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Homeopathic Remedies for Women

By Dana Ullman

Cystitits. PMS. Vaginitis. Hot flashes. Mood swings. All common female health problems that send the average woman to the doctor but may be treated better at home. While a medical doctor's diagnosis and monitoring for these problems may be useful, and sometimes required, each condition is amenable to self-care with homeopathic remedies, which have important advantages over the drugs that a medical doctor is apt to prescribe. Women today lead the steady growth of homeopathy use. Although homeopathy makes up only a small part of overall healthcare, its use has grown 25 percent annually over the last five years, and two-thirds of homeopathic customers are female.

    There's a good reason why. Women seek medical care more often than men and therefore experience more of its dangers (as well as its benefits). Women thus look for safer treatments with fewer side effects. Homeopathic medicines pass this test with ease because they are prepared in small doses that are not likely to cause side effects.

    Women also find that homeopathy works by boosting the body's own defenses instead of simply stopping symptoms, which inhibits the body's own healing efforts. In treating vaginitis, for example, doctors typically use antifungal medicines. These temporarily decrease the number of yeast cells causing the infection, and help symptoms to abate for a while. However, they do not help to increase the number of "good" microorganisms, which are critical to inhibiting the growth of the yeast cells, the "bad" microorganisms. This is how the body naturally beats vaginitis.

    The following homeopathic remedies are single remedies, as opposed to combination remedies. Combination remedies include between two and eight single remedies. They are useful when a person is unsure which single remedy is the correct one to use. Single remedies, on the other hand, are used when a fuller picture of the patient's symptoms (psychological and physical) is known; the correct single remedy corresponds to the patient's particular group of symptoms. The remedies below are most likely to work for the symptom patterns described under each condition. Please note that you may get even better results if you consult homeopathic books that provide more detailed information about each remedy.

Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)

Cramps, bloating, and psychological symptoms commonly experienced around the menstrual period. Serious PMS symptoms should receive professional homeopathic attention. 

Camps: When cramps are the predominating symptom, consider the following remedies, according to the particular symptoms described:

Pulsatilla: Changeable menstrual flow from month to month; lack of thirst; occasional nausea; preference for open air; tendency to feel worse when exposed to heat, which aggravates water retention; for women who are gentle, yielding, and easily weepy.

Belladonna: Intense bearing-down pains or cramps that come and go away suddenly; aggravated by motion, any type of jarring, or draft; occasional headaches; fitful sleep with wild dreams.

Magnesia Phos: Cramps relieved by bending over, by firm abdominal massage while bending forward, or by warmth and warm applications; cramps aggravated by cold, cold air, or uncovering.

Colocynthis: Cramps like those of Magnesia phos but the woman is considerably more irritable and restless.

Bloating: When bloating is the primary symptom, consider the following remedies, according to the particular symptoms described:

Pulsatilla: Same as above.

Sepia: Constipation; lethargy; general weakness felt in internal organs; irritable personality; snappishness; sadness.

Lycopodium: Symptoms worse in warm weather between 4 and 8 p.m.; flatulence; backache; insatiable appetite; anxiety when doing anything new.

Lachesis: Symptoms worse during sleep and upon waking; symptoms worse on the left side; pains relieved by menstrual flow. (Also see Lachesis under Moodiness and Irritability below.) 

Moodiness and Irritability: When moodiness, irritability, and heightened emotions are the main symptoms, consider the following remedies, according to the particular symptoms described:

Pulsatilla: Same as above.

Sepia: Same as above.

Ignatia: Emotional vulnerability (especially grief); contradictory feelings; hysteria.

Cimicifuga: Sharp laborlike pains that dart from one side of the body to the other; possible back pain or sciatica; intolerance of pain; loquacious; hysterical; feeling overwhelmed and "I can't take it anymore."

Lachesis: Loquacious; sharp-tongued; sarcastic; irritable; suspicious; jealous; flushes of heat; symptoms worse upon waking and exposure to heat; headaches.

Nux vomica: Irritable; faultfinding; quarrelsome; competitive; Type A personality; nausea.

Dose: Take the 6th, 12th, or 30th potency every two hours during symptoms that are more intense and every four hours for less intense symptoms. Stop taking the remedy if symptoms are gone or quite mild. If there isn't improvement in twelve hours, consider another remedy.

Cystitis (Bladder/Urinary Tract Infection)

Burning pain on urination; frequent need to urinate, especially during night; turbid, foul-smelling, or dark urine; lower abdominal pain. Recurring bladder symptoms or severe symptoms require the attention of a professional homeopath or medical doctor. Consider the following remedies, according to the particular symptoms described: 

Cantharis: Burning, cutting pain before, during, and after urination, each drop passing as if it were scalding water; frequent urges to urinate.

Sarsaparilla Severe pain at end of urination; burning pain and constant urges to urinate.

Berberis: Pain in the thighs and loins during urination; pain extending from the bladder and/or over the abdomen to the urethra.

Pulsatilla: Pain during and after urination as well as when lying down; dry mouth but no thirst.

Apis: Stinging pains with aggravation of overall symptoms by warmth.

Belladona: Acute pain aggravated by any motion or jarring; sensation of something moving inside the bladder; nighttime restlessness; wild dreams.

Nux vomica: Constant urge to urinate; short relief when passing small quantities and from warm applications or warm bathing.

Causticum: Cystitis after surgery; involuntary urination that occurs when coughing or sneezing.

Dose: Take the 6th, 12th, or 30th potency every two hours during intense symptoms and every four hours for less intense symptoms. Stop taking the remedy if symptoms are gone or become mild. If there isn't obvious improvement in twenty-four hours, try another remedy. The correct remedy may need to be taken for up to three days for an acute urinary tract infection. 

Vaginitis

An inflammatory condition in the vagina that is primarily the result of bacterial or fungal infection (such as from Candida albicans) or exposure to an irritant (chemical or allergic); abnormal vaginal discharge and itching or burning pains. Unlike antibiotics, which create internal imbalances that worsen the problem, homeopathic medicines strengthen natural defenses to fight off infection. Chronic or recurrent vaginitis should receive professional homeopathic care. Consider the following remedies according to the particular symptoms described:

Pulsatilla: White, yellow, or greenish bland vaginal discharge with vaginal soreness; weepy, moody, or emotionally laden state; lack of thirst; symptoms worse in heat, relieved in open air; common remedy for pregnant women with vaginitis.

Kreosotum: Itching with burning pains; a yellow, putrid vaginal discharge that is acrid and irritates the vaginal lips and surrounding skin; discharge may stain bedsheets and is worse in morning and upon standing.

Borax: A burning vaginal discharge the color of egg whites; when vaginitis occurs midway between menstrual periods.

Hydrastis: Profuse, stringy, yellow vaginal discharge with great itching; worse after menstruation.

Sepia: White, milky, offensive, itchy, and burning discharge that tends to be more profuse in the morning and while walking; sensations of uncomfortable pressure and heaviness in the vaginal area; fatigue; constipation; irritability; depression.

Graphites: Premenstrual yeast infection; often for overweight women who experience thin, white, acrid discharge and concurrent backache while walking; increased discharge in the morning.

Calcarea Carb: Thick yellow or milky discharge which tends to cause intense itching, usually in overweight, fair-skinned women; worse before menses and on becoming warm, though they tend to be very chilly; a headache and spasmodic cramps may be concurrent.

Dose: Take the 6th, 12th, or 30th potency every two hours during intense symptoms and every four hours for less intense symptoms. Stop taking the remedy if symptoms are gone or have become mild. If there isn't some type of obvious improvement in forty-eight hours, try another remedy.

Menopausal Hot Flashes

Intense feelings of warmth throughout the upper body that may be accompanied by rapid or irregular heartbeats, headache, weakness, faintness, anxiety, and dizziness; redness (flushness) of upper chest, neck, and face followed by perspiration; hot flashes during sleep that produce night sweats. Consider the following remedies, according to the particular symptoms described:

Belladonna: Hot flashes that come and go suddenly; flushing so intense that heat emanates from the skin; restlessness; agitation; wild dreams; head fullness and/or headache; intolerance of pressure, touch, sudden jarring, or unexpected motion; despite heat, mucous membranes and skin, except face and head, are dry.

Sulphur: Hot flashes all over, including the feet, often forcing the woman to take off her socks or stockings or take her feet out from under bedcovers; diarrhea.

Lachesis: Hot flashes during the daytime, with perspiration; strong emotional state and/or active mental activity; symptoms aggravated by heat and diminished by cold bathing or being in cold weather; tendency to experience headaches, especially on top of head; heart palpitations.

Dose: Take the 6th or 30th potency every hour during hot flashes; stop as the flushing stops. If no obvious change after three doses, remedy is incorrect and another should be tried.

Menopausal Mood Swings

Depression and anxiety that were present before, personality changes; rapidly changing moods; irritability; loss of confidence; loss of passion; loss of libido. Note: Using homeopathic medicines to treat emotional symptoms often requires more information than can be provided here. Still, the following remedies are ones most commonly effective. Consider the following remedies, according to the particular symptoms described:

Lachesis: Irritable, with tendency to strike back at least provocation; loquacious; intense; mistrustful of others; jealous types who commonly have strong feelings of envy and hatred, though they go to extreme lengths to suppress these feelings; resentment beneath controlled surface.

Pulsatilla: Gentle, mild, yielding, indecisive, and moody; prone to tears; tend to avoid quarrels; sensitive to others' feelings; not aggressive; greedy for affection, approval, sympathy; dependent on others; fears of abandonment or rejection.

Natrum Mur: Emotionally vulnerable but don't show it; greatest emotional wound is from disappointment, especially in love; suffer from criticism, humiliation, rejection, or betrayal; don't show emotional turmoil until alone and then sob hysterically; hold resentment of anyone who ever hurt them.

Ignatia: Cultured, refined women who are emotionally hypersensitive; acute grief concurrent with anger and conflicting emotions; hold emotion inside until they explode; embarrassment and disappointment; frequent sighing and lump in throat.

Dose: Take the 30th potency. Only one or two doses should be needed per emotional upheaval.

Resources

Homeopathic Educational Services

2124 Kittredge Street

Berkeley, CA 94704

510-649-0294

510-649-1955 (Fax)

e-mail: mail@homeopathic. com

Web site: homeopathic.com

Dana Ullman, M.P.H., is director of Homeopathic Educational Services and the author of five books on homeopathy.

Reprinted with permission from Natural Health, May-June 1996. For a trial issue of Natural Health, call 1-800-526-8440.