Mothering Magazine Sponsored Chat with Dr. Amy Rothenberg -
Get a natural medicine perspective on your health related questions
about mother & child. Amy Rothenberg, ND, has had a family practice
in naturopathic medicine for the last 20 years. She graduated from
the National College of Naturopathic Medicine and is a popular
speaker and writer on subjects of natural medicine for both
professional and lay audiences. She teaches a program in classical
homeopathy through the New England School of Homeopathy and is a
frequent contributor to Homeopathy Today. Her husband and partner in
practice, Paul Herscu ND is the author of the best selling
Homeopathic Treatment of Children, which describes some of the more
common constitutional types in pediatric practice and which is based
on their years working together treating children.
You can read more
about her work at www.nesh.com.
www.mothering.com
3/29/06
16 mamas in attendance.
alvie: I'm here!
DrAmyRothenberg: okok
Webmama_Tina: haha i think it worked
Webmama_Tina: there we go!
Webmama_Tina: now we just got to get more moms in here
:)
alvie: :D
DrAmyRothenberg: I am happy to answer any medical/health
related questions that you might have
for you or your child!
Webmama_Tina: :)
Webmama_Tina: ok so now we have 2 chatters....lets see
if more of the breastfeeding chatters
will come join us since their chat just
ended
Webmama_Tina: lemme make a couple quick posts to see
if we can't get more people in
here...but i'll do my spiel first
Webmama_Tina: we'll get this started
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Webmama_Tina: ok today we are so happy to have dr amy
rothenberg...dr, why don't you introduce
yourself and tell us a little about your
areas of expertise?
DrAmyRothenberg: I have been working with families to
help treat acute and chronic illnesses
with natural and gentle medicines
including homeopathy, nutrition and
botanical medicine. I have three
teenagers at the moment 14, 15 & 17, so
am enjoying a bit of respite from the
Webmama_Tina: mamas feel free to throw out a question
mark and angie will gather your names to
let you know when its your turn to ask
the dr your question
DrAmyRothenberg: early years of mothering. I especially
enjoy treating difficult to help
conditions where patients have had a
hard time finding answers....
alvie: ?
gabemilymom: Dr Rothenberg?
DrAmyRothenberg: yes please ask your question
alvie: I am interested to know a bit more about
the 'constitutional types', in the
homeopathy theory...does this mean there
are a few specific remedies you will
always use for a particular child?
gabemilymom: I have a son who is three. He has
feeding difficulties since birth. He
has allergies & reflux. We have been to
so many drs and no one has been able to
help. This is a constant battle. he is
just never hungry, ever.
DrAmyRothenberg: We treat children ( and adults)
constitutionally to help address medical
conditions as well as underlying
tendencies that cause those conditions
to arise. Sometimes, a patient will have
a true acute situation or a first aid
situation where they will need
DrAmyRothenberg: a particular remedy for that moment, but
often a dose of ones constitutional
remedy will help. There are clear ways
to determine which is needed when and we
are often in the position to make that
clinical judgement.
Webmama_Tina: gabemilymom you're after alvie
gabemilymom: sorry
Webmama_Tina: no worries
alvie: How do we determine our child's or our
own constitutional remedy?
DrAmyRothenberg: Sorry, lost you there a moment. About
the child with GI complaints. This would
be a situation where we would prescribe
a constitutional remedy for hi. We would
try to see his symptoms in context of
his overall temperament and personality
and prescribe
DrAmyRothenberg: accordingly. I have treated many
children with allergies and reflux
successfully. I find that the allopathic
medications can be harsh, so use these
more gentle approaches first.
ElijahsMommy: ?
gabemilymom: what is a constitutional remedy for hi?
DrAmyRothenberg: I do not recommend parents prescribing
constitutionally for their own child.
THough you know them best, it is also
difficult to have much realstic
perspective which is especially an issue
with long term follow up care. With
regard to first aid and acute si
Webmama_Tina: angie is collecting your names for the
queue...she will let you know when its
time for you to ask your question. :)
Webmama_Tina: Welcome to this week's Mothering
Sponsored chat! This is a moderated
chat. Please make sure you read and
fully understand the Moderated Chat
Instructions before participating in
this chat. Instructions can be found
here:
http://www.mommychats.com/modrules.htm
...A Friendly Reminder: Please do not
post unless it is your turn to ask a
question. If you have a question, please
post a single ?" and you'll be added to
the queue. Have your question ready when
your name is called."
DrAmyRothenberg: situations, it is easy and fine to treat
at home, but for those with more deep
concerns or ongoing issue, probably best
to find someone who has been trained and
is experienced with such.
alvie: ?
Webmama_Tina: just let us know when you are ready for
the next question, dr rothenberg :)
DrAmyRothenberg: Should have read constitutional remedy
for HIM. Without knowing the child and
interviewing the parents and doing a
relevant physical exam, and asking many
questions, a constitutional remedy could
not be prescribed accurately. An EXAMPLE
of a common constitutional remedy for
children with reflux is calcarea
carbonica. These children tend to be
sweaty and round, somewhat obstinate and
along with that, constipated. There is a
kind of determination they possess and
they can be quite headstrong. Teething
is difficult for the baby needing
calcarea carbonica. If you want to read
more about that remedy in particular or
8 of the most common constitutional
types in children see The Homeopathic
Treatment of Children by Paul Herscu. It
will give you a good sense of what sorts
of things we look at to prescribe a good
and deep acting remedy esp. for a kid
with chronic and challenging complaints.
DrAmyRothenberg: next question!
Webmama_Tina: i think elijahsmommy is next?
ElijahsMommy: what adive would u give in finding out
more about homeopathic remedies to give.
My son is 14 mos, and I want to practice
the basics like when he has a cough, but
don't know what to use or where to go to
find out
MOD_Angie: upcoming chatter(s): gabemilymom
ElijahsMommy alvie
ElijahsMommy: sorry...
DrAmyRothenberg: There are some very user friendly books
you can find and then by a 30c remedy
kit. My favorite books for patients are:
Webmama_Tina: no its ok, i think gabemilymom got her
question answered already
DrAmyRothenberg: Homeopathic Medicine at Home by
Maisemond Panos MD and Everybody's guide
to Homeopathy by Dana Ullman.
Webmama_Tina: i think both were answered
DrAmyRothenberg: I also use quite a bit of gentle
botanical medicines and some supplements
along with hydrotherapy at home to treat
my own family as well as my patients for
the basic acute illnesses of childhood.
Webmama_Tina: (i mean both gabemilymom and alvie's
first questions were both answered
together)
ElijahsMommy: do u think with reading the books that
it will help me to narrow down I guess
with symptoms, what to use or give?
DrAmyRothenberg: I should also say, that for some acute
illnesses I encourage moms and dads to
just let them run their course: it's
normal and natural to become ill from
time to time and it helps the immune
system to become more strong. I do not
run to treat every symptom in either an
adult or a child. That said, if
something is very uncomfortable, or long
lasting or a harbinger of worse things
to come ( and we often know that because
there is a pattern for that individual)
then, we do not hesitate to treat.
ElijahsMommy: ok thx
DrAmyRothenberg: Sometimes prescribing acutely can be
confusing as in -- which symptoms should
I pay attention to! THe guide for me is
-- what is MOST limiting to the patient
at this moment in time- nail that down,
let that be your guide and try to treat
that. I also put a lot of weight on
symptoms that are repeated through the
persons story,i.e. burning pain in the
throat, burning pain while passing
diarrhea, burning fever-- I see all that
burning- THAT becomes the main issue.
DrAmyRothenberg: next question!
MOD_Angie: upcoming chatter(s): alvie
alvie: I have a 21 month old son who is still
breastfed about 50-60% of his diet. I
am keen to start giving him some
Essential Fatty acids and possibly a
supplement, do you think it's too
early? Do children really need
supplements? If so what is best?
DrAmyRothenberg: I do not think children need supplements
as a rule if they are getting a variety
of healthy foods. I usually encourage
parents of young kids to get those EFA
though foods like avocado. Esp if your
son is still nursing that much, he's
getting plenty of EFAs. Most humans are
quite good at extracting what we need to
grow strong and healthy from the foods
we eat, esp if what we are offered or
what we choose comes from across the
spectrum of foods and does not include
alot of processed or fast food.
DrAmyRothenberg: next question
alvie: thanks
MOD_Angie: no one in queue
gabemilymom: ?
MamaRedwood: ?
MOD_Angie: upcoming chatter(s): gabemilymom
MamaRedwood
Mod_beckie: gabemilymom go ahead
gabemilymom: Is there any type of remedy that would
help with the hunger aspect of his
issue? It seems like he doesn't really
feel hunger.
DrAmyRothenberg: I would ask, what is that an example of?
Is he generally uninterested in life?
Does he have tactile defensiveness in
his mouth? Are there other folks in the
family who are similar? Is he depressed?
Is it just that there is pain and
discomfort, so that the eating has
become a negative reinforcement? Once I
determined what was underlying the lack
of interest I would see if there were
other examples of that in his story. I
would try to piece together his history-
understand the pregnancy, birth, early
weeks, etc. You see, there is not a
simple answer here. There is something
out of balance and it would be the
homeopath's job to determine what that
is and to find a remedy to try and bring
the balance back. The normal human
condition is to be hungry ( at least
some of the time!) and if we do not see
that, we need to try to understand why.
DrAmyRothenberg: next question
MOD_Angie: upcoming chatter(s): MamaRedwood
MamaRedwood: We recently had our daughter's blood
lead level checked and it is 6. Do you
think this level is concerning and what
are natural ways to help get heavy
metals out of her system? Sorry if
you've addressed this already, I came in
late.
ElijahsMommy: ?
kristenandmadeleine: ?
DrAmyRothenberg: NOrmal levels for blood lead are up to
2.4 millimoles/liter of blood, so her
levels are high. The first thing to do
is to figure out where it has come from.
I don't know how old she is-- does she
have amalgam fillings? Is there lead
paint in the house- these are the two
obvious places to look Regardless, you
would want to reduce exposure certainly.
The next important thing to do, is to
have the levels rechecked. Sometimes
there is a lab error and you would want
to rule that out before you do many
other things. There are some natural
medicine approaches to chelation and to
helping the liver to process toxins but
they are prescribed individually based
on age, symptomatology and other medical
issues that may be at play.
DrAmyRothenberg: next question
alvie: ?
ElijahsMommy: do u think doing allergy testing is
really accurate at 1. And isn't it that
when a child has an allergy to something
they were already introduced to it?
skrhythm: ?
DrAmyRothenberg: There are many issues with allergy
testing esp false negative and false
positive results. The gold standard in
my book, especially if a child is very
symptomatic is to remove all possible
allergens and slowly reintroduce them
one at a time over the course of weeks
or even months. you have to have some
symptoms you are tracking, i.e. skin
issues or digestive changes or the like
and it does take determination and
organization on the part of the parents.
Good luck with that!
DrAmyRothenberg: next question
Webmama_Tina: kristenandmadeleine i believe you were
next...is that right angie?
kristenandmadeleine: someone else can go, i gotta get the
baby
Webmama_Tina: ok alvie then
Webmama_Tina: i think angie's kiddos might be tying
her up again...lol...maybe literally,
LOL
Webmama_Tina: 9min left in this chat
alvie: I use castor oil packs sometimes on
myself, what do you feel about these for
treatment?
kristenandmadeleine: ? (back now)
DrAmyRothenberg: I love them! Except for the fact that
they can be messy, for many complaints
they can be very soothing and decrease
inflammation and congestion. Just as
often I recommend other hydrotherapy
treatments to my patients, esp if I am
speaking with them by telephone and I
know they will have access to hot and
cold water and clothe!
DrAmyRothenberg: next question
Webmama_Tina: kristenandmadeleine you're up then
Webmama_Tina: skrhythm you're up after
kristenandmadeleine
alvie: ?
Webmama_Tina: 5min left in this chat
kristenandmadeleine: I had a c section in august with my
daughter and ever since then I have had
these weird pains on my cervix. nothing
can be found, but they are really quite
painful. is there anything i can do or
take.
DrAmyRothenberg: Sorry to hear about that. I would read
up on three different homeopathic
medicines that we think about in such
situations: Arnica- used for trauma of
all types, Staphysagria for tearing
sorts of pain after surgeries and Bellis
Perennis which is used for trauma esp to
the female reproductive area. Im not
saying you need one of these three
remedies, but I would go on line and
read about them and you might see that
one seems to fit. If you live somewhere
where you can easily visit a qualified
homeopath, that would be the best bet.
Pain after trauma is usually easily
treated with homeopathy. you can
contact the National Center of
Homeopathy for a referral near to you.
Best of luck
DrAmyRothenberg: Next!
skrhythm: i know this may not be up your alley,
but i thought i would give it a shot.
my 7yo has only lost 1 tooth, and this
was several months ago. should i be
concerned about this loosing teeth
process not happening? could it be a
lack of nutrition?
DrAmyRothenberg: NO, generally not a concern and NOT a
nutritional issue. Everyone does things
at different times. You do want to be
sure there are permanent teeth below the
baby ones, occasionally a child is
born with agenisis of the teeth- but
not common to be the whole mouthful.
Teeth fall out, but really they are
pushed out by the new ones coming in.
Unless you had other nutritional
concerns ( i.e. chronic diarrhea or poor
growth or chronic illness) I would not
assume that was the issue. See if it
runs in the family too-- I have seen
that!
DrAmyRothenberg: Next!
kristenandmadeleine: ?
Webmama_Tina: ok mamas, that's all i have time for...
DrAmyRothenberg: thank you all for your excellent
questions . Enjoy your kids! Best wishes
Webmama_Tina: its been a great chat! very informative!
Webmama_Tina: THANK YOU DR!!! |
