HOMEOPATHY FOR RESPIRATORY ISSUES

There are many homeopathic remedies for coughs and flu and the way to pick the correct remedy is to go through the details of the individual’s symptoms.

This year of course we have a very specific virus that seems to have common symptoms all over the world: cough, breathing difficulties, fever, escalating to pneumonia.

I cannot say I have treated any confirmed cases of this year’s virus, however, I have successfully treated all the above symptoms homeopathically, so I want to share them with you.

One important detail is that the people who were prescribed these remedies had no other previous underlying pathology and were therefore otherwise healthy. This is important to specify, because cases where the immune system was already weakened would have been much more serious and complicated to treat.

I would divide the remedies for respiratory condition is two categories:

Stage 1 remedies and Stage 2 remedies.

Stage 1: the very beginning of the condition, when the first symptoms start to appear.

-scratchy throat, sneezing, headache and slight temperature=Arsenicum

-cough, heaviness of chest, slight breathing issue, sudden onset=Aconite

-slow onset, achey joints, tiredness, chills, better for rest, fever=Gelsenium

-sore throat, enlarged glands, burning sensation, high fever, red hot face, no perspiration=Belladonna

In most cases, taking one of these remedies have stopped the flu in its tracks and it did not develop further.

Stage 2: some patients have come to me after recovering from fever and the initial symptoms of the flu but the cough still lingers.

-stubborn cough, productive, with or without expectoration, thick mucus, dry and blocked nose=Antimonium tartaricum

-cough with chest pains, better for rest, very thirsty, worse for movement, worse for lying down, sensation of heaviness=Bryonia

-when the above symptoms are also accompanied by stiffness and muscle pains, Rhus Tox can be indicated or even alternated with Bryonia.

I could add a Stage 3 list of remedies, for the full blown pneumonia symptoms. I have not seen cases like that, which is good, but just in case, I would like to mention the following:

–Carbo Vegetalis: this is for advanced stages of lung inflammation. The sensation is of burning, breathing is very difficult, the person craves fresh air; body is cold, vital force is very low, great weakness.

–Kali carbonicum: puffiness under the eyes, tiredness, mucus in the lungs, that makes the person choke, chest pains, better for sitting up.

Sulphur: this is a good one for children. Night sweats, flashes of heat, child kicks the covers at night, burning pains in the chest.

There are many more remedies that might be suitable to different symptoms, however, the ones listed above are the ones I have been using in my practice so far and I have had no need to prescribe any others. Of course that might change any time!

In terms of prevention and prophylaxis: many remedies have been mentioned by different homeopaths, most famously Sankaran has mentioned Camphora, which has surprised many in the west. Some other homeopaths have mentioned Thuja.

The reason for these apparent discrepancies is that viruses cause slightly different symptoms depending on the climate or region they operate in. Cases treated in India or other parts of Asia or Middle East have responded well to these remedies.

The main thing is to match the symptoms to the correct remedy; as always, there is no one-size-fits-all.

See also my article on asthma