You’re getting ready to see a homeopath for the first time. What should you do?
First, relax! This should be a low stress experience. There are no wrong answers. Your homeopath is simply looking for symptoms to point in the direction of a remedy that would be helpful for you. Just plan on answering any questions posed to the best of your ability.
You may have been asked to provide information via an intake form before your appointment. This is used for reference for your homeopath to make sure everything is covered that you want to cover. If you forget to include something, simply mention it during your appointment. If you’d like to bring a list with you, that’s fine too.
You will be asked about your childhood, your history, relationships, mental, emotional, and physical symptoms. Some clients say it feels like a counseling session. Know that any information shared with your homeopath is confidential.
At the end of the appointment, some homeopaths will provide you with remedy information right away. My approach is to take a day or two to study the case and possible remedies. Although I am often fairly sure of what the best remedy is by the end of the session, sometimes on further study I find that a different remedy is a better choice. When I first began my practice I thought I would only do things this way for a few years, but fourteen years in I still find it to be the best approach.
If your homeopath takes a few days to study your case, they will get in touch with you with remedy information and you should have an opportunity to ask any questions at that time. Some will provide the remedy to you and some will ask that you obtain it yourself. This usually has to do with the rules governing practice in different states. In my own practice, I ask my clients to obtain remedies themselves. I provide information about various labs and distributors which carry homeopathic remedies.
After the appointment, while you wait for your follow-up, you should be told how to communicate with your homeopath should the need arise. Many, including myself, will provide limited support via text, email, or phone between appointments at no charge. This type of support includes questions as to whether or not dosing frequency should change and what to do about an uncomfortable aggravation. It should not be used to prescribe a new remedy or to add multiple symptoms to your case. During your follow-up appointment you will go over in detail the response to the remedy as well as any new symptoms that may have come up.
Materia medica
Nux vomica (Nux-v) , or poison nut, is made from the seeds of the Strychonos nux-vomica tree which grows in India and Southeast Asia. There is anguish and anxiety with an inability to rest. This patient will be excessively irritable and will look for fault in others. They have an intense desire for solitude and are averse to conversation. There is a good deal of vertigo and even stupor. The ears have stitching pain which is worse on swallowing and the eustachian tubes are itchy. The nose is also tremendously itchy and there may be excoriation and even ulceration. Excoriation or ulceration can also be found in the mouth with an accumulation of saliva. There are many abdominal pains, particularly after eating or drinking. The chest is oppressed or constricted and there are palpitations with anxiety. Limbs tremble and are weary. Generally speaking, there are shooting, jerking, or tearing pains and weakness that may be paralytic. Some pains might feel like electric shocks. Insomnia is a big part of this remedy. When the patient lies down to sleep, thoughts crowd in on them. Nux is well known as a remedy that assists the body in detoxing.
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