Chelidonium for varicocele, advice please _{Page 2 of 3}

Hello Erika :)

My boyfriend's first 3 weeks are complete with the Sepia now. He's been taking it 3 times daily as directed and the varicocele has definitely not decreased in size. It is at least the same size or possibly slightly bigger?!

He says that he's not sure whether these things are relevant to taking the Sepia or not, but he's had a few different things happening in the past few weeks. He's had some headaches which have often lasted overnight and into the next day. They were always located on the right side of his head where you would place your right hand if you were holding your head in your hands. It was not an excruciatingly bad headache but would come and go, and last longer than a normal headache, and sometimes he would have to take a tablet to make it go away.

Also, he said that maybe he had a bit of a loss of sex drive, but I reckon it's difficult to pinpoint whether that is down to the Sepia or the job that he hates (and it tires him out) which he has not been doing all that long - approx 2 months.

What should he do? Carry on taking the Sepia and see what happens, or is there something else he should be doing? If the varicocele increasing in size would be something to do with a healing reaction before it decreasing in size then we would be confident to carry on, but if this is a negative thing we'd rather know sooner rather than later because it would be bad to make it any bigger!

Thanks :)

It's quite difficult to tell whether it's the Sepia or just certain circumstances coming up during the same period he's been taking it. Things have been annoying him at work. I would say, and he also said just now when I asked him that we reckon he's been feeling worse.

In the past week he said he's been feeling pretty fed up, and also the loss of sex drive thing. He admitted himself, and I have noticed that he's been a bit cranky. We've had a few really petty arguments (not huge arguments but unpleasant still) over really stupid things or just misunderstandings which we very rarely do.

Obviously I don't want him to feel bad, but if it's a healing reaction then I think he'd be willing to sit it out for a short while longer. My main concern after that is that we don't make the varicocele better because I'd feel so bad if that happened as it was me who suggested the homeopathic route.

What do you suggest?

typo!! I meant 'my main concern after that is that we don't make the varicocele BIGGER...'

Thanks for the suggestion, he would like to try the single dose 30C. Taking 5 of the 6C does not amount to the same thing as 30C though does it?

We need to buy a 30C dilution is that right?

Please can you explain what 'proving' means in this context?

I would rather wait for other suggestions if Sepia might make things worse, because I will also have to buy another full remedy only for him to take one pill.

Are there any alternative suggestions?

I am quite worried about the situation now because I REALLY don't want to make things worse if they won't return to how they were to start with upon quitting the remedies.

oh something I just thought of....

re: homeopathy - if the remedy doesn't do anything or worsens the condition, does the condition return to its starting point when you stop the remedy? Does the person's body return the condition to what it was before or does it remain worse forever?

Sorry to be pessimistic but I feel responsible for this as it was my suggestion to start upon this route, and would be more confident trying different remedies if I thought it'd be reversible if they worsen it...

Thanks to everyone who's reading this, I would appreciate an answer, or any cases you've known (of any condition) that have returned to their starting point upon an unsuccessful remedy.

Thank you both for your input (and so quick too!) I really do appreciate it :)

In answer to the question, I am pretty much certain that he's feeling worse. Also, the condition has been pretty much stable for a long time so it'd be unlikely to be worsening in such a short time of its own accord.

Is it okay to leave this a while until the condition returns to normal? Or do I strictly need to give him the Sepia 30C after a few days break if it's to do anything?

This message is to Erika or anyone else reading this who can make suggestions.

My boyfriend's now had a two week break (following on from his 3 weeks on Sepia 6C. I have noticed that he's back to his normal self now. His sex drive is back and he seems more cheerful again. The one thing which I would say is that today he's got a headache which lasted from last night...so I guess the Sepia didn't cause that when it happened the other week.

My boyfriend says that he's ready to proceed with the next remedy now so what I want to ask is what should we do next?

Erika, you said above (about him being on the Sepia) 'is he feeling relatively better in himself - energy and wellbeing? if he is then sepia is ok but a change of potency is needed.' He definitely felt a lot worse whilst taking the Sepia, so should we be considering a change of remedy? Or not?

Any comments appreciated, thank you :)

Thanks for the suggestions, they both look like good remedies to me!

They match different things of his...and there are quite a few indications for him on both remedies. However, I think that Nux Vom looks more likely at the moment because it seems to match approx. the same number of indications but seems to single out the stronger emotions/physical things he suffers from and over all I would say he points more towards Nux Vom so we will go with this.

Should it be 6C three times a day for 3 weeks as he did before with the Sepia?

Thanks

I am familiar with the basics of how homeopathy works, but I am a bit confused about what's relevant (or rather, important to take into consideration) and what isn't. For example, my boyfriend is always inclined towards the negative side of thinking, and has a slight tendency towards depression. However, from day to day I wouldn't say he 'suffers from depression' he just gets negative thoughts quite often and sometimes feels worse than others. Is this relevant or separate to the varicocele?

Also, things like his constantly blocked nose? And often at night he gets very agitated/often angry when he can't sleep...and gets very sensitive to noise, like if the rain is dripping on the windowsill he will stick his fingers in his ears and go to sleep like that (uncomfortable but he somehow manages it). Anger in the morning is also not unheard of, despite him normally being a laid back character who's pretty difficult to anger during the day.

So, can someone please tell me whether a slight tendency towards negative thoughts would be counted as the indications being 'on all levels' or whether that is just a bit of a personality trait not overly important to treatment of the varicocele?

Or...is it just that if some of the indications that match are on an emotional level (eg. anger in the morning) and others on a physical (eg. blocked nose), then that would be considered 'on all levels'?

Just trying to clear up my confusion in order to narrow down which of the three options sounds best!

Thank you

Erika, thank you, that has clarified it for me more, but I still have more questions.

I cannot find anything in either Nux Vom or Lycopodium referring to 'varicose veins' as such. There are different things mentioning the testes but nothing specifically saying about varicosities. I found 'varicose veins' in the remedy find and it told me that 'Carbo Vegetabilis' was suitable for this.

I know that homeopathy normally describes symptoms rather than naming them by their 'official' medical name, but I am a bit lost here. If the Remedy Finder mentions varicose veins in those exact words in one remedy, should it not be also mentioned in the most suitable remedy for my boyfriend?

I found lots of references to pain and swelling in relation to the testes/spermatic cords like these -
male; inflammation; testes
male; pain; spermatic cords
male; pain; testes
male; pain; aching; spermatic cords
male; pain; aching; testes
male; pain; contracting; spermatic cord
male; pain; pulling; spermatic cords; extending to testes
male; swelling; testes
male; testes and scrotum (balls); scrotum swollen by fluid accumulation

but do these all amount to a varicocele being reduced by this remedy? Because I am sure you know it's just a varicose vein that's grown large (swollen, like a ball of worms) inside a man's testicles.

I know that it would be good to rid him of the other annoyances but the absolute most important thing above and beyond everything else, is the varicocele.

Sorry to be such a pain, but I want to understand it, and most of all I want to assist in choosing the right remedy.