Feeling unsettled at school - can homeopathy help?

Children often complain of feeling sick and having tummy ache before school. They may be having trouble settling in or making friends and it's worth having a word with a  form teacher to check that there is nothing happening that you should be aware of.

If the problem persists you should consult your GP to make sure there is no medical reason.  Very  often there is nothing actually wrong but just and underlying feeling of unease and perhaps a lack of confidence.

This is where homeopathy can help and Dr Keith Souter outlines the various remedies which may help:

• Arsenicum album is useful for this history, especially in very neat, meticulous children.
• Magnesia carbonica  is helpful in sensitive children who are easily tired out, easily startled and prone to digestive problems, including colicky pains. They can be sick at the prospect of school and may even get pale diarrhoea.
• Ignatia is useful in bright, highly-strung children who may seem precocious. 
• Finally, I would also consider Lycopodium with these symptoms, since these children will often worry themselves sick, experience tummy pains and yet deny any worries.

Dosage

The correctly selected remedy in 30c potency twice day for three days should do the trick.

A version of this article appeared in the winter 2007/8 issue of Health and Homeopathy. To find out more about homeopathy or to find a homeopathic doctor 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.