Forget the Drugs: Seasonal Allergies Tackled with Homeopathy

Photograph by Amy McRae at Beyoutifully

Back in March of this year, I noticed that my son was experiencing allergy symptoms for the first time ever.  Runny nose, itchy, dark eyes and extremely irritable.  I initially thought it might be a cold, so I immediately gave him echinacea and that seemed to do the trick.

In the last month, I've noticed the symptoms return, fade, return and fade.

In the last bout, I just couldn't handle seeing him so frustrated with his own face. I refused to go to the drugstore to get anything off the shelves, so I just watched as he struggled with sleep at night. I was desperate and so sad that we just tacked on yet another medical issue with this boy.  I knew I had to do something. 

In talking with a trusted and wise friend, she recommended I look into homeopathic remedies for allergies. 

I was hesitant because I have not always had luck with homeopathics myself.  But, I was told that it's because it was probably the wrong remedy for me at that time.

So, what are homeopathics, exactly?  And how do they work?

Homeopathic remedies are a form of alternative medicine that was created by Samuel Hahnemann back in the late 1700s.  The word itself derives from the Greek homoios, meaning "similar" and pathos, meaning "disease".  In short, it's a holistic method in which the same substance that causes symptoms in healthy people is used to cure the disease in sick people.  It's based on the principle that "like cures like".

A clear example: when you chop up an onion, your eyes tear up and your nose may burn and run.  The onion is the substance, in this case, and the symptoms are the teary eyes and runny nose.  So, when a sick person has a runny nose and teary eyes, homeopathy will resort to a remedy that contains an ingredient that would normally cause those symptoms.  You guessed it - onion! The scientific name for this particular remedy is allium cepa, but it's basically onion diluted thousands of times.  (You can learn about the details of this fascinating cure in the resource links offered below.)

In the health food store, you can find these natural remedies in different forms. They can be pellets (that dissolve under your tongue), soft tablets (that dissolve really quickly when you place them in your mouth), dilutions (liquid, taken in drops under the tongue), and spray (liquid, sprayed under the tongue).

The pellets are often singular remedies (such as the allium cepa), whereas the sprays and dilutions often contain multiple remedies (ex: allium cepa along with 5 other homeopathic remedies).  Most homeopaths don't like the combos because it's hard to know which remedy actually worked for you - and you're taking all of the others for no reason.  Even though they're not harmful - there is no need to be spending extra money for remedies you don't need.   However, these combos are created by different brands with the hope that one remedy in there will work for you (so that you go back and purchase it again in the future).  When you buy the remedies separately, it sometimes takes trial and error to find the right one for you.

Back to my son.

I brought home a combo spray (remember that I was desperate and not wanting to test different remedies, and I find that the spray is easier to administer on a child).

Well, within 3 hours (that's 3 sprays) I saw a change.  By the next day, all of the symptoms were gone.

Alleluia.

I was sold!

I was told by the naturopath at the health food store to continue with the spray (as it's meant to relieve and prevent allergies) twice a day until allergy season is over. Yes, M'am!

I was also directed toward another homeopathic product that is taken for a week and then, supposedly, he may never have to deal with seasonal allergies ever again (or less so next year, but gone by the 3rd year).  Give me some of that too, please!

When I thought that we would be dealing with allergies for life, I learned that allergies are just the body working overtime to deal with imposters.  All my life, I thought that once we became allergic to something, we would be dealing with it forever (medicated drugs included).

By using homeopathics, we're actually supporting the body (in particular, the immune system) to heal the cause of the disease, not suppressing the symptoms (like those drugs do).  This is why echinacea worked when I originally thought my son had a cold.

What's amazing is that, once you begin to discover homeopathy, you will find that there is something for each ailment/ disease.  It's just a matter of finding the right one.  Isn't that hopeful? 


Do you put up with seasonal allergies?  What remedies do you use?


Resources for you:

Allergies (Allergic Rhinitis) - extensive article by Dr.Greene
Enormously Useful Allergy Treatment with Virtually No Side Effects - article and videos by Dr. Mercola 
Could This 'Forbidden Medicine' Eliminate the Need for Drugs? - article by Dr. Amy L. Lansky on Dr. Mercola's site
What is Homeopathy? - site full of information
ABC Homeopathy - website with info about each homeopathic remedy
Natural Ways to Prevent and Reverse Autoimmune Illness - article from Food Matters