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Wednesday

Jul142010

Why am I so tired? Chronic Fatigue Part 1

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 5:58PM

Chronic fatigue is often a term given to individuals with a set of symptoms that cannot be labelled as anything else. It is a somewhat tricky label to have, because it carries with it a sense that you are in it for the long term and often individuals hear discouraging statements such as "You never really get over it - you just learn to manage it".

I am writing a series of articles to try and shed some light on this tricky health problem, not only because there are many suffers out there, but also because I received this chronic fatigue diagnosis myself many years ago and had to successfully negotiate my own way to health.

What is Chronic Fatigue?

Chronic fatigue is, in my opinion, a catch-all label that covers many different conditions. Most chronic fatigue sufferers actually have functional disturbance in many systems in their body. Although this makes it complicated to diagnose and treat, it also is an opportunity for health, because often most of the problems are related to functional pathology rather than tissue pathology. This means that when you find out what is miss-functioning you can work out to put it right and response is often very good.

Follow the 5 Steps

In my experience as a practitioner, a condition such as Chronic fatigue, with its many underlying issues, needs five main steps to enable recovery to be possible:

Careful, clear diagnostics from a good natural therapist who understands this problem, OR a conventionally qualified medical person who has specialised in this very condition. The reason for this will become clear later on in this article.
Nutritional supplementation and dietary support.
Homeopathic constitutional treatment to trigger the body's healing capacity.
Mental/emotional support.
Active rest and exercise programs.

As there are many reasons for chronic fatigue, this article will focus on one of the underlying endocrine issues that often present with it - Adrenal Exhaustion. Subsequent articles will look at self help, nutritional support and detoxification, and active rest and exercise.

Adrenal Fatigue or Exhaustion

Very common in cases of chronic fatigue is Adrenal Exhaustion. Let's firstly look at what the adrenals are and what they do.

What are the Adrenals Glands?

The Adrenal glands are small glands located on the top of each kidney. They are 3 x 1 inch and have two parts: the outer cortex and the inner medulla. The outercortex produces three types of hormones:

Mineralcorticoids such as aldosterone which conserves sodium ions in the body and influences water balance
Glucocortoids - mainly cortisol which influences blood glucose levels amongst other things
Gonacortoids (sex hormones) - androgens in men and estrogens in women (and to a lesser extend men).

The Inner medulla produces two hormones which are secreted in response to stimulus from the sympathetic nervous system. These are epinephrine and norepinephrine. They are usually secreted in response to stress.

What is adrenal fatigue?

Adrenal fatigue (which can also be called Non-Addison's hypoadrenia or sub-clinical hypo adrenia), is when your adrenal glands cannot produce sufficient hormones to meet the body's demands. You can easily understand how prolonged stress can exhaust the adrenal medulla's ability to keep up with epinephrine production, but sometimes the causes behind adrenal under function or exhaustion can be very complex and involve other parts of the endocrine system, mineral and nutritional sub clinical deficiencies, as well as other complex factors.

For the purpose of this article, I want you to be able to understand IF adrenal exhaustion is potentially YOUR problem and how you can find out.

So what are the Adrenal fatigue symptoms?

excessive fatigue and exhaustion
frequent infections/low immune function
non-refreshing sleep/sleep issues
overwhelmed by or unable to cope with any stress
feeling rundown or overwhelmed
craving salty and sweet foods
food/environmental allergies
you feel most energetic in the evening
low stamina, slow to recover from exercise
slow to recover from injury, illness or stress
difficulty concentrating, brain fog
poor digestion
premenstrual syndrome or difficulties that develop during menopause
consistent low blood pressure
extreme sensitivity to cold

How can you get a diagnosis?

Endocrinologists are unable to diagnose this problem as the tests they rely on are only able to diagnose adrenal failure such as Addisons disease where the adrenals are close to shut down. Your natural health practitioner such as your Homeopath or Naturopath will be able to send you for a salivary cortisol test

which examines the profile of cortisol in the saliva at 4-6 hourly intervals throughout the day. Often the shape of the profile is a good indicator that the adrenals are struggling, rather than the levels being consistently low. For example, a low reading on waking and a relatively high reading at night is a common profile for adrenal exhaustion. An under active thyroid gland, especially if prolonged can also put a strain on the adrenal glands and so this should ALWAYS be tested in addition; because without sufficient thyroid hormones the adrenals hormones cannot archive their aims.

Self-Help: What you can do

If you have been diagnosed with adrenal exhaustion there are some steps you can take immediately that will help.

Support your adrenals with a natural adrenal extract. Depending on your country, compounding pharmacies can make an adrenal extract that can temporarily supply your body with some of the hormones it normally produces whilst your adrenals can have a rest. Think of it like plugging in an appliance to the main electricity instead of running down the battery. Sources vary from country to country so try Google first.
Set yourself a sleep routine: Your body is struggling so you need to provide it with a routine that supports it. The adrenals have a natural low around 2-3pm so if you are not at work, it is essential that you lie down and rest BEFORE this time. 1.30pm is ideal. Meditation is optimal but as long as you lie down and relax it will definitely help. More on rest/exercise routines for health recovery in a subsequent post!
Eat to support your adrenals: One of the role of the adrenal hormone cortisol is to influence your blood sugar levels. If you eat the wrong foods infrequently, your system will require cortisol to enable it to access glucose. Eating small, frequent protein meals supports the adrenals by lessening the demands made on them.
Avoid stimulants such as Caffeine in chocolate,coffee, tea, Red Bull etc, gurana, and any other known stimulants must be avoided at all costs. These cause your adrenals to over produce hormones unnecessarily and are a short term fix causing more strain.

In part 2 of this Chronic Fatigue series I will look further at the steps you can take to get well from this condition.

Happy Homeopathic Prescribing!

If you want regular homeopathic inspiration from The Homeopathic Coach, visit her new blog and join as a member to be the first in line for new tips and offers as they are released!

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This article was brought to you by Sam Adkins The Homeopathic Coach who teaches families about healthy living and natural remedies using homeopathic medicine. An internationally renowned expert, her helpful articles are regularly syndicated online. She publishes the ezine Homeopathy@Home to provide free Homeopathic tips, tools and resources to educate and inspire you to use Homeopathy at home. www.thehomeopathiccoach.com

Sam Adkins |

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Wednesday

Jun022010

A Day in my Homeopathic Clinic

Wednesday, June 2, 2010 at 11:16AM

So yesterday was a pretty typical day in my Homeopathic

clinic. For those of you that have never been to see a Homeopath, I wanted to share a bit about what went on yesterday, so you can get an idea of what Homeopaths treat and how they work.

Typically I might see 5-6 patients in an average clinic day. This may not sound like many, but with new patients I spend an hour with them and follow-ups are usually 30-45 minutes depending on the case. I will also answer ongoing and current patient emails and take a phone consult or two for an acute prescription, usually from an existing patient or for a child. I also do online skype consults from around the world.

Immunity boosting Homeopathy

Yesterday I treated a pregnant mother of a two year old, who has also booked in her toddler to see me next week. She needed help with her weakened immune system and various pregnancy ailments.

I prescribed three medicines for her. One to use now to alleviate the chest infection she is experiencing, and then another to follow on after that to really boost her immune system and eliminate her susceptibility to bronchitis. I also prescribed a tissue salt homeopathic medicine to help her energy levels. I will see her again in three weeks. I also shared with her my Treat Yourself Natural Pregnancy System because she is very keen on Homeopathy and knows that this is the only type of medication you can safely take during pregnancy.

A case of major disappointment

I then treated by phone, a client whose symptoms are primarily emotional but causing a strong and alarming physical heart pain. In this case I treated both his intense emotional symptoms and physical symptoms, because the direct correlation with this heart symptoms was obvious and I know from experience that the latter will cease once the emotional symptoms are re-balanced. Homeopathy is wonderful for treating the whole person and in fact this is what we try to do in almost every case! I have known this patient for years and can predict with accuracy how things are likely to unfold.

A case of bullying at work

My next patient was an emergency appointment due to severe stress caused by work victimization. I knew that this patient will respond to some acute Homeopathic medicines (which I gave her on the spot and to take home) but her situation needed dealing with by some direct, head-on action. After taking her case, giving some coaching and allowing her the space to 'let go' emotionally, I phoned through to a GP/MD colleague that I refer to, so he could see her and write her the necessary documentation for what I deemed was essential sick leave. She is now home and sorting out what needs to be done.

Radio Interview with 2SER

Early afternoon saw me doing a radio interview for 2SER Community radio in Sydney for a Homeopathy feature. The interviewer was nervous and I almost gave her some great Homeopathic medicines for anticipatory anxiety. In her case it would have been good old Gelsemium 30c.

A case of severe endometriosis and infertility

My final case of the day was a case of long standing endometriosis. We have been working together for a few months now and have had some great success with her more debilitating symptoms. This case is such a great example of what Homeopathy can do that I will save the details for another post and share the case with with you in full. Let me just say that this was her response recently after a Homeopathic medicine:

"I'm just so, so happy Sam!"

I just love Homeopathy when I get results like this for a patient! So that's a typical clinic day for me. I hope this gives you some insight into how Homeopaths work and what kind of things we can successfully treat.

Happy Homeopathic Prescribing!

If you want regular homeopathic inspiration from The Homeopathic Coach, visit her new blog and join as a member to be the first in line for new tips and offers as they are released!

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Can You Simply CHOOSE Health?

Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at 10:14AM

Choices are everywhere at every moment. What shall we eat? What shall we do or say? To those of you who like to be aware and conscious about how you are living your lives, you will be very aware that we also have a choice in every moment what to think or not to think. Although our minds are often very dominant in our lives, WE ARE NOT OUR MIND and we do have a say in what thought processes can be dominant at any given time.

Let's get right back to basics here. When you are unwell and you know that getting more sleep or eating such and such will help you recover, and you do not do it, you are effectively saying to yourself that you are choosing to maintain or encourage your poor state of health. When you do the opposite, you are signaling to your body that you place a value on it beyond what it can do for you and that you are prepared to give yourself what you need to get well.

But let's get beneath this surface layer and look at the deeper issues around choice and health.

Accommodation of Ill-Health

As a Homeopath I see many chronically unwell patients. Some with a multitude of conditions lasting many years. Often they have done many practical things to try and get well and conventional medicine has had no answers for them. Sometimes they have also tried many alternative medical approaches for their health, and for some reason they still are unwell. When this happens there is consequentially a considerable accommodation of their illness within their lives. They have to change behaviors to make sure there is a place for their illness; in effect ...they make room for it. Although completely understandable, this is also an encouragement for ill-health to be maintained.

Sub-conscious Beliefs

When we are suffering, on a conscious level of course we want our suffering and discomfort to stop. On a deeper sub-conscious level however, we might be telling ourselves a whole different set of things. These are often referred to as limiting beliefs and play a very powerful role in whether we get well or not. Some common examples are:

My body does not have the capacity to get over this
If I let go of this illness who will I be then? (Common after very prolonged ill-health)
When I am ill I get lots of attention from people who are close to me...this will stop if I recover
If I am well I will have to face situations that are frightening to me and I am not up to it

So how can we access these limiting beliefs and change our health?

Homeopathy is one of those medicines that actually works profoundly on all levels. The most rewarding part of constitutional Homeopathic treatment (when the Homeopath prescribes for the whole person rather then just their physical acute symptoms), is that the original complaint the patient presented heals, but more rewarding still is that the person undergoes a whole transformation in personal growth. The degree of which depends on both the condition and the person, as well as the efficacy of the Homeopathic prescription. For example:

A workaholic patient came to the consulting room with his chronic skin condition. Over time with Homeopathic treatment, his workaholic, obsessive nature softened and he ended up living a life free from self-restraint, feeling empowered about his choices and with a good work-life balance. (His wife was very pleased!). (His skin condition was also cured after 20 years.)

Or the patient with sinusitis for over 10 years learns after a Homeopathic medicine to express her emotions and starts connecting better with friends, family and work colleagues and feels a sense of freedom in her life that she had forgotten was possible. She also stopped having recurrent sinusitis.

Ask Yourself This...

One of the most important questions you can choose to ask yourself if you are chronically unwell is this:

What is the pay-off for me in maintaining this state of ill-health?

Take a piece of paper and write this question at the top. When you have overcome the initial sense of understandable indignation from the idea that you might be getting any benefits from your ill-health, take a deep breath and start downloading all the things that spring to mind. Don't consider , just let ideas flow, and pretty soon you will find that although you detest your health issue, you often have quite a few benefits too. Becoming aware of this fact will in itself start to shift your subconscious beliefs as you are tapping right into your deepest fears and ideas and bringing them into conscious consideration.

This is a great place to start. Once you have completed this exercise this may be enough to help start a conscious shift and release of old patterns. If it is not, then you need some assistance so make an appointment with me or your local Homeopath today.

Happy Homeopathic Prescribing

If you want regular homeopathic inspiration from The Homeopathic Coach, visit her new blog and join as a member to be the first in line for new tips and offers as they are released!

© Sam Adkins 2010

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A New Approach to Asthma With Homeopathy and Diet

Saturday, May 1, 2010 at 1:59PM

Like eczema, asthma is an inflammatory disease. In asthma the airways become constricted by swelling, making breathing difficult. In developed countries 1 in 4 children have asthma as opposed to 1 in 18 people 40 years ago. Corticosteroids such as Flixotide and Pulmicort in the form of puffers are widely used to treat asthma but these pharmaceutical drugs do nothing to change the progression of the disease. A broader, nutritional and environmental approach is required, and when combining this approach with Homeopathy, significant improvements or cures can be achieved.

Pharmaceutical medications

According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, there was no difference in rates of asthma or morning breathing between those individuals using their medications daily as prescribed, and those using them intermittently.(1) This study suggests that daily use of corticosteroids may not be necessary and this is good news as these medications have some serious side effects. These longer term side effects include reduction of 1 inch of height per year in children and loss of bone density in later life. This does suggest that it would be worth exploring with your GP whether you can safely reduce the use of your puffer.

(1) H Boushey et al., 'Daily versus As-Needed Corticosteroids fro Mild persistent Asthma' New England Journal of medicine, vol 352 (15), 2005, pp1519-28

Environmental Load

An effective approach to asthma treatment is to reduce the total 'environmental load' that an asthma sufferer is experiencing. This includes identifying food, chemical and environmental allergens, decreasing inflammatory agents in the diet, and reducing stress which is a well established asthma trigger. Reducing this load as well as introducing important nutritional and Homeopathic measures can have a highly positive effect on an asthma sufferer, sometimes eradicating asthma altogether!

Nutritional Self-Help Guidelines for Asthma

• Increase your antioxidants intake of fresh fruit and vegetables especially increase your intake of broccoli, apples, berries, peppers (capsicum) and citrus fruit.

• Antioxidant vitamins such as Vitamin C and A have been shown in studies to have some positive results and I suggest combining them with Vitamin E and Selenium.

• Take an Omega 3 supplements 1000mg of combined EPA/DHA daily (adult dose)

• Reduce meat and dairy content of the diet to reduce the intake of arachadonic acid which contributes to inflammation. If you are a severe asthma sufferer remove all wheat and dairy from your diet for 6 weeks to see how you improve:)

• Take an MSM supplement as it decreases allergic responses and provides intestinal flora with the requirements to make anti-allergy and anti-inflammatory amino acids.

• Increase intake of Zinc, magnesium and Qercertin

• East plenty of organic free range eggs

The Homeopathic Approach to Asthma

Homeopathic medicines can be a viable alternative to steroid medications. They can be given as an acute treatment in place of puffers but more importantly, Homeopathic professional treatment working with the whole person can cure asthma entirely. Please remember that although you may be keen to try some natural and effective alternatives, you must consult your doctor before you take any steps to reduce your asthma medications. When treating asthma patients I always wait until significant positive changes are observed and then suggest the patient pays their GP a visit to discuss whether a reduction in medications might be viable.

Some Homeopathic medicines for acute asthma

The following medicines are a few of the many Homeopathic prescriptions for an acute asthma episode. If one of these medicines fits your asthma symptoms, you will find it highly effective. If you can't find a good fit here see your local Homeopath (or book a skype consult with me) because there are too many options to include in this post!

Antimonium Tartaricum 30

This is a good asthma remedy for children and the elderly particularly when the asthma has been caused by an infection such as bronchitis or obstructive pulmonary disease. The cough will sound wet and there will be coarse rattling in the chest on both inspiration and expiration. The patient will be worse lying down and at night generally.They may be irritable and want to be left alone.

Apis Mellifica 30

Use Apis for an asthma attack in an acute allergic reaction. Breath feels tight and painful with dry wheezing. The patient will feel better in open air and much worse for heat or hot drinks.

Carbo Vegetalis 30

Severe acute attacks of wheezing with significant belching and flatus. patient feel very weak and may collapse.

Arsenicum Album 30

Short, dry asthmatic cough with a wheeze.

Phosphorus 30

use this medicine when every infection goes to the chest with a wheeze and cough. Worse in the morning, at twilight and especially at 10pm or with sudden changes in temperature. Better for lying on the right side.

Pulsatilla 30

This patient has both forms of asthma: wet acute infections with greeny discharges and also allergic asthma (often hayfever related). In both cases the patient must sit up during the asthma crisis and is better for fresh air. Even fanning may help them feel better.

Natrum Sulph 30

Asthma worse in damp conditions often with morning diarrohea.

Warning!
If you try one of these Homeopathic medications because it describes your asthma well, you are in danger of seeing a significant improvement in the frequency and severity of your acute attacks. For complete overall improvement or cure you need to book in with your local experienced Homeopath.

If this selection of Homeopathic medicines for acute asthma does not describe your type of asthma, then I advise you to visit your local Homeopath who can combine environmental, dietary and Homeopathic treatment to treat your asthma highly effectively. Or alternatively book a skype online consult with me

Happy Homeopathic prescribing :)

Note: I am indebted in this article to the excellent nutritional advice in Patrick Holford's book: " Food is Better Medicine Than Drugs"

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Monday

Apr192010

Treating Insomnia with Homeopathy

Monday, April 19, 2010 at 10:00PM

Insomnia is often a complex problem with many underlying factors at play. The most common cause of chronic insomnia is actually the fear of not being able to sleep which is kind of ironic isn't it? In my previous blog post: Homeopathy and Insomnia - The Background - I explained the main chemicals involved in sleep and gave nutritional and supplemental advice. Now I am going to look at some specific Homeopathic medicines that may help you with your sleeping issues.

Using Homeopathy yourself for Insomnia

As insomnia is such a complex problem often with issues such as underlying anxiety, it usually requires the services of a professional Homeopath. I find that treating the whole person is highly effective. However, if your sleep issue fits the descriptions in the medicines below, they are definitely worth a try, especially if you have not had your insomnia for a long time.

Some General Self-Help

Stop all work (including social networking on your computor) 1 hour before bedtime
Increase your exercise to daily but not after 5pm
Avoid eating after 8pm
Avoid ALL caffeine products including chocolate
A milk drink before bed supplies extra Tryptophan
Wake the same time each day
Remove the clock from your room

Homeopathic medicines that may help you

Coffea 30
Use this medicine when you have mental over-activity due to good or bad newsl and you are just unable to switch off.

Nux Vomica 30
When you are under enormous mentaL strain or pressure, or you have withdrawn recently from alcohol or sleeping tablets. Significant irritability in the daytime will be experienced when you need this medicine.

Lycopodium 30
If you need this medicine you will wake regularly at around 4am. Your mind will be active at bedtime replaying events from the day over and over. You wil dream alot and talk or laugh in your sleep.

Arsenicum 30
Your wakeful time will be between 12 and 2am and you will feel anxious and very restless. If you dream they will be dreams of danger.

Cocculus 30
Use this medicine when you are overtired and giddy, irritable from being up looking after someone else such as a sick child.

Rhus Tox 30
When you cannot sleep because there is pain or dicomfort and it makes you feel veryt restless so that you want to get up and walk about. Irritable and restless.

Dosage

Take your chosen Homeopathic medcine 30 minutes before bed and repeat when you turn the light off. Repeat if you wake in the night and use as long as you are getting relief. If you do not have an improvemnt stop the medicine.

These are just 6 of the medicines that can be effective for treating insomnia. Remember the best Homeoapthic treatment for chronic sleep issues will come to you from a qualified and experienced Homeopath.

Happy Homeopathic prescribing :)

If you want regular homeopathic inspiration from The Homeopathic Coach, visit her new blog and join as a member to be the first in line for new tips and offers as they are released!

© Sam Adkins 2010
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