Healing Crisis
By Glen Dupree, DVM & Susan Beal, DVM (as posted to the Wellpet list)

Sheila -

A "healing crisis" is much more than just a discharge, eruption, or worsening of the symptoms. A true healing crisis may have some particularly disagreeable components but will always be accompanied by an improvement of the case in general as noted by an improvements in the mental and emotional levels. A healing crisis is also usually (but, in very long standing cases, not always) short lived.

Rather than focusing on the particular physical signs seen, step back and judge the entire case before deciding if the "crisis" is good or not. Talk to your Homeopath and get him/her to help you evaluate what you are seeing.
If it is any consolation, these chronic psoric cases will often react like this if the case is started with Sulph. After this initial reaction, then a truer remedy picture often shows through. When I see this happening, I try to refrain from meddling with the symptoms suppressively (as long as the patient and the client are not traumatized beyond repair) so that the remedy action is not further confused and we can see the true case emerging.

Good luck
Glen Dupree, DVM

Sheila, Greetings,

You wrote about your Westie's reaction to his recently dosed homeopathic remedies and said,....
At first I could see no change then he started to get worse. I have been told this is a healing crisis. I understand this but he is not getting better.

The assessment of remedy action is a vital part of homeopathic prescribing.
You need to be aware of the progression of cure from a homeopathic standpoint in order to assess the action of the remedy.

True cure happens from the inside out, from the top to the bottom, and the symptoms recede in the reverse order of their appearance.

This is always accompanied by a greater sense of well being in the patient (we say the "mentals improve").
There seems to be a common feeling that any and all worsening of symptoms in a homeopathic case is a good thing, and that we need this aggravation or healing crisis in order that there is cure.

You need to get with your homeopath and have them help you put this into perspective.

You need to realize that cases such as Cody's are often difficult, and take some time to work through - this may means months. Four weeks is a very (very !!) short time in homeopathic prescribing for a serious longstanding allergic skin dis-ease, especially one that has been treated conventionally in the past. I am assuming the Sulphur was a carefully selected remedy, chosen after a thorough intake and case analysis. If the Sulphur is acting in a curative manner, I would expect the pup to be brighter, more interactive, have a clearer eye, display "better mentals" as we say. He may still be itchy, and yes, he may loose his hair. This is especially true if he has had hair loss in the past.

The severity of this action may be ameliorated by altering the potency of the remedy used.
It is really important that you be in touch with your homeopath, and that everyone try and be as clear as possible about the type of reaction Cody has had to the remedy.

The fact that he got lots of action from the remedy may mean it is a curative reaction, or may simply mean the remedy is close to the unique remedy that is Cody's.
If this pup has had a history of conventional medications in the past, it may be difficult to determine the remedy, since many of the symptoms are changed and altered by the previous treatment options.

In these dogs we don't see a true picture of the disease, but see a picture of the disease and the drugs and the dog's response to the drugs,....

This can be confusing at first, and sometimes we need to use a remedy to generate some specific symptoms, to start to "clear the case", and give a clearer picture of the next remedy required in the sequence.

It is difficult and inappropriate of me to comment on remedy selection, but you may want to ask your homeopath about using a different potency (strength) of the remedy to see if the significant action this pup has from the remedies might be modified a bit.

This will not change the manner in which the remedy action is assessed, not will it completely eliminate the return of old symptoms, but it may tone things down a bit, and bring him toward cure in a more gentle manner.
You might also want to speak with your homeopath about some other things you might do to lessen his itchiness without altering the case.

I routinely use unmedicated oatmeal shampoo, lemon water, Rescue Remedy, mild calendula solutions, and that type of therapeutic to ease the discomfort in these itchy dogs.

Be sure to check with your homeopath before you use anything, so they can help you to determine if the product may be suppressing some symptoms.
I encourage you to keep the faith - it's a test of patience for sure, some days !!

Doing homeopathy is hard work, both on the part of the practitioner as well as the caregiver (and the patient !!). Your feelings and doubts are very common, especially if this difficult case is your first exposure to homeopathy - it's like trial by fire !!

As I said earlier, a month is a very very short time in the overall scope of prescribing for a chronic skin disease
You do need to determine if the reaction your dog is having is a curative one, however.

Not everything that is labeled a healing crisis or detoxification is necessarily a beneficial reaction.
I hope this has been of some use to you.

Sincerely,
Susan Beal, DVM