Will , MD Homeopath, on whoo

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Will , MD Homeopath, on whooping cough

This is from a conversation on an email list......

ashryn wrote,

>well, one of my worst nightmares may have come true.. my unvaccinated

3year

>old has a very nasty cough that i have been told sounds like the

beginnings

>of whooping cough.

It is never easy when our own young-ones take sick. I find it easy

to

offer knowledgable reassurance to my patients, but struggle so often

in

these same situations with my own pain at seeing my own boys not

feeling

well. Find someone for hugs (someone must know a nifty little

e-mail

symbol for hugs?)

> i guess what i am looking for is reassurance that i am doing the

right

>thing, it is so hard to hold on to my faith in homoeopathy (actually

in my

>own abilities) when i am so close to it.. there isnt anything

allopathy can

>do anyway, is there?

Conventional medicine can only intervene with supportive care

(observation,

humidity, hydration, oxygen). Antibiotics do *not* affect the

course of

the illness (except, perhaps, in the very early catarrhal phase,

before

there is any clue that this might be whooping cough); they may be given

to

the patient to reduce the possibility of contagion to others. But

consider

that the most common side-effect of erythromycin (the antibiotic most

often

used for this) is nausea ...

Perhaps one of the reasons allopathy worries so much about pertussis

is,

that they " gots nothin' to do " for it. & allopaths

basically *hate* it

when that happens.

>the cough is worse at night, and she has to sit up to cough, and ends

up

>with tears streaming down her face after each bout.(not crying from

grief,

>but from the sheer exertion.) she seems to be being very brave, and

when she

>isnt coughing seems perfectly fine

My experience with pertussis is, that it is much much more difficult

for

the parents than it is for the child. It is very hard to watch

these

paroxysmal coughing episodes. I mean sure, they're rough for the

kid to go

thru, but as parents we feel so incredibly helpless. The kids seem

mostly

to recover just fine.

>her picture is that of a perfect pulsatilla, although the remedy does

not

>act. so i gave her one dose of silica (the first chronic of

puls)

Recall what Edouard wrote recently about the pace of remedies (he used

Bell

& Calc-c as examples). It would be very unusual to see Silica

called for

in an acute pertussis case in the paroxysmal cough phase - the pace of

this

remedy just does not match the pace of the acute paroxysmal

illness.

Many of the common symptoms of pertussis seem to fit Pulsatilla - worse

in

the first part of the night, <lying down, > (or at least prefers)

sitting

up, etc. You usually need to look further at more differentiating

symptoms

to find the simillimum.

As an aside, not really applicable to this case, if a " chronic of

Puls "

does need to be given, it should still be a remedy that fits the

whole

picture. Only Silica if it fits. See Boenninghausen's

concordances (in

the back of his repertory) for other possibilities.

>and it

>seemed to ease the cough for one night, but the next day she was back

to the

>same deep wrenching cough that makes her feel like vomiting. it does

seem

>that she has more mucus when she coughs now and it is slightly

less

>spasmodic.. is this an improvement?

I suspect it is an indication that the remedy was not correct.

>her cough seems to fit drosera, but not the mentals..if i gave this,

would

>it be supressive?

I have rarely seen the persecution, etc. of Drosera during a Drosera

whooping cough acute. Go to the most characteristic symptoms of the

case -

which will likely be in the modalities ( & times), the physical

generals,

concomitants to the cough, and any strongly characterizing physical

particulars.

>it has been going on for about 2 weeks now and i am starting to get

very

>worried.

Going on for 2 weeks as it has, it is likely that you've pretty much

already seen what is in store for you. Emphasize rest ( &

restful activity)

for all of the family during the day, so you can all pace yourself

through

this. Plan on little treats for yourself during the predictable

night

wakings, & breaks for self-refreshment during the day, & work out

some

alternation of responsibilities so you don't all get exhausted

simultaneously.

I hope for the best for your family -

>i guess i am having some trouble just sitting back and waiting..

>in my experience, homoeopathy works faster than this..

It usually does. I would expect at the least to see the cough

settle down

into a semi-disturbing, no-gagging night-time cough without nausea

or

wretching.

Will , MD

Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA, Hahnemannian

Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Washington State, USA

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