Homeopathic Remedies for Hair Loss – Postpartum

For specific information on remedy choices, potency and dosage please visit my website and access my e-book:  A Homeopathic Guide to a Vibrant Pregnancy. 

Shifts in the hormonal system often create a hair loss during the postpartum.  To support your body in rebalancing hormones and encouraging the growth of new hair consider the following remedies:

• Lachesis 200C - this remedy is used during pregnancy for varicose veins and left-sided sciatica pain.   Hair loss in a person needing Lachesis might occur during pregnancy or only during the postpartum.  Lachesis people are quite social, chatty and feel the need to return to their pre-pregnant body and clothes quite soon after pregnancy. 
• Sepia 200C - Sepia women have usually had more than one pregnancy and do not react well to major hormonal shifts. This might be noticed after using the birth control pill, after a miscarriage, abortion or a pregnancy.  The hormonal shifts cause physical disturbances such as hemmroids, varicose veins, low sex drive and hair loss. 
• Silicea 6X tissue salt- taking two pellets of Silicea tissue salts will encourage new growth of hair. 

Why Children Do NOT need a flu shot…..

Children are the most vital, healthy beings on this planet.  They are capable of expression on every level.  When they feel ill they act ill – they get mucus flowing, fevers, cry, eat, drink, poop and vomit – they let it all out. 

As adults we override our feelings – emotionally and physically and wait until a “convenient” time to get sick – usually while on vacation.  Children don’t play games like that with their health.  They move through illness quickly and with wisdom if they are supported properly. 

Support does not mean giving a child a flu shot.  Support can mean any of the following or a combination of any:

• consitutional homeopathic remedy
• ferrum phos tissue salts
• extra breastfeeding
• vitamin c – increased fruits and veggies – juicing
• break from dairy and wheat
• lots of water
• rest – quiet time, company of parents
• sleep
• a reduced schedule and pace of life
• low stimulation
• greater warmth – wearing layers of clothing
• excellent nutrition and food that is nourishing
• chiropractic care and massage

Challenge yourself to think outside the box and support your child in a way that has NO side effects.  There are no risks with these approaches – unlike the flu shot which is full or risk and of very little use or benefit.

Homeopathic Remedies for Constipation in Newborns

 

To receive more specific advice on dosage and homeopathic remedies for children please refer to my website – www.pipermartin.com and The Homeopathic Guide to a Vibrant Pregnancy available on that site.

Heathly moms and babes

Homeopathy is a beautiful therapy to use for newborns and children of all ages.  The remedies prompt the child’s body to move into action and remove any blocks to normal function.  It is normal for each child to have their own pattern of bowel movements and if the child is breastfed this is not usually an issue.   Some babies have bowel movements five times a day and another child may have only one or one every other day. 

Read your baby.  If they are not in distress – i.e:  squirming, crying, writhing, kicking – generally appearing as if they are in pain then they are probably just fine.  If they seem distressed you can consider the following remedies:

Silicea  6X tissue salts – 2 pellets twice a day.  Silicea tissue salts assist a baby that is straining to have a bowel movement and the result is a skid mark in the diaper.  Silicea is usually appropriate when the child is receiving something other then breastmilk, it  may begin when the child begins solids – an indicator that their body may not be ready to digest solids at that time. 

Aconite and Opium 200C

Aconite and Opium are both remedies that are used to treat fear.  This fear creates a state of paralysis – Aconite more strongly in the urinary tract system, Opium in the bowels.  These remedies are indicated if there has been birth trauma for either the baby or mother.  The emotional state is that one or  the other was in danger of death.  This may not be the truth of the situation but the perception of either the mother or the people attending the birth.  The reaction is to literally be frozen by fear and this can have an effect on the urinary output and the bowels.  The constipation of a baby needing Opium looks like dark, round balls of stool which come very infrequently.

I strongly advise parents to seek the care of a pediatric chiropractor as gentle adjustments are also a fantastic tool to assist children with constipation.  Check out www.icpa4kids.org website to find a chiropractor to support your family.

Homeopathy and the Swine flu – What to do?

Support your Healthy, Vibrant Children

Homeopathic medicine has been treating the flu for hundreds of years.  There are many remedies that address the symptoms of the flu.  When you take a remedy to treat the flu it means that it will support your body in moving through the symptoms you are experiencing as quickly as possible. 

The best possible way to use homeopathy is to go to a homeopath, find out your consitutional remedy (the remedy that is most closely matched to your specific physical, mental and emotional state) and use it if and when you feel you are getting ill.  Once you know your constitutional remedy your homeopath will also know which remedies will work well acutely for you should you experience an illness.  In other words you have set yourself up with a strong support system to fall back on. 

This system of medicine is safe for pregnant women and children of all ages – including newborns.  This is a much more reasonable option then injecting women and children with the flu shot or the impending swine flu vaccine. 

Remember that just because you are exposed to a disease does NOT mean you will get it.  Have faith in your body and support it.  Make informed choices that feel right in your heart.

Pregnancy and Allergies

Do you have to think specific positive thoughts about your body in order for your body to be the way you want it to be? No. But you have to not think the specific negative thoughts. If you could never again think about your body and, instead, just think pleasant thoughts — your body would reclaim its place of Well-being.— Abraham

 Love this quote from Ester and Jerry Hicks.  Allergies and Pregnancy are an interesting opportunity.  If you don’t feel like over the counter medication is the way you want to go during pregnancy then chances are good you are turning to something alternative.  This is an opportunity to find out that your body is capable of healing itself which is comforting when you are about to face giving birth! 

Some remedy suggestions for acute allergy symptoms:

Euphrasia 200C- this remedy is excellent for people that have most of the sensation in their eyes.  Swollen, red, itchy and watery eyes will be eased with Euphrasia 200C.

Wyethia 200C – this remedy brings ease to people with itchy palates – feel like you want to stick something in your ear to scratch your throat?  this remedy will shift that sensation. 

Remedies can shift your symptoms acutely or on a chronic level.  Allergies will completely disappear forever through constitutional treatment.

The Truth about Postpartum

 

A real life postpartum story from a fabulous woman….

Here’s how I’m feeling, I think. I feel like I have a spiritual path that I’m intended to take. There is a person that I see myself being at the end of my life. Someone who finds it easy to forgive. Someone who can spread love in the face of hatred. Someone who loves and forgives herself completely. Someone who sees the bigger picture and greater purpose in all things. Someone who is predominantly at peace, even in the face of adversity. It’s a tall order but it pulls me.

I was doing a lot of work on moving in this direction right up until Clara was born and then it all went (seemed to go) to hell. Her birth was difficult and I am still dealing with the ramifications of it. It exhausted and drained me so completely that I felt so numb when she was first here. I have a lot of grief over the fact I wasn’t able to marvel in the wonder that was Clara in her first days and months. I deal with feelings of failure over my lack of joy in being a new mother. In going through the motions while being so completely exhausted and out of it. I see pictures of her as a little baby and I long to go back and have it to do over. To be able to sit and stare and appreciate the wonder that was my daughter in her first days. It’s something big that I deal with still, almost 3 years later.

I also have a lot of regret over her entire first year. She never slept so I never slept. I felt right on the edge of insanity all the time. I was often angry, sad, frustrated, exhausted. I had this beautiful daughter and while I had many moments of joy in her existence, I also had many that were dark. The sleep deprivation made me a shell of the woman I believe I am and made me a person I’m afraid of ever becoming again. No patience, unable to see the bigger picture, unable to see the bright side in anything. Often angry at this little person who would never sleep, even though I must have known that it couldn’t possibly be her fault.

I didn’t ask for enough help, with her birth and with her first year. I know that now. After reflecting on it, I am more aware of the enormity of what I took on. It can take you to your very limit. Handling an infant’s constant needs or handling chronic sleep deprivation might both be manageable but putting them together is enough to rock anyone’s foundation. It’s something I need to keep telling myself until I believe it and am able to forgive myself. Forgiving myself has not been easy for me, I still have much regret.

I have also come to realize that society has had its part in making this more difficult for me. All around me, in the mothers I meet, in the magazine articles I read, women talk of the ease and effortlessness of the journey of motherhood. Nobody seems to want to talk about the difficulties, lest they look less than grateful or like a bad mother. It has made me feel isolated and alone. Like the only person who ever struggled with this process. You also hear people talk about “easy” and “good” babies. I think these are terms that pierce the heart of mothers who do not have what would be deemed a “good” baby. My baby never slept and was often cranky. Did that make her a “bad” baby? Did it make me a bad mother? It’s something I think every time I hear someone talk of their good baby. It’s something I need to resolve in myself. Being able to sleep does not a “good” baby make. All babies are good babies. Some just require more care than others. I must come to terms with this.

Clara is almost 3 now and she is smart and beautiful and so much fun. She sleeps very well and has handled many transitions with ease. I am feeling like my normal self again, but I’ve been rocked. I have issues with worthiness and self-esteem. I don’t have the confidence in myself that I used to. I ache for a more solid foundation, for a spiritual life and purpose but wonder if I’m worthy or capable. That scares me a little, I always felt so self-assured.

I think 2009 and the way it has unfolded has happened for a reason. I think I’ve been sitting idle now that the chaos of young motherhood has past, afraid to make a move in any direction that would require strength of character and belief in my self worth. I’ve been “traumatized” for lack of a better word into non-action. I think this year has unfolded the way it has to shock me back into motion. Life is short, it is fleeting. If I want more out of it, I cannot sit idle. Any day could be my last day. I can’t wait until I resolve my problems before I seek out a more spiritual life. I should seek out a more spiritual life and use the strength I gain to resolve my problems.

To that end, I have felt the need to get quiet. To go inside and hear my thoughts and try to reacquaint with myself and understand myself a little better. Over the last 3 years I almost feel like who “I” am has become a stranger. As such, I have signed up for a meditation class to begin next week. I have also registered for a yoga retreat in the country, all by myself, for a weekend next month.

Lastly, I have made a pact with myself to be honest, with myself and others, about who I am and how I feel, regardless of what is viewed as an acceptable way to feel by those around me and around the world. I am who I am and pretending to be different does not do me any good and perpetuating the belief that everyone should be fine inside does not help someone around me who might also be struggling.

I think I went through all the things I’ve gone through this year for a reason, not as an interruption in my spiritual journey, but as a part of it. Maybe I needed these experiences to go deeper and reach higher. Perhaps I can use what I have learned to learn more about the depth and breadth of all that I am. Perhaps I can use what I have learned about myself to help other mothers. I’d like to think that.

Homeopathic Remedies for Postpartum Depression

Postpartum depression can be created through several different situations.  Some of the most common include:

• birth trauma
• lack of support postpartum
• sleep deprivation
• trauma/sexual abuse history being triggered
• breastfeeding challenges
• anxiety disorders

Homeopathic remedies can support women and their babies as they move through low times in the first year after a birth.  The following remedies can be used to alleviate feelings of depression but for your best bet connect with a homeopath and find your constitutional remedy. 

Birth Trauma

Aconite 1M- if you are feeling anxious and experiencing panic attacks since a traumatic experience.  This may have been a really fast birth, a birth in which you thought you or the baby might die or  a birth that was extremely painful .  Two pellets of Aconite 1M will quickly ground you, quiet feelings of panic and return you to the present. 

Lack of Support Postpartum

A lack of support in the home or family can really take its toll on women.  The combination of responsibility, sleep deprivation and the physical aspects of caring for a newborn can be overwhelming and create a feeling of depression and resentment.  There is a homeopathic remedy called Sepia 200C that is useful in assisting women in this situation.  The remedy provides hormonal support to assist your body in returning to normal as quickly as possible and helping you connect to things that provide energy.  For example Sepia women do well with regular exercise and part time or full time work vs staying home all the time.  The remedy will remind who you are and how you function best so that you can move through depression more easily. 

Sleep Deprivation

Coffea 200C -Coffea is made from coffee.  when you need this remedy you feel exhausted but unable to rest or to get to sleep.  Women most frequently need it right after the birth.  It is created from a feeling of great excitement, so much so that it creates insomnia.  You feel wired and restless, like you can’t turn your mind off.  This is also a great remedy to give to children when you are trying to put them to bed after a lot of excitement. 

for more specific information on homeopathy, dosage and postpartum depression please  visit my website and access my e-book – The Homeopathic Guide to a Vibrant Pregnancy.

Folliculinum and The Birth Control Pill

Homeopathic estrogen is called Folliculinum.  Folliculinum was created by Melissa Assilem, a British Homeopath.  One of the most common uses of Folliculinum is to assist women that are coming off of the birth control pill.  To restore their bodies on a physical and mental/emotional level.  The Pill is one of the ways we are taken away from our natural rhythms and this disruption carries over into the mental/emotional sphere as we start to lose a sense of who we are and what we want.  Some of the symptoms that show up when you need a dose of Folliculinum include:

• spotting, pain and ovarian cysts, all worse during ovulation
• PMS – swollen, painful breasts, migraines, nausea and vomiting, weepy, depressed, indecisive, panic attacks and mood swings.
• fibroid
• polycystic ovaries
• ovarian cysts

Mental/Emotional Picture

• feels controlled by another
• living out another’s expectations
• no sense of what she wants or who she is
• drained
• lives only to give it away to everyone else – energy, time and attention

Think long and hard before taking the birth control pill as it impacts women in many  more ways then just as a method of birth control.  I often see women with difficulty getting pregnant after being on the pill.  After having their contraception controlled they they then go on to have their conception, labour and postpartum controlled.  Get a sense of your own body and its  rhythms and work with it. 

Check out – Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Welcher – an excellent resource to connect back to yourself if you have been “away”.  Treat yourself with love and honour your body. 

Homeopathic Induction – Cimicifuga and Caulophyllum

The two most common homeopathic remedies used to induce labour are Cimicifuga and Caulophyllum.  These are often prescribed by midwives and naturopathic doctors to “prepare” the uterus for labour.  Your body has its own system in place to prepare for labour.  If you are overdue then you need to find the correct remedy that matches your fear.  It is seldom a physical problem that holds women back from birth – it is your head that is interfering with the natural, wise  process of your body. 

 If you can access exactly what your fear is you can shift it with a remedy and glide into labour. 

 Cimicifuga and Caulophyllum are remedies that are wonderful to augment labour ONCE it is happening.  These remedies will encourage contractions once the cervix has started dilating and you are having contractions.  I suggest taking them in the following manner:

Cimicifuga 15C or 30C – 2 pellets

allow them to dissolve and then take

Caulophyllum 15C or 30C – 2 pellets

repeat this every 15 min. for one hour so you have taken a total of four doses of each remedy.  For specifics on remedies and induction of labour please visit my website and access my e-book – the Homeopathic Guide to a Vibrant Pregnancy. 

Homeopathy and Breastfeeding

Homeopathy is completely safe while you are breastfeeding.  It will assist both the mother and the baby both physically and mentally/emotionally.  There are a wide range of remedies to support milk supply, heal from mastitis and treat thrush. 

Remedies for increasing Milk Supply – To increase milk supply STAY in BED, SKIN TO SKIN with your baby.  Call on your family and friends to provide you with food and water, rest and the milk will come.  You can also try the following homeopathic remedies to encourage your body.

Pulsatilla 200C- 2 pellets once a day for three days.  Pulsatilla women are usually weepy, in need of company and physical comfort and affection.  They want to feel cherished and cared for postpartum.  If they are feeling lonely or left out then the milk supply will be effected.  This is a milk supply that seems good, then dwindles, comes back up and changes again.  There is a lot of changeability in the mood of the mother and the baby along with the shifts in the level of breast milk. 

Lac Humanum 200C

This is a remedy made of breast milk.  It is important for women that are experiencing difficulty bonding with their babies.  Women that feel uncomfortable with breast feeding and are unsure about their own instincts in this regard.  For example the woman may feel worried about not being able to measure the amount of milk a baby is consuming in a feeding.  She may need a lot of reassurance about her confidence in being able to fully  nourish her child.

Healing from Mastitis

When using homeopathy to treat mastitis it is vitally important to act as soon as the symptoms appear.  You will have a much greater opportunity to heal quickly if you have the remedies on hand and take them when you first notice the following:

• pain, tenderness, shooting pain
• red streaks, red, local spot
• feeling of congestion in the breast
• fever, headache and irritability
• achy feeling, as if you are getting ill

Mastitis usually occurs when you are overdoing it and not drinking enough water.  Go to bed, drink water and line up the baby’s chin with the place on your breast that is painful.  This positioning will allow the baby to drain that particular duct.  The two most important remedies to have on hand are:

1.  Belladonna 1M – 2 pellets as needed – you may need to repeat this remedy a few times to completely clear the pain.  Belladonna states come on fast and get bad quickly.  The fever, heat and redness are strong features – the Belladonna time is 3:00 pm so if you notice it begins or worsens at that time it is likely a Belladonna mastitis.  You may also have a throbbing headache. Belladonna usually effects the right side of the body first and most strongly.

2.  Bryonia 200C – Bryonia has a strong connection with dehydration – usually the lips are very dry and the woman is extremely thirsty for cold water.  There is a high level of irritability, headache and a strong desire to have NO movement, they hold their breasts walking up and down the stairs and wear a bra to bed.  The pace of this remedy is slow and the progress of the pain is slow compared to the quick, violent onset of Belladonna. 

Treatment of Thrush - this appears on both the mother and baby, usually after antibiotics have been in use during the labour or postpartum.  Systemically taking acidophilus daily and giving an infant acidophilus formula to the baby is appropriate to create a healthy flora in the gut.  In terms of homeopathic remedies:

Borax 200C – this is an incredibly effective remedy for thrush in newborns.  Besides the distinctive white patches on the tongue and cheeks babies needing Borax are extremely sensitive.  They will be fast asleep and wake as soon as they are put down.  They startle at the slightest sounds and prefer to have some time on their own vs being caressed and carried all the time.  This remedy may be one to consider if the mother is experiencing postpartum depression – it is a grief remedy and the baby may also be experiencing a type of postpartum depression.  Two pellets for both the mother and baby will usually clear the mouth within 1-2 days.  For more information and support regarding homeopathy and breastfeeding please visit my website and access my on-line book – The Homeopathic Guide to a Vibrant Pregnancy.