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Dear Dr.Luc,

I came here directed by your excellent blog and particularly the blog entry about 'choice of homeopath'.

My story: I have been suffering from what seemed to be seasonal allergies and was diagnosed with Asthma. After two visits to the ER and two doses of oral steroids over a period of 6 weeks, I was at my wit's end. My doctor wouldnt listen to me and told me that I had to be on flovent for the short term. At this point, I approached a homeopath(California) because I didnt want to think of alternatives after I had been hooked onto steroids for a long time and after the first lengthy initial appointment, she sent me home with a dose of Influenzum and Ant.Tart because I put my foot down and said that it was definitely an infection(the last time this happened to me was nine years ago, diagnosed as pneumonia and i was given a very strong dose of antibiotics), asking me to continue my allopathic treatment. The idea was that I should finish my allopathy course of treatment for asthma and that she'd wean me off the allopathic drugs with homeopathy.

After the second visit during which time I was still on inhaled steroids, she simply gave me a liquid dose of sulphur for rashes that I had developed and which I assumed were side effects of the inhaled steroids. At this point, she mentioned that she will be travelling to India on vacation. I was under the mistaken notion that she'd be available on phone and/or email because I remember her telling me so. Previous experience has shown me that this woman only seems to be interested in making calls just before the day of appointment and even though she asks me to 'keep her posted through email', she never replies to emails. Why I believed that I can contact her in case of emergency during her vacation is something I still havent figured out.

When she was on vacation(she was going to be away for 6 weeks), I got another attack and my allopathy doctor was adamant that I should stay on flovent long term. This was completely unacceptable to me, but my argument had no basis other than my strong intuition that asthma wasnt my ailment. I wrote several plaintive emails(mostly because the steroids put me on an emotional see-saw and since I am a fairly healthy person with a strong suspicion towards any kind of medication, I was feeling as though my very breath and body had betrayed me) to her, once asking her for her return date from india and the second one detailing the health issues that have returned asking for her suggestions. I get no reply. My husband leaves a phone message asking her for return date and suggestions. It appears that there is no forwarding of these messages because we never heard from her. Then I attempted self medication(bad idea..i had NO CLUE as to what I was doing..at this point, i still believed in homeopathy) and finally, I dumped my old doctor, gave up on homeopathy and went to a new allopathy practioner.

This doctor turned out to be someone who was willing to listen to me. She put me through a battery of tests including spirometry, x-ray, blood tests for lupus, diabetes, thyroid(i do have a hypothyroid condition) and attacked the problem from different angles. Long story short, together, we deduced that my problem was a sinus infection that was somehow irritating my lungs and a possible acid reflux issue. I am on flonase and nexium right now.

I am extremely grateful to my doctor. I had completely lost my faith in homeopathy. I still cannot wrap my mind around the unprofessional behaviour of this homeopath. She gives me a call the day before the next scheduled appointment to confirm whether I will make it the next day. I was so enraged that I wanted to give her a piece of my mind and demand that she return the money that I have paid her in advance for the next three visits(and i am not talking about the money I gave her for the last two useless visits...i am willing to write that off) if only to make a point. It is one thing to lay claim to my money if I am not satisfied and it is totally another to lay claim for services not rendered and for being unavailable. My husband suggested that he will speak to her instead because he didnt want me to get further agitated about this issue. He left her a message and she calls back when he was in a meeting. He asks her to please call back again because I will not be able to make the appointment and that he would like to discuss something with her. And we are yet to hear from her. She did not even *indicate* OR *acknowledge* my emails or my husband's voicemail during my crisis.

I am not happy with the side effects of my allopathy drugs(joint pain, mood swings, weight gain among other things), but I am grateful because my allopathy doctor was PRESENT when I needed assistance. At this point, I am willing to accept that the side effects, though unwelcome, are part of the package deal because at least the relief is reliable and my physician is available. It is a price that I have to pay for the gift of breath. The reason I wanted to approach a Homeopath was because I believed(naively, it would seem) that they would actually LISTEN before prescribing a cure for the illness rather than symptoms. It turned out that I picked one who would not only be prescribing NOTHING, but someone who isnt even available. Even at a w i t c h doctor or a q u a c k's place of practice, one would find them faking interest. This woman's clinic had two rooms, one consultation room and one reception area. When she consults, she keeps the door open. I could hear what her other patients tell her and I am sure others would have heard me too. That should given me a hint about this woman's professional integrity, but one tends to ignore warning signs when one is desperate. Instead I found myself shelling out usd 250 for someone who essentially told me to come back after my treatment is over. If this is acceptable, why did she keep fixing appointments(for which I am paying hard cash, btw) to meet her while my allopathy treatment is still ongoing? What am I? Her entertainment or the contributor for her children's college fund?

I was very angry with the practice and promise of Homeopathy until I read your blog entry. I realise now that my doctor failed me and not Homeopathy itself. Will I go back to Homeopathy? Maybe. Maybe not. I dont know. But I just wanted you to know that your blog entry made me a less angry person...I felt as though someone stole my money with the fake promise of a cure. I felt cheated and betrayed. I am still annoyed with my physician, but my annoyance is focused at one person now instead of at an entire group of nameless, faceless people who represent Homeopathy. And maybe it is less intense because I now recognise that I too bear the responsibility for my bad experience because I did not research my homeopathy doctor.

How does one research a good homeopathy physician? How do I go about asking for references? Homeopathy consultations do no come cheap and there are more skeptics than believers in the United States..so I cannot go and ask my GP to suggest a Homeopathy specialist. Is there a body that monitors practicing Homeopaths? Or maybe some kind of organisation where I can complain when there is malpractice or when the homeopath violates terms of the verbal contract re sevices rendered for payment? It is going to take a long time for me to regain confidence in Homeopathy and when I do, I dont want to feel cheated again. Because Homeopathy is largely considered 'alternative' and since it is also expensive(relatively), consultation with a professional homeopath physician is often for acute cases. At this time, the ailing person is willing to grasp at any hope and unfortunately, there are some characters out there who take advantage of these panic stricken folks.

If you are reading this, it means you have read my long(sorry, i couldnt stop until i got it all out of my system) and rambling post. Thank you. Just knowing that the treatment that was meted out to me by my ex-homeopath is frowned upon in the Homeopathy community makes me feel a little better and I dont feel foolish anymore for thinking that Homeopathy is a credible, respectable branch of medicine.






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Dear friend!

I feel horrible for you that you had to experience a total unprofessional person (I am not calling her a homeopath) who is only interested in getting your money. It is sad for me to see this as homeopathy gets a bad name by the actions of such greedy pseudo homeopath. At least your allopathic physician indeed was there for you and I respect him for that. I often rather prefer to receive a patient from an allopath to treat rather than from a pseudohomeopath who bothches the case. The problem is that there is no overseeing body to control homeopathy in the US or at least 50% of homeopaths would not be practicing and this lady would be one of them. That leaves the patient clueless as what to look for. For that reason I also wrote a blog with 6 lessons as what to expect after receiving a dose of homeopathy (I talk about chronic cases here).

I hope that you may ever cross the path of a good homeopath as homeopathy did not fail you but this person did!

Warmest regards and wish you all the best
Dr Luc

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http://www.minimum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=621

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There are all sorts of people who profess to practice homeopathy.

Please do your homework properly in choosing your homeopath. The same caution is required on the forums too.

Murthy
 
  gavinimurthy on 2007-08-21
This is just a forum. Assume posts are not from medical professionals.
I like Dr Luc very much because his teaching and writing is very simple.A person can gain a lot from him.

I do not want to name others who's approach is very difficult and cannot be applied in daily practice.

And by nature Dr Luc is also a nice fellow.

sajjad.
 
sajjadakram635 last decade
You have to elaborate your Problem of - Asthama

What all the sufferings that you get?

When the attack takes place?

When it gets subsided?

What type of water you like cold - normal

Do you get a whistling sound during attack?

Do you take water slowly or hurriedly?

Any food or climate that aggavates it?

Any oter symptom that you can narrate.

Your personal'-

Age
Weight
Complexion?
Area where you stay? Its climate?
 
Rajendra last decade

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