It is the common experience of professional homeopaths and patients alike that constitutional homeopathic remedies can strengthen a person's digestive system, cure food allergies, and improve the elimination of foods and toxins.

This is the power of the correctly prescribed homeopathic medicine. People do not necessarily have to avoid those foods to which they may be allergic. Homeopathic remedies can sometimes dramatically change these hypersensitivity syndromes.

Using homeopathic medicine at home for self-treatment may often provide important and necessary relief of digestive com plaints, however, self-treatment for acute ailments generally do not have as significant of a result as constitutional care.

In light of self-treatment with homeopathic medicines, there are two basic strategies to consider. One strategy is to simply go to a health food store or pharmacy and seek out a homeopathic "combination medicine," that is, a mixture of 2-8 common homeo pathic remedies useful in treating a specific condition, such as indigestion and gas, allergies, migraine headaches, etc. Although homeopathic combination remedies work reasonably well, you will generally get better results when you individual ize a single remedy to those of the sick person's. Some of the remedies listed in this article can be very helpful, though it is sometimes necessary to augment your information on homeopathic medicines with one or more books on homeopathy.

Ultimately, homeopathic medicines offer a safer treatment than conventional drugs in the treatment of indigestion, heart burn, and gas. Distinct from conventional drugs for heartburn which tend to cause rebound symptoms that are often worse than the original symptoms, homeopathic medicines are not known to cause a rebound.

Specific Homeopathic Medicines
Shakespeare once described infancy as the age of "mewling and puking in the nurse's arms." Indeed, infants vomit consider ably more frequently than do people later in life. There are good evolutionary and defensive reasons for this hypersensitivity early in life, and there are similar good reasons that people maintain the capacity to experience nausea and vomiting through out their life. The body may be creating these symptoms as defenses, but this doesn't mean that you can't help it defend itself. The following homeopathic medicines are substances which cause in overdose the similar symptoms that the sick person is experienc ing. The trick in homeopathy is that exceedingly small and specially prepared doses of these medicines are used, and they aid the body's defenses in healing itself.

One of the most common homeopathic remedies for treating acute nausea and vomiting is Ipecacuahna, made from an herb ipecac root which is widely known to cause nausea and vomiting if taken in crude doses. It is wonderfully effective in treating the symptoms it is known to cause: constant nausea which is not relieved by vomiting, vomiting with gagging, lack of thirst, a surprisingly clean tongue despite strong feelings of nausea, aggravation of symptoms from warmth, and some relief of symptoms from being in the open air. A headache, cough, or heavy menstru ation may accompany the nausea.

It is at first startling to learn that another important remedy for acute nausea and vomiting is Arsenicum (arsenic), though homeopaths use extremely small and nontoxic doses of it. It is particularly valuable in the treatment of nausea and vomit ing as the result of food poisoning. Generally, the person who needs Arsenicum cannot stand the sight or smell of food and has a strong thirst but can tolerate only sips at a time. The person may experience burning pains in the stomach, burning pains in the throat as a result of irritating vomitus, and burning pains in the anus as a result of excoriating diarrhea.