Vertigo – treated homeopathically

I didn’t have any problem with vertigo until a few years after my daughter was born. I can usually control the feeling - except in a theatre where the seating is very steep. I am then convinced I am going to topple over the balcony (even though I tell myself this has never actually happened) and my insides feel as though they are going to fall out. I find it impossible even to lean forward to pick something up from the floor.

Homeopathic treatment
Vertigo is a common condition and there are several remedies that might help. But first, it is always important to be clear about what you mean by vertigo. Is it a definite spinning sensation, or just a dizzy, heady feeling? And think about whether the fear of falling is more dominant than the actual vertigo?

Homeopathy is all about matching the exact symptoms with the remedy profile.

• Cocculus will definitely help vertigo, especially if you are more prone to it when tired, and the vertigo can be so disabling that there is a feeling that you would like to lie down.
• Sulphur is often helpful when there is this symptom of vertigo when looking downwards from a height.  Phosphorus also has this, but it is less likely to have this sensation of the insides falling out. With both of these the vertiginous sensation is likely to be more dominant than the fear of falling.
• Borax, by contrast, certainly helps with the fear of looking down from high places like the circle in a theatre, but the vertigo is not as disabling as it is with other remedies.
• And finally, Lac felinum has the fear of falling from balconies and of falling down stairs, and it may even have the fear of having an attack of vertigo. Having said that, bouts of vertigo, when they do come, might not actually be particularly debilitating. It does, however, have the associated feeling that the insides may drop out.

Dose
One 30c tablet taken before sitting in the theatre and then repeat as necessary.

Outcome
I decided Lac felinum matched my symptoms – although I hadn’t mentioned it, I also fear of falling from balconies and falling down stairs – and I have taken it on two trips to the theatre and have noticed a marked improvement.

* A version of this article appeared in the autumn 2007 issue of Health and Homeopathy. To find out more about homeopathy visit www.trusthomeopathy.org

Keith Souter MB ChB FRCGP MFHom MIPsiMed DipMedAc is a part-time GP in Yorkshire and has a private holistic medicine practice and is a newspaper columnist as well as the author of Homeopathy for the Third Age and Homeopathy: Heart & Soul.