If you have IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), or are living with symptoms that you think might come under this definition, then you’ll know exactly how much this condition creates discomfort, stress and even embarrassment in your life, as well as undermining your personal sense of confidence, dignity and security. But it can be sorted out, and it's something that I regularly do in my homeopathic practice, and with great pleasure, as the results can be quite transformative for the individual.

What’s not considered much in orthodox diagnosis or treatment is the individuality of each case: IBS actually has many potential different causes so, homeopathically speaking, it has many potential different cures. Your IBS might have stress and tension as its only trigger; but it could also be the case that your suffering stems from problems of malabsorption (leaky gut syndrome); or damage from anti-biotic overuse; or the aftermath of gastroenteritis; or food or substance poisoning; or parasitosis; or candidiasis - and on. A homeopathic consultation works to identify the different ‘layers’ making up your condition, as well as identifying your dominant constitution, and will prescribe appropriately for each aspect.

If you have some idea of the triggers for your own symptoms, or know that it’s a case of ‘never been well since’ that has contributed to the difficult and uncertain state of your stomach and gut, try homeopathic treatment with me to actually sort out the condition rather than simply alleviate it. And if you have no real idea about where it started and what drives it, then homeopathic and naturopathic remedies can still be aimed at your specific symptoms, be they reflux, stomach pain, digestive discomfort, bloating, wind, colic, diarrhoea or constipation.

So if you’d like to actually sort out this condition rather than merely 'managing' it, email or message me to book a FREE fifteen minute chat to introduce your case and find out how homeopathy could help you.

Cases from my files:

Mr BP, age 87:
This gentleman had suffered IBS symptoms for over thirty-five years, after several bouts of food poisoning occurring in rapid succession made him extremely ill. He never fully recovered, and conventional medicines never settled his indigestion and abdominal symptoms, which in old age included constant slight faecal incontinence. After one week on the best indicated remedy for his history and symptoms, his gut came good, and remained that way: “It’s the best state my poor old tum’s been in for years.”

Mr ML, age 42:
This chap had enjoyed travelling extensively throughout India and south-east Asia in his twenties and thirties, and had accepted regular bouts of ‘Delhi belly’ as part and parcel of the experience. When it came time for him to settle down to life in the UK, however, his gut simply didn’t settle along with him. Persistent bouts of diarrhoea for over a decade had left him very thin and “feeling seedy all the time”. Six weeks after beginning treatment with me he emailed to say that his gut was now “regular rather than riotous”, he was feeling well, sleeping better than he had done in years, and beginning to put on some much needed weight.

Mrs DB, age 69:
Acting on a friend's suggestion, she contacted me for help with lifelong digestive problems. These would regularly have her up in the wee small hours trying to ease the pain in her abdomen, and “actually frightened to go to the loo sometimes” because of chronic bouts of severe constipation, despite having been vegetarian for many years: “Diarrhoea seems like a treat in comparison.” Very shortly after homeopathic treatment began the abdominal pains disappeared, allowing her to sleep through the night, and her gut was functioning regularly and easily for the first time in over twenty years: “…having a poo is my favourite thing to do now! My husband thinks I’m mad, going off to the loo with a happy smile on my face … but it’s so much better. Soooo much better than before. I’m no longer afraid.”
 
Mrs SS, age 63:
This very caring and hard-working woman presented with four and a half years’ of chronic, unpredictable, painful and explosive diarrhoea. A combination of traumatic stress, work stress, and several prolonged courses of antibiotics for chest and urinary tract ailments in the two years preceding the start of her IBS had created ‘a perfect storm’ in her gut. Two rounds of homeopathic remedies and appropriate probiotics saw her ditching the incontinence pants, travelling around in the course of her working day without fear of having to suddenly stop to relieve herself “anywhere and everywhere”, and undertaking a long (and long needed) cruise holiday with her husband. “He can’t believe the change in me – I’m a new woman!”

Grumpy
               Sweaty
                            Weepy
                                        Weary
                                                   Achey
                                                              Leaky
                                                                        and HOT ...

… I’m only half joking.

But seriously my dears, ‘The Change of Life’ doesn’t have to be a grim tale about a wicked witch of a hormonal system: there are good fairies and other allies in the form of complementary and alternative health care practitioners like myself, a homeopath who’s been through it herself, and who can help you along the way.

Menopause issues almost always need a layered approach, because those ruddy hormones, combined with the effects of our life and previous body history, can affect us on every level in a variety of ways. So each woman has different menopause care needs at different stages of this natural transition. But you can get through the forest safely and come out happily on the other side.

If you’d like some help in getting through your menopause as naturally as we know how, and with a little more grace and style than can be the case, email or message me to book a FREE fifteen minute chat to introduce your case and find out how homeopathy could help you.

Cases from my files:*

Mrs SG - desperate hot flushes keeping her awake all night, with a horrible knock on effect on life and work during the day - “It feels like I’m losing my mind!”  In her particular case a mix of Oophorinum*, Sepia* and sage as a herbal supplement let her function well again, enabling her to get through a part-time professional training course, as well as working in her financially responsible day job.

Mrs SR – Hot flushes so bad she had to stop driving and get out of her car - “Sweat just pours off of me! I have to take a change of clothes with me wherever I go!” This was accompanied by real states of rage – “I think I could murder someone in that state, I really do.”  Tuberculinum*, Lachesis* and Nux vomica* brought her back to normalcy.

Mrs SM-J – Menopause began with months of heavy, increasingly constant flooding which was brought to heel with the remedy Folliculinum*, after Trillium* and Sabina* hadn’t quite done the trick.

Mrs SC – A late menopause brought this very caring woman terrible mood swings, of which she felt deeply ashamed: “My daughter said ‘You get so angry mum, you can be really scary at times’.” On top of this she suffered with a maddeningly itchy rash of tiny blisters around the soles and insteps of her feet (pompholyx). “I have to go out to the car for privacy to scratch them as hard as I need, sometimes till they bleed.”
Anacardium* was the right remedy for her mental and emotional picture; it partially helped her skin symptoms, but Rhus tox* finished the job. At her last appointment she met me with a big grin on her face and said “I don’t need to see you anymore.”

Happy patient = happy homeopath.

*NB – each of the remedies named above were chosen as specifics for the whole set of symptoms and sensations that each of these individuals presented. They should not be taken as general recommendations for use with similar symptoms.

These are all names for the most basic form of homeopathic treatment, and these remedies can be a wonderfully effective (and very cost-effective) self-help tool. Many of my elderly patients have known about and used these remedies from childhood, when “Mother would always give us a few doses when we went down with something.” Did they work? is always my question, and “Oh yes: I wouldn’t still be using them if they didn’t” the usual sort of answer.  

Like these ‘wise old birds’, I’ve learned over the course of my life that quite a bit of what gets taken to our hard-pressed GPs can be dealt with perfectly well through the use of complementary and alternative health care. The individual needs to find out through experience what’s most useful to use, and also to gain a sensible idea of what to bring to homeopathic or standard medical attention. 

Where a relatively minor ailment or condition is occurring in a relatively uncomplicated way, it is well worth trying the appropriate single tissue salt or combination before seeing a homeopath or doctor. If the tissue salt makes a difference, but doesn’t complete the cure, then seek out homeopathic advice and a further, more individualised prescription, unless you would then prefer to consult with your GP. As far as is known, tissue salts don’t work against or interfere with any other medication, or homeopathic remedies taken in potency. 

The Tissue Salts
There are twelve individual tissue salts, created from the minerals identified by biochemists as the inorganic material needed by our bodies to function properly at a cellular level. Developed by the 19th century doctor and homeopath W. H. Schuessler, these remedies are effectively a refined system of mineral supplementation for the cells of our bodies. They are referred to as tissue salts, cell salts, mineral salts or Schuessler salts. Their homeopathic potency is usually 6x, the ‘x’ denoting the fact that the dose is a ‘material’ one, i.e. contains particles of the actual substance itself. 

 As well as being available individually, tissue salts are also available in combinations aimed at particular conditions, with a letter of the alphabet assigned to each combination. Single salts and combinations are available to anyone over the counter of health and wholefood shops, as well as from homeopathic practitioners and pharmacies such as Helios, Ainsworth and Galen, and from many other online sources.   

Self-prescribing
As with any other kind of self-prescribing, the individual needs to understand the limits of what they are using and the necessity of seeking professional help if particular symptoms don’t clear up or get worse. The individual should also be aware of so-called ‘Red Flag’ symptoms – the signs that something serious may be developing or have occurred. This is not mentioned in order to scare, but to inform you: taking responsibility for your own health does not mean abandoning good sense or standard medical care.

When to consult a homeopath
Not surprisingly, long entrenched or mixed states of ailing – ‘symptom complexes’ - need some professional knowledge and judgement applied to them, as well as a different class of remedy. This is particularly so where the individual is finding that standard medication, or the use of multiple prescriptions and/or supplements, isn’t actually sorting out their ill-health or managing a chronic condition as well as might be hoped for.  

Again, standard medical care should not be abandoned willy-nilly; but the individual has a right to the pursuit of better health and well-being, which can include the choice of complementary or alternative medicine. You should be able to use a health practitioner such as a homeopath to work in conjunction with your GP or consultant. I will stick my neck out at this point and say that it is generally the sign of a better educated, experienced and more enlightened doctor if he or she is open to patients being fully informed about their own condition and wanting to take responsibility for it, and accepting that the form of medicine in which they are qualified may not have all the answers. (It was this kind of NHS GP who recommended using homeopathic medicine to restore the health of my second child after she became semi-permanently ill in the wake of her first set of vaccinations.) 

To sum up
‘Suck it and see’ is my motto: tissue salts cost very little compared with many other forms of medication; they are easy to take; and can be taken by anyone at any age or stage, including pregnant women and infants. They represent only one small part of homeopathic medicine's capabilities, but they are very much worth a try for the uninitiated; and worth getting to know better for those with some experience of their benefits.