Jennifer returned us to the ‘land of the living’ after 3 years of no sleep. She treated my daughter for night terrors, which disappeared overnight after taking the medicine. Then she worked on my son for continual crying, allergies, and eczema, and gave us back a healthy, happy, bouncing boy with a couple of weeks. Am amazing transformation on both counts. I couldn’t recommend Jennifer highly enough. — Female, age 26
This is often the time of year when patients, both new and returning, come to me for support with New Year’s resolutions that include losing weight and stopping smoking or drinking (caffeine and alcohol), and also for a general boost to their energy and immune system.
When it comes to losing weight, homeopathy can support people in changing habits first through awareness as to diet and exercise, and then through addressing specific food cravings and aversions. Food cravings are often a sign of an imbalance in the system, and when the body is balanced the cravings often ease or stop altogether. I have had patients repeatedly tell me that during homeopathic treatment their cravings for sweets (especially chocolate before and during the menstrual cycle), tea, coffee and alcohol stop altogether!
Many people reach for stimulants such as coffee and sugar to lift their energy throughout the day, which can not only add excess weight but cause a bigger dip in energy levles after the stimulants wear off, leading to more consumption of coffee and sugar. It is a cycle that can feel out of control, and moods can swing and dip in the process as guilt and frustration set in. After homeopathic treatment, many patients report that their energy levels are more even and they find that they don’t reach for these foods as before.
Likewise, during treatment many patients notice that their sleep patterns improve with less restlessness and a deeper overall sleep during the night. They also report a reduction of night waking, claiming that they have more energy in the morning. The increase of energy can make exercise seem less daunting and reduce the need for stimulants to boost energy levels, which also facilitates weight loss.
Homeopathy can also help the ‘comfort eaters’ who reach for food (most often sweets or salty foods) as a response to particular emotions such as loneliness, sadness, and anger. These people (most of us at one point or another if we’re honest) find that food helps them cope with emotions that are difficult to express otherwise. Often through discussing their ‘relationship’ with food, we can find remedies that help address these emotions. We can also address more positive ways of processing the emotions, such as through exercise, sport, meditation or counselling.
One patient wrote, ‘I was referred to Jennifer Gordon and homeopathy from my GP for menopausal symptoms that included mood swings, lack sleep, hot flashes, and food cravings. I could not believe that within a matter of days I felt transformed and back to the old me. I now wake in the mornings feeling as if I have been on holiday. The hot flashes have decreased from 10-15 per day to 3-4 and the intensity has reduced by almost 80%. I also feel more balanced and calm. It has been 6 weeks since beginning treatment and I have lost 10 pounds because all my food cravings are gone! It’s a miracle.’
Actually, it’s one of the many benefits of homeopathy. Through the balancing of the system and strengthening of the immune response, many patients report that their energy is better, sleep patterns are deeper, and food cravings decreased or gone altogether.
While sleep is a topic I have written about before, I find in the clinic that problems around babies and sleep are the most common complaints that parents (exhausted and exasperated) come to me seeking help for. Again, this is an area where homeopathic remedies can in many cases provide natural and effective treatments, based on reports from parents. Because they are made from highly-diluted plants, animals, and minerals in origin they are appropriate for babies (even newborns) and children.
It is common for babies and small children to wake during the night from teething pain, coughs and colds, and nightmares. However, when the waking extends beyond the physical complaint or becomes chronic (frequent), there are homeopathic treatments that parents claim have improved the child’s sleep by addressing the underlying cause of the waking.
If it’s a physical symptom that wakes the child such as bed-wetting, stomach pain, or a chronically blocked nose or cough, then the homeopathic remedy is given at bedtime for the acute symptom. Other remedies are constitutional, which can strengthen the child’s immune response, and can make acute symptoms less frequent and shorten their duration.
If nightmares or night terrors are keeping the child from wanting to go to bed, or causing the child to wake in fear, then the treatment addresses any consistent themes in the child’s dreams (monsters, being chased, drowning, etc). Because small children are often affected and not able to verbalize the fear, the state or how the child appears on waking from the nightmare or terror (expression, perspiration, body position, etc) and the type of comfort the child needs (being held, rocked, singing or talking, etc) are often indicators as to the appropriate remedy. If the child is older, then having the child draw me a picture of their nightmare often discloses the content of the nightmare or terror, which again leads to the remedy that I would select.
Often the fear of the dark or monsters will affect a child’s sleep as the fear will create a light and restless sleep pattern. These children are the ones that are really difficult to get to bed at night and they often procrastinate through many (creative) measures to put off bedtime night after night. For parents who look forward to bedtime to have personal or couple time, this can be a very frustrating and exhausting time.
As a parent of a child (now nearly 16) who suffered countless night wakings and terrors, it was homeopathic treatment that resolved her sleep –after the very first remedy was given! This extraordinary result actually inspired me to train in the field of homeopathy. It made me wonder how different our early months could have been if we found homeopathy sooner, though at the time I didn’t think that anything could help. Personally and professionally, I can say without a doubt that homeopathy can help…here’s to sweet dreams.