Homeopathy & Fever Remedies

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THE HOMOEOPATHIC FIRST RESPONDER

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FEVERS

Materia Medica

ACONITE (3). Colds, inflammatory, and simple remittent fever. Useful at the

onset of fevers, especially if they are caused by exposure to dry cold

winds, chilling the body after heating and check perspiration. The onset is

sudden and accompanied by general dry heat, red face, burning, intense

thirst, and a full bounding pulse. In some cases there may be immediate

chill immediately followed by a hot head, red face which spreads to the

entire body. This remedy suits plethoric, robust individuals who become

fearful, anxious and restless with agonized tossing about with fever. Wants

to be uncovered. Worse < evenings, night and midnight, in a warm room, when

rising from bed. Better > by a critical sweat, open air.

ANTIMONIUM TART (1). Gastric and intermittent fever. Coldness, trembling,

and chilliness. Copious cold clammy sweat with great faintness. Tongue is

coated thick white, with red edges. Gastric and bilious concomitants,

nausea comes in waves, retching and vomiting. Patient is increasingly weak,

sweaty, becomes drowsy and relaxed with lack of reaction. Great rattling of

mucus in the chest when breathing. Pulse extraordinarily accelerated form

the slightest motion. Vertigo alternates with drowsiness, great

despondency. Worse < warmth, warm rooms, warm wraps, warm weather, sour

things and milk. Better < belching, expectorating, vomiting, eructation,

lying on right side, and sitting erect.

ARSENICUM (2). Colds, flu, hectic, septic and continued fevers. Fever worse

< midnight and 2 AM. Externally cold internally burning, chills irregular,

shaking, craves hot drinks but drinks in sips. Burning pains relieved by

heat. Shortneess of breath, wheezing and fears suffocation. Anxiety,

restlessness with great exhaustion with nightly aggravation. Continually

changes places. Thinks it is useless to take medicine. Worse midnight or

after midnight, 11 PM to 2 AM, periodicaly, very 14 days, yearly, ices,

cold drinks or foods, vegetables, watery fruits, bad meat, food, exertion.

Better > company, heat, warm drinks and food, waram wraps, hot

applications, motion, sweating, open air, lying with head elevated. Head

feels better > by cold but limbs are > by heat.

BELLADONNA (3). Colds, inflammatory and simple remittent fevers. Intense

heat, very high fevers with a hot head, flushed face, glistening red eyes,

dilated pupils, throbbing carotids dry heat and burning but little or no

thirst. Violent, sudden onset with a tendency toward delirium and spasm.

Heat may steam out of the body with a sweat that does not relieve. Some may

have a hot head yet cold feet and extremities. Fever accompanied by spasms,

shocks, jerks, twitching, starting in sleep, and convulsions. Desires to

escape, hallucinations, frightful images, and furious responses. Worse <

touch, motion, noise, draught of air, looking at bright, shinning objects,

3 PM, night, after midnight, while drinking, uncovering the head, summer

heat, lying down. Better > Rest, standing or sitting erect, warm room.

BRYONIA (2). Very useful in flu, simple remittent, colds and continued

fevers. Fever with intense, dull, stupefying headache with sensations as if

the head would burst at the temples, sharp pains over the eyes, faintness

on rising up, and dry lips and mouth with tongue coated white in the

center, and great thirst for large amount of cold water at fairly long

intervals. Chill with hot head and red face, dry cough with stitches,

rheumatic pains all over the body that are worse < motion and better >

rest. Sour oily sweat after slight exertion. Pull is full, hard, tense and

quick. Irritable, wants to be left alone, everything put him out of humor.

Worse < least motion, raising up, stooping, coughing, exertion, deep

breathing, becoming hot in room.

FERRUM PHOS (2). Colds, inflammatory and simple remittent fevers. Useful in

early stages of fever where it stands midway between sthenic remedies like

Acon. and Bell. and asthenic remedies like Gels. and Bapt. Simple fever

without concomitant symptoms and of unknown origins esp., in those who are

nervous, sensitive, and anemic with false plethora and easy flushing. Full,

soft, round flowing pulse, less bounding than Aco. and less flowing then

Gels. Drowsiness with rush of thoughts, eyes half open in sleep, and

prostration. Worse < night, 4 to 6 AM, motion, jar, cold air, checked

sweat. Better > cold application, lying down.

GELSEMIUM (3). Useful in colds, flu, simple remittent and continued fevers.

Chills run up and down the back, or chill alternates, or is mixed with

heat. Fevers marked by aching, tiredness, heaviness, weakness and soreness.

The patient is dull, drowsy, dizzy, droopy eyed, faint and trembles. Great

muscular weakness, relaxation, lack of co-ordination and prostration.

Thirstless with the heat. Wants to half recline, be held, or lie down

quietly. Apathy and indifference regarding his illness answer question

slowly. Desire to be left alone because they feel so tired. Worse < humid

weather, spring, dampness, 10 AM, motion, bad news, thinking about his

ailments. Better > sweating, reclining with head held high, bending

forward, profuse urination.

MERCURIUS (2). Flu, colds, gastric and hectic fever. Profuse perspiration

without relief. Sweat oily, foul, our or with sweetish penetrating odor on

head and chest, stains things yellow. Creeping chilliness or heat and chill

intermixed. Tongue, moist, swollen, flabby, yellow, indented with increased

saliva and bad smell. Intense thirst for cold drinks. Slowness in answering

questions, irresolution, constantly changes his mind. Worse < at night,

sweating, drafts, taking cold, lying on the right side, when heated,

extremes of cold and heat, cloudy, damp weather. Better > moderate

temperature, rest.

NATRUM MUR. (1). Colds and Intermittent fevers. Chill between 9 and 11 AM.

Heat with violent thirst which increases with fever. Heat with the most

intolerably violent head pains, shuddering over the back, and sweat in

arm-pits and on soles of feet. Fever-blisters around the mouth. Irritable,

gets in a passion over trifles, depressed worse < by consolation. Worse <

alternate days, periodically, 9 to 1 AM. Better > open air, cold bathing,

sweating, rest, going without regular meals, rubbing.

NUX VOMICA (2). Flu, colds, gastric fevers. Chilly, must be covered at

every stage of fever. The body is burning hot, esp. face, yet can not move

or uncover without feeling chilly. Aching in the back and limbs with

gastric symptoms and constipation. Perspiration, sour on one side of the

body only. Very angry, sensitive to all impression, can't bear noises,

odors, light, etc. Sullen, irritable, and faultfinding. Worse < morning,

after eating, touch, mental exertion. Better > from a nap, if allowed to

finish it, in evening, while at rest.

PHOSPHORUS (1). Remittent and Hectic fevers with small, quick pulse, viscid

night-sweats. Heat comes up from the spine, palpitations with anxiety,

patient craves cold, iced drinks. Strong ebulitions of blood and throbbing

of carotids, heat flying all over the body, but first the hands. Fever

towards evening, with anxiety, on going to bed, in bed, at 5 PM, then heat

with thirst and internal chilliness, then heat and sweat all night.

Excitable, impressionable, anxious and restless toward evening and

twilight. Wants company and sympathy, fearful when alone. Worse < change of

weather, wind, cold thunderstorms, lightning, putting hands in cold water,

getting wet, twilight, lying on left or painful side, on back, emotions.

Better > lying on right side, cold food, cold, open air, washing with cold

water, sleep, massage, eating, in the dark.

PULSATILLA (2) Simple fevers, colds, flu. Chilly yet averse to heat in warm

stuffy rooms with pain, on lying down at night. Chilliness or heat without

thirst. One-sided pains, sweats, coldness and numbness. Dry heat of body in

evening, with distended veins and burning hands, that seek cool places, at

night in bed, night and morning. Fever with heat of one part and chill of

another, perspiration usually profuse during the night. Suitable for mild,

gentle, yielding, emotional, tearful persons who crave sympathy and feels

better from consolation. Worse < warm stuffy rooms, in bed, getting feet

wet, evening, night, at twilight, rest, beginning motion, eating rich

foods, fats, ice cream, pork, eggs. Better > cool fresh air, gentle motion,

cold applications, uncovering, erect posture, cold foods and drinks though

not very thirsty.

RHUS TOX (2). Colds, flu, hectic, inflammatory and continued fevers.

Chilly, as if cold water were poured over him followed by heat and

inclination to stretch the limbs. Sweat < during the pain with sleepiness.

Yawning with stretching during a chill. Easily chilled, worse < least

uncovering with pain in limb. Rheumatic pains, tearing, shooting,

stitching, worse < rest and first motion and better > by continual motion.

Continued fevers, typhoid like, with dry brown tongue, sordes, loose

bowels, and great restlessness. Extreme restlessness with continual change

of position. Great apprehension at night, can't remain in bed. Mind and

senses becomes cloudy. Worse < cold, wet rainy weather, after rain, at

night, exposure to wet, cold, air, draught and storms and at rest. Better >

continued motion, heat, hot bath, warm wrapping, rubbing warm application,

warm dry weather.

SUPLHUR (2). Remittent fevers. Frequent flushes of heat, violent

ebullitions of heat throughout entire body, dry skin and great thirst.

Constant heat on top of heat, hot, burning, sweaty hands, burning of the

soles at night, wants to put them out from under the covers. Ascending

affects, rushes of blood, flushes of heat, vertigo, etc. Night sweats on

the nape and occiput. Useful after other remedies when fever seems to burn

the patient up, the tongue is dry and red. Patient is first sleepless and

restless but soon becomes drowsy. Worse < at rest, standing, stooping,

warmth of bed, washing, bathing, morning, 11 AM, night, periodically,

suppressions. Better > dry, warm weather, lying on right side, drawing up

limbs.

Repertorium

- ACO., Ant-t., Ars., BELL., BRY., Ferr-p., GELS., Merc., Nat-m., Nux-v.,

Phos., Puls., Rhus-t., Sulph..

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http://www.saber.net/~bidarius/homeo/html/fever.html

Fever In Children

by Miranda Castro FSHom

Homeopathy and Fevers

Do’s | Dont’s

The Remedies

Seek help from your doctor or homeopathic practitioner if

Caring for a sick child can be a frightening experience for a parent,

especially if a fever is involved. Don’t panic! Fevers are not all bad. In

fact, medical research over the past twenty years has consistently shown

them to actually help in fighting infections.

Hippocrates said, ‘Give me a fever and I can cure the child’. A weak child

may be endlessly ‘sick’, neither very ill nor very well, but with no

significant rise in temperature. A more robust child whose temperature

soars may look and feel very ill, therefore giving more cause for concern,

but is usually ill for a shorter time and recovers more quickly.

A high temperature generally indicates that the body’s defense mechanism is

fighting an infection and temperature variations indicate how it is coping.

During a fever many of the body’s natural healing processes/all the

metabolic functions are speeded up: the heart beats faster, carrying the

blood more quickly to all the organs; breathing is quickened, increasing

oxygen intake; and sweating increases, helping the body to cool down

naturally.

Often, the first symptom that your child is ill is a fever. Fevers can be a

helpful and necessary healing stage of an acute illness­something positive,

to be encouraged rather than suppressed. Attempts to control a fever with

Tylenol are likely to confuse the body’s natural efforts to heal itself and

can prolong the infection. Many doctors are now suggesting that a moderate

fever be left to ‘run its course’.

The average normal temperature in a healthy human is said to be 98.4°F

(37°C), but this can vary quite markedly. Most people, adults and children,

can run a fever of up to 104°F (40°C) for several days with no danger. It

is normal for healthy infants and children to throw high fevers 103°F

(39.5°C) and over with an infection. A temperature of 105°F(40.5°C) is a

serious cause for concern, but it is only when it passes above 106°F

(41.0°C) that there is a risk to life. Delirium and tantrums in children

sometimes accompany high fevers and, although these are distressing, they

are not dangerous. A one time convulsion that occurs with a fever is not a

cause for concern (although they are unpleasant). It is the (rare) tendency

to repeated convulsions with fevers that needs medical attention.

Take the temperature with a thermometer, tucked under the armpit for 5

minutes, for an accurate reading. It will read about a half degree

Fahrenheit lower than that taken under the tongue. A fever strip (for the

forehead) is a rough guide only and a hand held on the forehead is next to

useless, babies that feel hot to the touch can have a normal temperature.

The newer digital thermometers are much easier for young children and give

a quick and accurate reading. (Always keep a spare battery in the house!)

Fevers usually peak towards night-time and drop by the following morning,

so that if your baby has a temperature of 104°F (40°C) in the evening it

may recur on subsequent evenings. A drop in temperature in the morning does

not mean that the fever is past its peak. Don’t worry if it rises and falls

several times over several days before finally returning to normal.

Don’t forget­small babies can throw a low fever if they become overheated

(either in hot weather or an over-heated house) and will quickly revert to

normal with undressing and/or a tepid sponging down.

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Homeopathy and Fevers

A fever is often the first symptom of a cold, a flu, a sore throat, an

earache, a childhood illness or even an episode of teething. Each baby has

their own pattern of falling ill and will experience different fever

symptoms. One baby will feel hot with a high fever, will kick off the

covers; another will be irritable, intolerant of any disturbance and need

to be kept warm; one baby will sweat profusely, be thirsty and slightly

delirious; another will be dry and hot and refuse liquids. Each of these

babies will need a different homeopathic remedy to help them depending on

their emotional state and general symptoms. Prescribe on the whole picture

to help your baby fight their infection safely and effectively.

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The Remedies

It’s as easy as ABC! and P

The first remedies to think of if your baby is feverish are the following:

Aconite

This fever comes on suddenly, often after a chill (especially from a cold

wind). She is fine on going to bed and then wakes around midnight with a

high fever. She is hot and sweaty and thirsty, kicks the covers off and

then feels cold. Her cheeks alternate between being hot and red and pale

and ghostly or one cheek may be hot and red if it is a teething fever. She

can also be very restless and distressed, you suspect that she may have a

pain somewhere.

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Belladonna

Fevers calling for Belladonna come on suddenly. Your baby gets so hot she

radiates heat. It is a dry heat (without sweating) and can alternate with

chills. She may become delirious, her pupils are more dilated than usual

and she may grind her teeth (if she has any!)

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Chamomilla

Fevers in teething babies, or those that accompany an earache or sore

throat. You will recognise this one easily because your child is very hard

to please, she wants to be carried constantly but even that doesn’t help

much, she cries and shouts a lot and may even hit out. There are red, round

patches on one or both cheeks. The face can be hot whilst the body is cold.

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Phosphorus

For fevers in babies who do not appear as ill as they should! Their

appetite doesn’t change, they play happily in spite of a moderate to high

fever. They have a dry, burning fever with a thirst, especially for cold

drinks.

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Pulsatilla

Fever in teething babies or those who are coming down with an infection.

Gets easily overheated, kicks the covers off and then gets cold. These

babies refuse drinks and are much better for fresh air. They want to be

cuddled constantly and feel better for it

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Do’s | Dont’s

Seek help from your doctor or homeopathic practitioner if

Do’s

talk reassuringly to your baby about what is happening. The sound of your

voice is comforting to them­and to you!

keep your sick baby close to you­many babies want to be carried constantly

and sleep better if they are tucked up in bed with their mothers during

this time! Remind yourself that it won’t last and you can restablish a

routine once she is well again.

provide a calm environment for your feverish child. This is not a time to

go visiting!

encourage your baby to drink plenty of fluids, preferably water, herb teas

or diluted natural juices, or at least sips of water at frequent intervals.

Older babies who are reluctant to drink will often suck on a (clean!) wet

sponge or flannel, especially if the water is warm, or try an ice cube or

frozen fruit juice. If you are breastfeeding a sick baby continue to nurse

as often as your baby asks, as this is probably all that will be wanted.

The breast is especially comforting when they are unwell.

sponge your baby down with tepid water if the fever goes above 103°F/104°F

(40°C) and your child feels hot and sweaty. Expose and sponge one limb at a

time until it feels cool to the touch. Dry it and replace it under the

covers before going on to the next limb. This will help the temperature to

drop by 1-2°F (up to 1°C) and can be repeated as often as necessary.

Sponging the face and forehead alone can also give relief. Or you can

immerse a feverish but not desperately ill child in a bath of tepid (not

cold) water from time to time to bring down a fever. In any case keep a

hot, feverish baby cool, and a chilly feverish baby (one who feels cold to

the touch and shivers) warm.

prescribe homeopathic remedies when the fever is one of a number of

symptoms, for example, where the patient is clearly suffering from, say

earache, teething or a sore throat and a fever. If the first symptom to

arise is a fever then wait for a while for other symptoms to surface before

prescribing for the whole picture. Contain the fever, again if necessary,

by sponging down (see above).

suppress the fever with Tylenol in an emergency , that is, where the fever

rises above 105°F (40.5°c), or if your child is in severe pain from, say,

teething in the middle of the night, and homeopathic first-aid prescribing

isn’t helping. Ring your homeopath or doctor in the morning or during the

night if you are anxious.

watch for signs of dehydration in infants under six months old, and

especially in children who are refusing to drink or who are drinking less

than usual.

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Don'ts

encourage sick children to eat­especially if they don’t want to. Fasting

encourages the body in its process of healing. Give babies who are hungry

small, light, nutritious meals such as fruit or vegetable purees, soups and

porridge.

give any form of aspirin to a feverish child. This has been known to lead

to dangerous, although rare, complications, in particular Reye's syndrome,

which affects the brain and liver. You can use Children's Tylenol in an

emergency, or if your baby seems to be in pain and you don’t have a

homeopathic remedy to hand­but never exceed the recommended dose.

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Seek help from your doctor or homeopathic practitioner if:

your baby under six months old has a fever.

an older baby has a fever of over 104°F (40°C) that doesn't respond to

sponging and homeopathic treatment within 24 hours.

there is a history of convulsions accompanying fevers in your family. Keep

a close eye when your baby has a fever­it is the rapid rise in temperature

that can cause a fit.

the baby or older child is also refusing to drink (is thirstless) as

dehydration can occur. Signs of dehydration are: limpness, poor muscle

tone, sunken eyes, a sunken fontanelle. Small children who develop a fever,

especially infants under six months old, must be watched carefully because

they are vulnerable to becoming quickly dehydrated.

there is a general lack of reaction (listlessness and limpness) and your

baby is distressed, which can mean that a more serious illness (such as

pneumonia or meningitis) is developing.

you are worried and need reassurance about your sick baby­contact your

doctor or homeopath immediately, it is always better to be on the safe side

when it comes to your baby’s health.

See guidelines for using homeopathic remedies