Post Punk Kitchen Forum

So I was just researching the strange un-pronounceable ingredients in the homeopathic medicine my doctor prescribed me and found out that it contains... yes get ready for this.. pig placenta and pig skin.

Oh but because it's homeopathic it's just a tincture, so it's like a microscopic amount. *eyeroll*

What's with homeopathic medicine? It either has lactose, or pig skin, or god knows what in it. Buyer beware.

(this doctor was 100% aware I was vegan btw. thanks man!)

Uh, what kind of doctor is this? Homeopathic stuff is not medicine and has no effect (beyond the effect just taking a sugar pill or drinking water would have), so luckily you can easily avoid ingesting any pig, no matter how microscopic.

He's a regular MD that takes a holistic/homeopathic approach.

Soooo he is a doctor who likes giving people placebos? Well, that's cool I suppose. I'd find a new doctor, because this one is dishonest.

There's probably less than a microscopic amount. There could very well be a zero amount of the supposedly therapeutic ingredients.

Homeopathy is undiluted bunkum. If your doctor is prescribing homeopathic, as opposed to holistic or herbal, remedies, it's time to see a new doctor, preferably one who is less willing to blow smoke up your asparagus.

I was going to say... I make tinctures all the time (herbalist) and never add pig bits. There is just no reason. It should be alcohol and plant matter and nothing else.

This. I will see doctors who will pull these kinds of feel-good placebo stunts on the side for routine stuff (blood work, vaccines, etc.). It's irritatingly common in Germany, and some insurers will actually cover it. However, I am also in a position to recognize when I'm being offered something that doesn't work and refuse it. Your average person may not be, and misleading patients is not ok.

I wouldn't mind a bit of alcohol and plant matter, if you know what I mean.

alcohol and plant matter is all I eat.

Homeopathy =/= herbalism. Herbal tinctures and other remedies actually contain some amount of the herb being used. Homeopathic remedies are diluted so much that no molecules of the original ingredients are left, but the water is supposed to contain the "vibrations" of the original ingredients. For example, a homeopathic remedy of 6C potency means 1 part ingredient has been diluted over and over again with a total of 1,000,000,000,000 parts water.

In short, homeopathy is utter crepe, except when it isn't. (This is not a blanket claim that homeopathy works, just that someone found some interesting effects when using arnica.)

Nope, still crepe. Check the top couple of comments-- no control group, small sample size, not very scientific, and I am deeply skeptical of the journal in which it was published. Plus using an herb normally used to help with bruising homeopathically should, uh, do the opposite, right? Because that's how homeopathy supposedly works?

first of all

I concur.

BUT yeah I'm not seeing this guy anymore. I've been dissatisfied with my previous doctor, and my aunt/uncle recommended this guy because they know I prefer more natural medicine when possible. I've taken herbs previously and I've had mixed results, but when it comes to homeopathic ehhhh. I really should have questioned him further on what exactly it was but I assumed it was just plants! Furthermore, it didnt do shiitake.

I feel so gross now. :( I want to call him and give him a piece of my mind but I need to get bloodwork and I dont want to pay a copay somewhere else blaahhh

Oh, sorry. That was the wrong study. I'll have to see if I can find the one I really wanted.

In any case, homeopathy is unvarnished quackery, while herbalism actually does have some benefits. Neither is a substitute for surgery or antibiotics when those are what's needed.

I think the title of this thread should be changed to:

homeopathic "medicine." what the fizzle!

Or as I like to call it "Faith Healing."

I really do wonder that so many people here are so decidedly against the Homeopathic approach. I myself dont believe it's anything else but a Placebo effect, too, but among my colleagues I am in the minority.

There is simply no evidence that homeopathy works. The theories behind it represent the worst kind of magical thinking and, to be frank, a con job. If a huge pharmaceutical company was selling this crepe, people would be up in arms. Instead, they fork over cash for this nonsense. My issues with them are (a) that people take homeopathic remedies instead of seeking legitimate medical advice and (b) that they charge for this magic which is not really different than laying on of hands.

Because we are intelligent and prefer science to faith for healing. When you say you "don't believe" it is anything but placebo, that sums it up. It requires belief to work, whereas the antibiotic I took recently for an infected tooth didn't care what I believed about it.

To the OP - Yuch, poor piggies. Good thing you read the details.

This same thing happened to me! Except she never insisted they were vegan. My Dr. is also a holistic/MD. One of the "remedies" she gave me had shark fin in it. Yea.. I wrote to her asking about it and she gave me the same "microscopic amount... 1/1,000,000,000" or something like that. Fortunately she now knows and stays far from it and checks everything before recommending. More reason to really look into things before I buy them and be specific about what veganism is. Lesson learned on my part.

It not a miniscule amount it that there is literally nothing in it other than sugar (sometimes lactose base).

Ive personally written about homeopathy here:Homeopathy, Unethical Quackery

To put it simple, its entirely worthless, its a scam.

...and have I said how much I love the PPK, if only more vegan forums were like this. This thread would have turned out far different on almost any other forum.

Thanks to everyones replies. I personally lean more towards herbal medicine//food as medicine and I didn't quite realize the major differences between that and homeopathic. I should have definitely checked more into it first, but I honestly thought he would give me a similar treatment as my Aunt (she sees him and takes red rice something for her cholesterol - not homeopathic.)

Thinking about how this "doctor" went on this long tirade about homeopathic medicine makes me kind of want to slap him now. I'm thinking of the appropriateness of calling him to bisque him out, but then again I feel for his trickery.

It's really nothing to be ashamed of or anything. You're not a doctor and you should be able to trust your doctor. He's the one who should feel ashamed. It's just good that you realized it was complete bullshiitake before you started using it. Imagine all of the patients that come to him looking for help that will easily get preyed upon if they're not familiar with homeopathy and blindly follow what he says.

That is one of the things I love about the PPK. We have lots of scientists and skeptics and low tolerance for woo.