HOW HOMEOPATHY HELPS TO DETOX GENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY

“Detox” is a word that we all hear quite a lot these days. The idea is to get rid of what we perceive as toxins, that clog up our system and cause direct or indirect symptoms.

Direct symptoms: an example of direct symptoms caused by toxins would be inhaling chemical fumes (from paint or strong deodorants or perfumes) and feeling ill immediately afterwards. Breathing issues, tightness in the chest, headaches are common symptoms. These are acute symptoms and are usually short-lived. People who have been exposed to environmental toxins over a long period of time, in their work place or home and have consequently developed chronic conditions. Hairdressers are often overlooked when we talk about health hazards in the workplace and yet it is so common for hairdressers to develop chronic skin conditions and allergies or other health issues as a consequence of breathing and touching chemical products every day.

Indirect symptoms: these are more insidious because are harder to detect and therefore, the toxins have more time to do more damage to the body. Heavy metals are a good example of that, because not many people handle mercury or arsenic directly in their natural form (although I have stories of my mother playing with bottles full of pure mercury as a child, I wonder if that had anything to do with her developing Parkinson’s disease so many years later…), yet these metals are in so many things we are all exposed to, especially pharmaceutical drugs.

Like the phrase detox, “toxins” can take on a different meaning depending on who’s talking. Toxins fall into two main categories, internal and external toxins. Internal toxins include lactic acid, urea, and waste products from microbes in the gut that occur during natural metabolism. External toxins come from outside the body and introduced by eating, drinking, breathing, or are absorbed through the skin.

Examples of daily toxins:

• Outdoor air – pollutants in the air including exhaust, tobacco smoke, particles from industrial emissions, etc. 
• Indoor air – pollutants trapped in the air including mold, tobacco smoke, chemicals released from cooking, furniture, carpet, construction materials, etc.
• Drinking water – tap water contaminated with pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals (lead, mercury, arsenic), and chemicals from agricultural runoff.
• Food – chemicals such as pesticides and heavy metals consumed through food due to agricultural practices and environmental contamination. Overconsumption of processed foods, food dyes, preservatives, drugs, and alcohol. 
• Household products – food containers, cleaning products, fertilizers, weed killers, bug spray, etc. 
• Beauty products – skincare products, makeup, deodorant, hair products, etc.

How does our body detox?

Detoxification is the body’s process of removing toxic substances. It is an ongoing process that your body does all on its own in order to survive. Your main detoxification organs are the liver and kidneys. Additionally, your lymphatic system, digestive tract, skin, and lungs also play a part in how your body detoxes. Altogether, these organs create detoxification pathways in the body.

The Liver

Think of the liver as the master detoxifier. It acts as a filter removing toxins that our body produces as part of normal metabolism. The liver breaks down these toxic by-products so they can then be filtered out through our kidneys. It also helps our body eliminate pathogens like viruses and bacteria, cholesterol, hormones, and external toxins, including alcohol, drugs, chemicals, heavy metals.

The Kidneys

Like the liver, the kidneys also act as a filter. They filter waste like medication byproducts and harmful chemicals out of our bodies. In addition, the kidneys keep our body in balance by regulating fluid and electrolyte balance. This is vital for maintaining your body’s pH balance, allowing your cells to perform their functions, and controlling blood pressure.

The digestive tract

One of the many roles of the intestinal tract is supporting detoxification. The intestinal tract helps expel toxins through bowel movements. This requires maintaining proper gut health through eating enough fibre and nurturing the trillions of microorganisms living in our guts. When we eat fibre from whole-food plant-based sources this acts as bulk bushing the intestinal tract and helping eliminate the substances like heavy metals, chemicals, and excess hormones through the intestinal tract. It also supports the good gut bacteria, while helping reduce an overgrowth of harmful bacteria and yeast.

The lymphatic system Lymph is the fluid that circulates through the entire body. It’s part of the larger immune system whose essential role is to protect our cells from foreign substances and eliminate them from our bodies. The lymphatic system consists of your spleen, thymus, adenoids, tonsils all connected by a web of capillaries, vessels, and hundreds of lymph nodes. This unique system plays a large role in detoxification, with its main job of transporting white blood cells (aka lymphocytes) that help fight infections and protect against harmful toxins.

Antibiotics detox with Homeopathy

Whenever I see a history of frequent use of antibiotics, particularly for ear-throat infections since an early age, I start with Silica 30c daily for a few weeks. Silica can be a great “case-opener”, particularly in children who are physically delicate, prone to catch colds and coughs. Sometimes a well chosen bowel nosode can also be used together with Silica, if gut symptoms are prevalent. The remedy Poly Antibiotics is also available, however, I do not find it particularly effective or necessary. Some homeopaths also use steroid remedies to clear the effects of that particular medication. That is a possibility to keep in mind, however, I have not used that so far.

Heavy metal detox with Homeopathy

Some parents are keen to test for heavy metal, which is typically done with hair sample test. It is important to remember, however, that tests are only an indication and can be added as additional pieces of information. I had a patient, whose hair test clearly showed an abnormal amount of Arsenic. Yet Arsenicum Album did nothing. The homeopath who was working with the child at the time, tried all the potencies of Arsenicum from 30c up to 10M, as per CEASE protocol but nothing happened, no reaction. After a few more attempts with Poly Metals again in increasing potencies and no results, the homeopath referred the case to me, to see if a fresh pair of eyes could help. I could not fault the previous homeopath’s approach: I would have done the same in her shoes. Taking the case from scratch, I could see that the child presented a picture much more similar to Calc Carb, which is what I prescribed and that started to move things along.

Another case of a 12 year old who was referred to me by another homeoapth, had a similar history: heavy metal was found in his hair yet Poly Metal had done nothing. After some trial and error, I decided to prescribe Alumina, because the child was incredibly constipated and NEVER sweated or had any reaction to sun exposure. This is a very distinctive characteristic of Alumina. After that, the child started to communicate more, stopped the constant eating and had regular meals and started to sweat!

These cases reminded me that, while tests are great to get additional information or confirmation of suspected issues, they are not necessarily to be used as prescription guidance.

In my experience, I have not found the Poly Metal remedy particularly useful, therefore I hardly use it anymore.

Heavy metal influence expresses itself more on the neurological level, rather than the GI level. Apart from constipation, there are usually no other GI issues that are prevalent. However, you will see mental symptoms, like:

• Foggy
• Memory issues
• Mood swings
• Twitching of muscles
• Muscle weakness

Lead poisoning has the characteristic symptoms of contracted tendons, particularly the wrists, that’s when the remedy Plumbum is required.

Mercury is very moody and tends to be destructive and averse to company, very syphilitic remedy.

PARASITES AND HOMEOPATHY

Parasites are very common in children on the spectrum. Symptoms include:

• Stomach ache
• Constant appetite
• Cannot put on weight
• Teeth grinding during sleep
• Visible parasites in the stools
• Sudden aggressive behaviour and anger
• Sensitivity to moon cycle

Treating parasites can be tricky, as the detox reaction can be challenging and it is a long process. There are various ways of dealing with parasites, including herbal remedies, mother tinctures and supplements.

Cina is the common remedy that deals with worms and parasites, if the symptoms fit. The Banerji protocol recommends 200c potency twice a day. It is a long process and I usually recommend at least three months, to make sure the eggs are also killed. The potency depends on the individual basis, I find the mother tincture to be more effective and other herbal remedies too, like Black Walnut Hull or Wormwood extract.

It is also important to support the gut during this process:

• Chelidonium is a great liver supporter
• China helps with nausea and gas.
• Colocynthis for stabbing pain in the stomach
• Sanguinaria for right sided migraines, nausea and bile issues

If the mental/emotional symptoms aggravate during the parasite cleanse, look at the following remedies:

• Belladonna
• Stramonium
• Hyosciamus
• Nux vomica

The mental/emotional picture can also present passive/aggressive behaviour, not necessarily aggressive:

• Magnesia mur feels critisied all the time, whining, aversion to company
• Natrum phos: very sensitive, wants friends, feels lonely
• Natrum sulph: depressed, needs strong connection/love

VIRUSES AND HOMEOPATHY

It is very difficult to spot a viral infection, if the symptoms are not overt. Sometimes a barely suppressed viral infection can only be detected by diagnostic tests. Other times, there is a clear NWS picture, in which case, remedies like Carcinosin or Thuja can be very helpful to strengthen the immune system.

Symptoms of viruses include:

• Over chatty, sassy, precocious
• Highly strung
• OCD
• Hyperactivity
• Early masturbation
• Echolalia, vocal stimming, scripting
• Bed wetting
• Restless limbs
• Tics
• Visual stimming

Viral remedies include

• Influenzinum
• Herpes
• EBV

MOLD AND HOMEOPATHY

I would consider mold in cases where there is documented history of mold exposure or a history of mold-related symptoms. These symptoms can be passed on from the mother to the child.

Symptoms of mold include:

• Fatigue
• Nausea
• GI symptoms
• Allergies
• Brain fog

Carcinosin is a remedy that I use a lot in such cases, sometimes combined with Poly Mold remedy.