Renita Herrmann, Classical Homeopath, CCH, RsHom(NA), MS
OFFICES:
221 El Camino Del Mar
San Francisco, CA 94121
39351 Outlet Creek Rd
Willits, CA 95490
Hours: Mon-Fri 9-5
By appointment only
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and cash accepted
Call today: 415-221-6635
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contact Renita
Swine Flu and You
Lately we've all been hearing about Swine Flu. Many numbers and facts have been bandied
about, but in truth, most are only guesses. Since working in a clinic in San Francisco, most of the
people I see come in the door are relatively poor, working class. I've seen people march in there
with all the same symptoms of the Swine Flu for the last 6 months. Almost always, they march right
back out again, feeling much better, if not 100%. If they're not feeling much better, they
have an additional remedy to take if they feel they're not significantly down the road to recovery.
What are the symptoms? I've seen many; nausea, vomiting, dry heaves, bitter taste, fever,
cough, sore throat, loose stool, congestion in the sinuses, headache, body aches, but above
all, the cough with mucus in the chest. Often people complain about having trouble on deep
inspiration, and sometimes they say they feel like they're drowning, or unable to get enough air.
In homeopathy, vaccinations are frowned upon. If you read about the philosophy of why, you may or
may not understand it. Suffice to say, when you bypass the body's natural immunity, you cause
problems. Then there is the composition of the vaccine. What are we being injected with? Why?
Some of the reactions to vaccines are very distressing. Personally, my son has not been vaccinated
since he was in kindergarten or before. The key to staying healthy is multifaceted, so you need
to seek balance on many levels. Below are some suggestions on how to succeed in
staying healthy in spite of being exposed to the virus.
The key to staying healthy this fall is multifaceted. Eating right, sleeping well, taking
supplements, and keeping stress under control are all good ideas for keeping your immune system
healthy. Here are a few key points:
FIRST: Eat right. NO sugar. Sugar has been shown to depress the activity of leukocytes
(white blood cells) for at least 4 hours in college students after ingesting it. Keep
yourself well with a variety of foods, trying to stay away from things with a lot of
packaging, which are usually processed foods, and tend to be low on the nutritional
scale. Lots of color is very important; blueberries, squash, pomegranate, oranges, apples,
carrots...you get the idea! Try to stay away from white stuff; sugar, flour, bread, pasta,
potatoes. If you feel congestion coming on, a stuffy nose or headache, have some broth;
plain chicken or vegetable is fine. Onions and garlic are very good for the immune system,
but if you cut garlic to cook it, leave it out for 10 minutes to develop the compounds that
need to oxidize. Organic food is important too, not just because you don't get the
pesticides; you need the trace minerals found mostly in organic foods, ones you can't get
from depleted soils.
SECOND: Sleep well. Your immune system is active at night, and if you don't sleep well, you're
bound to be ill. Darkness is important, it keeps your melatonin stable. Switch on a light
in the middle of the night, and your melatonin drops rapidly. Don't leave electronics on
next to your bed, or within a yard of your head. Many people that have poor sleep tend to
develop problems with sleep hormones. Think reproductive system cancers and brain problems. These
effects are from the intervention of the hormones coming from the brain.
THIRD: Take Supplements. Once you have the basics (vitamins A, C, and E), you can add others.
I'd insist on vitamin D, at least 1000 IU per day, and a good fish oil, at least 1200 mg
per day. Zinc has been shown to help the immune system, and is very inexpensive, 15 mg per
day is fine. If you're under stress, I'd add a sublingual (under the tongue look, at those
blood vessels!) vitamin B multiple. You can carry around Emergen-C and take one per hour if you need it.
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Treating Trauma with Homeopathy
Oftentimes in homeopathy, we hear stories about a traumatic event in a person's life. It may be an emotional or mental shock, like the death of a loved one, seeing a violent act, or a physical one such as a car accident. It may not be evident to the person but one can retain the imprint of the accident or incident for many decades, if not for life. The homeopath is trained to see these effects of trauma, and use them to choose the correct remedy to release the pain. Let's look at an example:
Four people are traveling in a car, and have an accident. The driver, the first person we see, leaps out of the car, yelling and blaming the other driver. His face is set and dark, and his body is pumping with adrenaline. He races back and forth between the cars, yelling loudly and complaining, not taking the time to assess damage to himself, passengers, or the other driver. The second person, in the front passenger seat, is sitting motionless, not moving at all. She's not speaking, her eyes are fixed in front of her, and she appears to be in a stupor. She doesn't seem to be injured physically, but she is obviously affected by the accident. The third person, in the back seat, is slowly getting out of the car. He was thrown against the back seat of the driver, and was carrying a glass casserole, which has shattered. The contents are covering the person, and he is steaming from the hot contents. There is blood on both hands, and he seems to be in shock. The fourth person, a young girl, is crying quietly in the back seat, not showing any signs of injury, but is being consoled by a bystander, whom she leans on as if a friend.
This story relates to different trauma remedies; each person in the car has a different reaction to the same event, but each in his or her own individual way. The beauty of homeopathy is that it takes into account each person's constitution. It is not a one-size-fits-all approach to health. There are other things to think about with trauma:
A woman escapes from domestic violence and settles in a new area. She seems fine for two years, but then starts having panic attacks. They occur when she is in an enclosed area, but not common claustrophobic situations or surroundings. Her sleep becomes more and more disrupted, and soon she has panic attacks every day. She cries easily, and has constant digestive issues. Although the attacks stopped two years earlier, she remained in an acute state of fear. As her body then adjusted to her new living situation, it was able to show it was still suffering the effects of living in constant fear. A dose of the appropriate remedy took away each and every one of her symptoms.
Growing up, teenagers often get into trouble adjusting to their new bodies. Broken limbs and fractures are not uncommon. These may take a sequence of remedies, each one removing a block; first, the trauma, then the pain, followed by the proper alignment or fusing of the bone.
Many adults have trauma in their past. This may or may not be recognized, because it is difficult to see the forest for the trees. Things like childbirth or surgery can change a person profoundly, and a trauma remedy can make all the difference. A trauma it can leave a lasting effect on your entire future, emotionally and mentally, not just physically. Our bodies have ways of holding onto set patterns, and these patterns should be healthy. Whether you have an old injury or a recent one, seek out homeopathic treatment to release that energy to help yourself to health. back to top
Acute vs. Chronic Treatment in Homeopathy
Most of us have seen those little blue Boiron tubes in the health food store or pharmacy. The side of the tube may give you one characteristic clue to the remedy, but it may or may not match your symptom; as we all should know, the key to the proper remedy is to match not only the symptom, but the total symptom list. Some remedies have as many as 2000 symptoms that can be opposite in meaning, i.e., thin or obese, cheerful or morose, panicky or calm.
In choosing a remedy, the first question must be why you are looking for a remedy. Is it an acute episode, like a cold? Is it a chronic problem like hemorrhoids? Is it an 'acute of the chronic' like asthma? In case you are not familiar with these words, an acute is a rapidly moving 'dis-ease' and may have an identifiable cause, such as getting wet in cold weather, whereas a chronic dis-ease will have been with you for a while, one with which you are familiar. If you have this chronic state with some frequency (asthma, allergies, panic attacks, anxiety) and they come on periodically, this is termed 'acute of the chronic.' Usually, with chronic homeopathic treatment, they subside very quickly, or completely after the first remedy.
Say, for instance, you are unfortunate enough to get panic attacks. Maybe yours are typical, with sweaty palms, rapid shallow breathing, dry mouth, and tightness in your chest (breathe, these are just words!). You want these panic attacks to go away. You could treat them acutely, in other words, each time you get an attack you take the remedy, much like seasickness. If you were treating them acutely, you'd take them DURING the attack. If treating them chronically, you'd take the remedy only when you feel calm and secure.
There may be 50 remedies from which to chose. If you find the correct remedy, the next step to consider is the dose. Often the dose for the acute is much higher than for the chronic case. I may give a person with a serious flu a very high dose (50M) if the previous dose (10M) worked, but didn't resolve the flu completely and the symptoms remained the same. But with a chronic problem, we start low (30C usually) if there are more physical symptoms we don't want to stir up. If a person has mainly mental symptoms, say depression, I would choose a higher dose. There are many variables to consider in these cases, and this is only a baseline. Knowing when and how to give a remedy is very important.
So now we've found a remedy, given the occasionally panic-stricken person the proper dose of the remedy. How did we find the remedy from the 49 other choices? Each person that has panic attacks is very different from another. Maybe one person gets them when alone and relaxing. Another person may find they always come on when going to work on BART. Still another may get them when they're thinking of a sick loved one. This is only one symptom added to the chronic case, we must find all the particular ways this person is different from her fellow sufferers. This is called finding the totality. It means you are matching all your symptoms to the known symptoms of the remedy you are considering. We find the correct remedy, we give this person a 30C dose, and wait. If it's the correct dose, our poor sufferer won't get another attack. Maybe in a few years, the person has another; make sure the same remedy is called for (the same symptoms, no change) and give a higher dose. In this case, a 200C, or by plussing the 30C (adding water and succussing the remedy).
Next time you're in a health food store looking for a remedy, remember; if you chose one that is good for a runny nose with a cold and yours is dry as a bone but congested, it most likely won't work. You may say to yourself, homeopathy doesn't really work. But in truth, it's the homeopath that isn't working! back to top
