I had a few rather strong comments from people who read my previous email about the use of a homeopathic to treat the flu, so I thought I would comment. These people were adamantly in support of the flu shot, as compared to the use of a homeopathic remedy for the flu.
I think that by far the most important misconception to clear up is that there is certainly NO incompatibility in using homeopathy along with ANY Western types of medicine. In other words, you can still use homeopathy, even if you chose to get the flu shot. There are no negative repercussions from using both. So it’s never an either/or situation. In fact, by far, the majority of my patients are taking some form of Western medication before they begin treatment with me, and I ALWAYS tell them to stay on the medication, at least for the time being.
WESTERN PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS SHOULD NEVER BE DISCONTINUED ON ONES OWN. IF AT ALL, THIS SHOULD BE DONE WITH THE TEAMWORK APPROACH OF THE MEDICAL DOCTOR AND THE PATIENT. IF YOU HAVE BEEN TAKING THE FLU SHOT FOR MANY YEARS AND ARE HAPPY WITH IT, THEN BY ALL MEANS CONTINUE.
Now to the issue at hand, and the one that we all love to discuss: Should I get the flu shot? This is never a simple decision. For most people, it’s complex, since we are bombarded with media information about how bad a flu season it’s going to be, etc. But remember 2004? There was very little flu vaccine available, and yet, the flu season was no worse than normal.
Another thing to remember, and certainly this is only hearsay, but all my patients who are receiving regular homeopathic, herbal and acupuncture treatments, always say that they tend to get the flu and colds much less than others. And if they do get the flu or a cold, it’s for a much shorter duration than their friends or workmates.
Next, remember that a flu shot won’t help to strengthen your immune system. It will only work on the flu itself. So you still need to take supplements to keep strong and to keep your immunity up.
Also, when we get sick, it sometimes occurs when we are emotionally stressed out or eat the wrong foods. So it’s important to deal with emotional stress as it’s occurring and not let it pile up. This usually means opening your mouth and telling people what you think, instead of keeping quiet and letting it build up. Of course it’s important to be diplomatic. But of all the things that create stress, this is one of the main ones: that we don’t speak our truth. And each time this occurs, it creates another layer of emotional pain. Eventually this will lead to a breakdown of the immune system. The flu shot won’t address the emotions, but homeopathy always addresses what is going on emotionally at the same time as the physical.
Some of the emails I got in response to my article on the flu talked about how healthy they were because they have not gotten the flu or colds in so many years. But this is actually a common misconception. Because you don’t get the flu or colds does not mean you are necessarily any healthier than the next person. In fact, you may be more sick.
This is because when you get the flu or a cold, it’s generally a time for detoxification. The fever causes a burning up of toxins, and the congestion is the body’s way of eliminating the toxins. So not getting a fever or cold could be that your body is holding toxins in the liver, lungs and kidneys, and that the normal pathways of detoxification are not working well.
Health can be seen as occurring in layers, like an onion. Generally, we want to keep unpeeling the outer layers of the onion. This is what homeopathy will do. But many Western drugs will actually add layers to the onion, until after many layers, an underlying deeper illness will occur.
You can read more about this in a book by George Vittoulkas call The Science of Homeopathy. In this book, he talks a lot about healing occurring from the inside out, and our need to detox the deeper layers first. This also, by the way, implies that those of you with a skin problem, are healthier than people with liver disease or heart disease. This is because the natural tendency is for the body to push imbalance to the outside and the outer levels. But if you use ointments to supress the skin problem, you may be creating deeper problems on a level deep inside.
Whatever you decide, I think it’s best to remain open-minded. If in doubt, I think it’s a good idea to do both the natural and the Western treatment. My experience is that once a person experiences the effectiveness of homeopathy and other complementary types of treatments, they usually want to use it more and more.