Strengthing your immune system
How to evaluate your remedy if you get sicker?
The example below may answer that question. One way that remedies help us is our immune system becomes stronger. In this example, I have used the energy of diseased tissue to strengthen my own immune system. Whole system responses to a remedy are known as "constitutional" treatments. The example here is near the end of treatment when I had little left to treat. I have treated myself since I began learning homeopathy in 2002. As my homeopathic wisdom grows, I also become more healthy.
Why I took a remedy made from diseased tissue?
My father had diphtheria as a kid. Homeopaths observe that when using the common remedy (usually not made from diseased tissues) for some patients, some problems do not resolve. One hypothesis for explaining this is they have inherited severe infectious diseases from the previous generation. Or in some cases, they have had those infectious diseases themselves.
Unfortunately, just knowing a patient's infectious disease history is not enough to give a remedy made from that infected tissues. Patients who will heal develop a set of weaknesses that homeopaths use to identify the curative remedy, the diseased tissue or other related remedies. I have had a sore throat all my life and until I found the right remedy ten years ago, I had swollen glands. The swollen gland healed with a common remedy. The sore throat did not heal. My remedy is made from the tissue of a person who was suffering from diphtheria. In addition to knowing that my father survived diptheria as a child, I also fit many aspects of what is clinically known about people who are healed by Diptherium. So, I decided to take it to heal my chronic sore throat.
My response to the remedy?
A few minutes after I took the Diptherium, I felt a stabbing pain in my throat. An hour later, I needed to take a short nap. After that for the next five days, I did my usual Aikido practice. Then on the fifth day, I stayed out late and it seemed that I had caught cold. “Bad homeopath.” I had forgotten that I had taken a remedy and was supposed to be healing respiratory symptoms. I believe that my remedy stimulated my symptoms. Why?
How that my cold symptoms were a strong immune response to my remedy?
Finally, here is the explanation about how you know that the remedy was causing my symptoms, and I did not have an ordinary cold. My body reacted with symptoms that are not typical for the way I typically catch a cold.
My symptoms
1. In the morning, after my late night out, suddenly I developed congestion in the chest, accompanied by lots of choking and coughing. After four days, my chest got better. Then, suddenly sinus symptoms appeared. I had a sinus headache and copious green thick mucus.
2. However, throughout this process of inflammation, I did not experience a fever, aching joints or the other routine aspects of having a respiratory inflammation.
What was happening?
Typically, a curative remedy will increase the immune response that has been suppressed by drugs such as antibiotics. My supposed "cold" was really a strong immune response stimulated by my remedy. So, I am pretty certain that a real respiratory infection did not cause my symptoms. They were too weird.
Atypical symptoms for me
First, typical respiratory infections do not start in the chest and move up to the head. They begin in the head and move down to the chest. So, the progress of the infection was opposite the typical direction. Note that here, I am talking about problems that start suddenly and then resolve themselves with no medication.
Second, the mucus was yellow and thick from the beginning. Usually, a cold for me begins with a watery discharge. When I am getting well, the mucus becomes thick. So there are many aspects of this strong immune response that do not fit my typical cold or flu pattern. These unusual symptoms tell me that my remedy, Diptherium, was causing my symptoms. A strong immune response also means that for me, Diptherium is curative.
Prediction?
Greed and Arrogance: From the clinical record, we know that my remedy, Diptherium, also cures arthritis. In a very greedy way, I am hoping to get rid of arthritis. Most people tell me, "you're old, so you have arthritis," but that is not my attitude. I say, "I have arthritis so I can heal it." Homeopaths are arrogant! The elderly typically die of respiratory problems. They are sick with something else, but the final cause of death is the collapse of the respiratory system. Hopefully, I will die of whatever bothers me at my death and not a respiratory problem.
Was it worth it? Anyway, a week in bed strengthened my immune system, so this self-imposed "time out" is acceptable to me. A week of bed rest is a small price to pay for healing sixty years of a chronic sore throat and probably other problems as well. If when I am ready to die, my kids say that I died with very little fuss, I would feel very accomplished as a homeopath.
Many readers probably think that I am a morbid person. But my love experiencing illness has many positive aspects. Even when I am sick in bed, I am interested in my symptoms. I always think that when I take care of other people with respiratory problems, I will be more insightful. I hope so.
Summary for students
1. Atypical symptoms are caused by your remedy.
2. A strong immune respond predicts increased immune health in the future.