saw palmetto for acne teenage boy

Dear riwebb,

I would take him off saw palmetto --Now. Do not switch
to Sabal Serrulata.

Your son needs a remedy based on his unique totality-
mental, physical, emotional, what makes him feel better
and worse.

His system is out of balance. When the right remedy matches
his "totality" it is similar to the out of balance state.
The body will not allow two similar states to go on, so when
he takes the remedy the body responds by boosting the life
force to clear all imbalance. The clearing usually follows
a certain path ( google "herings law of cure")

That is what homeopaths look for in a response.

You can post a new thread and someone will help you.
That will be his treatment thread. Please post what he
has taken so far and someone will ask you the right
questions, which you will have to get answers from him
to do this correctly and get a real cure instead of
what is now most probably symptomatic relief with saw palmetto/sabul serrulata.
[message edited by simone717 on Thu, 15 Jan 2015 22:18:04 GMT]

I have seen a number of reports by patients whose health was severely damaged by saw palmetto. I agree it is probably not a good idea to leave him on it, and from our perspective as homoeopaths it is suppressing not curing, which means the cause of the acne is still there and will be eating away at the vitality, setting him up for worse problems in the future.

If you are willing to have Evocationer take
his case, I am sure he will do that.

The consequences of having Saw Palmetto
on his testosterone levels can lead to
severe depression and having to take hormones
the rest of your life.

In the meantime, you could try having him
take these cell salts 4 times a day to
rebalance him on the cell level and see if
there is a result after one week.

Kali Mur 6x
Calc Sulph 6x
Calc phos 6x
Silica 6x

take 2 tabs of each one all at one time and
dissolve under the tongue.

Has he had a CBC or Liver panel done from
blood tests? In Chinese medicine the liver
rules the skin. Accutane ( which they are having class action lawsuits now on liver
damage) - was producing results for people
thru what it was doing to the liver.

btw- the cell salts ( there are 12) Hylands brand
are under the remedies at Whole Foods. You can also
get them from Vitacost online.
[message edited by simone717 on Wed, 21 Jan 2015 16:44:54 GMT]

I'll see if I can help. Let me post the questionnaire for him - he will need to answer as many of these questions as he can himself though. At 15 he is essentially an adult. If there is anything he doesn't want to post in public, he can email me (just make sure you let me know you have done that).

CASE PRESENTATION FOR CLASSICAL HOMOEOPATHIC PRESCRIBING

General Guidelines:

1. Try to be as descriptive as possible. When describing pains or sensations use descriptions along the lines of ‘feels as if someone is squeezing it with their hand’ or ‘it is like an insect crawling around inside’ or ‘it is as if someone is standing over me threatening to kill me’. Long descriptions are always better than short ones. One word answers are difficult to use successfully.

2. Another important part of symptom description for homoeopathy are the ‘modalities’. These are situations, events, activities or conditions which modify the symptom in some way. We usually refer to this as what makes them ‘better’ or ‘worse’ (amelioration/aggravation). The situation may actually provoke the symptom into appearing, make it vanish altogether, or just increase or decrease it in some way. Modalities are vital information for prescribing.

Modalities are typically related to (but not exclusively) the following situations:

A. Temperature, weather
B. Time (day, night, specific times, frequency, periodicity, season)
C. Position, activity
D. Emotions, thoughts
E. Food and drink
F. Drugs, medication

3. How the symptom is perceived is important too – odour, appearance, sound, touch. What colour is it, what is its texture? For gestures, describe what it looks like the patient is doing, or what you feel you are doing while making the movement eg. ‘they look like they are swatting flies’ or ‘I feel like something is pushing my hand upwards’ or ‘it is like I stick a fork in an electrical outlet which throws my body backwards’. Description – it is key to accurate prescriptions.

4. When did the symptom or set of symptoms start? The apparent cause can be useful in determining the remedy, although it is not of the same importance as the previous factors. It may have been a specific event, a disease, an accident or even an emotional experience.

5. Use your own words. Do not copy phrases or descriptions found in our various remedy pictures. Try not to use other people’s ideas or thoughts or words. If you are reporting on behalf of someone else, report their exact words, however you can also report your own observations of them (not opinions).

6. Does the symptom occur alongside another specific symptom? Do particular symptoms only occur together? Does a particular symptom occur with a particular thought or emotion? For example, a headache that always comes with visual disturbances, or stomach pain that appears alongside anger, or anxiety that makes you feel like running down the street screaming.

7. Each complaint should be described fully before going on to describe another complaint. Try not to mix different symptoms or complaints together. Each modifying feature must be clearly attached to a particular symptom/set of symptoms. Any mistake you make here is a mistake the homoeopath will also then make.



BEFORE MOVING ON TO THE NEXT SET OF QUESTIONS, DO THIS NOW FOR EACH PHYSICAL PROBLEM YOU HAVE. LOOK AT ANY POSSIBLE SYMPTOM YOU HAVE, NOT JUST THE ONE YOU ARE ASKING FOR HELP IN RESOLVING.

GENERAL SYMPTOMS

(Symptoms that don’t fit anywhere else, but are things that tend to affect all of you as a person, but are not emotions or thoughts)

1. Sleep - what position do you tend to sleep in?
- what position can you not sleep in?
- do you do anything unusual in your sleep?
- any problems with going to sleep, staying asleep, or waking up?

2. Appetite - What foods do you crave/desire strongly?
- What foods do you hate eating (have an aversion to)?
- What foods have a negative effect on you or cause symptoms?
- What foods have a positive effect on you or seem to improve your health or symptoms in some way?

- What is the effect of hunger or fasting on you?

3. Thirst - What drinks do you crave/desire strongly?
- What drinks do you hate to take (are averse to)?
- When are you most thirsty?
- When are you least thirsty?

4. Stool - Do you have any problems with your bowels or passing stool?
- What is the shape, color, odor of the stool?

5. Urine - Do you have any trouble passing or retaining urine?
- What is the color, odor of the urine?
- Do you have any sediment or debris in the urine?

6. Sweat - How do you feel about the amount of perspiration you have?
- Where do you have the most sweat?
- What is the odor?
- What color does it stain clothing?
- Does anything in particular cause you to sweat abnormally?

7. Sexuality - Any problems with your sexual desire?
- Any problems with your sexual ability or function?
- Any history of sexually transmitted diseases?

8. Menses (Women)
- How many days is your cycle?
- How many days does the flow go for?
- What is the appearance of the flow?
- What is the odor of the flow?
- What kind of stain does the flow leave?
- Any discharge before, during or after?
- Any pain before, during or after the flow?
- What symptoms come before the flow?
- What symptoms come after the flow?

9. Environment – How does the weather affect you?
- How does the temperature affect you?
- How does the season affect you?
- What physical activities affect you?
- Is there anything else in the environment you are sensitive to?

10. Anything else you feel is important that hasn’t been covered by previous questions?

MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL DESCRIPTION



(Please spend the most time on this section and give DETAILED answers - the homoeopathic remedy is very often decided on the basis of the mental and emotional state of the patient !)


1. What are the issues in your life that bother you the most. Not physical issues but mental or emotional ones. List each one separately and describe why each one bothers you so much.

2. What emotions are the most troublesome for you? What situations provoke these emotions. How do these emotions make you act? Do you feel any ill effects from expressing or not expressing these emotions.

3. What incidents in your life have had a deep impact on you? Describe each incident in detail and how they made you feel? What did you do in those situations? What effect have they had on your life?

4. What are you afraid of? Especially important are phobias, but it might be objects, situations or events that just produce a high level of anxiety. How do you manage your fears? How do you react when confronted with these fears? What would be the worst situation for you to be put in that would provoke these fears? You may need to talk about each fear/anxiety separately.

5. What hobbies do you have? Why do you like each of these activities?

6. Do you have any persistent thoughts, ideas or beliefs that are difficult to stop or cope with? What are they?

7. Do you have any unusual gestures or movements of the body? Do you feel any unusual sensation or pain throughout your body? What exactly does it feel like is happening in your body?

8. When you experience your fears, persistent thoughts, or difficult emotions, what kind of sensation or reactions do you get in your body?

9. When did you feel at your best in your life? What was that like for you? If you imagine the complete opposite of this feeling or moment, what would that be like?

10. Do you feel like you are stuck in a pattern of behavior, especially when trying to deal with your problems? What is this pattern? THIS IS AN IMPORTANT QUESTION PLEASE CONSIDER CAREFULLY AND GIVE DETAILS.

11. What difficulties or problems do you have in relationships? Talk about your family, your romantic relationships, your spouse or partner, your friends, and your work colleagues. You may need to talk about all of these separately.

12. List 5 positive things about yourself. Are there any situations where this positive attribute becomes negative (is a problem)?

13. List 5 negative things about yourself. Are there any situations where this negative attribute becomes positive (is useful)?

14. Do you have any reoccurring dreams? Describe them in detail, including any feelings that come while dreaming. Dreams are very important in unlocking the deepest truth of a patient’s case, but it is not enough to simply describe them in a sentence. Give as much information as you feel comfortable doing.

15. Did you have any reoccurring dreams as a child, or earlier in your life? Describe those in detail including any feelings that came with them.

16. What were you like as a child, your character, your personality, your fears, your dreams, your problems?

17. What kind of environment did you grow up in? What problems where there at home, with your family, with your parents, with your siblings, with school?