PART ONE – MY INTRODUCTION TO HOMEOPATHY
I was diagnosed with interstitial cystitis in my mid-twenties and after various drugs and procedures that left me feeling worse than ever, I was blessed to discover homeopathy. I worked with a classical homeopath, Daniel C. Cook, M.D. and over a six-month period I began to experience freedom from antibiotics and numerous other prescriptions. Up to that point, in addition to the chronic bladder condition, I experienced numerous infections each year (throat, sinus, and bladder) requiring antibiotics and various other health conditions requiring prescriptions including migraines, allergies and hormonal imbalance symptoms.
Throughout my life, I saw my mother suffer from severe allergies, headaches, constant infections, depression and hormonal issues. Until I began to learn homeopathy it appeared that my own life was on a similar trajectory. My childhood and early adult years were riddled with strep infections, bronchitis, laryngitis, and allergies. Sadly, I had just accepted it, buying into the medical and societal belief systems that it was “genetic” and out of my control. Homeopathy turned my life around and gave me hope. Hope for a healthy future. Hope to be free of my medications and the severe side effects I experienced every time I took them. During my 20s and 30s I began to learn homeopathy and study nutrition. I was inspired to pursue a path of health freedom, something I had never dreamed possible before.
During my early 30s, I was blessed to have two beautiful children: my daughter first and then 2 and a half years later my son. Although I was on the path of wellness and had learned to take care of basic acute conditions with homeopathy, I was still putting faith in the medical system and I was experiencing personal stressors in my life and marriage that I had not dealt with before.
As a child I had learned to not feel my feelings or express my deep inner truth; I had lost my voice in an effort to please and be loved. I had learned to “be a good Christian”; I believed that “a good person always puts others first”; I had learned to stuff down my disappointments and sadness and to ignore the deepest longings of my heart. At the time I did not realize the enormity of this factor, but I see now that it was the biggest factor of all.
During my 20s and early 30s I experienced many health gains: a huge improvement to my allergy symptoms, an overall improvement in health and freedom from all prescription medications. I was still experiencing colds and sinus issues, but I had my go-to homeopathic remedies and I knew what to do to get well. Although I was able to treat myself with homeopathy and stay clear of anti-biotics I was still relying on a few over the counter medications and I felt that the improvement of my overall health began to stall.
During the first trimester of my second pregnancy, one of my many amalgam fillings cracked and required replacement. This unexpected dental work turned my health upside down. At the time I was just living life one day at a time and did not have the wisdom to put it all together, but the factors add up when seen from a higher perspective as I will describe here.
Six-weeks after the amalgam removal (replaced with a composite filling) I suddenly came down with a severe case of bronchitis. My stand-by constitutional remedy and go-to acute care homeopathic remedies were not working. Even my classical homeopath in Houston at the time seemed at a loss for what to do with me and in the end referred me back to my doctor for a prescription. I was forced to take not one, but two rounds of anti-biotics at that time to get over my severe lung and sinus infection.
After my son was born, I continued to have sinus issues, lung congestion and infections. I was at a loss as to help myself as all my tried and true homeopathic remedies were not nearly as helpful as they had been in the past. I then met another mom in a healthy living support group who referred me to a sequential homeopath. My new homeopath, Sherry Arrick, D.I.Hom, requested a Timeline from me, a document that provides details of physical and emotional traumas in sequential order, beginning at pre-birth and continuing to the present time. Physical traumas include accidents, over the counter and prescription drug use, illnesses, traumatic emotional events, and chemical toxin exposures to name a few.
The process of writing my timeline began an awakening process in me. I was amazed to discover that since early childhood I experienced a lung infection approximately 6 weeks after every amalgam filling was placed. My homeopath identified a metal toxicity load I was carrying still even after all the natural living, gains, and health changes I had made. I began the process of clearing my timeline events with homeopathic remedies in an orderly systematic way with sequential homeopathy. I experienced huge benefits and improvements when I began to clear mercury and other amalgam metals.This allowed for another quantum leap in my health for which I am so grateful.
At that time, I was also very busy with the responsibilities of two small children and working full time. Once again, I felt encouraged that I could support my health with homeopathy. I began to learn more and more how to support my emotional health with homeopathy, and I used remedies quite often in that way. However, I was still not waking up to the truth of my unexpressed emotions (a pattern from childhood that I took into adulthood) and the inability to truly feel my feelings. This habit was like a ticking time bomb that would require big conscious changes. I still wanted a fix for my symptoms and I thought I was being a “good” person by avoiding negative emotions like anger and sadness.