Lesson 28PP - Indigestion/Gas/Heartburn
Sheri Nakken
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Homeopathic Medicines for Indigestion, Gas, and
Heartburn: Natural Remedies You Can Stomach
© Dana Ullman, M.P.H.
It is sometimes difficult, literally and
figuratively, to stomach the gas, heartburn, and
indigestion pains. It hurts, it is discomforting,
and it is upsetting that our body's normally
magnificent alchemical process of turning food into energy is having problems.
To some of us, these problems are occasional and
to others they are all too common. The good news
is that you won't die from it, but the bad news
is that sometimes you feel like you are experiencing a slow and painful death.
Although we may want to curse at our digestive
tract, the fact of the matter is that our
digestive symptoms are actually defenses of the
body in its best efforts to defend and heal
ourselves. The symptoms that we experience may
not always feel like they are healing us, but
these symptoms are our body's efforts to defend
ourselves against poisons in our food, against
substances to which we may be allergic, against
overdosing on too much food or drink, against the
stresses that we experience before, during, or
after eating, or simply against unknown fac tors
that affect the digestive processes.
There's an old television commercial from the
1960s in which a person is talking to his
stomach. His stomach was expressing concern about
the way that the man was treating it and then
even asks the man to become more sensitive to its
problems. Although most people don't talk to our
stomach, our stomach do talk to us...through various symptoms.
It is sometimes perfectly clear what it is saying
("Stop eating." "Stop eating certain things."
"Stop eating so late at night." "Chew your food
more thoroughly." "Eat in an relaxed
environment."), and sometimes (perhaps often),
people know what their stomach is saying and
simply refuse to listen or learn. At other times,
it is difficult to know what our digestive system is saying or why.
What Homeopathy has to Offer
Actually, before considering homeopathic
medicines, it makes sense to sit down and have a
heart-to-heart (or stomach-to-per son) talk with
your digestive system. See what you can learn.
Experiment with whatever changes make sense. Observe yourself.
If this doesn't bring adequate results or if you
would like to know if something (perhaps
anything) can help strengthen your system so that
you can have your cake (or whatever) and eat it
too, here's when you might consider using homeopathic medicines.
Healing Drum Kit from Christine Stevens - Sounds True
First of all, it is important to say that medical
care should be sought if you are having serious
digestive pain, if vomiting is excessive, if
there is evidence of dehydration, if there is a
possibility of poisoning or drug use, if the
stools or vomited material is bloody or tarlike,
or if vomiting occurs during the course of a viral respiratory condition.
Although homeopathic medicines may also be useful
in such situations, it is generally best if these
potentially more seri ous conditions be treated
by a professional homeopath. Profes sional
homeopathic care should also be sought if
homeopathic self-care is not effective in
treating a person's more mild symptoms or when
these remedies are effective, but the symptoms continually return.
Commonly, professional homeopathic care will not
only re lieve the acute symptoms the person is
experiencing but will even prevent future similar
symptoms. Professional homeopaths pre scribe
"constitutional remedies" which are highly
individualized to the person's genetic history,
personal health history, and totality of physical
symptoms and psychological characteristics. These
remedies tend to strengthen the overall health of the person.
It is the common experience of professional
homeopaths and patients alike that constitutional
homeopathic remedies can strengthen a person's
digestive system, cure food allergies, and
improve the elimination of foods and toxins.
This is the power of the correctly prescribed
homeopathic medicine. People do not necessarily
have to avoid those foods to which they may be
allergic. Homeopathic remedies can sometimes
dramatically change these hypersensitivity syndromes.
Using homeopathic medicine at home for
self-treatment may often provide important and
necessary relief of digestive com plaints,
however, self-treatment for acute ailments
generally do not have as significant of a result as constitutional care.
In light of self-treatment with homeopathic
medicines, there are two basic strategies to
consider. One strategy is to simply go to a
health food store or pharmacy and seek out a
homeopathic "combination medicine," that is, a
mixture of 2-8 common homeo pathic remedies
useful in treating a specific condition, such as
indigestion and gas, allergies, migraine
headaches, etc. Although homeopathic combination
remedies work reasonably well, you will generally
get better results when you individual ize a
single remedy to those of the sick person's. Some
of the remedies listed in this article can be
very helpful, though it is sometimes necessary to
augment your information on homeopathic medicines
with one or more books on homeopathy.
Ultimately, homeopathic medicines offer a safer
treatment than conventional drugs in the
treatment of indigestion, heart burn, and gas.
Distinct from conventional drugs for heartburn
which tend to cause rebound symptoms that are
often worse than the original symptoms,
homeopathic medicines are not known to cause a rebound.
Specific Homeopathic Medicines
Shakespeare once described infancy as the age of
"mewling and puking in the nurse's arms." Indeed,
infants vomit consider ably more frequently than
do people later in life. There are good
evolutionary and defensive reasons for this
hypersensitivity early in life, and there are
similar good reasons that people maintain the
capacity to experience nausea and vomiting
through out their life. The body may be creating
these symptoms as defenses, but this doesn't mean
that you can't help it defend itself. The
following homeopathic medicines are substances
which cause in overdose the similar symptoms that
the sick person is experienc ing. The trick in
homeopathy is that exceedingly small and
specially prepared doses of these medicines are
used, and they aid the body's defenses in healing itself.
One of the most common homeopathic remedies for
treating acute nausea and vomiting is
Ipecacuahna, made from an herb ipecac root which
is widely known to cause nausea and vomiting if
taken in crude doses. It is wonderfully effective
in treating the symptoms it is known to cause:
constant nausea which is not relieved by
vomiting, vomiting with gagging, lack of thirst,
a surprisingly clean tongue despite strong
feelings of nausea, aggravation of symptoms from
warmth, and some relief of symptoms from being in
the open air. A headache, cough, or heavy menstru
ation may accompany the nausea.
It is at first startling to learn that another
important remedy for acute nausea and vomiting is
Arsenicum (arsenic), though homeopaths use
extremely small and nontoxic doses of it. It is
particularly valuable in the treatment of nausea
and vomit ing as the result of food poisoning.
Generally, the person who needs Arsenicum cannot
stand the sight or smell of food and has a strong
thirst but can tolerate only sips at a time. The
person may experience burning pains in the
stomach, burning pains in the throat as a result
of irritating vomitus, and burning pains in the
anus as a result of excoriating diarrhea.
Nux vomica (poison nut) is a remedy for acute
nausea and vomiting, especially when these
symptoms are the result of over eating, drinking
alcohol, or food poisoning, and often accompa
nied by flatulence, bloating, heartburn, and
either diarrhea or constipation. This remedy
provides relief from hangovers and also helps
deal with digestive complaints that are
aggravated by therapeutic or recreational drugs.
People who need Nux vomica usually experience the
worst symptoms in the morning upon waking. These
people wake unrefreshed and are highly irritable.
They feel some relief from warmth, warm
applications, and warm drinks. Bryonia (wild
hops) is a remedy that is known to be effective
in treating nausea that is aggravated by motion
(the simple act of just getting up or stooping
can lead the person to vomit). These people are
are also aggravated in a warm room and by heat.
Even though their stomach may be sensitive to
touch, people who need this remedy are at least
partially relieved by lying on their stomach.
They may also experience some relief in cool or
open air and by resting. These people also have a
significant thirst, typically for cold drinks
though they may experience some relief from
drinking warm fluids. Concurrent with their
digest iive symptoms, they may experience a
headache in the front part of the head.
Podophyllum (may apple) is a valuable remedy when
the person experiences diarrhea with nausea and
vomiting. The diarrhea is painless, profuse,
offensive, and expelled with gushing force.
Typically, much gurgling in the abdomen is felt,
and prior to having a stool, much gas released with the diarrhea.
Pulsatilla (windflower) is helpful for people who
suffer from indigestion after eating rich foods
or pork. They have bloating, abdominal
distension, and sometimes a headache. They tend
to be thirstless. This remedy is more often given
to chil dren and women than to men.
Carbo veg (vegetable charcoal) provides relief
for people who suffer from great distension and
offensive gas from almost any kind of food. They
experience some relief from the release of gas
and desire carbonated drinks because they seem to
help in releasing it, but these people seem to be
gas manufacturers, and any relief that they
experience is only temporary...until they take Carbo veg.
A leading remedy for acid indigestion is Natrum
phos (sodium phosphate), which is both a
homeopathic medicine and a cell salt. This remedy
is indicated in the typical symptoms of acid
indiges tion with sour belching, sour tasting
vomit, and yellow discolor ation of the tongue.
It is also a remedy useful in people who get
digestive symptoms after eating fats.
How do I Learn More About Homeopathy?
The best source of homeopathic books, tapes, home
medicine kits, and software is:
Homeopathic Educational Services
2124B Kittredge St.
Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 649-0294
(510) 649-1955 (fax)
Dana Ullman, M.P.H. is widely recognized as one
of the foremost spokespersons for homeopathic
medicine in the United States. He has authored
numerous books, including Discovering Homeopathy:
Medicine for the 21st Century (North Atlantic,
1991) which includes a foreword by Dr. Ronald W.
Davey, Physician to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
II. Dana directs Homeopathic Educational
Services, America's largest publisher and
distributor of homeopathic books, tapes, and