The Scourge of the Stomach Bug

A parents’ guide to using homeopathy to help

Dr. Lisa Samet presented a webinar to help consumers understand how to use homeopathy to treat stomach bugs. What follows is the content of the webinar PowerPoint presentation. To see a recording of the webinar visit: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/560019...

How do we contract gastroenteritis:

The stomach flu can be caused by a number of different viruses that attack your gut. These viruses can be contracted from food that was inadequately prepared/stored or rotten (food poisoning) or from another person who has the virus. Typically, the virus is very contagious and often can run through everyone in the house in matter of days.

Signs and symptoms:

—Fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea are the most common symptoms

—Typically last 24-48 hours

—If you are in contact with a sick person, make sure to wash hands and surfaces often

What to do?

—Choose a homeopathic remedy

—Fluids are critically important as you’re losing vital bodily fluids through sweating, vomiting, and diarrhea. Drink small sips (good choices include: water, broth, ginger or peppermint tea) or suck on ice chips

—If there is a fever, BEST NOT TO EAT

—If no fever and hunger, small amounts of BRAT foods: banana, rice, apple sauce, toast work best

How to Choose the Remedy:

—In homeopathy, we always look for ‘strange, rare and peculiar symptoms’ as the best guide to the right remedy

—Make note of the peculiar symptoms with regard to the specific complaints of the illness (ie, what’s peculiar about the diarrhea, vomiting, etc?)

—Then make a note of the peculiar symptoms looking at the general aspects of the person (ie, their thirst, temperature, food cravings, mood, etc – is it different than their usual?)

Common Remedies in Acute Gastro:

—Arsenicum Album

—Pulsatilla

—Phosphorus

—Nux vomica

—Sulphur

—Veratrum album

—Podophyllum

—Ipecac

Keynotes of Arsenicum Album

—**Great weakness, esp after diarrhea**
—**Thirsty for small sips (usually room temp)**
—**Better heat, warm drinks**
—**Very chilly**
—Worse between 1-3am
—Worry and restlessness accompanies the nausea, doesn’t want to be alone
—Vomiting & diarrhea at the same time
—Stool: can be burning, acidic, yellow, very offensive
—Vomiting immediately after drinking smallest amount

Keynotes of Pulsatilla

—**Weepy, clingy, down mood with sadness**
—**Craves and feels generally better from fresh air, esp nausea**
—**Feels better from reassurance, company**
—Not thirsty, even with the fever
—Nausea (and generally) worse heat, warm drinks, better cold
Worse evening

Keynotes of Phosphorus

—**Wants and better from cold drinks**
— Fearful (alone, dark, etc)
— Better from sleeping, a nap
— Vomiting 15-20 minutes after drinking even a small amount
— Has an appetite with the fever
— Watery, greenish, mucousy diarrhea
—Burning pains common

Keynotes of Nux vomica

—**Irritable mood**
—**Chilly, even with a fever**
—**“wants to but can’t” – has repeated urges to vomit, pass stool but cannot**
—Much retching
—Hypersensitivity to noise, light, odors, being questioned
—Worry accompanies the nausea
—Spasmodic, crampy pains
—Complaints worse a.m. in bed on waking

Keynotes of Sulphur

—Foul-smelling diarrhea (possibly like rotten eggs)
—**Diarrhea gets patient out of bed in the morning, esp 5am, waking with urging**
—Thirsty for cold drinks
—**Feeling overly warm and wanting to uncover**
—Red lips (more in children)
—Involuntary stool on passing gas (compare Aloe)
—Nausea worse from bad odors
—Standing aggravates most complaints

Keynotes of Veratrum Album

—**Cold perspiration on forehead with diarrhea and vomiting**
—**Huge thirst for cold water**
—Craving for sour things
—Burping after eating and heartburn
—Diarrhea worse from motion
—Involuntary stool on passing gas
—Violent, forceful vomiting with equally forceful, gushing diarrhea
—Acidic diarrhea

Keynotes for Podophyllum

—**Painless diarrhea**
—**Forceful, gushing stool which shoots out**
—Frothy, fermented stool
—Yellow stool with pieces of food (lienteric)
—Great weakness after diarrhea

Keynotes for Ipecac

—**“Deathly”, violent, unrelenting nausea**
—**Nausea not better from vomiting**
—Nausea with much salivation
—Faintness after vomiting
—Paroxysmal (waves of) vomiting

Dosing:

Ideally a 200c potency

Frequency depends on severity of illness.

General improvements (more energy, feel more comfortable, more at ease, able to sleep, etc.) are equally or more important than improvements in the specific symptoms.

Always give at least 2 doses of the chosen remedy before you change remedies.

If you change the remedy, observe if any symptoms got worse & use this as your guide.

As with any medical condition, consult with your physician if you have any concerns about the severity of your problem as it may first require medical diagnosis and/or intervention and monitoring.

About Dr. Lisa Samet:

Dr. Lisa Samet N.D. provides Washington Homeopathic Products with a regular column on using homeopathy for the family. She's a naturopathic physician who specializes in homeopathic medicine and she's a partner with Dr. Andre Saine N.D. Dr. Samet graduated from the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in 1998 and has been practicing in Montreal since then. She was born and raised in New York.

Dr. Samet has chosen to focus on homeopathy because in her experience it is the deepest healing modality available in that it does not just soothe or palliate symptoms but can actually stimulate the body to start to heal itself. Dr. Samet sees patients in her Montreal office as well as remotely using Skype. Dr. Lisa Samet. You can follow her on Facebook as well.

Photo credit: edenpictures via Foter.com / CC BY