Peggy Sheehan, MD FAAP
Homeopathy
What is Homeopathy?
Homeopathy is a system of medicine that uses select natural medicines to treat the whole person. Homeopathic treatment corrects the body’s underlying imbalance or susceptibilities. With a carefully chosen remedy, the body’s own healing process is ignited and a person can experience relief on all levels- physically, mentally and emotionally.
Homeopathy is safe for all ages. There are no adverse interactions with prescription drugs. The remedies are easy to take, low cost, and may offer lasting improvement in overall health.
Homeopathic medicines treat your unique set of symptoms. There is not one remedy for one disease, but rather a particular remedy for the individual. It is especially effective for chronic or recurrent conditions that are not responding to conventional medicine. Conditions that respond well to homeopathy include the following:
General Health:
Acne
Acute and Chronic Pain
Allergies and Asthma
Arthritis
Chronic Fatigue
Diabetes
Digestive Disturbances
Eczema
Infertility
Influenza
Insomnia
Migraines
Mono
Multiple Sclerosis
Psoriasis
Upper Respiratory Infections
Mental Health:
Anxiety
Bipolar Disorder
Depression
Grief
Women’s Heath:
PMS
Menstrual Irregularities
Menopause
Pregnancy related issues
Pediatric Health:
ADD/ADHD
Colic
Behavioral disorders
Eczema
Ear infections
Learning disorders
Teething
About Dr. Sheehan
Dr. Sheehan has been a practicing pediatrician for over 20 years.
She graduated from Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1985 and completed her three- year residency program in Pediatrics at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in 1988. She maintains her board certification in General Pediatrics and is a fellow in the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Dr. Sheehan works part-time in a General Pediatric practice in Castle Rock and practices homeopathy in North Denver. The two practices are separate. If you are choosing to see Dr. Sheehan for homeopathy, she requests that you maintain your Primary Care Provider. Dr. Sheehan accepts adult clients and is happy to examine your history and illness from the homeopathic point of view. She will not diagnose or treat any adults with conventional medicine, and encourages you to be fully informed about the options offered by conventional medicine and your primary care physician.
Dr. Sheehan became interested in homeopathy over 10 years ago. She is especially appreciative of its gentle, holistic, and non-toxic therapies and finds the principles and science quite sound. She completed a two- year program of study through the Canadian Academy of Homeopathy.
Additionally, she is a long time meditation practitioner and teaches mindfulness-based stress reduction in a medical setting.
Homeopathy requires a very in depth and thorough case history. An initial appointment is scheduled for 1.5- 3 hours depending on a person’s age and condition. Dr. Sheehan sees clients by appointment only.
Fees:
Initial consult Adult (2-3hours) $300.00
Initial consult Child:(1.5-2hours) $200.00
Follow up visits: (30-40min) $75.00
Dr. Sheehan accepts cash or checks. Currently she does not accept credit cards. A receipt will be given which can be submitted to your insurance company. If travel distance is too far arrangements for phone follow-up can be made. The fee for phone consults and follow-ups are based up time spent ($2/min). Phone consults are generally not reimbursed by insurance.
Homeopathy further explained:
Homeopathy is a scientific method of treatment that is based on the application of the law of similars. Though this principle has been observed in nature for thousands of years it wasn’t until 1796 that the principles were more clearly studied and laid out. This work was done by a German physician named Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). After years of perfecting this therapeutic method, he called it homeopathy, by uniting two Greek roots, homoios meaning “similar” and pathos meaning “what one feels”. Homeopathy consists of treating sick people with remedies that, in crude doses, would produce in healthy people symptoms similar to those of the disease needing to be overcome.
Remedies used by homeopathic physicians come from natural sources and are prepared in such a way that they are devoid of all chemical toxicity. In conventional medicine, drugs are generally given for their effects on the body and for particular organs in the body. In homeopathy the unique remedy is given to provoke a healing reaction of the organism. The greater the degree of similarity between the symptoms that are provoked by the remedy on a healthy person and the symptoms displayed by the person who is sick, the greater will be the recovery reaction.
As such a person’s symptoms are the most important clues to choosing the best remedy. Homeopathy regards symptoms as the body’s healthy attempt to restore balance. Hence, a remedy is chosen that supports the symptoms rather than opposing or suppressing them as in conventional medicine.
Homeopathy does not treat diseases per se, but rather the person who is sick. Whether a person has an acute or chronic disease, all of their symptoms including physical, mental and emotional form a whole representing a sate of imbalance that is specific to the individual. The goal of the physician is to recognize through the unique expression of symptoms of a patient the pattern of disturbed energy and identify among a great number of remedies the one most homeopathic, most similar.
As mentioned the initial interview is lengthy. A client will be asked to describe all of their problems in detail as well as everything else that characterize him/her. These characteristics include feelings, sensations, sensitivities, energy, sleep, hunger, digestion, etc. The better the homeopathic physician understands the patient and his/her problems, the better she can individualize and find the specific and most similar remedy.
The remedy will often be administered in a single dose, once, until the next visit. During the follow-up visit, which generally takes place two to six weeks after the original consultation, the physician will review all the changes that have occurred since the initial remedy was taken. And then determine the best timing to repeat the dose.
What to expect:
What should you expect during homeopathic treatment?
Initial aggravation:
Be aware that when you take a homeopathic remedy with a high degree of similarity while under treatment with a chronic problem, you may experience at first an aggravation of your symptoms. This aggravation is usually mild and typically starts within 24 hours of taking the remedy. This initial aggravation usually lasts from 12-72 hours. It typically consists of feeling more tired, more irritable, more sleepy or headachy. Any little aches and pains may be heightened in intensity. The best way to deal with this aggravation is the to rest it out, or go to bed early. Be aware that the more acute your problem is the least likely you will be to experience an initial aggravation. During the initial aggravation or soon afterwards, you should start to notice (if the remedy has high degree of similarity) some symptoms starting to improve and an increasing feeling of well-being. This signifies that you have taken a good remedy.
Recovery of health:
This feeling of well being and improvement of your symptoms following the initial aggravation signals that your organism has reacted positively to the remedy and you are on your way to recovery of health. This state of improvement may get progressively better for weeks and weeks.
Relapse:
The improvement experienced following the first dose of the remedy will come to a halt after some time. This usually happens anytime from one to several weeks after the first dose. If nothing is done you will slowly notice that the symptoms are starting to return to a state prior to that of the first dose. This situation is called a relapse. A relapse is the sign to take a second dose of the remedy. However do not repeat the remedy unless given instructions to do so by your physician. Often after the first week of feeling better you may experience a short and temporary relapse that lasts about one day. At that time we do not intervene. Soon you will continue to improve again. No intervention is needed for this short and temporary relapse. When the relapse is lasting for 2-5 days this is more likely to be a real relapse and signal the time to take another dose.
What interferes:
There are basically two ways by which you can interfere with the action of the remedy: by anti-doting it or by suppressing symptoms. As a rule while under homeopathic treatment it is best not to palliate symptoms with drugs or other treatments. If you are presently taking allopathic medications for chronic problems or acute recurrent problems like asthma do not change your allopathic medications, but do make sure to mention all the medications you are taking.
Dentistry and elective surgery:
While under homeopathic treatment dental work or elective surgery can antidote your reaction to the remedy you have taken. Prior to starting dental work or getting an elective surgery, ask advice of your homeopath as to the best timing for these. Routine X-rays and teeth cleaning are no problem.
Antidotes:
Any strong influence could antidote your reaction to a remedy taken. It all depends on your level of susceptibility to any such influence. An antidotal effect occurs when you are reacting more to the new influence than to the remedy previously taken. For some people coffee will antidote their reaction to the homeopathic remedy while for others it is not a problem. If you drink coffee regularly it is likely not to be a problem. If you only drink it occasionally it is recommended to avoid it completely. This is true for decaffeinated coffee as well as it is not the caffeine that is the antidote but rather the coffee. Tea, diet drinks and chocolate are okay.
Typically very strong drugs when introduced during homeopathic treatment will antidote beneficial reactions to the remedy. This is especially true for recreational drugs, but less so for alcohol. Camphor often antidotes the remedy. Avoid anything that has significant amounts of camphor such as deep heat rubs, liniments, Vicks, Ben Gay, Tiger Balm, many lip balms, some candies and cough lozenges. As mentioned, dental work with actual drilling seems to antidote remedies. Routine X-rays and teeth cleaning are no problem. Strong stress will also have an antidotal effect.
Patients responsibilities:
In addition to avoiding antidotes as mentioned, the patient’s primary responsibility is self-observation. To prescribe correctly, the physician needs to know virtually every aspect of your being –mental, emotional, and physical. In particular, we need information about aspects which are most peculiar, most unique, most unexplainable by ordinary logic. This requires a good deal of attention on your part, something which does not always come easy for us.
Homeopathy demands perseverance and patience. The slow progress toward cure can sometimes become a great test of faith and understanding, especially in our quick-fix culture. Nevertheless the demand to “wait and watch” is crucially important. The body has its own wisdom and when given the information to spark the healing process it will progress at its own optimal pace.
About remedies:
Professional, FDA approved, homeopathic pharmaceutical companies prepare remedies in environments carefully controlled for temperature, odors, dust, light and humidity. The original substance derived most often from plant, mineral or animal is diluted in alcohol, and then serially diluted many, many times. With each dilution the vial is vigorously shaken. And though it may seem paradoxical, the more the original substance is shaken and diluted, the more its curative power is increased while eliminating all toxicity.
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