn’t just mask the pain. They spurred my body to address the underlying issue, and then just relieved it once and for all.

Now, as far as the Kali bichromicum is concerned and those extreme headaches triggered by barometric pressure changes, I simply have not had them again in many, many decades.

But the China medicine and that medicine specific for dehydration and headaches that address that need for salt and water … I still have to remind myself every once in a while because I still insist on walking in the hot sun and sitting in the sun later in the afternoon. So, those can be brought on time and time again if I’m not careful.

Kate:

Yeah. I love how homeopathy helps to truly address those conditions and heal our bodies, and it doesn’t just cover up symptoms.

Different homeopathic medicines for different headaches

Kate: (09:31)

But I want to ask you, what if someone’s headache cause or symptoms aren’t exactly like the ones you mentioned today? Because, as you mentioned earlier, there are a lot of different causes of headaches. So what if someone’s headache isn’t like the ones that you just mentioned, and they’re different?

Joette:

Well, there are different homeopathic medicines for different headaches. It all depends on matching the unique cause and symptoms and sometimes the name of the condition, too — exactly the name: that it is a migraine.

So, I would say that if someone is already familiar with homeopathy, they can explore the repertory, the material medica.

But if you’re newer to this, a great starting point is at my website at JoetteCalabrese.com. And you just type in “headache” in the search bar in the top right corner, and you’ll find helpful blogs. Like Don’t Forget Sepia for Headaches, is one title. Another one is April Showers Bring Sinus Headaches … is another title.

And so, these are all available for your use at, of course, no cost.

And so, I also cover headaches in greater depth should this information not be of use to you because as I said, there are a myriad of different types of headaches. So, there’s also [Make It Stop!] Escape from the Prison of Chronic (and Acute) Pain, which is an in-depth course, which covers headaches as well as many other kinds of pain that people suffer.

So, if you want to learn how to use more of these medicines and how they’re specific to certain kinds of headaches and certain symptoms related to these headaches, this might be where you need to go next.

The beautiful truth of our bodies and homeopathy

Kate: (11:05)

Homeopathy is so empowering, and it shifts our mindset from feeling helpless to feeling hopeful. As we hear from so many of your students, Joette, that their fear just melts away.

Joette:

Yes. And here’s the beautiful truth: Our body is designed to heal. It’s always looking for homeostasis. So, headaches — even the stubborn, recurring ones that have plagued one for years — does not mean that it’s a lifelong sentence.

When we learn to listen closely to the symptoms — pay attention to them and match them with the right homeopathic medicine — it gives the body that gentle nudge that it needs to do what it was made to do, and that is to shift outside of that suffering.

So, I guess the upshot is if someone is suffering, I urge them to take heart. Relief doesn’t have to be complicated nor even expensive. It can be simple, natural and restorative. So, start paying attention to the patterns. Trust the process and remember freedom from pain is possible … one well-chosen homeopathic medicine at a time.

So, you’ve got this. Your body is stronger and wiser than you may realize right now.

So, I guess I’ll end by saying, thanks for joining us today. Don’t forget to send this podcast to someone you know who suffers from headaches, at least to get them started.

And until next time, stay curious, friends, stay observant and stay Mighty.

It’s my honor to share many lessons on this simple method of using homeopathy for free —without affiliates or advertising — here in my podcasts, but also my blog posts and Monday Night Lives.

But it’s critical that you learn how to use these medicines properly. These podcasts should serve as only the beginning of your training. Peruse JoettesLearningCenter.com to find fun study group opportunities and in-depth courses developed by subject.

So, with the proper training, you can join the thousands of students before you in developing the confidence and competence to protect the health of your family and loved ones with my brand of homeopathy, Practical Homeopathy®.

Kate:

You just listened to a podcast from internationally acclaimed homeopath, public speaker and author, the founder of The Academy of Practical Homeopathy®, Joette Calabrese. Joette’s podcasts are available on all your favorite podcast apps.

To learn more and find out if homeopathy is a good fit for your health strategy, visit PracticalHomeopathy.com.

Here’s an obscure fact: Researchers¹ say that up to 20% of people are averse to even the word “moist.” So, what would be worse than shaking hands with someone whose hand is sweaty and moist?

Easy. It’s actually being the person whose hand feels sweaty and moist.

Imagine how difficult it must be to offer one’s hand in friendship, only to realize that it might be considered off-putting.

Sweaty hands are a form of hyperhidrosis, defined as excessive perspiration that is not necessarily tied to thermoregulation (heat or stress). Five percent of the global population deals with this condition. Most often, hyperhidrosis affects the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet, and the underarms.

It’s embarrassing, and it’s equally uncontrollable for the sufferer.

A Hyperhidrosis case in point: Calc carb 30

In my practice, I met with a very young child who was embarrassed — and I mean, soooooo embarrassed — about having sweaty hands. Why? Well, in her kindergarten, the young students had to hold hands to walk from place to place. She was in a panic that someone would notice her hands were always wet.

My goodness, that’s a high social mountain to climb for a tiny one in kindergarten. Heck, I’m sure sufferers of any age can relate to that concern of being ridiculed or ostracized.

Conventional treatments run the gamut from destroying the sweat glands with electricity or microwaves, prescription topicals, prescription pharmaceuticals and even Botox injections.

However, we successfully addressed this youngster’s condition with the first homeopathic medicine that comes to my mind when considering hyperhidrosis: Calcarea carbonica (Calc carb) 30, twice daily, until very much better.

This choice makes perfect sense. When one reads up on hyperhidrosis, there appears to be a component of calcium assimilation and depletion. Calcium management is right up Calc carb’s alley.

Now, the distinguishing factor for choosing Calc carb is that the hands feel clammy. Indeed, there’s generally no odor … just a clammy, moist feel. (Oops. There’s that word again. My apologies.)

Calc carb can also be a good consideration for hyperhidrosis on the head, neck, chest and feet. For instance, if a baby’s scalp sweats while nursing, or they wake from a nap with soaking-wet hair, we would also consider Calc carb employed in the same manner. This alone is not cause for administering a homeopathic because it’s not a pathology, but it offers a clue to consider Calc carb for other conditions.

This medicine was a perfect fit because Calc carb is also a great remedy for someone prone to frequent colds. So that clinched it: This child did, in fact, suffer from colds more often than most.

Indeed, the prudent use of Calc carb addressed both the child’s clammy hands and their propensity to catch colds.

Social disaster averted, while overall health was bolstered. Win-win.

Hyperhidrosis in the hands and/or feet: Silicea 6X

However, Calc carb is not our only consideration. If excessive perspiration also occurs on the feet, or if it has a sour odor, we might look more pointedly at Silicea 6X, two to three times a day, depending on severity, until very much better.

What do I mean by “very much better”? Well, it means the condition has diminished enough that it’s no longer a bother or has disappeared completely. When the condition is no longer the uppermost thing on the sufferer’s mind, it’s time to halt the medicine and observe. Should the condition recur, simply resume the medicine schedule that previously worked until it abates again.

If, after giving the remedies their due (six to eight weeks for a chronic condition), there is no improvement whatsoever, then one might consider pivoting to another appropriate medicine.

To that end, I will discuss two more homeopathic medicines for hyperhidrosis in this week’s Memo to Mighty Members.* We’ll look at excessive perspiration during menopause, and also discuss a remedy for hyperhidrosis that specifically occurs in the armpits with an accompanying odor.

If you enjoy this content, please share it. Also check out my podcasts, Monday Night Lives, and connect with me on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

Pass on the good news of Practical Homeopathy®!

Warmly,

*You must be logged into your Mighty Member account for protected links to take you directly to the offering.

P.S. Join Joette’s Mighty Members today, and you’ll receive the next Memo to Mighty Members right in your inbox on Thursday to learn two more homeopathic medicines to consider for hyperhidrosis.

Plus, Members can search all the previous Memos on your exclusive website. Yes. That’s 309 previous posts with information to help you “skill up” in using homeopathic medicines properly for you and your family.

Remember — all my Mighties qualify for a 10% discount on course purchases. If you need assistance getting your discount, email [email protected] for more information.

 

References:

1. Cheydleur, K., Oberlin College. (21 August 2015) “Why ‘Moist’ Makes us Cringe” https://www.oberlin.edu/news/why-moist-makes-us-cringe

As though tick bites didn’t cause enough trouble, now cases of Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS) are on the rise.

What is Alpha-gal syndrome?

Haven’t heard of it yet? Well, the press is starting to jump on board,^1,2 so you’ll probably be hearing more about it this summer.

The Alpha-gal syndrome is caused by the bite of the Lone Star tick. It’s basically an acquired allergic reaction that causes a food intolerance to products made from mammals, such as beef, lamb, pork, venison, and even milk and gelatin.

For the curious among you — and as you know, I’m hoping all my readers remain curious — the seemingly odd name of this syndrome derives from the molecule involved in this allergic reaction: galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose. But let’s not get stuck in the weeds of molecular science.

Symptoms can include bloating, vomiting, stomach pain, shortness of breath, wheezing, itching, hives, and swelling of the lips or face.

All because of a hamburger. Sounds miserable, doesn’t it?

So, what’s a carnivore to do?

The currently accepted conventional treatment for alpha-gal is simply avoidance of all mammalian food products. I, for one, would be sunk if I couldn’t eat meat, as it is a staple of my Weston A. Price carnivore diet.

Adding insult to injury, if a triggering meat product is ingested, conventional procedure suggests that emergency room treatment with epinephrine may be required. Yet, once the sufferer hops on the medical conveyor belt, who knows what else will be thrust upon them.

Homeopathy for Alpha-gal syndrome: a two-pronged approach

The first time I consulted on an alpha-gal case was so long ago that I had never heard of it. In fact, there was very little public information on the condition, but that did not deter us. In Practical Homeopathy®, we can often rely on symptoms alone to determine the appropriate homeopathic medicines.

The way we successfully approached this condition was two-pronged, and I would still use a two-pronged approach today.

First, we would go after the cause. A tick bite was the original trigger, and now there are ailments from meat. So, we would first address the tick bite. Then, the second prong is the condition itself, and what’s presenting. What symptoms are being experienced? What are the most prominent and bothersome symptoms?

Alpha-gal is a tick-borne disease

So, first and foremost, because it’s a tick-borne disease, we would address the underlying cause with Ledum palustre 200C. I detail Ledum’s use for Lyme disease in Lyme, Lyme, Lyme: Just Making Sure You Know What to Do, and also in Protocol for Lyme Disease Using Homeopathy. In that protocol, Ledum is generally taken twice daily for a week. After that, Ledum is only employed twice weekly for the next month, then once per week for another month.

Important: If this is an older bite that went unnoticed until the alpha-gal condition erupted, we would not begin with several doses on the first day treatment begins. Instead, Ledum 200 may be considered twice daily for one week to start. After that, twice weekly for a month, and then reduced to one dose a week for another month (while considering the remedies detailed below to ameliorate the specific symptoms).

These distinctions are important, my friends. An older bite does not require multiple doses in a single day.

This is where more education can come into play. The length of time one might continue using Ledum often depends on severity.

A fuller understanding of the foundational aspects of homeopathy can help one make an informed, individualized decision. The Academy of Practical Homeopathy® offers a profound, well-rounded education in these essential homeopathic principles, case management, and much more, for those who value the ultimate in health freedom.

This lesson reflects what I offer in my other forums. There’s so much to teach you and so little time. Two of my Protocol Courses contain information covering some of the symptoms of alpha-gal: Good Gut, Bad Gut and Allergic?! Of course, these courses are included in The Academy, but they can also be purchased individually if one is not quite ready to commit to my year-long Academy.

Specific homeopathic medicines for ailments from meat and the resulting symptoms

Next, we would consider the more precise etiology of the condition: an allergic reaction to ingesting meat. When I head to my copy of Robin Murphy’s MetaRepertory and look up “ailments from meat” or “meat aggravates,” a few of the most powerful remedies to be considered are Arsenicum album, Carbo vegetabilis, and Nux vomica. There are others, but let’s look at the primary symptoms of alpha-gal to determine which we might choose.

If there’s vomiting and nausea (or other Arsenicum album symptoms), that would shore up our choice of Arsenicum album 30C, twice daily, until very much better. It perfectly matches both the etiology and the predominant symptoms.

If there is stomach pain, we might alternatively consider Nux vomica 30, twice daily, until very much better. Nux covers both the etiology of “ailments from meat” and the symptom of stomach pain. Again, we consider the keynotes of this medicine to build our commitment to its use.

If, however, the predominant symptoms are shortness of breath and wheezing, we might instead turn to Carbo veg 30C or 200C (depending on severity), twice daily, until very much better.

Now, if there are hives and itching or swelling of the lips, face, tongue, throat, eyes, etc., that’s a call for Apis mellifica 30C. While it’s not a primary consideration for a food intolerance to meat, it is a primary consideration in allergic reactions that cause hives or swelling. The frequency would depend on the severity. (See Edematous Swelling and Apis and Hives. Apis or Urtica urens? for more information.)

This condition can be a bit more complex than the more general conditions that I usually discuss here on the blog. Because we don’t have a specific protocol, I am not offering a definitive Remedy Card for Alpha-gal syndrome. This condition can present differently in different sufferers, so this article and the other articles I linked to are general guidelines to get one started in the right direction.

Should the assistance of a professional Practical Homeopath™ be required, you may locate one at FindAPracticalHomeopath.com. These homeopaths have graduated from The Academy, and some have also graduated from Mastery. Some are even members of my continuing Mastermind group. Choose the one who seems right for you.

An alpha-gal success story

Plus, in this week’s upcoming Memo to Mighty Members, I will share an Alpha-gal syndrome success story submitted by one of my students. They approached the condition with well-thought-out, albeit slightly different medicines, proving once again that in homeopathy, there is more than one way to darn a sock.

If you are not yet one of my Mighty Members, what are you waiting for? The extra, weekly blog post I create for my Mighties is just one of the benefits. Mighties also receive semi-monthly videos, additional private time with me after each Monday Night Live for questions, an archive of all past Monday Night Lives with a searchable index, a private discussion forum away from the prying eyes of public social media, discounts on Protocol Courses, and so much more. I can’t imagine a more valuable subscription.

Pass on the good news of Practical Homeopathy®!

Warmly,

Reference:

1. https://www.npr.org/2025/11/15/nx-s1-5609908/red-meat-allergy-ticks-death-alpha-gal-syndrome
2. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/man-with-tick-borne-meat-allergy-alpha-gal-dies-after-eating-burger/

In this podcast, we cover:

01:00   Introduction: Don’t Worry

02:00   Women are expert worriers

03:18   When worry becomes a pathology, think homeopathy

            “Meta Repertory” by Robin Murphy

05:26   Ailments from worry

07:59   When worry turns to paranoia or anxiety

10:40   Closing advice

            Mindful Homeopathy: Practical Protocols for Mental and Emotional Conditions

           JoettesLearningCenter.com

            Free blogs

            Podcasts

            Monday Night Lives

           JoetteCalabrese.com

Additional resources:

The Academy of Practical Homeopathy®

Gateway to Practical Homeopathy®: A Guided Study Group Curriculum

Joette’s Study Group, Find Your New Study Group Friends

Joette’s Mighty Members

FindAPracticalHomeopath.com

Kate:

This is the Practical Homeopathy® Podcast, episode number 168, with Joette Calabrese.

Joette:

Hi, I’m Joette Calabrese, and I welcome you to our health care movement — yours, mine and the countless men and women across the globe who have retaken control of their families’ health with Practical Homeopathy®.

So, for the next few minutes, let’s link our arms as I demystify homeopathy — what was once considered an esoteric paradigm — into an understandable, reproducible, safe and effective health care solution available to all.

This is the medicine you’ve been searching for — my unique brand of homeopathy, PRACTICAL Homeopathy®.

Introduction: Don’t Worry

Kate: (01:00)

Welcome to the Practical Homeopathy® Podcast, and our subject today is worry.

Now, we all talk about anxiety. I think that’s very common in society today, but what about worry? Maybe you’re not plagued with the deep anxiety day and night, but you are a mom, like me, that worries.

Or maybe you’re not a mom, but you worry about your pets, your family, your friends, your career, your finances. What about if you’re a teenager and you worry about being bullied, or a grandparent who worries about their new grandbabies and how much time they’ll get to spend with them?

Well, regardless of who you are, worry shouldn’t be on the forefront of your mind, especially if you can’t let it go. Long-term stresses on the body can lead to many other issues, but in this podcast, Joette is going to cover some important homeopathic medicines that can help when worry becomes an everyday occurrence and when worry turns into something greater.

So, let’s get started, Joette.

Women are expert worriers

Joette: (02:00)

Yeah, let’s get started, Kate.

First, I want to say that some of the best worriers on earth are women. We’re experts at it. Once we become a mother, then, I would say worry is our middle name.

Kate:

Right.

Joette:

So, yeah, it can be mild. It can go on and on, but it can also be within the range of normal. So, we don’t want to treat just every little thing that comes along because, as we know, everyone worries now and then.

But when it starts to affect our daily life, then we consider trying a homeopathic medicine to calm that thinking pattern. And we don’t use it every day. We would use it maybe for a day or two and see how it affects us — and use it only as needed. That would be our goal.

So, I know there can be moments of fleeting worry when your child learns how to ride a bike, or when you’re going to take a test, or about your family going on a trip overseas, or if you’ll make it someplace on time. That’s within the range of normal.

But if you find yourself in a constant state of worry, or it becomes something that you find affects your day-to-day living because you’re spending your time checking up on your adult kids constantly (or even your younger children), or not going to places because of worry (like not getting on a plane or not being comfortable enough to take the thruway) … you get the picture.

When worry becomes a pathology, think Arsenicum album or Calc carb

Joette: (03:18)

Homeopathy can often help. So, I want to talk about a few top remedies that we could consider when we repertorize them in our “Meta Repertory” by Robin Murphy. And we look up on page, for example, 277. (For those of you who have a repertory, it’s kind of fun to do this. But if you don’t, you can just follow along.)

There’s “worries, tendency to,” (tendency to worry). And the top medicines are Arsenicum album and Calc carb (or Calcarea carbonica). There are other medicines, too, but I want to just touch on these two main medicines.

Let’s go with Arsenicum first. It’s a person who is full of worries about trifles. They’re nervous; they’re anxious; they can be indecisive. They have anxiety, especially about health, about fear of germs, viruses, being poisoned. They’re restless, and basically, they turn into a hypochondriac.

If it’s a child that worries, they don’t want to be alone, and they can cling to their parents.

And I have to say that this is the kind of medicine that we want to take. You know when they say put the mask on your face before you put it on your child’s — the plane is going down?

Well, mothers often worry because they don’t trust that the medicine that they’re going to be using is going to act, whether it’s conventional drugs or homeopathic, and they’re worried about taking this job on themselves. And so, this is one of those medicines that can be very useful to a mother that’s always freaking about her child’s illnesses or conditions.

So, let’s go to Calc carb, too, because Calc carb is an interesting one. Calc carb covers rumination, where it’s that constant, low-level thinking and overthinking, overworking it, and then they become overworked and exhausted.

And the person might sit and think about little affairs that really amount to nothing, worries about all their responsibilities, especially, and their duties. And this person who might need Calc carb is apprehensive, and they might have anxiety, even with palpitations. And they can be forgetful.

Ailments from worry

Joette: (05:26)

But let’s drill down a little farther. There can be different kinds of worry, such as domestic affairs, or during a fever, or with nervous trembling, or someone who’s overly careful, or sleeplessness that turns into insomnia, or even waking in the night.

Those all can be considered when we’re trying to choose a homeopathic medicine, besides, let’s say, Arsenicum album or Calc carb.

So, if you’ve heard the phrase, “I’m worried sick,” think about worry can actually cause physical ailments. And the most obvious conditions are considerations like high blood pressure, emotional eating. Someone is nervous or worried? They might find their way to the refrigerator. There can be, of course, insomnia or fatigue or irritability. Of course, there’s much more, but those are some common conditions that we see associated with worry.

So, worry is under the category of stress, and we all know that stress can be an underlying cause of these diseases. So, of course, it makes sense that we want to eliminate this chronic or even extreme worry as soon as we can, because that could potentially cause long-term stress, hence other diseases.

Kate:

Joette, I know there’s what we call a rubric in the repertory under worry, and it’s called “ailments from worry.”

So maybe you find yourself not being able to sleep from worry, or maybe you find yourself sick all the time, and you’re just worried all the time, and one cold after another.

What remedies might be found in that rubric?

Joette:

Well, Argentum nitricum is certainly very valuable for this.

And I always think of Ignatia, too. I’ve written and talked about Ignatia a number of times.

Lycopodium is another one, especially if there’s gut issues, bloating, et cetera.

And then Phosphorus. And Phosphorus can be someone who has kind of a spaciness to them in that they are so worried that they come up with these elongated, elaborate scenarios of what could go wrong. They have a huge imagination.

So, these are other medicines we could consider. And there are many others, but those are some of the main … plus, of course, Cal carb, that I mentioned earlier, and Arsenicum.

Kate:

So, this is a good exercise. If you have been studying homeopathy, go online and look up, just Google “materia medica,” and then the names of these remedies. And you’ll be able to read more about them and find out if this might be a fit for something that you or someone that you know is struggling with.

When worry turns to paranoia or anxiety

Kate: (7:59)

So, Joette, but what if our worries turn into something more? How do we know when we’ve crossed that line now, and it’s turning into a paranoia or anxiety or a panic? How would we know the difference?

Joette:

Well, let’s address some of the key differences between worry, anxiety and paranoia.

Generally, worry can be rational. It focuses on possibilities. Maybe it overfocuses, but it focuses on possibilities, slight anxiety about future uncertainties, and usually solely resides in the mind.

So, what that means is that it hasn’t gone into the body on any level. And some people just see life as a glass that’s half empty. It’s just who they are in many ways, and they expect the worst.

It may not be in all situations, maybe just certain situations. They have no fear of poverty, but they have a fear of their child getting sick, or they won’t get on a plane for fear it might come down.

Again, we aren’t talking about taking a homeopathic remedy for every little concern or worry, but if your family might describe you as the family chronic worrier, it could be useful to address this with a homeopathic medicine because it’s kind of a chronic state of mind.

Well, now let’s talk about paranoia. And this involves irrational, fixed and delusional beliefs that others are specifically acting to cause harm. And this is when your family says, “Mom, Mom, we don’t have to worry about Martians. That’s not something to be concerned about. There are not Martians hiding behind the bushes in the backyard.”

Paranoia is characterized by a lack of evidence and an extreme distrust.

Now, let’s talk about anxiety, which usually affects both the body and the mind. It can cause symptoms like racing heart, or perspiration, or insomnia, or, more often than not, intense restlessness. Anxiety, in a way, is a broader physical and persistent state — an emotional state — that can feel uncontrollable and impair daily functioning pretty consistently.

Kate:

So, what I’m hearing, Joette, is that worry can be anytime, and it’s mainly just thoughts. Whereas anxiety can have those physical symptoms along with it and usually is more persistent and goes further than worry. And paranoia is more of an irrational fear based off of distrust.

Joette:

Yeah. Distrust that is irrational, certainly.

So, for this podcast, we’re just focusing on worry, but I may touch on these other emotional and psychological conditions sometime in the future.

Closing advice

Kate: (10:40)

Yes. I want to also point out that you have much more information on these and other mind conditions in a course called Mindful Homeopathy.

So, if you want to learn more, I highly recommend that you go to JoetteCalabrese.com [Editor’s note: JoettesLearningCenter.com contains all of Joette’s courses] and check out the Mindful Homeopathy course. This course has many protocols that are associated with conditions of the mind.

And of course, you have a lot of free blogs and podcasts and your free Facebook Live [Editor’s note: Monday Night Lives]. So, you can search on JoetteCalabrese.com at the top right-hand corner under the search bar if you want to learn more about these remedies or conditions that Joette has talked about in this podcast.

Joette:

Yeah, and I would like to add just one more thought here. And that is our students tell us on a regular basis — and it’s also, I’ve noted it myself, and so have you, Kate — that once you learn how to treat your family’s conditions — the ear infections that pop up time and again, or the eczema that is maddening, or the injuries that occur in a family —because it’s constant, the more children you have, the more of these conditions show up in your life.

Once you learn how to treat these homeopathically, a lot of the worry about your children’s health, your husband’s health, your parents’ health, even your pets’ pretty much melts away. It may not melt away completely, but that alone — without homeopathic medicine — can do a lot of good because you’ve learned how to take care of your family yourself.

So, I want to get this information into as many hands as possible to help you, the mother, grandmother, become the confident and competent healer in your home so that you can worry less.

So, don’t forget to share this with someone you know who might benefit from this information, and we’ll see you next time.

It’s my honor to share many lessons on this simple method of using homeopathy for free —without affiliates or advertising — here in my podcasts, but also my blog posts and Monday Night Lives.

But it’s critical that you learn how to use these medicines properly. These podcasts should serve as only the beginning of your training. Peruse JoettesLearningCenter.com to find fun study group opportunities and in-depth courses developed by subject.

So, with the proper training, you can join the thousands of students before you in developing the confidence and competence to protect the health of your family and loved ones with my brand of homeopathy, Practical Homeopathy®.

Kate:

You just listened to a podcast from internationally acclaimed homeopath, public speaker and author, the founder of The Academy of Practical Homeopathy®, Joette Calabrese. Joette’s podcasts are available on all your favorite podcast apps.

To learn more and find out if homeopathy is a good fit for your health strategy, visit PracticalHomeopathy.com.

Connie was not herself. She didn’t quite know who she was … but she wasn’t the Connie she had been. Her cognitive ability was in steep decline, as was her motivation to do anything about it.

Keep in mind, Connie had been an overachiever. A worker. Devoted to organization. Heck, the canned goods in her pantry were alphabetized.

No more. Now, she felt stuck.

She should have bought stock in Post-It Notes, as she had to write down all her daily tasks to remember to do them … even simple tasks like taking her homeopathic medicine, emptying the dishwasher or showering. Any tiny disruption threw her whole day out of whack, with her mood rapidly following. Her memory was unreliable. Her ability to focus was almost non-existent.

To Connie, it was a cognitive crisis

She had difficulty staying on task, which had never been a problem before. Hours would pass — days even — and she couldn’t get herself motivated to do the simple organizational things that used to be her pleasure.

Her pantry no longer looked like an aspirational Instagram. It now looked more like Fibber McGee and Molly’s closet. (And if you get that reference, you’re exactly the audience I am trying to reach with this story.)

Perimenopause and menopause

Connie knew perimenopause and menopause could wreak havoc on moods, energy, weight, skin, libido and other personal factors. So, she took my course, Feminopathy: How You Can Correct Female Ailments Using Safe, Inexpensive and Effective Homeopathy.

Within months, a medicine she learned in that course — Sepia 200, every three days — had naturally nudged her body to correct the general symptoms of menopause, but the psychological component didn’t budge. In fact, it got worse. So, she assumed her inability to function as before was not attributable to menopause.

She assumed wrong.

The hormonal link to ADHD

Connie’s sister-in-law mentioned she had read something about a connection between hormone shifts in women and ADHD. 

Shazam!

Suddenly, it all came together for Connie. That was it: a hormonal link to ADHD. Yes, it all made sense now. However, there was no way Connie would seek conventional intervention such as hormone replacement therapy or pharmaceuticals for ADHD.

Instead, Connie turned to another of my courses, Mindful Homeopathy: Practical Protocols for Mental and Emotional Conditions, where she learned the method used by the Drs. Banerji to address ADHD.

The second-line protocol stood out to her: Hyoscyamus niger 6C, twice daily and Calc phos 3X*, twice daily.

You see, Connie was already taking Calc phos twice daily in response to her diagnosis of osteopenia. Because of her training in my courses, she thought the more elegant solution would be to add Hyoscyamus niger 6C to her existing schedule of Calc phos, rather than introduce new medicines from the first-line protocol.

Hyoscyamus and Calc phos

Well, Connie’s brain may not have been working as well as it used to, but in this case, it made a capital decision. After about a week of Hyoscyamus and Calc phos, Connie was feeling a shift. After two weeks, Connie started cleaning out drawers. After three weeks, she was making little home repairs as she used to. At one month, she was ready to brave the pantry!

Don’t take her word for it, though. As Connie told me when reporting her success story, her husband even noticed something was different! Now, that’s a strong observation of homeopathic success.

After the first month, she tried halting the protocol. The symptoms returned, so she resumed. She’ll continue in this manner until the homeopathic remedies are no longer necessary, or, as I usually say, when she is very much better.

The natural hormonal shifts across the seasons of our lives can affect each of us in different ways. Luckily, Connie observed, read, studied and, most importantly, learned Practical Homeopathy®. You can, too.

Pass on the good news!

Warmly,

*If one is unable to procure Calc phos in a 3X, Calc phos 6X may be substituted. In fact, Connie used Calc phos 6X from Hylands.

If you enjoy this content, please share it. Also check out my podcasts, Monday Night Lives, and connect with me on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

It’s that time of year again — the time for seasonal allergies. Sometimes, it feels like Groundhog Day when it comes to allergies. <Ah-choo!> Lather, rinse, repeat, repeat, repeat …

Well, you get my point.

This isn’t our first rodeo with seasonal allergies

I’ve written about allergies in my blog posts many times before:

“Holy Hay Fever! I Can’t Stop Sneezing!” Two Remedies to Put a Stop to It from 2015
Break Out of Prison from 2017
Outdoor Allergies from 2021
Allergy Season? Meet Homeopathy from 2023

However, I don’t think we can ever cover this topic enough because seasonal allergies affect many different people in many different ways. Plus, you have been doing such a great job of passing on the good news about homeopathy that I have a lot of new readers here on my website now. Many are just getting started with homeopathy, and their watery eyes deserve some relief, too.

Addressing seasonal allergies can often seem complex — and sometimes, it actually is — yet we can make it more straightforward with Practical Homeopathy®. Indeed, you can find a lot of free information I’ve dispensed regarding allergies on my various sites.

Then there’s my Monday Night Live on seasonal allergies

Plus, you may have heard that I recently devoted one of my Monday Night Lives to the topic. You can find it on YouTube, or if you’re a Mighty Member, you can watch it within your private, secure website* to hear the questions and answers from the additional exclusive time we spent together after the public left.

In it, however, I mentioned that, generally, if the hay fever is truly only seasonal — say, only two weeks in the spring, and there are no other allergies all year round — then Calc carb, for example, might not be a consideration. Calc carb is called upon more often for folks with chronic allergies involving several year-round triggers: feathers, dust, wool, dog fur, pollen, mold, shrimp, dairy, etc., etc.

If nothing bothers the sufferer all year long, except for the few weeks in spring that we’re entering now, then several other medicines might be better suited to address that acute suffering.

Combination medicines for seasonal allergies

For instance, many homeopathic manufacturing pharmacies create combination remedies for this acute time of year. I discuss several of them in the March 23 Monday Night Live I referenced, including one brand tailored to specific geographic zones, targeting each area’s unique pollen.

Most often, we can turn to Boiron’s AllergyCalm® (formerly RhinAllergy® or Sabadil). The beautiful thing about Boiron’s combination medicines is that they are readily accessible through local drug and health food stores, Sprouts, Wegman’s, Walgreens, and even the ubiquitous Walmart. So, you don’t have to wait for an order to come in the mail.

You’ll notice on the back of the box that AllergyCalm contains several of the most applicable homeopathic medicines for seasonal allergies, addressing the most common symptoms suffered right now: runny nose, burning eyes, cough, itchy throat and nasal discharge.

While I would never suggest that a layperson gather up a fistful of single homeopathic remedies to use simultaneously, we can trust that Boiron knows exactly which combination of medicines (and their most appropriate potencies when combined) to effectively counter the pollen and allergens flying around us in spring.

Additionally, the list of medicines on the back of the box is a great tool for learning which medicines are effective at alleviating specific symptoms in our individual cases.

For instance, let’s say a sufferer finds that AllergyCalm works like gangbusters on all their symptoms this spring. Then, next spring, they experience only one symptom during the pollen season: a runny nose. Perhaps all they would need next year is the Allium cepa that successfully counteracted their runny nose.

In fact, that’s a staple of Practical Homeopathy® for nasal allergies, which I have espoused before. When used alone as a single remedy, consider Allium cepa 30C, twice daily, until very much better.

Escape allergies and get your life back

But, my friend, if allergies —chronic or acute — plague you or your family for more than just a few days in the spring, I encourage you to take a deep dive into the topic with my course, Allergic?! Escape Allergies, Chemical Sensitivities, Food Intolerances, and More with Homeopathy: Practical Protocols to Get Your Life Back. 

Gain understanding of not only which medicines are most appropriate for which symptoms but also how to manage a case (meaning what to look for as you employ a particular medicine and how to make the decision to continue, stop or pivot to another medicine). Freeing yourself or your loved ones from allergic reactions is heroic work, but it often requires more education.

While you’re considering the course, download a free infographic containing helpful hints on the most commonly used medicines for allergies.

A success story: Prevailing over allergies with Practical Homeopathy®

Need a little additional motivation? I received this unsolicited testimonial from a student of the Allergic?! course:

“I wanted to thank you. I took your allergy class. My son has had terrible hayfever/allergies for years. They were so terrible that he was in the bed 1-2 days almost every week. He missed multiple classes, parties, get togethers, etc.

“We tried ALL the OTC meds. We were very concerned about how he would be able to work or attend school. I don’t know why I didn’t think to use homeopathy (we had fantastic results with his eczema years ago).

“A year ago I started him on Calcarea carbonica 200c every other day. I can count on one hand the number of “allergy attacks” he has had since, and they were very mild. He only takes the Calc carb occasionally now. This has been life-changing! Thank you thank you thank you!”

That’s the kind of news that makes me hop out of bed in the morning, eager to share more about homeopathy! A few days ago, I shared another unsolicited testimonial — a different kind of spring success story — in my last Memo to Mighty Members #306* (my extra weekly blog post exclusively available to Joette’s Mighty Members). Join us now so you won’t feel left out.

If you enjoy this content, please share it. Also check out my podcasts, Monday Night Lives, and connect with me on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.

Warmly,

P.S. And remember — all my Mighties (Joette’s Mighty Members) qualify for a 10% discount on course purchases. If you need assistance getting your discount, email [email protected] for more information.

*You must be logged into your Mighty Member account for protected links to take you directly to the offering.
** Claims based on traditional homeopathic practice, not accepted medical evidence. Not FDA evaluated.

In this podcast, we cover:

01:00   Introduction: Aconite for shock, fear, anxiety and panic

02:21  Meet Elizabeth, who utilized Aconitum napellus for her husband’s shock after bad news and with other conditions

04:59   Meet Jennifer, who used Aconite for her child’s delayed panic after a close call in a swimming pool

06:39   Different kinds of shock

07:47   Meet Laurie, who employed Aconite for stage fright and her young son’s fear of storms

10:05   Meet Nealy, whose dog-clients use Aconite for anxiety and fear of car rides

12:59   Other uses of Aconitum napellus: the Arnica of the eye, fear of death, labor

18:45   Closing Advice

Additional resources:

Joette Calabrese on YouTube (Monday Night Lives)

Joette’s Learning Center

The Academy of Practical Homeopathy®

PracticalHomeopathy.com

Gateway to Practical Homeopathy®: A Guided Study Group Curriculum

Joette’s Study Group, Find Your New Study Group Friends

Joette’s Mighty Members

FindAPracticalHomeopath.com

Kate:

This is the Practical Homeopathy® Podcast, episode number 167, with Joette Calabrese.

Joette:

Hi, I’m Joette Calabrese, and I welcome you to our health care movement — yours, mine and the countless men and women across the globe who have retaken control of their families’ health with Practical Homeopathy®.

So, for the next few minutes, let’s link our arms as I demystify homeopathy — what was once considered an esoteric paradigm — into an understandable, reproducible, safe and effective health care solution available to all.

This is the medicine you’ve been searching for — my unique brand of homeopathy, PRACTICAL Homeopathy®.

Introduction: Aconite for shock, fear, anxiety and panic

Joette: (01:00)

Have you ever had a shocking experience, after which you felt sudden surges of adrenaline through the body? Now, you might’ve been shaky and felt fearful and panicked. How about an anxiety attack or panic attack? Well, you’re not alone.

A national health statistic I saw states that during 2022, about one in five adults, age 18 and older, experienced symptoms of anxiety in the past two weeks.

But we don’t have to fear because on this podcast, I’m going to share about one of my favorite homeopathic medicines, which has the ability to address these conditions and much more.

I’ll bet you can guess which medicine it is. If you guessed Aconitum napellus — Aconite — you were right.

Some of you may already know that Aconite has been known to address conditions such as colds or flu (especially if they come on quickly), coughs, croup, fever, cardiac events, otitis media, sleeplessness and much more.

But in this podcast, we’re going to focus on its ability to address anxiety, shock and fear. So, I’ve invited some of my students to join us on this podcast because they have their own stories about Aconite.

Meet Elizabeth, who utilized Aconitum napellus for her husband’s shock after bad news and with other conditions

Joette: (2:21)

So, I’d like to welcome Elizabeth. She is a Mastermind member, an Ambassador, has finished the two years — The Academy and Mastery — and has her own business.

Go ahead, Elizabeth. We’d love to hear your story.

Elizabeth:

Hi, Joette. Thanks for having me.

One moment that really stands out to me was during my husband’s serious chronic illness. He had just received some very discouraging news, and it triggered a full-blown panic attack. His heart was racing; he felt helpless. You could just tell his body didn’t know how to process the news he had just received.

And I remember thinking, “This isn’t just everyday worry and anxiety. He’s in shock.”

So, without making a big deal about it, I gave him a dose of Aconite, which is a remedy we use a lot in homeopathy for sudden fear and panic. And within minutes — and I mean minutes — I watched the panic melt away.

And he looked at me, and he said, “What did you just give me? I feel so much better.”

And that was one of those moments where I realized how powerful the right homeopathic remedy can be because his body was finally able to just calm down and reset.

And that’s just one of countless stories where I have had horrific nightmares and had panic and anxiety and shock, and Aconite worked every time.

My daughter has also had the same. I’ve had a friend who was in hospice, and I was able to see her benefit from Aconite as well.

Client: pregnancy — horrific pregnancy — labor and delivery, ultimately PTSD. And that was one of the really big things that we worked on was preparing her mind and her body to prepare for the upcoming new baby with the labor and delivery, hypertension, lots of different things.

But even just everyday things, like being exposed to cold winds. Like at one of my children’s soccer games or something: the onset of a cold or a cough. Aconite is just so beautiful. So, I take it everywhere with me because I have seen it be so powerfully effective with a number of health issues.

Joette:

Well, what’s great about it is that it’s not a vitamin or a supplement or a mineral. It’s a homeopathic medicine, so we use it only as needed. So, in each of those events that you were just discussing, that’s exactly when we would use Aconitum.

Thank you so much, Elizabeth. Those are lovely stories, especially the first one with your husband. Bad news, yes.

Meet Jennifer, who used Aconite for her child’s delayed panic after a close call in a swimming pool

Joette: (04:59)

All right, let’s go to Jennifer. Jennifer’s in our Mastery program now, and she’s also an Ambassador.

And I’d love to hear your story, Jennifer.

Jennifer:

Thank you for having me, Joette. The story I remember the most for Aconite is when I was at a backyard pool party, and several of the children were playing in the pool. One of my sons slipped under the water for a moment. His brother pulled him back up so quickly, there wasn’t any commotion at the time. And you would’ve thought it would be forgotten because it was such a non-issue.

But later that day, he started to whimper and cry.

Because it wasn’t immediately after the fact, I was like, “What’s going on? What’s wrong with you? “

And finally, I deduced that he was panicking from having slipped under the water, and he was sort of reliving the incident in his mind. You could sort of see in his face that his mind was elsewhere. He was going through that fear again.

So, once I realized that, I gave him a dose of Aconite, and it helped to calm him down, and he was able to go off and play.

I did have to give it again a couple more times as that panic started to resurface. Each time was a little bit further apart, and he was a little less panicky. The last time, he actually just came up to me and asked me for a dose because he started to feel it come back. And then he walked away and played, and that was that.

Joette:

That is so observant of you, Jennifer, because that is something that only the watchful eye of a mother would notice … something like that. That it must be related, and it’s a little bit delayed.

It’s a great medicine, and it’s useful for … even if it were a week later and you saw that reaction, you might not even put the two together and associate it with the flipping underwater, but you know how they’re reacting. It’s that panic. Yeah. Great story. Wow. Especially, even for going underwater for a little one. Thank you, Jennifer.

Different kinds of shock

Joette: (06:39)

I’d like to take a moment and point out that there are several kinds of shock. There’s often medically diagnosed shock where the blood pressure drops, and there’s maybe a rapid or weak pulse, and there can be disorientation.

And then there’s the other, when you feel shocked from a seemingly shocking event.

And the first is more extreme, of course, but both types can be addressed with Aconitum.

So, I had a client once. She would grasp her chest and put the palm of her hand hard against her chest, and she would say — no matter what happened, anything that was happening in her life that was a little interesting or heavy — she would say, “Oh, my gosh, it was the shock of my life. I’m shocked by this! It’s the shock!”

And she would always use that word, “shock.”

And when I think back about this woman, this is someone who, when I was first starting out in homeopathy, the event that started all of this is that she had suffered a good amount of mental shock when she was a young woman. And from that time forward, I think she was still experiencing that shock, even though it was not the shock of her life each time, but there was an event that was the shock of her life, and it brought it all back.

Meet Laurie, who employed Aconite for stage fright and her young son’s fear of storms

Joette: (07:47)

So, let’s go to you, Laurie. Laurie is a graduate of The Academy, and she’s a Mastery grad, study group advisor. She’s an Ambassador, and she also sees clients.

So, Laurie, please let’s hear your story. I’m always looking forward to the stories that you give us.

Laurie:

Oh, thank you, Joette. Thank you for inviting me here. I love that I get to talk about Aconite because it’s one of my favorite remedies. In fact, one of the reasons it’s my favorite remedy is because I wouldn’t be here today if I hadn’t taken Aconite.

I had such a fear of stage fright and just talking to people. Even if I was in a group of people that I knew, I would still struggle with it. And I know most people use Gelsemium, and I love Gelsemium, but I never felt the panic ease up like I did when I used Aconite.

And now I’m talking to hundreds of people on a regular basis. Aconite totally transformed my life. I love that it’s the remedy that not only helps with serious conditions, but it’s also the remedy for living in everyday life.

What do I mean by that? I want to give you an example.

So, we moved to Tornado Alley when my son was just eight. He has Down syndrome and had never experienced any intense weather before. But that first month after we moved, we had three major storms. Two had tornadoes that touched down just outside of where we lived. Wind was so violent that we had two large, hundred-year-old oaks get knocked down.

After that, my son couldn’t even tolerate having clouds in the sky. He would melt down. He would have panic attacks. He would run around with his little headphones if there was thunder or lightning.

And so, I decided that I was going to give Aconite a try. So, knowing that Aconite is so great for fear and anxiety, this was a no-brainer for me.

And that next storm, it was a lightning storm, and it was terrible. It scared even me.

But he was there content, playing on the bed like nothing was going on and nothing was happening. And I have to say that was just a miracle in itself.

After that, no matter what, we knew that we could use that to help him get through it, but over time, he has become less fearful of the storms. So now, I almost never need to employ it at all.

Joette:

Yeah, that’s the beauty of this kind of medicine and especially Aconite. Yeah. Have it on hand just in case. Thank you, Laurie. Two really good stories. Excellent.

Meet Nealy, whose dog-clients use Aconite for anxiety and fear of car rides

Joette: (10:05)

All right, let’s go to Nealy. Nealy is in our Mastermind group, and she’s an Ambassador.

So, hi, Nealy.

Nealy:

For anyone that doesn’t know, most of my clients are dogs, and a lot of times that translates into their people as well.

So, dogs tend to take on our stuff, and we tend to project onto our dogs. You learn that after you talk to several people and see what’s going on. So, if you have both of those things going on at the same time, you can end up with quite the storm.

So, I had one client that she was insisting that her dog had serious anxiety, and he wouldn’t eat, and he paced, and he panted, and he was having all kinds of issues. But you could hear in her voice the whole thing going on with her.

And I was like (normally, I wouldn’t suggest doing this as an ongoing thing), but along with the full schedule, I had her add Aconite twice a day for her and the dog.

The next time I talked to her, I was like, “How are things going? “

And she’s like, “Well, he’s doing really good, and he’ll eat anything I put in front of him.”

You could hear it in her voice. She was all calm and relaxed. It was great.

So, that was one of those times where you just had this, just like Laurie was talking about, a tornado going on in the house between the dog and the person.

So, that was a little unusual bit of use, as using it concurrent like that. Normally, like everyone else has talked about, it would kind of be just an as-needed thing. But that particular instance, I thought it required it. So, it worked out great.

Another thing it’s really, really effective with dogs is you’ll have young dogs that get carsick or don’t like riding in the car, afraid of the car. Works quite often very well in those situations as well.

So, great thing to keep on hand.

Joette:

That is so common, Nealy. The dog-in-the-car business, you use a 200 before they get into the car (when they see that they’re about to get in), yes. And then they administer it frequently throughout the ride, or sometimes you don’t even have to repeat it, perhaps.

Nealy:

Yeah. My boss, when I was working at the boarding kennel, he got a new puppy, and he was terrified at riding in the car. So, I had him do that, and he only had to do it for like a week. And ever since then, puppy’s been fine. So, it helped him work through it, and he’s got past it. So, that was a great success.

Joette:

Wow. Great story. Remember that, friends, because I know a lot of dogs, especially the smaller ones, don’t like being in cars. True.

Well, thank you, Nealy and Jennifer and Elizabeth and Laurie. These are really great stories. I hope that everyone else can get as much out of it as I have, too. And I’ve heard these stories a million times, but it never becomes boring. This is so interesting to hear each story, and it helps you remember them better. Remember the remedies and how to use them when you have a story that’s associated. So, thanks again, students.

Other uses of Aconitum napellus: the Arnica of the eye, fear of death, labor

Joette: (12:59)

So, let’s talk a little bit more about Aconitum, shall we? I know our subject today is Aconitum: “A for anxiety.” It’s easy to remember, but it’s also for fear and shock.

I can’t help but mentioning that one should remember Aconite as Arnica of the eye. So, if you know how Arnica is used in injuries, remember Aconitum for eye injuries.

It can be used for inflammation of the eye of the eyelid, straining eyes. You may have weakness or tiring of the eyes accompanied by pain or headache or blurry vision and sensitivity in the eye. And sometimes, because of all of this, there’s an inability to keep the eyes open.

So, Aconite is also useful when there’s an embedded metal body in the eye. Can you imagine how awful that is? Dr. Herring from a century ago spoke about it this way, he said: “Inflammatory conditions,” he’s talking about Aconitum resulting from “irritant action of foreign bodies, as chips of steel or stone or coal in the cornea, which produced dry rubbing of lid over the ball with injected vessels, irritation caused by ingrowing lashes.” So, that was written in 1879.

So, I also want to recall a story of a friend of mine whose husband was trimming the branches around their house, and one poked him in the eye. And on the way to the hospital, she gave him Aconitum 200.

Now, you can imagine he was disturbed. He was anxious about what had happened, couldn’t see, there was a great pain. And on the way to the hospital, by giving him Aconite 200, it calmed him down. And she continued giving it to him even until once they were in the hospital and carried on with it for that day and even into the next day.

All they had to do once they got to the hospital was to put a patch on the eye so that he wasn’t using it and to keep it covered for a period of time. And as I said, she continued to give it to him several more doses after the injury for a few days.

So, remember, Aconite — Aconitum — is the Arnica of the eye.

I also have to say that one of the main threads in the Aconitum picture is around the subject of death: fear of death, certainty of death, near-death experience, worry about death, prediction of death, et cetera. So. let me share some other indications for the use of Aconite around the topic of anxiety, fear, shock and associated with death.

There’s panic and anxiety, not unlike what was mentioned here by my students. The person can be inconsolable. There may be a fright that’s followed by panic and shock, can be palpitations of the heart, fear of death, and sometimes they say, “believes that he will die soon and predicts the day or the time of his death.”

Now, he’s not actually predicting it, but he’s thinking that by tonight at midnight, I’m going to be gone. So, they fear that they’re going to die.

And I want you to remember Arsenicum album also has this, but Aconitum has it even bigger than that. They feel that they’re dying right now.

Also, one of the best ways to use Aconitum is during labor.

When a mother’s giving birth in labor, she might be thinking of, “What if the baby dies?” If she can’t stop thinking about that, “Something’s wrong! Something’s wrong! I think the baby could die. We’ve got to get the baby out.” Or, “Something’s wrong with me. I could die, and then we’ll both go.”

That fear is so common during labor, and that is exactly what you want to have on hand is that Aconitum. A couple doses, right there during the labor, and it can put everything to rest.

Or for someone who thinks about death a lot, “I’m afraid it’s going to happen. I don’t know if I should go outside. I can’t go over bridges. I can’t go on planes because I’m afraid I’m going to die.” It becomes a daily or nearly daily plaguing thought.

And then in that case, it’s different than what we’ve talked about pretty much so far. It becomes a chronic anxiety, a specific anxiety, a fear of death, of something really bad happening, and especially around the heart.

So, it’s not only fear of a heart attack, but a fear that comes about or panic that comes about regarding the heart that at the moment of a heart or cardiac episode.

So, remember, for panic attacks, with shaking, trembling — there may not be shaking or trembling — but if you see that, I want you to be thinking of Aconitum first. Sudden surges of adrenaline through the body leading to trembling, and of course, panic. There can also be panic attacks with numbness and tingling of the fingers down the arms and into the feet even, all the way through the extremities.

Agoraphobia, afraid to go out of the house, fear of crowds, fear of busy streets, fear of narrow streets, fear of going to doctors and dentists. How common is that, my friends? Fear of total disasters. “I’m sure something bad’s about to happen.”

Fear of the dark and fear of ghosts. Now, I know that might sound strange, but when people start thinking about that — or children — or there even can be dreams about them.

And so, one more thing about Aconitum, violent reactions to a fright or weather conditions, not unlike what Laurie mentioned that can indicate the use of Aconitum.

Today, we live in very comfortable, controlled temperatures. We have heat and air conditioning, and we don’t realize how potent, how influential, how commanding weather can be, even if we’re inside. So, we keep thinking about how “Weather can’t bother me. I’m inside and protected.” But even that weather, that storm outside, even if we’re not in the storm or in our safe home, it can still affect someone who might need Aconitum, not unlike what Laurie mentioned.

Closing advice

Joette: (18:45)

So my friends, I hope today’s conversation has shown you that you don’t have to live at the mercy of sudden fear or of panic or long-term fear or that overwhelming surge of adrenaline that can knock you off your feet, whether it’s the shock of a frightening moment or a lingering long-term anxiety after a loss or the daily grip of worry that makes your heart race and your hands shake, or the dog that shakes on the way to the car because he knows what’s forthcoming.

Aconitum napellus is ready as one of homeopathy’s most powerful first — and even second, third, and last — responders.

So, we’ve heard beautiful real-life stories today from Elizabeth, Jennifer, Laurie, and Nealy, and these are the kinds of stories about homeopathy that aren’t rare. I hear them every day, and so do they because they’re in the world of homeopathy. They’re the everyday victories that become possible when we understand how to use this remarkable medicine well.

So, the next time you feel that sudden wave of fear, that racing heart or that “I’m sure I can’t handle this feeling,” remember Aconitum.

And so, until next time, stay Mighty, my friends. Stay prepared and remember fear may come knocking, but with Aconite in your toolkit, you never have to let it move in. See you soon.

It’s my honor to share many lessons on this simple method of using homeopathy for free —without affiliates or advertising — here in my podcasts, but also my blog posts and Monday Night Lives.

But it’s critical that you learn how to use these medicines properly. These podcasts should serve as only the beginning of your training. Peruse JoettesLearningCenter.com to find fun study group opportunities and in-depth courses developed by subject.

So, with the proper training, you can join the thousands of students before you in developing the confidence and competence to protect the health of your family and loved ones with my brand of homeopathy, Practical Homeopathy®.

Kate:

You just listened to a podcast from internationally acclaimed homeopath, public speaker and author, the founder of The Academy of Practical Homeopathy®, Joette Calabrese. Joette’s podcasts are available on all your favorite podcast apps.

To learn more and find out if homeopathy is a good fit for your health strategy, visit PracticalHomeopathy.com.

My dear friends, today I wish each one of you — regardless of your beliefs — a joyful, rewarding and uplifting Easter.

The story of Easter is undoubtedly the greatest story ever told. Knowing it will bless you.

To celebrate the importance of today, instead of a regular lesson, I offer you this gift of beautiful, meaningful music: a traditional hymn sung by Luciano Pavarotti, “Panis Angelicus,” or “The Bread of Angels.” If you’re unfamiliar with the translation of this hymn or its origin, this webpage will tell you more.

Easter blessings to you and your family from me, Perry and our whole team here at Practical Homeopathy®.

Warmly,

What is Practical Homeopathy®?

I answered the “what” aspect of that question earlier this year in my blog post, What is Practical Homeopathy®? (Part 1).

You may recall, I concluded that post with a promise to explain how Practical Homeopathy® came into being.

In search of specific medicines for specific conditions

It struck me early on in my study and practice of homeopathy that there had to be specific ways to treat the same conditions reproducibly, time and again. I would never have used the word “protocol” at the time, but I just felt in my gut that there had to be specific homeopathic medicines for specific conditions, even though classical training tried to insist there weren’t.

Even Dr. Ramakrishnan, with whom I studied, would swear up and down that he was classical. But honestly, he wasn’t exclusively classical. He really wasn’t. He would say to our class, “Use this medicine for this condition, and that medicine for that, and another for another.

Wait. What?

We students were gobbling up this information as he delivered it, writing it all down in our notes. Yet even as we were assimilating all his information on condition-specific medicines, we still believed ourselves when we said, “Yes, we’re classical. Yes, we are.”

Because the idea of condition-specific medicines kept creeping into my mind, I turned to the masters of homeopathy for answers. So, I called the owner of a bookstore where I bought all my books (a shop called Minimum Price Homeopathy Books), and asked, “Can you find all the books you have, giving specific remedies for specific conditions?”

And find them, he did.

The masters of homeopathy already held answers

Then, I started combing through those old books. I discovered that, indeed, in the late 1800s, Dr. James Compton Burnett proposed that if you have a cold, the first thing you should use is Aconitum napellus. And if it goes to the chest, you should automatically use Bryonia alba.

Did he mean we shouldn’t ever use Dulcamara? No, he didn’t mean that. Did he mean we would never use Pulsatilla? No, he didn’t mean that either. What Dr. Compton Burnett meant was that Aconite and Bryonia are the most prominent considerations when a respiratory illness occurs.

After discovering that protocols had a historical role in homeopathy, I felt my newly emerging thought process was more than justified.

Then, in addition to the masters’ clear use of condition-specific medicines, manufacturing pharmacies (like Boericke & Tafel, Boiron, Helios, and later OHM Pharma) further confirmed the efficacy of protocols by developing their own combination medicines branded for specific conditions.

Let’s face it. Whether we used the term or not, these were all protocols. So why were there only a handful of these protocols in circulation?

Why wouldn’t we try protocols first?

In today’s homeopathy, we all know that when somebody has a new injury — or even ailments from an old one — we pretty much automatically at least consider Arnica montana. (Pretty much — not always — but pretty much.) We wouldn’t use 3C; nor would we necessarily use 50M. We would most likely use 30C or 200C. Thankfully, the clinical successes that preceded us really narrowed down the preferred potency.

Another example: If someone has very thin skin, thin hair, and brittle nails, we automatically start considering medicines like Silicea. Again, we wouldn’t use it in a 10M potency. Instead, we might employ 6X (or C), or a 30C potency, because those are the potencies that have historically been proven effective for the largest percentage of sufferers. 

So, I thought, why not try the condition-specific medicine — the “protocol” — first? If someone has an injury, why not start with Arnica? If someone has thin hair, why not start with Silicea? Why should we make it more complex by insisting that the medicine must be different for everyone?

I began using the most commonly utilized medicines for specific symptoms. For instance, if someone was experiencing grief, why not start with Ignatia? If a woman just had her third baby and is experiencing depression, why not just use Sepia?

Funny story about Sepia

When I was first learning homeopathy with other young mothers in my study group in Buffalo, a medical doctor who was only using homeopathy was practicing in Rochester. Over and over again, after each one of our friends drove the hour-and-a-half out to Rochester to consult with him, we heard he was using Sepia for practically any woman who met with him.

We guffawed!

We all said, “Oh, that’s ridiculous. Homeopathy is person-specific, not condition-specific. That certainly isn’t homeopathy because he’s giving everybody the same thing!”

If I had known then what I know now, it all would have made sense. We were all in the same boat. We were all roughly the same age and just having our kids. Sepia was our medicine!

It worked. He was nailing it every time!

We all started to question what we had been taught. “What the heck? Why are we still propagating the message that homeopathy is person-specific, when it turns out it often isn’t?”

Maybe homeopathy doesn’t always need to be complex

I started to think, “Why is this being made to sound so esoteric? Let’s just accept that we are all human. Many times, the same medicine (generally, in the same potency and often even in the same frequency) works for the same condition in almost all sufferers.”

Now, don’t get me wrong. At the time, I simultaneously recognized that homeopathy could be more complex. However, in my mind, that complexity should be the second level of understanding.

The first level — the first approach to an illness or injury — ought to be the medicine that has historically been proven successful in the majority of sufferers with the same condition. When your family is in crisis, you can’t be thinking about all the applicable medicines. You want to consider the most likely possibilities and start taking care of your family. If you come to a crossroads where the condition isn’t resolving, okay, then we can go deeper.

If the Sepia doesn’t help her, if the Ignatia doesn’t help him, if the Arnica doesn’t help the injured child, we can go deeper into our repertories and materia medica and employ our training.

Resources of proven protocols

Eventually, my curiosity about protocols led me to my work with the Drs. Banerji, where I spent a year and a half cumulatively. I tell the story in more detail in my podcast My Time with The Banerjis, so I won’t repeat it here. (But I do hope you’ll listen.)

The Banerjis’ condition-specific medicines were determined out of a sheer need to treat a thousand people a day. (Yes, you read that correctly.) When I was there, there were 12 doctors, each seeing 100 patients per day. Do the math. That’s 1,200 patients a day. That means at the end of one week, they’ve treated 7,200 people.

The documentation of the efficacy of their condition-specific medicines became known as the Banerji Protocols.

(And yes, the Banerji Protocol for the onset of a cold or respiratory condition was confirmation of Dr. James Compton Burnett’s advice from 100 years earlier, with both utilizing Aconitum napellus and Bryonia alba.)

Bolstering my philosophy, I also encountered the French Protocols, which were being taught to medical doctors in France. (I teach these in The Academy of Practical Homeopathy®.)

I then connected with Joe De Livera, whose Joepathy is built on protocols he observed and recorded during his years in a busy, successful practice.

I also read “In Search of the Later Hahnemann,” by Rema Handley, in which it was shown that Dr. Hahnemann (the founder of homeopathy) used condition-specific medicines for patients.

My friends, that’s all I needed. Suddenly, all that I thought was so, was not.

Dr. Pratip often said, “We are more Hahnemannian than those who are using the ‘other’ way,” and he was right.

So, if even Dr. Hahnemann used condition-specific methods, why was this information kept from us? Why?

By standardizing the practice of the heretofore highly complex system of classical homeopathy, protocols provide practitioners with a collection of specific homeopathic medicines for specific diagnoses, bypassing the time-consuming and often enigmatic process of individualization.

Of course, I fully understand that there are times when homeopathy must be tailored to the individual. But it’s not as often as I was initially led to believe, nor what I taught to my students years ago. To be honest, it’s not very often at all, actually. (And, by the way, for those who studied with me back then, please accept my apologies.)

Putting decades of research together

I began synthesizing everything I had learned from all these esteemed sources: the books from the masters (Hahnemann, James Compton Burnett, Dorothy Shepherd, Robin Murphy), my work with the Banerjis, the French Protocols, and Joe De Livera’s “Joepathy.” To that rich mixture, I added my own notes and protocols gleaned from success in my practice as well as a full measure of repertorization when required.

Thus, Practical Homeopathy® was born.

I believe this simplified method is not only practical but also essential for the future of homeopathy.

I hope you will pass on the good news!

Warmly,

P.S. If you’re ready to get started on the pathway to health freedom for you and your family, it’s the perfect time to enter the Gateway to Practical Homeopathy®. This guided study group curriculum is laid out in an easy-to-follow set of lessons, meant to be shared with others for maximum impact. It’s the same way I first learned homeopathy decades ago.

Members of a study group benefit from each individual’s life experience. Each participant learns not only from others’ questions about protocols for conditions affecting their families but also benefits from a tight-knit support group they can call on whenever they’re unsure which homeopathic medicine to choose.

Once you’re on this path, you’ll be enthralled by the potential Practical Homeopathy® holds for your family’s health. Learning this information is fun and intellectually delicious. Believe me, you won’t want your education to end.