01:00   Introduction: Quashing the Pain of Fibromyalgia With Homeopathy: Rhus tox

02:00   Personal Experience Dealing With Fibromyalgia

            How I Cured My Fibromyalgia With One Simple Medicine

03:43   Symptoms of Fibromyalgia

07:50   The Most Valuable Homeopathic Medicine for Fibromyalgia

10:17   Do We Change Our Use of Homeopathy Depending on the Specific Sufferer?

11:30   Where To Buy Homeopathic Medicines

12:16   Causes of Fibromyalgia

14:48   What if Fibromyalgia Returns?

16:20   Homeopathy vs. Conventional Medicine

19:14   Closing Advice

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Kate:

This is the Practical Homeopathy® Podcast, episode number 155, with Joette Calabrese.

Joette:

Hi, I’m Joette Calabrese, and I welcome you to our health care movement — yours, mine and the countless men and women across the globe who have retaken control of their families’ health with Practical Homeopathy®.

So, for the next few minutes, let’s link our arms as I demystify homeopathy — what was once considered an esoteric paradigm — into an understandable, reproducible, safe and effective health care solution available to all.

This is the medicine you’ve been searching for — my unique brand of homeopathy, PRACTICAL Homeopathy®.

Kate: (01:00)

Hello and welcome back to the Practical Homeopathy® Podcast with Joette. I’m Kate, and as always, we are thrilled to have you joining us today. If you are new here, welcome. This is the place where we dive deep into the power of homeopathy and how it can offer real, practical solutions for you and your family.

Today, we’re exploring the topic of fibromyalgia. It’s a condition that’s often misunderstood and notoriously difficult to manage using conventional approaches.

But what if there was another way, a gentler yet powerful system of healing that addresses this chronic condition? Well, that’s exactly what we’re diving into today with Joette: how homeopathy can offer and help those suffering from fibromyalgia.

We’ll be talking about some real cases, practical remedies, and what makes the homeopathic approach so unique and effective.

So, let’s get started.

Hi, Joette.

Joette: (02:00)

Hi, Kate.

This is one of my favorite subjects, you know.

I used to have fibromyalgia, and I’ve actually written about it. I think it might even be on my blog, but I think it’s time to go over it again because it’s such a common condition, particularly for women. And it’s something that seems like all we can do is take an analgesic, and it simply is not so.

In fact, analgesics only cause more trouble. Some of them cause liver disease and cause gut problems, and we can keep going on all the problems that are related to taking drugs just to soften some pain. And all that does is it drives the condition to a deeper state and causes more conditions that we call side effects.

And side effects, my friends — I have to just add this one little aspect to this — doesn’t mean that it just happens right away, and you know what it is and okay, and you’re calculating it into your determination or a decision as to whether or not you want to stay with the drug.

No, no. Side effects can be very subversive without us ever really realizing. They can cause liver damage that you’ll never know, or you may not know for many years.

They may cause side effects that seem like, “Oh, no, that’s not a side effect, that’s just aging.”

No, my friends, we don’t want any “effects” from a drug. We want to use a medicine that’s relatively safe — as long as it’s used properly — is relatively safe, is efficacious, and is very inexpensive and often resolves the condition once and for all.

And that’s why I say that I really appreciate this particular condition or subject we’re talking about today, because this topic is dear to my heart.

As a result of having used homeopathy, I no longer have fibromyalgia.

Kate: (03:43)

Joette, can you talk about the symptoms of fibromyalgia? Because I think everyone has heard the word fibromyalgia, but they may not know what it actually is or what the symptoms might be.

Joette:

Well, “myalgia” means pain, and “fibro” means fibrous tissue, such as muscles — mostly muscles — but it can also be tendons. And there’s a tendency for there to be a kind of tenderness. And so, the muscles are inflamed; they’re in pain.

So, there’s a tenderness, but it’s also accompanied by a couple of other symptoms, such as fatigue, sometimes sleep difficulties. Because sleep, of course, if you’re laying on a place that hurts, such as your shoulder or your arm or your knees, your back, your neck, that can cause pain because it’s so tender.

So, it affects sleep, but it also can affect cognitive abilities — to be able to reason and think through your day-to-day activities. So, it depends on how severe it is.

Now, there are certain areas where we find fibromyalgia to be most commonly positioned in the body, and it’s often in the shoulders, as I said, in the upper back, near the neck, the sternum, the knees, the hips, sometimes even the hands.

And it’s also a condition that afflicts women more than it does men. Now I have a theory: Why does it affect women more often than men?

It’s only a theory, my friends, but I have to mention that I think it’s often women suffer from a lot more conditions than men because women are more often tinkered with, yet women start going to a doctor at a very early age.

Once they finish with the pediatrician, then if they get their menses, or they’re going through menarche, and there’s a little problem here or a little problem there, or they get acne.

The thought of acne: “Oh my gosh, we’ve got to get to the doctor right away!” And instead of considering the possibility that it could be diet, BAM! In come the birth control pills, in spite of the fact that she’s only 13 years old. Or BAM! Antibiotics.

And so, we see a lot more tinkering.

And because of those kinds of conditions that are treated, synthetic drugs of commerce, I believe that it causes an inflammation. I don’t have proof of this. It’s my theory based on thousands — and I mean many thousands — of cases that I have taken.

Now, I’ve also noticed that fibromyalgia often comes a little bit later in life. Could that be because there’ve been more and more antibiotics, more and more birth control pills, years and years of all of these steroids and all of the drugs that women automatically take?

And I have to say parenthetically that you don’t realize how many drugs you’ve taken because we don’t care to remember, to be honest. It’s only human nature.

What we need to do is even look at: “I had pneumonia two years ago. Let’s see, and ever since then, I’ve had pain, and after that, I had a urinary tract infection, and then I was getting headaches. Oh my gosh, remember? Oh, and I also had that otitis media. And then, oh my, oh yeah, I had that sty.”

For every one of those conditions, I guarantee most people have had drugs that have accompanied them. So, that’s something that has to be considered.

Now, let’s put that all aside and get back to fibromyalgia. I’m happy that you thought of this topic, Kate, for today, for us to discuss, because we’re heading into autumn in the north. Autumn is cold and damp and wet, and that often exacerbates the myalgia. It brings things more to the fore, and it’s something that we find ourselves when we have something like this.

And let me also say, it can be very mild version of fibromyalgia. It can be a moderate version of fibromyalgia; it can be an extreme version. And I found myself, when I had it, I found myself rubbing my neck, rubbing my shoulder, rubbing my wrists. That sleep was disturbed, indeed, because I’d be sleeping on my shoulder, and it would cause sensitivity and pain, making it much worse.

Kate: (07:50)

So, Joette, that leads me to the question, what do we do about fibromyalgia? Especially, is there a homeopathic solution?

Joette:

I find that the most valuable homeopathic medicine for fibromyalgia is Rhus tox, Rhus toxicodendron, and it’s usually used in a 30th potency, sometimes in a 200 potency.

I like people who are new to homeopathy — that means within the last couple of years to consider starting with Rhus tox 30, instead of going directly to the 200, and using it twice daily. I find that medicine to be, excuse my repetitive use of the word, “gobsmacking,” but it can be.

Now, when I had fibromyalgia — by the time I had that, I had a good understanding of homeopathy and what to watch for and how to assess — what occurred, once I started using the medicine, I started using it in a 200C. So, I used Rhus tox 200C, and I used it twice daily. And within a few days, for me — I’m not going to tell you that this is so for everyone — within a few days, I had complete relief, so I stopped.

That’s a big part of homeopathy. When the condition is resolved, we halt it. This is not a supplement or a vitamin in which we would say, “Oh, well. Just take vitamin C for the rest of your life.” Or “Here, let’s take some vitamin D.”

No, no, this is medicine. So, that means that when the condition is aborted, so is the medicine. We stop. Now, for me and for many others, we find that once it’s stopped, there’s a really wonderful, beautiful grace period. And it can go on for days, weeks, months. And then it might show up again.

And when it shows up again, what do we do? We don’t say, “Oh, no! It’s back again.”

We say, “Oh, cool. It’s back again. I know exactly what to do. I get my Rhus tox 30C, and I get it out of my homeopathy cabinet, and I start using that again.”

For how long?

As long as it takes for the medicine to act, usually within a few days or a week or so. And once it halts the condition, again, we halt the use of the medicine.

Kate: (10:17)

So, Joette, if there’s a dog exhibiting the same symptoms or maybe an elderly person who has these symptoms. Can you talk about how homeopathy would differ with the use for an animal or an elderly person or a middle-aged person?

Joette:

Yes. It matters not.

But how would you know that the dog has fibromyalgia? Well, you would use that description. Is there tenderness? If you touch the dog’s shoulder, and it kind of winces or pulls away or moves away from your touch, then that can be arthritis.

But this is the same medicine that we use for arthritis, as a matter of fact.

And if you touch, and the dog is very fatigued. Now that’s a hard thing to determine because dogs usually sleep all day long. But let’s say the dog has no time up and running around and asking you to throw the ball. That’s unlike this dog. Then there’s a possibility that it could be something like a muscle pain and tenderness that we would characterize as fibromyalgia.

So, we would use the same medicine, the same potency, and the same frequency for a poodle as we would for an elderly woman. That’s all the same. It works beautifully in both.

Kate: (11:30)

So, if you’re newer to homeopathy, and you’re hearing this and it rings true with you, and you think you or someone you know needs these medicines, you might wonder, “Where do I purchase homeopathic medicines? What is a trusted source?”

And I just wanted to mention, Joette, that you have a blog titled Where To Buy Homeopathic Medicines, and that’s on your website, Joette Calabrese, that’s J-O-E-T-T-E-C-A-L-A-B-R-E-S-E.com. And it’s titled, again, Where To Buy Homeopathic Medicines.

And you can just type in the search bar, and it’ll bring that blog up and give you lots of ideas about trusted sources for homeopathics.

Kate: (12:16)

So, now I want to ask, Joette, these symptoms that you’re talking about, are they always maybe a side effect of a medication or what could cause these fibromyalgia symptoms?

Joette:

Well, there are other reasons that fibromyalgia shows up, and one of them is trauma.

If someone was in an automobile accident, for example. And maybe no bones were broken, and perhaps there wasn’t even any bruising, but the body was shocked by the impact of another car.

Or somebody falls on the ice, and their whole body feels rather shocked by the event. And after a while, the person finds that they feel tender and kind of a widespread muscle pain and fatigue. That is a way that fibromyalgia could also present.

So, it’s not always from drugs.

And another source, I believe, is inflammatory foods. So, I would urge you to consider looking at your diet. Should you indeed be eating bread? Should you be eating foods with gluten? Ask yourself that question. And in fact, you might even want to check with it and say no bread, no gluten, no grains for, say, six weeks.

And then at the end of six weeks, have a glutenfest. Have waffles for breakfast and a sandwich for lunch and pasta on the side for dinner. And then after dinner, have a dessert — maybe a cupcake or something — and see how it feels after a few days of eating those kinds of foods and see whether or not you feel inflamed.

This is an experiment that’s, I think, prudent to do. We want to know what foods are doing to us because we put them in our mouths every day, and there’s a lot of wiggle room here. There’s a lot of ways that we can get this shifted if we have complete understanding of what it is we’re eating and what we’re doing to our bodies as a result of it.

And I have to say, when I talk to people, most people believe they’re eating a good diet.

It’s very rare that somebody says, “No, I don’t eat a good diet.” No, people want to feel as though they’re making good, intelligent decisions, but there’s a lot of erroneous information out there, friends.

So, I urge you to question what it is you’re eating on a regular basis and be honest with yourself because it’s really easy for us. We humans like to pretend that we are doing the best thing for ourselves, and we’re being intelligent and educated, but we are also emotional beings. And I don’t know that we like to. But we often hide — even from ourselves — what we’re doing. And myself included, so, I’m not slapping anyone’s hand.

Kate: (14:48)

So, let’s go back to what we talked about in the beginning and how you talked about your fibromyalgia that you had and no longer have. How are you doing now? You said that you no longer have symptoms. Do you ever have to take those medicines once in a while, or is it just completely gone?

Joette:

Well, I would say it’s 99% gone. Every once in a while — especially if I’ve overworked, like I’ve cleaned out the garage for far too many hours, walking up and down the stairs from the basement, carrying boxes or that kind of thing, and it’s been a full day — I might get a little achy.

Sometimes it’s hard to know, is this in my joints (so that it’s more arthritic), or is it more in my muscles? And sometimes it’s difficult to know, but it matters not, my friends.

I simply use Rhus tox. I take it for one day — maybe two doses in one day — and for me it goes away. That’s it.

And then it doesn’t show up again until — I don’t know, a year later — the next time I clean the garage because everything’s accumulating again. The next time I move heavy boxes that it can come back again.

But I’ve noticed through the years that I need these medicines less and less frequently because that’s the goal of homeopathic medicines. The goal is to uproot. And I’m not saying it does it in every single case, but we should see a shift in how the body is moving along, having been using these homeopathic medicines.

And I also have to add in there, I don’t eat inflammatory foods very often.

Kate: (16:20)

Joette, it’s so amazing what these medicines can do that I was just having a conversation with someone yesterday about homeopathic medicines. And I just wonder, what do people do who don’t use homeopathy? And they’re always running to the doctor, and I guess another medication?

I don’t know, but it’s so incredible how we don’t really have to go to the doctor. That all the things that come up in our lives, unless it’s an emergency, can really be handled efficacious with homeopathy. And I don’t know how people live without it.

Joette:

I agree with you. And what happens is they go to the, let’s say, rheumatologist, for this condition, and then they go to the gastroenterologist for the stomach upset and the bloating and the inability to eat this food or that food. And then they go to the OB-GYN to get another test and their prescription for their birth control pills. They go to the neurologist because now they’ve got headaches, and they go to …

And then; and then; and then; and then.

And none of these specialists are coordinating all of this. So, in the end, it’s surprising to me. It’s really stunning to me how many drugs people are on.

I was taking care of my elderly uncle years ago, and he was very, very sick after having had minor surgery. He was very sick, and he was not able to sleep.

Now, let me just say this. (This is a fascinating case.) When I say he was not able to sleep, I mean he was not able to sleep at all.

The drug that they were giving him … I wish I could remember the name of it; I don’t. The drug they were giving him for after surgery kept him completely awake for three or four days, as I recall.

By the second day, he was moaning. He could not fall asleep.

Now, it would’ve been nice if somebody had told him this, but according to the directions that he was given after surgery, no one said anything to him about getting off of that medication. No pharmacist knew anything about this.

And when I called the doctor, they said, “Oh no, he shouldn’t be taking that any longer.”

That was only for the day after surgery, and it was many days after surgery. It was like Chinese torture. That was absolutely horrible to witness this, I don’t know, 85-year-old man going through this terrible suffering.

Thankfully, I made the call and got rid of that prescription, and he was able to sleep. And he slept for two days after that.

So, if we’re not watching and if it’s an elderly person, if you are not the advocate for someone else, no one else is watching my friends. I would love to say that the system is really organized and well thought out and tidy and has your best interest in mind.

But it does not.

It is up to you to take care of yourself and your family, and have others willing to take care of you when you need an advocate.

Kate: (19:14)

Wow, Joette. This has been a lot of excellent information. So, what should we do next?

Joette:

Well, for listeners who are new, I urge them to consider just going to JoetteCalabrese.com. I have a universe of information — much of it is at no charge at all — on my blog and my podcasts and Monday Night Lives and social media, et cetera.

But if you are not-so-new or you want to go further, faster, then I urge you to consider joining a Gateway group (one of our study groups), and join in with others, because it is important, friends, to do this with others.

This is an unusual medicine in North America. Not unusual in Europe, not unusual in India and in some parts of South America, but here, it’s unusual. And you don’t want to be alone in pursuing this kind of information. It’s really great to join a group. That’s the way we humans are made … is to be a part of a group.

So, I urge you just to look into my study groups, Gateway study groups, and just peruse — just to hang out — on my site.

And if you go to my blog, say hi to me. I respond to my blog every day.

Kate:

Great. Joette, thanks so much for the information.

Joette:

My pleasure, Kate. It’s always good to talk with you.

It’s my honor to share many lessons on this simple method of using homeopathy for free —without affiliates or advertising — here in my podcasts, but also my blog posts and Monday Night Lives.

But it’s critical that you learn how to use these medicines properly. These podcasts should serve as only the beginning of your training. Peruse JoettesLearningCenter.com to find fun study group opportunities and in-depth courses developed by subject.

So, with the proper training, you can join the thousands of students before you in developing the confidence and competence to protect the health of your family and loved ones with my brand of homeopathy, Practical Homeopathy®.

Kate:

You just listened to a podcast from internationally acclaimed homeopath, public speaker and author, the founder of The Academy of Practical Homeopathy®, Joette Calabrese. Joette’s podcasts are available on all your favorite podcast apps.

To learn more and find out if homeopathy is a good fit for your health strategy, visit PracticalHomeopathy.com.