Re: How safe is homeopathy anyway? Experiences?

February 27, 2003

I think all of the treatment options - traditional or alternative - are all

iffy as to whether or not they will work long term... we are all gambling on

remission here aren't we? (except those of us who do RAI or surgery - they

have pretty much guaranteed a life time of replacement hormones.) Yet

regardless of treatment choice, we are all supposed to have the same goal -

to get our health back - so does it really matter if some of us want to try

different ways to reach that goal? Or that we are willing to find ways to

make that happen?

But a *luxury of the upper classes* to do alt med? I really doubt that alt

med is a luxury based on class, and so would you if you went and sat in the

waiting room at my natural health clinic or another of my ND's offices - you

will see all walks of life there, believe me.

I'm fortunate in that my health insurance (now there is a luxury of the

upper class) covers visits to naturopaths. Realistically though, if I didn't

have insurance at all, alt med would cost LESS than traditional med -

because most NDs charge less than most MDs and, if everything goes as

planned, alt med is going to heal ALL of me, and remission is going to stick

for a very long time, and I won't have to do this all over again any time

soon. And if you really want to get into the details, a lot of the

lifestyle changes we are talking about are FREE (yoga, meditation,

relaxation, etc.), and cooking whole foods cost less that buying prepared,

processed foods, etc etc etc.

But this is *my* gamble, not yours, so why is it you seem to have a problem

with it?

Pam B.

-- RE: Re: How safe is homeopathy anyway?

Experiences?

yours is a luxury of the upper classes; not everyone, in fact very few, have

an opportunity to spend lots o' money on something that may or may not work,

over a long period of time

February 27, 2003

Talking about foods... are there foods that are better for people with GD?

RE: Re: How safe is homeopathy anyway?

Experiences?

yours is a luxury of the upper classes; not everyone, in fact very few, have

an opportunity to spend lots o' money on something that may or may not work,

over a long period of time

February 27, 2003

Talking about foods... are there foods that are better for people with GD?

RE: Re: How safe is homeopathy anyway?

Experiences?

yours is a luxury of the upper classes; not everyone, in fact very few, have

an opportunity to spend lots o' money on something that may or may not work,

over a long period of time

February 27, 2003

chocolate - in particular - is a rquested e.g.!

Velvet - who has felt really rotten all day and wishes she had some Chocolate of

Consulation!

RE: Re: How safe is homeopathy anyway?

Experiences?

yours is a luxury of the upper classes; not everyone, in fact very few, have

an opportunity to spend lots o' money on something that may or may not work,

over a long period of time

February 27, 2003

Oh, I have to agree that traditional medicine can be a luxury of the upper

classes.

The one endocrinologist I saw in Iowa cost $350 just for the appointment -

it was another $250+ for labwork. The med school student took all the

history and preliminary stuff (wonder if she gets any pay for that) so the

endo was with me for maybe a total of 10 minutes. And all I got was a

confirmation of diagnosis and " just have RAI and you'll be fine " speech.

Thank whatever higher power you believe in that I had insurance to cover

that. I could get a whole lotta alternative treatment for that kind of

money. Gee, in fact I do! I spend about $20 - $30 on vitamins and such and

that lasts me anywhere from 2-4 months, depending on the size of the bottle.

And that's done a whole hell of a lot more for me than the endocrinologist

ever did.

And then there's the rhuematologist that I saw for another $250 because my

regular doc freaked out at a positive ANA titer and thought I had lupus,

even though I had no symptoms. Had he done some relatively simple research

that I did, he might have found out that a low ANA titer can be common in AI

diseases with Graves'. So I went to the rhuemy and had $200 more labwork

done to confirm what I already knew - that I didn't have lupus. Yes, it's

better to know for sure, but I'd have been comfortable being fairly certain

and saving the money had I not had the _luxury_ of health insurance.

And then the absolutely ridiculous bills ($5000 just for the hospital

alone!) for my daughter's broken arm. She didn't stay in the hospital she

didn't need surgery, but because they used *the surgical room* while they

casted her, we had to pay outrageous sums for that. I went through those

bills and some of the charges - if that's not an example of traditional

medicine waste, I don't know what is. Then you have to go to the orthopedic

doctor (charge for the visit) to have it X-rayed every few weeks (charge for

that) and then have the doctor look at the X-ray and tell you that " yes,

it's healing " . Wish there was a homeopathic rememdy for broken arms.

And we pay for our own private insuance because my husband was

self-employed. It's damn expensive, but now it's no longer a " luxury " , it's

a necessity. With my Graves' and his diabetes and 3 children and doctor

bills like that, we can't afford to _not_ have insurance. We scrape to make

the payment, but we don't really have much choice. If we ever lose this

insurance, my husband's diabetes and any ailments _related_ to diabetes

(which could be just about anything) would not likely be covered under any

other insurance because of the evil " pre-existing conditions " clauses. If

there were any reliable alternative med treatment for diabetes, I'd have him

do it in a minute. It would be _far cheaper_.

Now, I don't want to get off on a rant here...oops, too late, I already did!

, who considered deleting this after she wrote it because it's so OT

now, but figured that most people can relate/agree at the tragedy that is

the health care system.

RE: Re: How safe is homeopathy anyway?

> Experiences?

>

> yours is a luxury of the upper classes; not everyone, in fact very few,

have

> an opportunity to spend lots o' money on something that may or may not

work,

> over a long period of time

>

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February 27, 2003