Autopathy

In March of this year I have treated the whole family of my clients’ who came to me since many years. It was a virus infection, high temperature, later cough, tiredness, sweating. The three-year old girl recovered in a few days, and also her father. They were helped by homeopathic remedies. However, the mother was affected by the illness more and more seriously. Initial throat ache changed gradually to cough, chest pain and symptoms of pleurisy. This was topped by a developing inflammation of the sinuses. I do not need to point out that I prescribed medicines the best I could. In several previous cases we were successful, however, now the improvement lasted only short time or were none. The illness progressed. One Saturday afternoon I recommended to this patient on the telephone to make as an emergency measure the autopathic dilution 30, made in a cap of a table water bottle. This was the last attempt before applying antibiotics. When she called me in the evening to inform me about her condition, something happened that drew my attention to autopathy. First, sinuses began to get better, then productive cough developed, then throat ache arrived. Within a week the patient was totally healthy. It was a case of a single application of potency 30. We did not apply anything else. This was my first experience with this form of healing and it interested me so that I started to focus on it more.

I will start with a total assessment, then I would like to make a few general comments and I will close my presentation with several cases. My goal is not to stand in for Jiri Cehovsky’s book or the courses on autopathy organised by Alternativa. Mine are practical experiences from the time period of 9 months. I applied autopathic preparation in total of 68 patients in various situations of chronic diseases, starting from situations where autopathy was a primary form of healing – till situations when it replaced homeopathic remedies or supplemented a treatment in which many chemical medicines were applied. The preparation also varied. Some applications took place via the autopathy bottle, some patients made their preparations in medicine bottles at home – usually till the potency of 100, for some of them I made the preparation myself in my practice in an improvised flow-through device. Water from the tap filtered through carbon filter served as the water source. The starting matter was almost always saliva.

Now to the reactions. In two cases of chronic diseases nothing at all happened. In all other cases we got a reaction. In a small number of cases worsening persisted and the condition did not show any tendency for further improvement. In a larger number of cases health started later to improve – long-term. I have to admit that I nor my patients not always have had the patience to wait for a sufficient length of time. However, in the situations when within several weeks after the initial improvement no further progress took place, I suggested a higher dilution – 600-6000. Practically in all cases further improvement arrived, which took place and in some cases still takes place, according to the rules of homeopathic healing.

Now to the above mentioned general comments. Firstly, to the methodology of preparation. On the basis of my experience I consider of utmost importance that the patients who make their own dilution use solely the homeopathic bottle for this purpose. This minimizes the possibility of mistakes in the preparation, which can be many.  It has to be noted, however, that the price of the bottle is quite high and some of our patients of the type Ars, Lyc, Ver and others, have a great problem disposing of the bottle after its single use. This can cause an inner injury, resonating negatively with the treatment. We should not forget even during autopathic treatment that we are homeopaths and take the individual approach also in these situations.

For many of the patients of the type Ars it is more acceptable to take the time with diluting high potencies in a medicine bottle, than suffer from the thought of the high price of the autopathy bottle. A plastic bottle, generally smaller, in the price range of 100-200 Kc would remove this problem. Should we decide to prepare the dilution in a medicine bottle – then I suggest to demonstrate the procedure and also to monitor how the patient deals with it after the instruction. In the cases of seniors, seriously ill persons and persons who are alone, the dilution can be made for them. Potency 30 with the use of a filter takes 1-2 minutes. Here we have to consider that we work with live, highly effective potencies, which can have negative influence on our own health. The preparation of the dilution also causes some contamination of the place where it took place. This method can definitely not be recommended as the main method.

I already mentioned potencies. As first dose we use the scale 30 – 200. 30 for older or more seriously ill patients, or in cases of strong suppression through chemical medication, potencies 200 in younger and healthier patients. Further doses – depending on situation. I administered also a potency of 10 000, which had initiated a decisive turn in a case. The previous potencies were not effective enough and not deep enough. However, also the potency of 20 in a single application had led to a complete cure.

Another interesting subject is the application of an autopathic preparation in an acute case. I repeatedly used with gratitude this possibility when symptoms persisted for longer than 24 hours. Potencies of around 50 – 100 have led practically without an exception to a quick recovery. But I have also repeatedly experienced disappointments, when the dilution applied in the first hours of a feverish illness, such as rapidly developing sinusitis, etc., failed. These were mainly telephone consultations and time pressure did not allow waiting, or alternately the application of a higher potency. That is why I adopted homeopathic treatment in such cases. In such situations technical errors in the preparation of the dilution cannot be excluded.

In several situations I was forced to combine autopathic and homeopathic treatment. I think that this requires very large experience and a particular homeopathic skill. It happened that after the application of an autopathic dilution a positive development on central level took place, however, peripheral symptoms stubbornly persisted over several weeks and the patient demanded relief. When I had the feeling that the condition corresponds to a clear image of some homeopathic remedy, I administered it. Especially in situations, when the patients lived outside of Prague or were physically handicapped so that it was difficult for them to prepare a higher potency or to travel to Prague to get the autopathy bottle. They were patients who could not tolerate chemical medication. I.e. case of Phytollaca. In the most of such cases improvement took place which did not exclude a later return to autopathy. However, I point out again that certain homeopathic proficiency and skill is absolutely necessary as the risk of suppression and complicating the case is considerable here. When the patients tolerate chemical medication, I recommend their temporary use in such cases.

There is also the issue of repetition of an autopathic application. The discussion here is no other than a discussion about this issue in the whole of homeopathy. The views of the author of the autopathic method are adequately known. However, I also maintain that the experience that particular pathological conditions can deplete the autopathic doses more rapidly, which then have to be soon repeated, is also transferable from homeopathy to autopathy. It had proved to be effective in some of my patients. It is necessary to observe situations such as dental intervention, injury, surgery, ill-considered application of antibiotics, corticoids, critical life situations, and similar, which can stop the working of the autopathic dilution. When the case demonstrates signs of halting, or antidote effects, it is necessary to immediately repeat the autopathic application. Here however again the price of the autopathy bottle gains on importance.

To conclude the presentation about my first experiences with the autopathic method I will describe three cases. The first one documents possibilities in the case of the so called one sided cases, which strongly complicate homeopaths’ lives, the second documents the possibility of combining autopathic and homeopathic treatments and the third documents a situation in which in spite of all the effort no improvement took place yet.

Case 1

Man, 35 years old, visited me because of strong fluid accumulation in both knee joints. The knees were not malformed through inflammation, the patient did not suffer from pain, but rather from inner pressure restricting movement. I documented this case carefully and there was no other pathology to be found. The patient was obviously a very well balanced individual. He was in a similar condition ten years ago, when he was hospitalized, the joints were repeatedly punctured, corticosteroids injected, he received anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics. After about a month’s hospitalization the condition improved and did not return. Before or after this he did not suffer from any other diseases. He could not explain the current fluid accumulation in any way, we did not find any possible cause for it. I punctured the joints twice a week and extracted around 100 ml!! fluid from each knee. I did not apply any medication to the joint, but prescribed Kali-c, Ars, intestinal nosodes, Apocynum, Thuja, Medorh and used also acupuncture. During the three months’ treatment no improvement took place. The application of corticosteroid treatment seemed unavoidable, possibly surgical removal of the joint lining. I already had some experience with autopathy. I therefore took the patient’s saliva and diluted it 20x. After the application, the swelling passed within 2-3 days. No further puncturing was necessary and the patient returned to his favourite sport- football.

Case 2

Woman, 78 years old, visited me because of strong lumbago, she cried with pain. When taking the case, it turned out that the woman suffers from a number of internal diseases – high blood pressure, ischemic heart disease, she has an open varicose ulcer, is tired all the time and has undergone repeated corticoid medication with Medrol, which was applied due to frequently returning ulcerating skin disease. She suffered from anxiety and depressions. I recommended home application of autopathic dilution in the potency 30 and within one month, the ulcer healed, energy increased, she no longer complained of day tiredness, anxiety ceased. However, pain in the left side of the small of the back, radiating into the lower extremities, continued to make her nights into hell. She complained and called for help. Several weeks. However, she did not tolerate pain-reducing chemical drugs and they did not work anyway. The pain had the picture of neuritis of the type Phytollaca and so I recommended this remedy in the potency 30 – one pill daily before going to sleep. Within two weeks the pain began to cease and the ulcerating skin disease returned. The patient did not inform me and visited her dermatologist. The medicament Medrol quickly removed the ulcers, but the pain returned in full force. This time in the picture of night pains of the type Arsenicum. Burning, anxiety, restlessness, waking up around 1 hour in the night, improvement paradoxically through warmth. The application of this remedy in the potency of 30, daily 1 pill before going to sleep, had brought about improvement again within 2-3 weeks and again the ulcers reappeared. This time the patient consulted me and I suggested not to use Medrol this time. However, the patient lived outside of Prague and the dermatologist insisted. In the fear for her health she finally started to take this drug again. Since this time, about a month ago, I did not hear from her. This case documents the difficulty of the situations both the homeopath and the patient can sometimes find themselves in. Simple instructions do not suffice sometimes, it is necessary to improvise.

Case 3

A young woman – 17 years, came to me with the problem of getting in hot environment, psychic tension, in crowds, etc. red patchy skin. She suffers from strong attacks with burning skin and itching. She visited several physicians as well as homeopaths and healers, but no one could help her. Occasionally she takes antihistamines, she did not try corticoids yet. Medicaments help only by reducing the itching of the patches, but do not have any effect on their quantity.  During the examination it transpired that the young women took very badly the separation of her parents and everything pointed out that somewhere here the core of the problem lies. Remedies such as Nat-m, Ign, Prot, Magn-mur, etc. did not bring the lightest effect. Nor did autopathic dilutions in the potencies 200, 600, 1200 and 2000. 2 months passed since the last application and nothing at all happened. The young women is sceptical and does not expect much from the treatment anymore. She agreed at least that she will regularly inform me in monthly intervals. I tried to persuade her that it is worthwhile to wait for at least half a year. One of the problems connected with her treatment is that she already used up several autopathy bottles and does not see any effect.

Conclusion

Autopathic method is an inspiring way of widening our possibilities of treatment and can be a source of satisfaction from the treatment as well as a source of discoverer-enthusiasm. On the basis of my own experiences I recommend to search in the first place for a homeopathic remedy. To continually develop homeopathic skills, experience and intuition. But in cases which lack on transparency right from the start or develop this way as a result of our treatment, autopathy is an excellent solution. However, many cases will remain, which can be successfully treated only by homeopathy. We should remember this. However, in one special case, autopathy has no competition. This is the treatment of eczemas. The case should be conducted by an experienced homeopath with full understanding of the phases of the development in which the patient finds himself and which further steps need to be taken. Any case can be lost.