by Dr. Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman and Dr. Robert Ullman
As doctors, all of us are used to receiving desperate calls from patients each spring, in between their sneezing and honking, pleading with us to help them immediately. They are often miserable because of their persistent hay fever symptoms. They may complain of burning, tearing eyes which they may feel like scratching into oblivion. Or their nose may run like a faucet and their wastebaskets may be filled with tissues. They may have severe nasal congestion, incessant, and sometimes violent, sneezing. Then, there’s the itching, which may be unbearable. They may suffer from itchy eyes, ears, nose, throat, or palate. Whatever the specific symptoms, hay fever is no fun. We have found homeopathy to have greater than a 90% effectiveness rate in curing hay fever. And often it does not come back the following year, especially if the person is under constitutional homeopathic treatment. Here are a few examples among our patients.
Prabha
Prabha is a 30 year-old East Indian woman who we began treating two years ago for asthma. Lycopodium helped her significantly with her asthma. She came in last spring with hay fever of a two week duration.
It normally lasted all spring, until mid or late summer. She would wake in the morning with a dry cough, congestion in the upper lungs, and slight wheezing. During the day, she complained of terrible itching in the ears and eustachian tubes, and some itching in the throat, nose, and, to a lesser degree, the eyes. She had occasional sneezing, runny nose, and dry eyes. The symptoms lasted throughout the day and were better when she was indoors.
Erik
Erik is a 29 year-old man, born in Norway, also suffering from spring hay fever since the age of 5. It was usually worse in the summer, however this year it was bothering him terribly in late March, prompting him to come in to see us for the first time. He reported his symptoms as follows.
- His main problem was frequent, violent, paroxysmal sneezing, which occurred in spurts. He had a watery, runny nose, causing him to “run around with a handkerchief all the time”. The skin under his nose was red and sore. His eyes were itchy, dry, and irritated. There was no lachyrmation.
- His nose was stuffy, whether he was indoors or out.
- His forehead itched.
- With the hay fever, he found himself lethargic and had slept ten hours the night before. This was extremely unusual for him since he was generally a very high energy person. Since the hay fever began, he as irritable and felt victimized by his acute illness. He had a strong desire recently for carrot juice.
Todd
Todd, a 26 year-old computer program, was assured by another of my patients that homeopathy could help him with his hay fever. He came in late April of this year, like the two patients described above, in extreme discomfort. He lamented, “I’m allergic to everything that’s not food!” His nose ran all of the time. He was using half a box of tissues per day. His eyes were itchy, puffy, and watery. He suffered from a post nasal drip precipitating a sore throat. His sinuses sometimes swelled with the hay fever, causing a pressing headache. His symptoms were definitely worse outdoors. He was generally tired and wiped out with the hay fever. In the past it had lasted on and off for four months. This time he came in after only a few days, however it was his worst bout ever. He reported that he had “tried everything” orthodox medicine had to offer him.
Marilyn
Marilyn is a 40 year-old artist. We have treated her successfully over the past two years for her insomnia and mood swings, first with Arsenicum album, then Sepia, as well as for several acute illnesses. She came in last July, complaining of fits of sneezing, worse on waking, and a runny nose. However, what bothered her most about the hay fever, was annoying itching of the soft palate, and less so, of the eyes.
Catherine
Finally, Catherine came in just last week. She called, desperate to get in the same day, saying she “wasn’t doing well at all.” We had treated her successfully for allergies in the past with Phosphorus, and hadn’t heard from her in almost a year. We squeezed her into our schedule after the last patient. Prepared for the worst, we figured she was probably very depressed. She came in, tissues clutched to her nose, lamenting her, you guessed it, hay fever! She said her allergies had continued to be non-existent since treatment with Phosphorus, but that her hay fever was driving her crazy. The roof of her mouth was itchy. Her throat was terribly raw, especially on the right side. The throat pain was better from warm drinks and worse from swallowing. Her voice was beginning to crack. Her nose dripped constantly. The hay fever began just a few days before she came in. At the same time she noticed a tenderness of the right shoulder. It bothered her so much that she was answering the phone all day (she was a receptionist) with the left hand. She was much thirstier the past few days, and found herself drinking “all day long”. She felt sick, tired, cranky, and achy, much unlike her good-natured, upbeat self.
So, what can a homeopath do to help these five poor, suffering souls?
Homeopaths, in emphasizing the individualization of homeopathic prescriptions, can often be heard to say, “If we see five patients with a sore throat, we may give them five different remedies.” So it is here. Each of these patients was treated, effectively and quite rapidly, with a different homeopathic remedy. You may wish to know, if you are not an experienced homeopath, where to look up “hay fever” in Kent’s Repertory. We use the rubric NOSE; CORYZA; annual on page 326. All of the other symptoms are found in the eye, ear, nose, throat, or other sections, as appropriate. In each of these cases, we gave a 30c potency of the specific remedy, to be used up to twice a day, to stop when the symptoms improved, and then to continue only on an as needed basis. The patients were told to call in three days if their hay fever symptoms were no better.
Patient Results
We gave Prabha Nux vomica because of the dry cough with wheezing on waking, combined with the sneezing and itching inside the nose. She received the remedy in the spring of 1990, with great benefit, and took it occasionally, as needed, during the summer. She returned again this past spring, with the same symptoms, and was again given Nux vomica, also with success.
Erik, the young Norwegian man with the violent sneezing, was given Sabadilla, a Mexican grass. Sabadilla is one of the main homeopathic remedies for a hay fever with spasmodic sneezing, nasal congestion, itching inside the nose, and a fluent, copious coryza. The sneezing and itching were relieved completely within two days. He experienced a swelling of the nasal passages, which passed.
Todd, the man who was keeping the Kleenex brand company in business, was given Allium cepa, onion. Along with Sabadilla, Allium cepa is a prime remedy for hay fever. Just think about what happens to you when you slice an onion, and you’ll know just the kind of hay fever to use it for. It works wonderfully for a hay fever, or a cold, which runs like a faucet (it may be an excoriating coryza), along with itchy, watery eyes (bland lachryma- tion), and considerable sneezing. Todd called three days later to say his nose was no longer running. The first day after starting the remedy, he experienced lots of sneezing, which passed quickly. Then he had a few mild headaches and pressure behind his eyes. By the time he called, the symptoms had passed and he had only slight nasal congestion periodically. He was told to take the Allium cepa as needed.
Marilyn received Arundo (reed) for her itching of the soft palate along with paroxysmal sneezing. Within a few days the itching and sneezing were gone. Her symptoms returned a few days later after she used strong glue, then were relieved again after another dose of the Arundo. She re-peated the Arundo as needed for her same hay fever symptoms this year, also with excellent results.
Catherine was given Sanguinaria (bloodroot). Sanguinaria is notably a right-sided remedy and is well-known for right shoulder pain. Combined with the right-sided sore throat, fluent coryza, irritability, and extreme thirst, we felt that Sanguinaria, also known as a hay fever remedy, was a clear choice. Catherine called to days after her visit to say her sore throat was gone, as well as the itchy palate and coryza. Her shoulder pain was much improved. All that remained was some nasal congestion. She told us she was again convinced that natural medicine was the way for her.
When a patient is treated constitutionally homeopathically, for his or her chronic symptoms, he or she may not suffer from hay fever at all, or may continue to need the appropriate acute hay fever remedy when the symptoms arise. Other common hay fever remedies not mentioned above are Euphrasia (eyebright), used when the bulk of the symptoms are focused on the eyes. Patients needing Euphrasia may have a coryza and sneezing, much like Sabadilla and Allium cepa, however the most annoying symp- toms will be the itching, burning, and red eyes with lachrymation. Wyethia is another remedy for profound itching, particularly of the posterior nares, and should be differentiated from Arundo. Naja (cobra) ia helpful for a hay fever with excoriating coryza, lachrymation, and oppressive breathing. They are said to wake in the middle of the night with a suffocative feeling, grasping at their chest. We gave it once successfully to a woman whose asthmatic wheezing was much exacerbated at 2-3 a.m. during her hay fever episodes. Many other remedies, some of them unusual, can also be used very effectively for hay fever.
So, for those of your patients who don’t experience relief from their hay fever from other forms natural medicine, consider using homeopathy with them or sending them to a homeopath.
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