Homeoprophylaxis

Have you ever questioned the conventional path to disease prevention and wondered if there's a natural alternative? Tune in as we journey through homeoprophylaxis, where we examine the homeopathic approach to fending off illnesses and the compelling teachings of Dr. Robin Murphy. This episode promises to peel back layers of controversy, sharing personal tales and research to illuminate a path less traveled in healthcare. We don't just skim the surface; we delve into the heart of why treating symptoms as they arise may be more aligned with homeopathic principles than preemptive remedies, all while navigating the diverse landscape of parental choice and responsibility.

Join us as we address the topic of unnecessary medical practices, stirring an honest conversation about the role homeopathy can play in readying the body for upcoming health challenges. From preparing for dental work with remedies like Arnica and Ruta, to managing childhood diseases at home, this episode is a testament to the power of informed decision-making. We explore the nuances of individual health histories, the impact of lifestyle on disease severity, and when mainstream medical intervention is warranted. As we share these insights, we invite you to become part of a community that values knowledge and support in making health-related choices, and to consider the profound potential homeopathy holds for you and your family's well-being.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Homeoprophylaxis
• 9:47 Discussing Homeopathy and Preventative Measures
• 19:58 Discussion on Unnecessary Practices

Transcript

Bri Hurlburt  0:00  

Welcome back to Homeopathy at Home with Melissa. Hey Melissa. 

Melissa Crenshaw  0:04  

Hey Bri.  It’s great to be with you again.

Bri Hurlburt  0:06  

Always.  Love to be here.  I actually am really looking forward to having this discussion with you. We've been talking about it for a long time. We are going to discuss homeoprophylaxis. For those of you who don't know what that means, that just means using homeopathy as a preventative medicine or immunization to protect against infectious diseases. We've decided to kind of just off the cuff have this conversation.  More than coming to you guys with all kinds of information or telling you what you should or shouldn't do, this is going to be us talking about what we think, what we have read, the research we've done, what our personal opinions and thoughts are on this, so maybe it's helpful to you.  Take it or leave it.

Melissa Crenshaw  1:00  

That's right.  I get asked about homeoprophylaxis a lot. People want to use homeopathy in place of vaccines.  Sometimes it's one, usually it's the husband who is like, “I don’t know.  I really want the kids to have their vaccines.” And the mom is like, “I've done the research. I don't like it.” Sometimes homeoprophylaxis can be them meeting in the middle. 

What I really want people to know is that I'm not telling you … Again, like you already said Bri, I'm not telling people what they should or shouldn't do, and there's no judgment here whatsoever whatever you decide, but I do just want to present my answer, because I get asked this all the time.

Bri Hurlburt  1:47  

I also think it may be … I didn't want to cut you off first, but even before you share that, we're not even saying that it doesn't work. I want to be clear.  It definitely could. I actually don't know personally or have data to back any of that up, but this is your opinion, so I think that's great. We get that question a lot, so go ahead, share with us. What do you think?

Melissa Crenshaw  2:16  

First of all, many of you know that I studied under Dr Robin Murphy first, and he taught me that, and these were his words. He said, “We don't treat ghosts.” That's what he would say. And then he would follow that with, “We don't treat something that's not there.” Those were his words.

Bri Hurlburt  2:39  

Like a phantom. We're not treating a fictitious something. 

Melissa Crenshaw  2:43  

He would say, “We don't treat something that's not there.” Therefore we only address symptoms that are presenting. I don't take a remedy before I go to the dentist to get an x-ray to prevent whatever might happen from an x-ray.  I get this all the time. I don't take a remedy just because … well, I haven't been on an antibiotic. I have no idea when's the last time, but if I were to be given an antibiotic and take it, I wouldn't take a remedy just because I have been on an antibiotic. I would wait and see what presents itself, because I'm expecting my immune system to take care of whatever it's being attacked with, but if it can't, then the way that it presents itself is how I'm going to know what remedy to use. So, first of all, Dr Murphy pretty much taught homeoprophylaxis is not the way that we should be addressing our immune systems. 

Because he taught me that and he was my first teacher, I was like okay. I took it, right? Then, as I started to really learn about people wanting to use homeopathy in place of vaccines, I got a book and I started reading about it.  What I found in people is the schedule can be somewhat confusing or overwhelming, which brings stress and anxiety.  I truly believe that when you are eating the best that you can, getting rest, going outside, doing all the natural, healthy things that you can do, and supporting your body with homeopathy every time you get an acute condition, you're setting yourself up for future good chronic health.  Meaning, if your child contracts a childhood disease, their immune system should be able to fight through that, and we should allow them to fight through it. It makes them stronger when they fight through an illness, but if they're having trouble, then we address those symptoms with homeopathy.

Bri Hurlburt  5:20  

I completely agree with you, and I actually did some research when I was trying to decide what to do with vaccines when my oldest was a baby.  I don't remember all the details or what it was, but I remember reading this mom's blog of her journey through homeoprophylaxis, and almost like a diary she was documenting this is what she was doing, like the protocol, working with someone, and then walking through what was showing up in her son. I don't know if the purpose was this, or if it just so happened that that's the way it went with her son, but he was proving the remedies as they were doing it.  They were mild. It was like a stuffy nose and a little bit of runny nose, or like a slight rash, almost like the idea that you're introducing a little bit.  

I didn't know anything about it at the time. Now, knowing what I know, it does not make a lot of sense to me to use a remedy when the body doesn't need it. In any other situation, we tell people not to do that. You want to make sure you choose a remedy. 

This leads back to probably my largest conviction and how we have chosen to make these decisions for our family.  I refuse to make the decision out of fear. I think for me, and honestly, I wouldn't say this in general because I do think the compromise between parents is a really good point that you made.  Sometimes the lesser of two evils, and I wouldn't even call it evil. It's just a good compromise. But a lot of times we feel like we have to do something to protect our kid from something bad later, and this feels like, “Well, vaccines I'm not okay with, but this feels like a safer way to try to make sure I did the right thing to prevent them from getting sick.” That is at least how it felt for me. 

If I say that and somebody feels that way, it just made me reflect on, why am I doing anything that I'm doing? I hear that mindset very often.  That they're not comfortable with vaccines, but they're scared of their kid getting sick, and so this feels like I'm doing something.  I would just say that that's still coming out of anxiety and fear and that's not how we want to make wise decisions. If you came to that out of wisdom and a place of peace and discernment, and you have prayed through that, and you feel comfortable and confident, that's different to me. I would even say lean into why you would choose to do this over that. 

We don't do that, and I don't do any preventative stuff really ahead of time.  I guess with the exception … Okay, so here's what we were talking about too. When we were talking about homeoprophylaxis just now, how it was in place of vaccines to prevent infectious disease. If we're talking like, do I ever use homeopathy for something preventatively? My son got braces and I was giving him Arnica and Ruta the night before he went in to get braces knowing a procedure was coming up and there would likely be pain. I don't know if that's the same thing. I wasn't trying to prevent sickness as much as trying to, I don't know.

Melissa Crenshaw  9:04  

I think that's a great point. You weren't necessarily trying to prevent the pain, but just stimulate his immune system to deal with that.

Bri Hurlburt 9:17

Like preparation.

Melissa Crenshaw 9:18

Deal with that pain and even the shock.  For little kids, when they get something like that, they don't have any idea what that's going to feel like and that's some pretty bad pain.

Bri Hurlburt  9:28  

It's a lot, yeah.  So maybe preparation over prevention. 

Melissa Crenshaw  9:33  

Yes, I like it. And you know what? That's a perfect segue into what I was thinking is that I would encourage moms and dads, families, to spend their time and their money and their energy on education to combat that fear of, “Well, what if they get chicken pox?”   Well most of us aren't afraid of chickenpox. What if they get measles? What if they get mumps?  You know … What if? What am I going to do? 

Well, if you have already spent your time, money and energy on educating yourself on how to use homeopathy, get a kit, have the resources so when something does pop up, you know what to do and you have a community of people with you that you can lean on, you can ask questions, and you can say, “I don't know what to do because I can't think, because I'm freaking out, because my kid has something.” You're going to be stronger and better for it rather than using remedies out of fear, so that you hope that your kid never gets sick with any of these things, when honestly these childhood diseases are strengthening.

Yes, they can be scary and yes, people have died from some of these before, so I understand where you're coming from.  Believe me. I mean, I have a 27-year-old, an 18-year-old and a 16-year-old. I had to do all this research and make these decisions, along with my husband, just like you did. We made the decision together. We were on the same page. When you two are not on the same page, maybe the middle ground could be you, Mama, taking classes, getting a kit for your birthday or Christmas, and being prepared. Be prepared, instead of trying to prevent. Be ready for what comes up.

Bri Hurlburt  11:39  

I do remember doing all the research about all the things, and what would I do if this happened.  It felt like there was just a never ending rabbit hole.  I don't know what, maybe it was just the prompting of the Lord maybe, to give me some clarity of how to move forward, but I decided to just start, even on the CDC website, looking into statistically how bad these diseases are, and how many? You hear the percentage of how many people die, or you hear a number. Well, we have no clue on the range of statistics what that means. 

First I started looking at how many cases happen.  In those cases, how many are severe? And then even in the severe cases, how many are so severe they're left damaged for the rest of their life and don't heal all the way?  Then I was like, okay, they're actually very small.  The risk is so small that your kid would even be severe enough to be hospitalized, let alone have leftover damage forever. And then I thought, “Okay, here's the symptoms.  What would I do? How would I treat that? What could I treat it at home with?” 

And that was part of what led me to homeopathy to begin with.  I personally feel 100% confident that anything, as far as infectious disease goes, I am properly equipped at home to manage in the normal realm. I'm not opposed to bringing my kid in if they need that. I do believe there is a time and place for Western medicine and for hospitals, but most of the time kids don't need that.  We don't.  I do think doctors are even getting more on board now in general.  Depending on where you live, I brought my son in, my first son, when I wasn't sure, not as confident, brought him in, and they told me, “Well, unless these few really dangerous things happen, take him home and just take care of him and stay home.” And I was surprised, “Okay, thank you for not helping me.” That's what I felt like at the time. I think some doctors are also seeing that not everything has to be treated with homeopathy or allopathic medicine. I feel good about supporting their bodies. I don't remember totally where I was going with that except to say look into the risk, can you manage it at home, and be prepared. 

Melissa Crenshaw  14:14  

Backing up to the statistics that you were talking about when you researched that and that it was a small percentage that actually were severe. But what we don't ever know is in that small percentage that was severe, what is their history? What is the person's history that's sick? What is their parents’ history? Those kids maybe were living off of Pop Tarts and Doritos and their parents smoked in the house. 

Bri Hurlburt  14:46  

I think this too.  At the beginning of illness, very often when you're used to using allopathic medicine, you suppress right away. When their body responds with a fever, when their body is actually fighting, we suppress that. We suppress their immune response and so by doing that, if it is a more serious illness, it's thriving.  The body is not responding so when it shows again, it's huge.

Melissa Crenshaw  15:13  

I definitely don't want what I just said to come across as like, “Oh, well, if your kid was one of those, you're a terrible parent. You probably weren't feeding your kid well.”  That's not what I meant at all. But we don't know their history is really what I’m trying to say.  

Bri Hurlburt 15:28

There’s missing things that we don’t know.

Melissa Crenshaw 15:30

That’s right. They could have been really sick already, and then couldn't work through that thing, or, I love what you just said, they could have actually been healthy, but the fever was suppressed, therefore their body couldn't express the thing and then they got in trouble. 

Bri Hurlburt  15:47  

I don’t want to get our podcast in trouble or anything, so hopefully if anybody's listening in, but we also know that the Covid statistics, we know those are … I know personally people who were marked down as some kind of Covid complication, and they didn't even go in for that. It had nothing to do with the fact that they had Covid.  Let's just put that out there.  I don't even know that I 100% trust those statistics to be accurate.

Melissa Crenshaw  16:22  

Yep, didn't even think of that. Yeah, that's good. 

I have in the past used Thuja before flu time to help either make sure that I don't get the flu, or that my body is strengthened enough to fight through that if I did get it, but I haven't done that in a while. I haven't done that in several years now, but I was doing that.  I did that for maybe a year or two. You might see that sometimes in some of my information, the Thuja protocol.  You can find that in my viruses guide. I have a free viruses guide, and you can find that on my website under the Free Resources tab.  You can see how to address viruses as they come up, flu especially. I also have a viruses course, and there's a kit that goes along that matches that course.  We have got you covered in the preparedness for illness.

Bri Hurlburt  17:29  

Your virus course is amazing too. It's great.  And the fact that there's a kit that goes along with it, that's really wonderful. 

I also just thought about the Thuja protocol.  You started that because you had seen a pattern that you were getting the flu regularly. I would even consider that a little different. 

Melissa Crenshaw 17:55

That's true. 

Bri Hurlburt 17:56

I've never done the Thuja protocol, actually, but I haven't gotten the flu all the time or on a regular enough basis that I felt like, “Okay, something's not totally right here.”  I also thought about people with chronic seasonal allergies that are debilitating may start something like Calc carb or the allergy protocol earlier in the year but it's because there is an actual issue that we've seen.

Melissa Crenshaw 18:25

That's right. 

Bri Hurlburt 18:27

I do think homeoprophylaxis specifically in place of vaccines to prevent infectious disease is unnecessary.

Melissa Crenshaw  18:40  

That’s what I think.  I think it's unnecessary.

Bri Hurlburt  18:42  

I think that's a good way to put it: unnecessary. 

We welcome questions. You guys know if you listen here, if you email us, comment somewhere, if you watch the YouTube video, and you have experience. We also mentioned before we even recorded, we love the discussion. We happen to agree. We tend to agree on most things, but we know a lot of people who think differently than us and practice differently, and that's welcomed and fine. 

We just wanted to share because Melissa, you do get that question all the time, so now you have this here forever.

Melissa Crenshaw  19:26  

Now we can share this episode in our classes.  When the question comes up, I can give a short answer and move on and we can say listen to this whole episode. 

Bri Hurlburt  19:34  

Here’s all of these words, yeah.

Melissa Crenshaw  19:37  

That’s a good thing.  Yes.  Please comment, like, share if you know someone that could benefit from this information.  Thanks again for joining us.