What does any self-respecting homeopath do when confronted by a positive COVID test? Well, maybe not everyone would do the same as me, but I wrote a bit of a diary and a few notes as I went along in my journey through coronavirus. Upset stomach, severe aches, and feeling breathless. Trying remedies such a Rhus Tox, Gelsenium, Hypericum, and Bryonia.
Day 1 How it started
My daughter has just rung and told me she’s tested positive (we’d hung out together a couple of days earlier). By the end of her visit, she had been starting to show signs of a fever and didn’t look so well at all. At the time I stayed as far away from her as possible, but I couldn’t help the creeping sense of dread at what was to come next. It’s such an impossible time for it all to happen, 2 weeks before Christmas. Now I’m going to have to miss out on a million events that I was really looking forward to, and I still haven’t done my Christmas shopping. I tell myself later on in the afternoon, that the weird stomach ache and mild headache that are slowly getting worse is just because I’d had a glass of wine the night before, alongside the massive amount of garlic from dinner, and a crappy night’s sleep. Later on, my throat is sore but I’m in denial about that until it gets so painful, I take a dose of my constitutional remedy which helps settle it down.
Supplements: Zinc – 50 mg after breakfast and dinner. Vitamin D 5000IU after breakfast, Vitamin C 3000 mg spread throughout the day. Aconite 200c 2 doses throughout the day to help support myself during incoming barrage of symptoms, plus Gelsemium 200 as I feel very tired and nervous about what is to come.
Day 2 It’s not too bad today on waking, but aching bones by the afternoon
My nose isn’t even blocked, and I had a great night’s sleep weirdly enough. But there’s this strange feeling in my body, an ache and tiredness like I could just go right back to bed. My stomach is quite unsettled and I’m not really feeling like food. I’m thirsty thirsty thirsty for super cold water and glad I have a big bottle of kombucha in the fridge as that’s all I want to have. It’s weird for me to want super cold water or drink. I never do, and I feel cold in my body too. This is so not like me.
I’m searching online second hand sites to find fun things that I can get delivered at short notice for my boys who are going to go crazy stuck at home for at least 2 weeks, if this thing is what I caught from my daughter. I decide it’s not time to go get a test yet as it’s too early on in the piece. I find a second hand trampoline, a blow up pool and an old bike for my son to take apart. Luckily they can all be delivered for a small fee. That might keep them from each others’ throats for at least a day… I hope…
As the day progresses, the ache builds in my body until it’s a horrible, agonising deep throb in the very heart of my bones, from the top to the bottom of my spine and hips. I’m also now super nauseous, and every whiff of food that my boys are making for themselves makes me want to heave. Luckily the boys are sometimes helpful in refilling my kombucha glass because I’m churning through it like nobody’s business, as well as countless sips of water mixed with a little bit of Basica and traumeel, which I find are really good together during times of inflammation and stress on the tissues. I can hardly peel myself off the couch, but the couch is really uncomfortable, and I am in agony. So, I ask my eldest to go get a small mattress to cushion things for me.
Am talking to my daughter every day, who has had it way more mildly than me. She has a bit of a fever and has lost her sense of taste and smell. She’s pretty tired but in good spirits.
Supplements – nothing because I haven’t eaten and feel so sick, I can’t even imagine keeping any of it down.
Remedies – Eupatorium 200c x 4 doses
The Eupatorium works in about 5 minutes flat but wears off after about 2 hours and I’m happy to keep taking it as I need it. It’s enough to do an online shop and order so much kombucha I don’t know where I’m going to put it all when it gets delivered. I smugly congratulate myself on how well I’m doing so far while getting my boys to do everything for me. We watch a Drew Barrymore movie together (my fav actor ever), and afterwards I actually feel a whole heap better for a little while. I manage to keep down some dinner.
Day 3 Last night was a shocker
The pain has moved out of the bones and into the joints, soft tissues and muscles of my entire back. I don’t think I slept at all and the minute I relax into my body, the pain ratchets up another notch. It’s not quite at the level of childbirth, but it’s not far off and I can’t stand another minute more of this. I have my repertory close at hand and the remedy that keeps coming up is Rhus tox. It’s usually great for helping to support people with muscular pain that is worse for rest and better for movement. That’s what it was like for me last night. I was super restless with the pain, having to move position literally every few seconds. I also want heat even though it’s a super hot day. The pain kind of has a burny flavour to it, but all I want to do is stand and rock from side to side under the hottest shower I can cope with. Once the sun makes it to the balcony, I take my little mattress and set it up in the full sun, lying on my belly and letting the sun do its magic. I take Rhus tox in a 200c regularly and get zero result. Zero. Zip. Nada.
Frustration and desperation levels are at an all time high because of the pain I’m in. My daughter reckons we have Delta not Omicron because the pain is so intense. The boys are helping a bit… kind of… They get me more kombucha or fill my water bottle when I ask. I’m not downing the liquids quite so furiously today. I’m too busy spending most of my day on my hands and knees, rocking back and forth as though I’m in labour. I revisit my repertory for the hundredth time. I take another dose of Eupatorium, hoping it might do something, anything, but it makes no difference at all. I try on Gelsemium, hoping it might take the edge off even a little bit.
Maybe what I need isn’t Rhus tox after all. Maybe it’s a different remedy, something similar. Or maybe it’s some weird, obscure one like the scorpion derivative that everyone’s raving about. Maybe I need a stronger dose of Rhus tox, or something else. Now I’m so confused I don’t know what to think. Maybe I should look at remedies that support women in labour, except none of them seem to fit nearly as well as Rhus tox.
I can’t lie down, so I figure I may as well go get a COVID test. There’s no queue luckily, but that’s the best I can say about the experience. I’ve never done it before and the feeling of the swab in my nose is hideous.
By the time I cook dinner and clean up and put the boys to bed, (because I can’t sit down right now anyway so I may as well do something useful), I am desperate enough to take 2 Paracetamol tablets. This, miraculously, takes the pain away for long enough to fall asleep. It gives me a good 2 hours of bliss, and then the pain creeps back even worse than before. I want to shriek and scream and bash the walls. Instead, I get out my book and read, hoping to take the attention away from this agony. I’m tempted to take more paracetamol, but it’s a liver toxin. I know that during an illness like this, my liver is working overtime to process the illness. Also, Paracetamol drains the body of glutathione, the body’s main endogenous antioxidant. I need all the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant support that I can get in order to avoid future complications to recovery. So, I will avoid it wherever possible if I can.
In between chapters of my book, I comb through my materia medica and repertory to try find something, anything that maybe I’ve missed before. While kicking myself for self prescribing yet again, I try many doses of Kali carb, then joint mix (a mix of Arnica, Rhus tox, Ruta and Hypericum) to no avail. Then I take a high potency of Hypericum, since the pain is kind of nervy. It does nothing. I read another chapter and before I know it, it’s 4am. I try to force myself back to sleep and toss and turn until I hear the boys get up.
Remedies – Rhus tox, Eupatorium, Ruta, Hypericum
Day 4 I hate this…
A repeat of yesterday. I’m a homeopath of over 18 years and I can’t even sort myself out properly. I call Linlee, my colleague, for some advice. Later on, one of the clinic staff very kindly drops the remedies Linlee has recommended into my letterbox on the way to the lovely Christmas dinner that I’m going to be missing out on tonight. I just don’t even want to talk about that, I’m so upset at being stuck here in this pain while they all have so much fun. The remedies include a higher potency of Gelsemium, and the scorpion extract in homeopathic potency that’s apparently used a lot to help support people going through COVID. I’m so out of it by now, I can’t remember its name… Buthus or something, I think. But that’s irrelevant as it does nothing unfortunately.
My COVID test comes through as positive. No surprises there, I guess. I don’t feel quite so alone though. All of a sudden now that people have found out I’ve got COVID the phone’s running hot. I’ve had lots of phone calls from everyone at the clinic as well as friends and family. Even while in so much discomfort, I have a deep sense of appreciation at the support I’m getting from so many people. One of my good friends drives all the way over from Epping to deliver chicken soup. We eat the soup while watching 10 Things I Hate about You. (This should be made mandatory for all teens to watch if you ask me).
Day 5 By now everything is a blur, 
trying Rhus tox again
Nothing is changing. This horrible ache is consuming my life. It feels like hot electrodes have been inserted into every single part of my back, and now the pain is starting to slowly creep down my left leg. The pain does seem a little lower though, it’s not tormenting the back of my scalp like it did yesterday, but more along the shoulder line instead. I’ve bloody well had enough, and I’m in and out of the shower, lying in the sun and pacing constantly around the house with a big snarl on my face. The boys are starting to show signs of infection too – both of them have mild fevers, and I’m doing my best to keep them hydrated and fed as much as they want it.
I take the boys for a COVID test. They’re both tired but have hardly coughed or shown signs of any fluey type illness aside from the fever.
By late afternoon I head back to my stash of remedies and, in an act of utter desperation, find the strongest dose of Rhus tox I can find. I’ve decided to go back to square one, only bigger. It’s a CM potency, which is one of the highest potencies you can get. I’m not the most comfortable in the world taking this high a potency. I can’t even remember why I have it, but by this point I’m ready to try pretty much anything to get rid of this pain, even Paracetamol if nothing else works. I down (take) the Rhus tox CM and anxiously wait. Twenty minutes later, miracle of miracles, the pain starts to subside. Within 30 minutes I’m dancing to my favourite 80’s mix while putting together some kind of food conglomeration resembling dinner.
40 minutes later, I’m sitting on the couch sobbing my heart out in ecstasy because everything in the universe is all connected, and my heart is overflowing with the enormous amount of love I have for the cosmos and everything that’s in it.
2 hours later, I’m laughing like a loon (lunatic) because life is a miracle, and we are eternal beings connected with the highest intelligence of the universe. Reality is so much more than this outer shell of events happening in everyday life. We are all nothing more than pure being-ness. My mind, usually running at a zillion miles an hour, is suddenly at peace, at rest. My whole self is expanding into one-ness along with everything else in the entirety of existence.
3 hours later, it’s 9.30 and hunger has driven the boys off the X-box. Damn, how did it get so late? I’m still laughing like a loon, and they’re looking at me with more concern than when I was rolling around in agony. So, I gather myself as best I can and finish making what has to pass for dinner tonight. They watch me in stunned silence while I laugh and giggle my way through the meal. Then I send them to bed, after which I laugh some more. Who needs wine or anything else when everything is this awesome?
Remedies – Rhus tox CM
Day 6 It’s bliss to actually sleep
I can’t remember the last time I slept. I can lie still again in bed. It’s heaven. The pain is creeping back this morning, so I tentatively take another dose. This time there’s less spiritual experience and more observation of how the pain is definitely moving down my body. There’s only one spot of really strong pain left now, and it’s on the left outer side of my thigh. Within a few hours it’s moved down to my lower leg. I’m still a bit high and all over the shop, given to bouts of giggling now and then, but I feel much more normal today… whatever that is. My youngest has pretty much fully recovered now aside from being a bit tired. I’m a little concerned about my middle child who is prone to bad coughs when he gets a cold. Before I worked out what remedies to give him to support him at the first signs of a cold, we occasionally ended up in hospital on a nebuliser for croup. These days we have the homeopathic regime designed especially for him but I’m not sure what’s going to happen with this one. I give him the usual stuff and listen to him coughing with trepidation. No remedy today for me aside from the one dose of Rhus tox CM.
Supplements – back to the 50mg zinc twice daily, 5000IU vit D and 3000mg vitamin C, plus 400mg magnesium to help my muscles recover.
Day 7 Breathlessness
Another good night’s sleep last night, and all I want to do is sleep now. No sign of a cough from my middle child, which is weird. Usually, it takes a few days for it all to settle down. My daughter has called saying she’s completely over this virus too. The boys are mercifully quiet as they are still a little tired. I’d be happy not to even turn over if I didn’t have to, but I need the loo and I can hear the boys flushing toilets and closing doors way too strongly, as they do.
Up until today, I haven’t really even coughed, but now my throat is dry and there’s an irritation or catch in it. I’ve also suddenly lost my sense of taste and smell. I’m craving water and kombucha again, but not in quite as superhuman quantities as at the beginning of this journey. When I do finally manage to force my body upright, I’m all of a sudden hit with a coughing fit. There’s nothing much in there. It’s dry and I’m feeling just a tiny bit breathless which is concerning given the stats.
Feeling a whole lot less smug than day 1, I examine the list of symptoms I’m experiencing today. It looks a whole lot like Bryonia. I would quite happily spend my entire day on the couch moving as little as possible and being left alone. There’s a slight headachey feeling, which seems worse on the right. My chest feels a little tight and it’s also worse on the right side. Bryonia is a remedy I’ve used for coughs for me before. I take a 200c potency and get some relief for a short while. The next dose does nothing. Damn. Do I go up in potency? Do I re-examine the symptoms? My breathing is a little short. Could there be another remedy I might need? The amount of possible dry cough remedies in the repertory is staggeringly huge.
Swallowing down a glass of booch, I consider my options. If necessary, I will be sensible and go get medical care if my breathing worsens. But I will do my best to head things off at the pass before things gets to the point where I need help. Right now, I feel okay in myself even with the catch in my throat and a very slight wheeze that’s just not responding to Bryonia like it should. So, I check out my stash and find a Bryonia M, the next level up. I’m really hoping this nails it, otherwise it’s off to the doc for me. With fingers crossed, I down a dose of the 1M and wait.
Within a few minutes the catch in my throat feels like it was never there and what a relief that is. I find I have to take it every 4-6 hours for it to truly settle, but I’m not even remotely worrying now about my breathing. My body doesn’t feel quite so tired either. Even though I’m happy to have an excuse to lie on the couch and read a trashy novel, I’m also okay to put a dent in the mess and throw on a load of washing from the overflowing pile in the laundry.
Remedies – Bryonia 200c, Bryonia 1M
Days 8-14 Getting back on track
Are a bit of a blur of sorting out the backlog of ignored domestic chores and resting. I’m not even thinking about Christmas day. Even though they’re back to full throttle, the boys will still be in iso (isolation) by then, so we’ll miss out on the big family bonanza. If I think too much about it, it makes me want to throw myself down and sob like a toddler having a tantrum. I’m having to still take regular doses of Bryonia M as the cough comes and goes (weirdly, it’s every second day). I take one or two doses of the remedy each day.
Supplements – 50mg zinc after breakfast, 5000IU vit D (which I will stop once symptoms ease), and 3000mg vitamin C in split doses throughout the day, plus my usual magnesium which I know my body loves.
Christmas day is day 15 for me and I’m officially “free” and out of iso, so I celebrate with my daughter coming over for a big seafood lunch and some glasses of nice wine. The boys do what they’ve been doing all along, which involves throwing themselves into the blow up pool, throwing themselves around on the trampoline and tinkering with bikes and lego… in between eating disgusting amounts of food and smashing each other over the head. The cough is now super mild, but I still take a dose of Bryonia now and then when I feel it building again. Aside from a little bit of lingering tiredness, I’m back to “normal,” whatever that is.
Supplements: None, it’s bloody Christmas day. Time to lay down my therapist hat and throw myself back into life again.
BTW if this blog leaves you wondering about the difference between homeopathic and naturopathic treatment please read the blog by Sabina Vatter who also practices at the Harbord Homeopathic Clinic. She includes evidence that homeopathy works as well as explaining what is homeopathy and how does it work and .
Disclaimer – this is merely my account of having COVID and what I did as a homeopath to help support myself during my individual experience. Homeopathy is a very individualised modality and what helps one person will not necessarily help another. I am not advertising any treatment for covid. The aim of Natural Therapies treatment is on the holistic level and gives support to a person in their entirety, rather than targeting a particular disease. The homeopathic remedies and nutritional supplements I took during this time, as a homeopath, were specific for my body and what I felt would support me best. If you are suffering with COVID and are short of breath please seek immediate medical attention.
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