Who knew? Publix has a homeopathic encyclopedia
I've been using homeopathy as one of my complementary health modalities for a decade now (along with massage, acupuncture/Chinese medicine, chiropraxis, hypnotherapy, meditation, and pranayama... yeah, I'm a health slut, what can i say?). Anyway, one thing I'm miserable at is keeping track of is my acute remedies. (Typical email to my homeopath: "Which one is for jet lag, again?") I know that the ones that work are in my shoebox... but my shoebox is overflowing.
So I'm sitting here this morning, two days into my period, and crying like a baby because of the weather. Something about the first time the heat breaks each year makes me terribly nostalgic; add hormones, election anxiety, and school stress, and you get... well, me, this morning. My check-in alarm1 sounded, and I realized that even though i was doing all the other things I usually do during my cycle (Aleve to block the increased prostaglandins, extra spirulina for iron & B12, etc), I'd completely forgotten about a remedy. (I only have my period 3-4 times a year, cut me a break.)
So I took to the google to figure out which of the 2 dozen acute remedies in my shoebox was the one I most likely was prescribed for menorrhagia. I stumbled on an extremely helpful index that not only gave some of the more common indications, but some of the weird ones, too. (I pinpointed Lycopodium because of this: "A desire to be alone, but with someone in the other room, is another indication.") I went to bookmark it, and only then did I notice: my newfound really great homeopathy resource was a Publix website! Publix! Whoodda thunk?
Actually, it doesn't surprise me all that much. Publix recently bought a bunch of Albertson's and is supposedly going to turn them into GreenWise-only stores, so it makes sense that they'd be "greening" the health products too. (I'm actually of many minds on the whole GreenWise thing. But I'll save that rant for another day.)
I cannot in any way endorse homeopathic self-treatment. It's an art as much as a science, and the chances of stumbling on the right remedy at your local health food store is next to nothing. But if you've been under the care of a homeopath long enough to be able to get a feel for which remedy out of a handful might help, this is really the best resource I've found.
Publix Health Center: Homeopathy
1 I've been using a soft alarm on the quarter-hour to help me stay present. When I hear it, I do a quick "self scan," then bring myself back to the task at hand if I've wandered.