Homeopathy offers methods to treat digestive disturbances

Homeopathy offers methods to treat digestive disturbances
Kelowna Capital News

Everything we ingest will eventually make its way through our digestive system, and depending on how our system is working, that can be a good thing or not so good.

Our very quality of life depends on our digestive system to function well.

Many factors may contribute to digestive disturbances that can cause conditions such as an ulcer or heartburn, which is sometimes known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Lifestyle choices such as stress, poor eating habits, alcohol consumption and smoking can contribute to those kinds of symptoms.

There are many symptoms, which may signal heartburn. The most common are: “burping up,” regurgitating often during the day, a heavy feeling in the chest or abdomen, or a burning feeling in the throat, chest or stomach.

Some of the symptoms which may indicate an ulcer are a burning feeling in the stomach area before, during or after a meal usually in waves that last several minutes, painful digestion, heartburn, increased acid production or a “sour stomach,” blackened stools, and nausea.

It seems very common for people to take antacid products for relief of stomach indigestion.

But that is definitely not solving any problems. In fact, antacid relief may actually make matters worse.

Other medications that are commonly prescribed for people with GERD are Omeprazole, which is in a class of drugs called proton pump inhibitors that block the production of acid by the stomach.

What really happens when stomach acid is blocked? Food will sit in your digestive tract and will not digest.

Imagine, after months of taking these drugs, what kind of fermenting mass of semi-digested food you would have sitting in your digestive tract.

There are other drugs in the same class as Omeprazole. They include lansoprazole (Prevacid), rabeprazole (Aciphex), pantoprazole (Protonix), and esomeprazole (Nexium).

There are many side-effects to these drugs— diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, headaches, rash and dizziness to name a few.

Homeopathy offers some excellent remedies that can provide relief, gently, safely and with no side-effects, for many digestive related problems.

If you do have a chronic ongoing complaint, it is probably best to see a homeopath for constitutional treatment.

The following list of remedies is just a sampling of some homeopathic remedies that may help for an acute digestive disturbance.

Nux Vomica: This remedy is indicated for symptoms of digestive upset that include, sour and bitter burping. It can be accompanied by nausea and vomiting every morning. The person generally will have quite an irritable disposition and can be quite impatient and living an extremely high stress lifestyle.

Carbo Vegetabilis: This remedy is indicated when there seems to be a sense of rawness in the stomach that rises up into the esophagus to the middle of chest. There can be bloating and distention in the stomach.

Arsenicum: With this remedy, the key indications are burning sensations in the stomach with a sense of internal chilliness. The heartburn symptoms will almost feel like the person was just gulping up acid that burns the throat and leaves it raw.

With all the remedies above, start with a 30CH potency every few hours for a day or two, if this does not provide relief, try the next best remedy.

In homeopathic medicine, we use the term “susceptibility to disease.”

What this means is even though modern science has determined the cause of some diseases, it has not determined or explained how a person becomes susceptible to these conditions in the first place.

In homeopathy, we go beyond the disease and study the individual. This is where we try to find the person’s true susceptibility.

This column is provided for general informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. John Sherman is a professional classical homeopath in Kelowna.

250-764-2487.

homeopath@okanaganhomeopathy.ca