Sometimes it washes over me, sometimes (though less frequently now) it makes me angry, mostly it makes me curious.

It seems really bizarre - working on a daily basis with this gentle, effective medicine - why the need to stamp on it, mis-quote trials, or at least quote horrendously biased ones - like the 2nd Australian Review (and where, after all, did the first one go? why was the lead on the project fired - and are the rumours - that it came out in favour of homeopathy - true?).

So today is another day of twitter telling me homeopathy can't work (some of my work is around the positive communication of homeopathy hence being on twitter this morning) - yet just yesterday whilst in clinic, I saw people who'd improved with using - wait for it - this non-effective, can't work medicine, homeopathy.

I see too many things, effective treatment using homeopathy - both in my clinic and those of others, and am excited about everyone who has found homeopathy effective for them, and incredibly grateful also for those who've gone on to share their stories. 

So, through my curiosity today, it's a thank you. Thank you for those speaking up. Thank you for those making my job a pleasure to do. Like this mum recently who said:

My daughter had multiple hospital admissions for viral wheeze – treatment for which, often included doses of steroids, antibiotics and general inhalers. It was after a period of 6 months that I felt I needed to try an alternative course of treatment and looked towards homeopathy. I was recommended Em, by my daughter’s swimming instructor. Em took the time to get to know my daughter, her personality and prescribed a treatment for her. It was great knowing that Em was only a phone call away and was happy to pick up any queries and concerns outside of our sessions. My daughter has now been hospital admission free for five months, she uses her homeopathic treatment as and when required and still continues to see her regular hospital consultant. Overall, I would wholeheartedly Em. 

Since we've started working together, no more hospital admissions - which were around once a month or so, and could be for overnight stays. The saving for the NHS from this non-effective medicine, homeopathy? Fairly significant I'd think, let alone the reduction in antibiotic use and other drugs for the individual.

I'm happy to share the account, with permission from the girl's mum. 

If homeopathy has worked for you please tell others - you've no idea how you may help someone else find relief from a similar condition, or improvement from something else. 

Onwards, with love,

Em

It's a question that people frequently ask and one that certain people (funnily enough, particularly those with attitudes along the lines of 'homeopathy doesn't work') would rather we say no to. 

The Times yesterday ran a piece on how homeopaths are endangering lives, pushing "useless alternatives to vaccines". Dawn, one of the featured homeopaths in it, shares her response here. It's funny how the arguments have changed against homeopathy - initially it was that it didn't work, now that because it doesn't work we're endangering lives. And sometimes it's that homeopathic products are dangerous - even as far as being called biohazards in a recent Sunday Times piece. 

It's not an argument I find myself wanting to be dragged into, yet we seem to be getting dragged into it nonetheless. And I know no homeopaths, despite having been a homeopath for 12 years, travelled internationally within homeopathic circles and met many others, I know of no homeopaths who "push" anything. I do know of people who come to homeopaths (including those working in the medical professions) because they feel sure that their child regressed after having had vaccines (an idea it seems currently essential to suppress hence the recent article against Alan Freestone - his response is here), and practitioners look at the whole case, as they would with any person in front of them, and ideally are able to help find improvements. Not every time. And this too seems to be a stumbling block. Tell me what medical field does everything every time? Vaccination, it seems, doesn't either, from recent reports of outbreaks being from vaccinated individuals. Again I'm keen not to get into a big discussion, but I do want to offer that any medical procedure is not without risk. Any way of living life is not without risk, and we should all carefully consider that. My beef, if I have one, is that frequently the 'shadow side' of vaccines are not shown - whether that be for financial incentive, as some suggest, fear that uptake would be lower or that parents would make the 'wrong' choice. But there is no mention of any risk associated with them, only with not having them. Which intrigues me. More about that below from a medical colleague.

What I think I'm curious about too is there is a story that's not being told, and a media hysteria going on which is interesting to observe. In my perception there's a truth not being told and a denial that harm can occur from the route that's commonly being "pushed". My newsfeed on Facebook is filled with harrowing stories from those who are sharing that side of the story. It breaks my heart. Perhaps there's no incentive to share those more widely, in the national press, which asks further questions.

It seems in these times of increasing numbers of people looking to alternative options - we also have to suppress the chance that anything else can work to keep us healthy - a little like the Cancer Act of 1939 - the only things that can cope with cancer are surgery, radiotherapy and chemo. The people doing things naturally (and there are those people - frequently those who've been sent home with no hope who look outside of that prognosis) either don't exist or never had cancer in the first place. Most interesting.

Interestingly too, and I'm not saying this should be used in every case by any stretch, but homeopathy has dealt with epidemics around the world which is ignored, both in historical times, and more recently. Cuba is a particularly good case in point.

The film Magic Pills shares more details around the story and is worth getting along to a screening near you if you've got the chance. This snippet from the film shares a little more of the story:

​In short, in case you're a reader and not a YouTube fan (in which case hello and so nice to meet you!!) the Cuban Finlay Institute found itself with the unsettling scenario of an impending epidemic of leptospirosis and no time to manufacture the necessary vaccine (the Finlay Institute were in fact the first place to create the Meningitis C vaccine). They decided to create a homeopathic medicine from the bacteria and gave to millions of people. And what happened? I'll share a graphic from the film Magic Pills:

​In some versions the slide above isn't displaying correctly - it reads:

The cases of leptospirosis increased by 27%, except in the three intervened provinces rates of infection reduced by 84% and remained below historic levels.

​Dr Gustavo Bracho, who presented the research at the Homeopathy Research Institute shares more about the project here:

This medicine that doesn't, can't work, seems to have done a damn fine job in that situation. The Finlay Institute went on to conduct other research using other homeopathic medicines for preventable diseases, with success in every instance.

There is a bigger picture we are not being told. Perhaps it's not always appropriate but we should ask ourselves why we're not hearing about this, or if we are, only in negative terms. As to homeopaths pushing anything, we should hear why they are not allowed to talk about what homeopathy can actually do. And why the media has turned - are they funded by anyone who might persuade that to happen? Several years ago they were happy to share this piece about how Roger Daltrey's son had his life saved by a homeopath. Now, nothing of the sort and we're all evil. Interesting again.

​I wanted to end with a piece written by a colleague and medical doctor, Dr. Joe Rozencwajg from New Zealand. Please read:

"In this morning's paper, there was again a piece of "opinion" by yet another ignoramus, insulting the people who do not vaccinate, with the usual arguments. I generally answer by sending a letter to the Editor or an Opinion piece, short and with references. This morning I was really pissed off so not only did I write a longer piece, but I sent a copy to David Clark, our Minister of Health. I just received acknowledgment by one of his employees that he read it (???) and is taking my views seriously (?????????). I thought I would copy what I wrote here; feel free to copy, enhance, embellish, modify as it suits you and please do send to all the local, regional and national papers you have access to. As usual I did not receive any acknowledgement from the press and it will probably not be published, no surprises here...so let's inundate the "free press, voice of the people" until they relent.

"How on earth do you talk to an anti-vaxxer" is published just a few days after an opinion piece about mandatory vaccination.

And yet, when comments, answers and explanations about the refusal to vaccinate are sent for publication, none is appearing and the authors are not even granted the common courtesy of a reply and an explanation...censorship at its best, so much for the "freedom" of the press.

Let's try again.

A common thread in those articles is the parroting of the same arguments, so some dissection is needed.

1. We are refusing Science: I have tried many times to refer readers to scientific papers coming out from the CDC, the WHO, world-renown hospitals and research centres, written by well-known researchers and published in peer-reviewed journals. Some are collated in the book by Mateja Cernic "Ideological constructs of vaccination". Did anyone read any of those? At best, a few answers I received was "I do no accept the validity of this publication" Why? that remains an unexplained mystery. So, yes, there is science and research behind the refusal to vaccinate, not madness, politics or ideology. Another question would be why has the report of Senator Kennedy about the dangers of vaccination never been mentioned? I know! it goes against official policy, it is well documented and unacceptable to the vaccinators.

2. Everybody quotes the "debunked Wakefield" saga. What nobody seems to pay attention to, or maybe they have been prevented from acquiring that knowledge, is that the "debunked study" was "rebunked" (if I can invent this word). But here is a more important question: did any one of the vaccine pushers really read Wakefield's paper? I would guess not, so here is a summary: he found out that many cases of autism were correlated to dysbiosis of the gut (a pathological change in the intestinal bacterial flora); this is a notion that was fresh in his time but has been confirmed now many times; do not take my word for it, just do a search for "gut dysbiosis and neurological pathology". At the same time Wakefield found out that the MMR vaccine created in some cases severe dysbiosis in the gut; again, something that was new at that time but demonstrated by now. He then wondered whether there could be an indirect link between MMR and autism. That is all he wrote. And now it is clear he was right. All that information is freely available on the net, just do the research for yourself, if you dare.

3. Now for the darling of vaccination, herd immunity. The claim is that in order to have "herd immunity" 95% of the population or group studied needs to be vaccinated; by vaccinated it is meant injected with the vaccine. Even the more rabid defenders of vaccination admit that the rate of "success" is at best around 80 to 90%, depending on which vaccine is used. Therefore, even if 100% of the population is injected, it is impossible to reach the threshold for herd immunity. But what does "successful vaccination" mean? In all studies, it means the appearance of antibodies, yet antibodies are not synonymous of immune protection, it only means that the immune system has been in contact with a foreign substance and has recognised it as foreign; check that fact in immunology textbooks, please. Even being totally immune to a disease does not mean one cannot propagate it as we have many "healthy carriers", people who have no symptoms, no medical problems but carry the germs and can transmit it to others; the best known examples are HIV and Hepatitis B carriers, but we all carry pathological germs that are controlled by our immune system. So much for really protecting the newborns and immunocompromised.

4. Yes, people vaccinated with live attenuated vaccines do continually shed those germs, and said germs are recovering their virulence. This has been demonstrated and published by the CDC about the actual measles outbreak through genetic decoding of the germs cultured from the sick: most are those germs that were used to manufacture the vaccines...now what? Wilful ignorance? I know, some will say conspiracy, chose your cup of tea...

5. Vaccination is a medical procedure. Every medical procedure is supposed to be performed only after proper information and with informed consent, the accent being on "informed". Every one of us has the right to accept or refuse any procedure after being duly informed about their advantages, their benefits and their dangers. It is called freedom of choice. What about the protection of the many compared to the right of the few? Please go to the Medsafe website, the official voice of the Ministry of Health; read the fact sheet about the MMR vaccine, published by the manufacturers themselves and look at the side-effects and contra-indications. Now ask yourself, especially when reading about the neurological complications, if you are ready to take a chance for your children, your friends' children to suffer from one of those problems. Yes their are not very frequent, but when they hit you, this is 100% life shattering.
​
We have something called the Freedom of Information Act. Its essence means that information, knowledge, should be freely available to every single person without censure, without restriction. Humans are supposed to be intelligent, evolved entities, that can think for themselves, ask questions right and left and make a decision that then needs to be respected. Why does the press deny this fundamental right?"

One of my early cases as a student was someone who consulted me for snoring. Her snoring was such an issue that her family consistently complained about it, even others in the house who slept in a separate room.
 
It was a fairly typical consultation, snoring was the presenting complaint, and yes we have homeopathic medicines that are known to help in snoring. Over 176 of them.
​

Image (above) shows a screenshot from Complete Dynamics, a repertory. In our work we use different rubrics from the repertory to find a remedy to fit the totality of the case.

​Which, whilst helpful, doesn’t narrow the selection down too much. What Hippocrates said is relevant so many times, and I’ll paraphrase here – ‘what’s important is the person who has the disease, not the disease the person has’. So my job here in this case, and every time in clinic, is to understand the person in front of me who has the symptom, the given diagnosis and prescribe to match on that, as well as the symptom they’re coming for help with. Because, as you can see above, snoring can be helped by a number of remedies. 
 
What did I give, the most frequently asked question? Tuberculinum in a 1M potency, as a split dose. Why? Because that fitted her as a whole person. Did it work, the next FAQ? Yes. Others in her house reported far more peaceful nights with much less snoring. Success. And years later the same remedy did great for hot flushes for the same person.
 
Match the remedy to the person and marvellous things can happen. Homeopathy: it's not just medicine, it's individualised medicine. 

​#TryHomeopathy

According to the World Health Organisation, homeopathy is the second largest system of medicine (second to indigenous herbal medicine). Next week begins Homeopathy Awareness Week, so cue (at least on twitter) some most hilarious anti-homeopathy tweets.

Interestingly last time there was a big anti homeopathy piece on the BBC, I had a record number of enquiries that day, leading me to wonder whether people are doing what I thought I might, if I knew nothing about it but saw the vitriol, the negativity, and investigating below the surface, looking to find something that might work for them.

So next week, Wednesday 10th April, begins Homeopathy Awareness Week. Cue some hilarious sharing by our friends the denialists of, along with other things, their how does homeopathy work website (I'll save you the laughs and tell you their solo page says 'it doesn't'). Simple. Maybe even effective - if it wasn't so wrong. There'll be lots of fun made, lots of sharing of the word with negative tweets etc. But ultimately why?

If it's something that is nothing then why give it the energy?

If it's nothing then why try to ban it?

If it can really do something and needs banning then surely that's curious and we should look to the hundreds of research papers that exist and examine them. Because to no extent are they all supporting a negative point of view.

All that aside, what intrigues me is how effective homeopathy can be when you match the person and what's happening for them with a homeopathic medicine. How things can almost melt away. Sleep can improve, skin clears, negative thoughts go, optimism returns. IBS symptoms lift. Nausea and stomach pains go. Confidence increases. Headaches disappear. I don't want you for a second to think I get to do that straight away - it takes me time. Sometimes great on the first appointment, sometimes takes me to second - or later to really perceive the person so I can match them with a remedy to help. And, actually, it'd be wrong to say I can help everyone. But also show me one system of medicine that can. 

Take yesterday for example, I saw someone who I gave a remedy the first time, they had some improvements, we repeated it and nothing much changed. We changed the remedy and the improvements were so much the family forgot there were issues and didn't turn up to their next appointment. As Joe Schwartz points out in Ananda More's Magic Pills film, the homeopath then decides everyone is better and despite the fact the remedies never can help, the homeopath thinks they're a great person. 

That couldn't be further from the truth, my version of life is the opposite. Anyway, I got in touch to ask if they'd forgotten, and they apologised lots, we rearranged - and they told me they forgot as things were going so well. Which, ultimately was great to hear. And yes, homeopathy did good, I'm happy about that.

I'll aim to share some short mentions of how homeopathy has helped individuals during the week - that's an area I enjoy doing. If I'm totally honest the heavy scientific research element isn't for me. I love that it's happening, I enjoy hearing about it, but delving deep into studies when I see it working all around me isn't something that I'm keen to spend lots of time doing. I'm more than happy to direct people to various places - to the Homeopathy Research Institute (HRI) site, to the information on basic research in homeopathy by Iris Bell, PhD, to the collection of information recently compiled by Americans for Homeopathy choice.

​I'm fortunate to have attended two of the HRI's conferences and see the seriousness of the research, see the amazing potential if anyone decided to stop sticking their head in the sand and read it (clearly lots of people are but the loudest denialists seem convinced to stick to their story despite plenty of evidence to the contrary). I'd also recommend anyone goes to at least one of these events during their homeopathic career. The next one is in London in June. It's awe-inspiring, confirms that it certainly, damn well does work, and gives you plenty of awareness of the scope of projects happening around the world. If you have the chance, go.

One thing I am looking forward to next week is that the word homeopathy will be out there more in the media. I often ponder that if I were a reasonably intelligent person who knew nothing about homeopathy, I would become curious. Why so much vitriol? What is this all about? And I'd likely investigate beyond the bluff and actually stumble across something that could help me. I'm glad I did many years ago - when there were still people telling me it couldn't work and it wouldn't. It turned it out did and does.

Homeopathy is often somewhere people turn for a last resort option – once the conventional medical options have run out. Many of the 6500 patients in the Bristol Homeopathic Hospital study had been through referrals to specialists and not been helped, so sought help with homeopathy.* More than 70% of these follow-up patients recorded clinical improvement following homeopathic treatment.
 
Commonly seen conditions by homeopaths in practice include headaches, migraines, IBS, anxiety and depression, help with coughs and colds and help with menopausal symptoms. Where these are long standing conditions, consultation with medical professionals is always advised, however sometimes there is no option, or the drugs are not a route people wish to use. In clinic I'm a big fan of integrating - I'm happy to be on your team but I'd like a medical professional on there too to do the diagnosis, if any tests are necessary and to check there's nothing sinister going on. 

I'm also a fan of individualised homeopathic treatment - not because that's what I work with, more that that's where I see the best results in my practice. That said, I used a Helios Homeopathy kit for years before I became a homeopath - and was pleased by the results. It's definitely accessible to everyone, and with a little practice you can be doing some great home prescribing for friends and family in acute, self limiting situations.
 
Here we mention four homeopathic medicines that may be useful in each of the conditions above and an indication for their usage. The Homeopathy UK app is a good place to go for more information around each remedy – see if it matches the symptoms you’re experiencing and go from there. 
 
In acute use, a homeopathic medicine in the 30c potency is a good place to start. Take one remedy and if symptoms are alleviated then wait. Repeat if symptoms return. If no response after 30-60 minutes repeat with one more tablet. If  you’ve done that 3 times with the remedy it’s likely that you’re taking the wrong medicine for you. Re- look at symptoms or consult a practitioner.
 
Headaches and migraine:
 
Belladonna – sudden, bursting, pulsating head pain. May be worse from exercise.
Bryonia – tearing, right sided headaches. Worse from any movement.
Natrum Muriaticum – headaches may come on from sunshine and tension headaches, as if head is in a vice.
Nux Vomica – splitting hangover, nausea and irritability. 
 
Remember to drink lots of fluid and take what Dr Rangan Chatterjee calls ‘movement snacks’ – too much sitting at a desk in front of your computer won’t help keep headaches away.
 
IBS:
 
Arsenicum Album – stomach cramps, worse for cold drinks and food.
Argentum Nitricum – nausea and bloating alongside nerves and anxiety.
Carbo Veg – often useful in older people, may be cramps, bloating with much burping and flatulence
Sulphur – cramps worse from touch, with appetite increased around 11am in particular.
 
Again, drink plenty of water – our digestive system needs water to function properly – and get moving; it’s vital to our digestive health to exercise.
 
Anxiety:
 
Where anxiety is acute homeopathic first aid may help, where it is a longer standing issue, consulting a homeopath is advisable.
 
Aconite - to think of in panic, rapid onset anxiety, sudden, intense panic attacks.
Argentum Nitricum - apprehension and nervousness particularly when thinking about events in the future. Often sugar cravings may be present.
Gelsemium - Performance anxiety, may feel paralysed, shaky and want to hide away.
Phosphorus – Many fears and anxieties, especially when alone. Always feel better in company. Sociable and friendly types who are sensitive.
 
Cold and flu symptoms:
 
Aconite – first signs of coughs/cold, especially after a chill.
Eupatorium – very thirsty, sore muscles and bones
Natrum Muriaticum – nose streaming, often clear but profuse, prefers to be alone.
Pulsatilla – thick yellow green catarrh in nose, ears may feel or be blocked. Often worse at night.
 
Menopausal symptoms:
 
Calc Carb – can take on too many responsibilities and feel overwhelmed by them, often responsible, hardworking and reliable types. Hot flushes, head and neck sweats.
Pulsatilla – gentle, sensitive and emotional types who may be moved to tears easily. Irregular or painful periods may be helped.
Lachesis – profuse periods, hot flushes with palpitations, headaches and hot sweats. Often talkative types and may help those who’ve never felt well since the beginning of their menopause.
Sepia – may have mood-swings, feel weepy, worn out and exhausted.

Any questions, get in touch - I'm aware these are only short descriptions, and I could have gone on for days. But sometimes less is more.
 
www.emmacolley.co.uk
 
Find a homeopath: www.findahomeopath.org
 
* https://www.britishhomeopathic.org/evidence/results-from-the-homeopathic-hospitals/

It seems there's an attempt to gag us as homeopaths. The current inflammatory word appears to be autism. Well, as you'd know if you read this blog regularly, we don't treat conditions, we work with people. I guess as people we like to label things - I have x, y, z etc, and the conventional medical world appears to rely on labels to a greater extent. Which is where I think homeopathy can be so great. We can work alongside the conventional medics (see my latest blog of a doctors experience of homeopathy - and, counter to what the press would have you know, there are medics who are very happy to work with homeopaths, or have studied homeopathy themselves), we can be aware of the label and work with the individual.

As ever: It’s far more important to know what person the disease has than what disease the person has.  – Hippocrates of Cos (c. 460 BC – c. 370 BC)

And we work with this so strongly. In constitutional (whole person) treatment there is no this for that approach to it. Yes in more acute homeopathy we know arnica for bruising, belladonna for fevers, chamomila for teething. However, it could also be bellis-perennis for bruising, pulsatilla for fevers and nux vomica for the teething. Where the symptoms fit.

There is no fixed medicine. It's about the person the disease* has.

There are several videos I've recently found really inspirational. I'd like to share them here, in honour of the day. Each remedy used will be different, as each person has been treated as, well a person. As it should be.

* I prefer to think of disease as dis-ease. It may be occasional headaches, epilepsy, migraines, depression, whatever the label is - the body may not be as healthy as it could be and that dis-ease is something we hope to ease with homeopathic treatment. To live more in a state of health. We all have different starting points.

Lastly having mentioned the media, I think something that's been ignored too much recently is that the evidence supporting homeopathy is growing, both the clinical trials element and the lab work. A colleague, Stephan Baumgartner is demonstrating the effects of homeopathic medicines on plants and many more around the world are seeing glimpses into either how homeopathy may work, or seeing the evidence it can be used successfully in trials, as well as the growing accounts of people's successes working with it. Have a look at the Homeopathy Research Institute website if you'd like a starting point to discover more.

My experience of homeopathy with Emma Colley                             2019
 
As a doctor, I realize how our conventional training does not really embrace complementary treatments that have been so inherent in treating people over the centuries. We are now living in a climate where a ‘treatments worth’ only seems to be legitimate if proven with a clinical trials sponsored by a variety sources. The irony for me is that homeopaths were the first to create these trials to prove their remedies did work, but this seems to have been largely ignored with trials now testing the validity of pharmaceuticals.
 
I am a GP, and have undergraduate degrees in Biochemistry and Pharmacology. I am currently very fortunate to be studying the art of holistic medicine in the form of a Masters level Diploma in Integrative medicine at the National centre of Integrative medicine where we look to combine conventional medicine with complementary and traditional medicine, looking at an individual not just from the physical realm as we are often trained to do as doctors but addressing their mind, body and emotions. I have been fascinated by the wealth of complementary treatments out there and learning about them all in a scientific way has been no short of phenomenal. In particular my experience of homeopathy has been quite remarkable with significantly positive effects on my wellbeing. Discovered by Samuel Hahnemann and based on the principle ‘like cures like’ using a minimum dose, homeopathy is the second most commonly used medicine in the world as stated by WHO and is used by 200 million people worldwide. 
 
I met Emma Colley at one of our Integrative medicine training days in Bristol. An experienced homeopath of many years, she lives on the edge of the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. I was impressed by her empathy and thoroughness in taking a full history, and really understanding my past so she could move forward with me in terms of selecting the best remedy to match my current life situation. Aware of my propensity to easily burn myself out and ‘do too much for others’ she was able to provide an incredibly bespoke homeopathic remedy, from a place of ‘feeling overwhelmed by my mind’ to a place where I felt calmer and happier, improving my fatigue and sleep. Her remedies worked gently with no side effects and the feeling of wellbeing became obviously pertinent over the weeks. She continues to have follow-up consultations with me every 6 weeks and is able to offer me Face time appointments to save time travelling. I feel Emma is extremely supportive and really helps nurture my resilience. Thank you Emma for your amazing input.

Especially when you're telling the truth.

It feels so utterly corrupt and so not 2019. 1984 perhaps. I keep hearing that quoted and feel a lack in my literary education. However I'm not sure if reading it would help. It feels a little bleak. Like a train going full steam ahead but not asking questions. Yes to everything offered but not looking at why we're getting sicker. And anything might help? Shut them up straight away.

So this week there's been a BBC flurry driven by an anti-homeopathy campaigner, which feels to be escalating. I've removed certain qualifications from my website, and a page and a couple of blogs so am not at risk of attack.

2019? At risk of attack for my profession. Yes. True sadly. But I'd not be the first. Colleagues have, in the past, had death treats. Which feels so crazy to be doing this work and getting such flak for it.

Likely at some point I may not even be able to say 'homeopathy may help...' which feels wishy washy anyway. I've not been 'allowed' to say 'cure' for a long time. Homeopathy has helped me loads so I'd ask if it's helped you, please keep talking about it.

To finish I'll leave you with Camilla Sherr for a tiny insight into how it is at times being a homeopath. I'm especially feeling this today. There's another short clip on the Magic Pills Facebook page here where she talks about how amazing it is. That's for balance here. And it is. It's truly remarkable work. It's not easy but it is the most satisfying, incredible thing to work with and see. Here's Camilla. Feeling it today.

I don't know why but sometimes you see a run of a certain thing (ha no puns intended here) in clinic and it seems to have been around poo - or lack of which has been the bigger issue.

Researching our natural frequency - apparently anything between three times a day to three times a week is considered normal. It seems from chatting to people recently, those going three times a week would rather it be more frequent - and have been relieved when perhaps the frequency has increased.

Over the last few weeks I've seen issues with urging to go - non-existent to improved, frequency of going improved and chatted with others about issues around this outside of work. I'm amazed really how little we go at times - how little we talk about it and how embarrassed we are at times when we do.

Surely it's a fact of life, like death - and it's going to happen so we may as well not shy away from it? One of the great things I love about my clinic space is that anything can be expressed, and without judgement. So yes, we chat about poo too. Or death. Or anything really.

Homeopathic medicines can be so helpful in this area - post surgery constipation I've seen improve several times (and just recently post surgical bladder incontinence resolved beautifully with a couple of doses of Pulsatilla). Remedies that have been helpful to me in the last few weeks include but are not limited to: Agaricus, Bovista, Carbo Veg, Mag Mur, Nux Vomica, Opium. All as homeopathic medicines - and many with one dose or a couple of repeated doses. I've seen great benefits with others too - Calc Carb for example - where the symptoms fit can be wonderful. 

Where the symptoms fit is the key phrase. Constipation in my repertory has 890 remedies that have the feature listed in them. So yes it narrows it down out of the 4000 available homeopathic medicines - but not so much. We need more details. Constipation alternating with diarrhoea has just 158. So if that's the issue it's a little more refined already. We have medicines for constipation worse for chill, constipation after laxatives, worse different times of day and much more.

​It's important for us to know who you are too. My best successes in clinic I would say are those in whom I can perceive the person who has the dis-ease as well as understanding the dis-ease, and I'm able to prescribe a remedy that fits it all. Then I'm likely to see longer lasting effects.

There is of course action you can take into your own hands:

• I think we forget that we are these beautiful, incredible works of art and forget to look after ourselves with the best fuel. Check out how you're eating - is it to numb, from boredom, comfort eating - or is it to nourish and feed your beautiful cells?
• Likewise - how about hydration? You wouldn't leave a car with no water - or if you did you'd find out pretty fast. Are you drinking enough? Experts recommend around 1.5 - 2litres a day.
• And finally how about exercise? Imagine a racehorse (not that I like to as I've issues around abuse with that - but for the purposes of the exercise...) running a race. It's not doing it from nothing - and if it was it'd not likely be doing it very well. Movement helps our bowel - and is so important. See if you could be doing a little more.

But if you've checked off all that, if you still can't poo and it's a regular thing, get everything checked out by a GP or medical professional - and if there's nothing 'wrong' going on - head out to see the homeopath and see what we can do for you. It's amazing how many people we manage to help who've been through 'all the options' and come as a last ditch attempt to us - and find relief. 

www.findahomeopath.org to find someone near you or feel free to get in touch with me to find out more about working with me. I'm currently (it's now March 2019 in case you're reading this lots later) making appointments for new clients May '19 onwards.