Christmas can be a time of great stress for so many people.  This is a copy of an article published in the Picture of Health Magazine, Winter 2004 written by Caroline Schuck RSHom.  Homoeopathy is a very effective tool to help us cope much better with times of immense stress of which Christmas is but one example.  I hope that you find the tale amusing but also as helpful information.

“A Homoeopathic Christmas Tale”

What is it that makes Christmas time so stressful for many people?  For some it is the pressure of all that has to be done while for others it is the extreme changes in the weather that affect them.  For others it is the changes they make to their diets.  Whatever your individual stress may be, homoeopathy is able to support you and your family over this period.

I would like to introduce you to the Green family who regularly use a homoeopathic remedy kit.  Jane Green is preparing for Christmas.  She works part time and has two small children, Emily, aged five and George who is three.  Jane is apprehensive as her in laws are coming to stay for Christmas and there has always been some friction between her and her mother-in-law.  David, Jane’s husband is a workaholic and a gone viveur who enjoys the rich Christmas fare.

Jane is having sleepless nights worrying about all that he has to get done before the big day.  She is anxious that she won’t get everything done in time, she feels hurried and worried about everything.  What if the turkey does not defrost in time?  What if the presents she ordered on line don’t arrive?  What if the children get ill?  She tosses and turns.  She takes a few doses of Argentum Nitricum, which calms her down immediately.  She is able to get on without feeling anxious, she sleeps soundly.

At the end of term Emily comes down with a cold.  She got wet on the way back from school.  She insisted on playing in the puddles and then would not take off her wet socks.  She is clingy, feverish and has candles of yellow mucous coming from her nose.  Luckily Jane knows that her remedy kit includes Pulsatilla.  She gives Emily a few doses and within hours she is playing happily by herself, no longer welded to her mother.

Just as Jane is getting back on track with her Christmas preparations David arrives home after the office party feeling very sick.  He goes to bed but feels distinctly hungover in the morning.  He is irritable, has a headache and is still feeling sick.  He had eaten very rich food the night before and drunk a lot of alcohol.  Luckily he knows that the best remedy for over indulgence is Nux Vomica. He takes a bottle of it to work and takes a dose every hour until he feels better.

Jane is doing last minute baking.  The children are squabbling and she has to get the mince pies out of the oven quickly before they burn.  In the process she burns herself.  She reaches for the lavender oil that she keeps in the kitchen cupboard and smothers it on the burn and gets instant relief.  She then takes a dose of Cantharis. The following day there is no sign of the burn and no blistering.

That night Jane is woken by George screaming.  She had just gone to sleep and it is midnight.  She finds him feverish and burning hot with bright red cheeks; she can feel the heat coming off him.  Despite his temperature he wants to be covered by his blanket and screams when she uncovers him to cool him down.

She gives him a dose of Belladonna, repeats this during the night and by the morning the fever has gone and George is his old self again.

Jane is preparing herself for her in laws.  Christmas Day passes without event but Jane is aware that she is feeling irritated by them.  She does not say anything.  By Boxing Day a stye appears on her left eye lid.  She wonders why this has come up again and then remembers that last time it happened was when she felt angry with her mother in law for behaving rudely in front of the children by humiliating her.  That time she had kept her thoughts to herself as she did now.  She took a few doses of Staphysagria and the stye went down.

A few days later David’s father, Peter, went out in the cold without a hat or a warm coat and got chilled.  He came down with a cold.  Jane gave him some Aconite and he was soon well again.  His wife, Marjory, had been complaining for some time of not feeling quite rights; she had a headache above her eye and started to feel achy down her spine, she had a sore throat and went to bed, wishing to be left alone.  Jane administered some doses of Gelsemium for this slow onset flu and Marjory soon recovered.  Despite the inevitable illnesses of this time of year the Green family weathered the season very well thanks to homoeopathy.

Christmas Survival Kit

Aconite

Sudden onset of any symptoms e.g. colds, flu.  Colds as a result of getting chilled or getting in cold winds.

Arg Nit

Anticipatory anxiety with a sense of hurry and worry.

Belladonna

Redness, fevers worse midnight, better for covering, desires lemonade.

Cantharis

Burns.  Also useful in cystitis where there is burning during urination.

Gelsemium

Slow onset flu with aching in the spine and pain above the eyes.

Nux Vomica

Number one remedy for hangovers and over indulgence with headaches, nausea and irritability.

Staphysagria

Ailments from suppressed anger or humiliation.  This can include styes, cystitis.