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Festive Season Christmas
A Homoeopathic Factsheet with tips to help through the festive season
Christmas means many different things to different people. For some it is a time to get together with family, enjoy a holiday, have a rest, recharge energies, look back over the past year and plan for the future. These are very positive and need no medical suggestions at all. |  |
Sometimes though, Christmas seems to "go wrong". We build high expectations of this festival and then try to cram it all into one or a few days and try to please everybody. Inevitably then, there are problems.
Often we find our diet changes dramatically at Christmas. We eat more, more often and more richly than normally - and so our digestive systems suffer under the onslaught.
Nux Vomica is the best homoeopathic remedy to take when you have overindulged, whether in rich creamy foods, too much food, too many stimulants, too much coffee or too much alcohol. It is also sensible to give your gut a rest.
Many of us drink much more alcohol at Christmas time during parties and celebrations. We would be well advised to drink a glass of water for every glass of alcohol and to eat proper meals too.
If we are feeling nauseous, bilious, with our food laying like a heavy weight in our stomach, a bad headache, hiccoughing, maybe even vomiting then we need to take Nux Vomica.
Nux Vomica will help to settle the digestive system and clear the liver, so is held to be a homoeopathic detoxifying remedy.
If the digestive upset has been caused by food poisoning, perhaps from poorly prepared food, then -
Arsenicum Album is the best remedy. The symptoms will be diarrhoea with nausea, possibly vomiting and the sufferer will not want to see or smell food! Dose them frequently with Arsenicum Album until the symptoms ease, encouraging them to drink water even in little sips. If the symptoms are particularly severe or do not respond to the first few doses of remedy, then seek professional medical advice.
Many women suffer with cystitis or thrush at holiday time and these conditions too can be linked to a change in diet. If affected it is important to drink plenty of fluid, mainly water, to stop all alcohol, and to reduce drastically the intake of sugar in the form of glucose or sucrose.
Cantharis will help ease symptoms of cystitis such as burning pain on urinating, with much urging, even if little urine is passed.
Candida or Sepia will help thrush to clear. As this is a fungal infection, the more sugar you eat, the more you are feeding the thrush and aggravating the symptoms. So cut down! Applying live natural yoghurt will give some symptomatic relief and the remedy will help to clear the thrush.
In overheated rooms with friends and family gathering from different places, the bugs they bring together have an ideal environment to breed! This sometimes means we exchange coughs and colds at Christmas as well as presents! The Factsheet on coughs, colds and flu gives more detail, but briefly you may wish to think of Gelsemium for flu symptoms; Phosphorus for deep, barking coughs; Silica for prickling sore throats with pain on swallowing and Dulcamara for winter colds or coughs which are worse in the cold and wet weather.
Christmas can be a very happy and positive time. Sometimes though, it can emphasise loneliness, or bring back past griefs and sadness. It can be a time of great emotional tension. This is when Rescue Remedy is so helpful - every home should have some. The Bach Flower Rescue Remedy helps soothe us emotionally when we are tense, frightened, shocked or traumatised.
By preparing for Christmas homoeopathically, you can quickly deal with simple medical problems. Remedies are available at most pharmacies and health food stores. Information about Homoeopathy and remedies is also available in leaflets and books and on this website.
Homoeopathic remedies should be treated with respect. They should be kept away from risk of contamination by strong smells (such as perfume, TCP etc.) direct sunlight and electromagnetic fields (such as mobile phones).
When taking a remedy by mouth the tablets should not be touched but tipped into the lid of the pot then into the mouth and sucked. Ideally the remedy should be taken away from food and drink.
Dosage should reflect how acute the symptoms are and the remedy should be stopped as soon as the person is well again.
If at any time you feel out of your depth or feel the symptoms are not responding quickly enough to the remedies then seek professional medical advice.
If Christmas is stressful for you then consider a personal Bach Flower mix to help balance those emotions. You can choose the remedies and order a mix on this website - go to the Bach Flower Remedies section at the top of this page.
Do you have a relative or friend who needs help with managing their stress? Maybe an ideal present for them would be a "Coping with Stress Kit" which we have specially prepared. You can order one in the Homoeopathic Kit section of the website shop.
As you review this year and look forward to the next, maybe one of your resolutions could be to really look after yourself and to live healthily?
I wish you all a very happy, healthy and peaceful Christmas and New Year.
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