Homeopathic remedies, brilliant or waste of time?

For me they were a total waste of money.
I went to a practitioner with a good reputation.

They don't do what practitioners tell you they do. However some people may feel better after taking them, which is the placebo effect but people get very upset if you say that.

Scientifically implausible. Personally, wouldn't touch it with a bargepole.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/homeopathy/

I agree with Alegrias2. The placebo effect is real enough for some but it does't work with me. I tried something once (probably when going through the menopause) but it had no effect.

Homeopathic remedies are brilliant and I have used them for years and so do my son and daughter.

I have also used them on pets and on plants which obviously can't have a placebo effect.

As far as practitioners are concerned, there can be good and not-so-good as with conventional doctors. My GP diagnosed arthritis on the ball of my foot which was showing an egg-shaped swelling. He told me to buy some comfortable trainers and that was it.

I used Rhus Tox & Ruta Cream on my foot (which I was already using on arthritis in my hands) and managed to totally get rid of the swelling. Even I wasn't expecting it to work but I had to do something as I couldn't walk properly, and I had the cream available already.

Definitely not placebo but, as with anything, you have to use the correct remedy.

I am very sceptical, but my cousin recommended some anti-jet lag tablets, DH and I have used them four times now, flying in each direction, and they have worked for us. I don't understand how they possibly can, but there you go!

I'll echo Sparklefizz here - when I lived in rural Glos our dairy farmer neighbour used homeopathic remedies on his cows when they suffered mastitis, etc. Total cure, without having to dump all the milk the cows produced if they had been given anti-bios.
Same village - we had a GP who would always offer a h. treatment if it was appropriate.

have also used them on pets and on plants which obviously can't have a placebo effect

Lovely article here about how the placebo effect works in dogs.

thebark.com/content/dogs-and-placebo-effect#:~:text=The%20placebo%20effect%20in%20animals%20on%20immunomodulation%2C%20cardiovascular,

Hello MaryTheBookeeper Yes I believe they do work for some people as complimentary to traditional medicine rather than as an alternative. It is certainly nice to see you posting again following your post on Saturday saying "What's the point of life" which was vey disturbing. I have enjoyed your previous posts about creating a craft business and potentially moving house. It would be so lovely to know how these panned out for you as well as knowing how you are feeling now. Do give us an update on your "What's the point of life" post as we all hope you are feeling more upbeat now.

I've used homeopathy for years and had brilliant results when my Gp had been attempting to treat the same conditions with not just no effect but worsening effects .Get a good homeopath,I used to see Jan DeVries ,but he died and I see other people in his Glasgow practice .I believ they have branches in England too

Not a believer, but if it works for you go ahead.

Homeopathic remedies do work in many cases, it’s not placebo, there is no scientific explanation so most doctors daren’t use them. They work by switching the immune system on, so if you have a persistent cough that just won’t go homeopathic may help, conditions like Hay Fever, Excema, Digestive upsets, Aches and Sprains, even Depression or Hyperactivity, all respond well.

For infections antibiotics are the first cure but if they don’t work out you can’t get them homeopathic may work. They are cheap and unlikely to do harm, you need a good guide book that tells you which remedy for which condition.

Went to a very interesting talk a few years ago by the author of a book on the placebo effect, even when people knew that the "medication" that they were taking was a placebo it still worked !

Arnica does seem to work. We think we had a great success with one child who had some homeopathic medicine for a patch of dry eczema type skin. We had loads of creams from the GP which did nothing. Sometime later one dose of a remedy worked overnight - or did it?

No, they don't work. Can't work, except for the power of suggestion/placebo effect. There's nothing in them except except chalk. My DH used to take some homeopathic tablets years ago for sinus trouble and he swore they worked, took them for a couple of years until they were no longer available. It did my head in because they were really expensive and literally NOTHING in them that could possibly help bunged up sinuses. One time I couldn't get the Sinus ones from the health shop so I bought the same brand (New Era) that were for "aching legs" and put them in his old container for the Sinus ones. He took them for two months and never realised, noticed no difference. (And in fact there WAS no difference. Nothing in either of them except chalk, a speck of salt and water.)

I don’t have much experience with homeopathic treatments except for arnica, and I’m evangelical about that. The cream reduces swelling and bruises, and the pills (bought, with advice, from homeopath) accelerated healing post surgery for both me and my dog. The dosage for pills is calibrated by weight for optimum results.

Meant to say that on homeopathic medicines it often states that there are no interactions with other medications, and that even taking too many tablets won't have any harmful effects. (For instance it said on the New Era packs that the usual dose was 4 tiny pills three times daily but this could safely be increased to 4 pills every 30 minutes.) This is because there's actually NOTHING in them!

People seem to get very defensive when you say its the placebo effect, as though we were saying it was "all in their mind" and they are easily led. That's not what it means at all, the placebo effect is a real thing which can help people recover.

But like moggycuddler says, there are no ingredients in homeopathic medicines that have have a physical effect, and they certainly don't turn your immune system on. That's dangerous nonsense.

Moggycuddler - if they worked for your husband (even the wrong ones) does it matter?

You sound very cross about it for some reason. Surely if it was a placebo it doesn't matter if it brought him some relief?

I've used them for years, when allopathic medicine had nothing to offer and I've found them very beneficial. After all, the worst they can do is nothing. And I don't consider four or five quid for a bottle of remedies "really expensive." Nowadays I recommend Helios: you can ring them and talk to a trained homeopath and they will send you a remedy, just for the price of the remedy and p+p. I'd rather have a placebo than chemicals, which generally have side effects.

I agree Disgruntled. Helios are brilliant.

As I have M.E. for which there is no cure, I turned to alternative therapies. Homeopathy and kinesiology got me out of bed after being bedridden for 2 years. They were not an instant cure, obviously, and I am still a work in progress, but many people who are getting nowhere with allopathic medicine or who don't want the side effects of drugs, turn to alternatives with good results.

I think it's a shame when people close their minds to something that might help them. When my mother was seeing an osteopath back in the 1950s, they were considered cranks. Now they are mainstream.

I dont know why some folk get their knickers in a twist because people like me use homeopaths .If I use tham and get help for problems then its no one elses business how we get relief.
Just to give you a bit of back story though.In my late 20's early 30's I was crippled with stomach pain,my GP sent me for investigations and I was diagnosed with an ulcer.I spent many days and nights on my knees ,literally on the floor with the pain.The GP would just double the dose of whatever new wonder drug he was prescribing and off we'd go again.My symptoms never got better they got progressively worse.
My MIL and her mother used the Jan De Vries clinic in Troon for acupuncture and other remedies and I booked an appointment with him.
He gave me some tiny pills with instructions of when to take them and told me the symptoms may well be even more severe for the first few weeks and then should disappear.
He was right,I was stuck in the house for a full week in tears and almost threw the pills in the bin.By week three my pain had gone.It never came back .My next appointment with the hospital showed no sign of an ulcer .

Great news PaddyAnne

You need to have a great deal of faith in them if you expect them to be effective. I have had family on both sides of the fence and it is definitely conventional medicine for me. A large drink of water would be as effective as most Homeopathic medicine.

My only experience of using it was at a time when I was plagued with styes. As soon as one cleared another would pop up. Very embarrassing. My GP told me that it was common in much younger people, which was no consolation at the time! I tried a homeopathic preparation in desperation and was very surprised when the styes stopped appearing. It may have been a coincidence, but I was so glad to see the back of them!