I found information on using homeopathy (arnica) to control Diabetes for type 1 and 2. This was “discovered” by accident as shared on this site:
http://www.homeopathyandmore.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1728
I have tried it and cannot understand how it WORKS! Since I’m Type 1, how does it force my body to make more insulin? Does anyone understand the mechanism involved here? Any insight would be appreciative.
Jenn,
This sounds promising. I am still reading about it. Where did you get your Arnica? Thanks for the info.
Hi Jenn,
here is my take on this: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. It is of course possible that some compound in Arnica can effect blood sugars. But in homeopathic doses? Diluted in spring water and shaken while rotated clockwise and counterclockwise, because it makes the Arnica more effective? I highly doubt it has any effect that goes beyond that of a placebo.
Once your beta cells are dead, they’re dead. I don’t see how they could be revived by Arnica. It might lower insulin resistance in type 2, but there is a long list of supplements that promise to lower blood sugar (see Bloodsugar 101 for a summary) and turned out to be ineffective or downright harmful, so I’m highly skeptical.
Kat
Hi! I don’t know anything about this, but…
This could be just making the (injected) insulin more effective.
Just because your blood sugars go down does not mean that your body is now producing its own insulin. I take Alpha Lipoic Acid (recommended by Dr. Bernstein) and that is supposed to decrease your need for insulin by 1/3. I haven’t seen any effect yet (but I just started). I think that these treatments may address insulin resistance instead of insulin production. Many type 1s also have insulin resistance.
Just my thoughts…
Another interesting thing that I read in Dr. Bernstein’s book is that many people who have had type 1 diabetes for years and years still retain a small amount of insulin production. I wonder why…
I think what Kat is subtly saying, and that I will say less so, is that homeopathy is a crock of crap, its only possible benefit is via the placebo effect, and even if Arnica did somehow lower blood glucose levels, it wouldn’t be by stimulating any endogenous production of insulin in Type 1s.
Your comment made me laugh, because you’re right. I do think homeopathy is a crock of crap, but I tried to be a bit more diplomatic about it.
I hear you skeptics, especially because I normally am too. But I only can go off of my experience. I cannot understand HOW it works, and there is no “placebo” effect about it. I eat the same thing every morning, got completely different BG readings after using. So much, it kinda scared me. I don’t understand. But Kristin, your theory sounds interesting and headed in the right direction. Maybe it does make the insulin I take more effective? Maybe because I am “new”, its pushing a little remaining out? I just know I didn’t feel well so I stopped taking it.
I am just trying to understand the mechanism.
You have been diagnosed less than one year…you may have some endogenous production still. When did your honeymoon period end?
You do realize that in a homeopathic preparation, there is actually no detectable amount of the substance, right? So if you were to analyze this bottle of homeopathic Arnica, all you would find inside it is water. This is why we are suggesting the placebo effect, which is very real yet poorly understood.
I’ve used an Arnica cream to help with sore muscles. A dancer friend says that many ballet dancers swear by it. Whether it is the placebo effect or not, it does help with sore muscles (though sore muscles are definitely more susceptible to being helped by a placebo). I have not noticed any effect on blood sugar based on topical use.
It works well for that- not just as a placebo.
It contains a substance that is quite toxic if ingested orally, which makes me skeptical of any claims regarding that method of use.
oneless…I think I’m still in this so -called “honeymoon” stage, so that’s why I suspected it was helping push out the last little bit available. Just like the arnica gel I’ve used for years to treat bruises (and it works amazingly), this is a clear noticeable effect. I used the pellets directly, no water.
I was just hoping someone might be aware of the mechanism involved (i.e., promoting increased blood circulation leads to…) but I understand everyone’s skepticism, especially living with this crappy illness longer than me…but I remain skeptic too, just of other things, like this diagnosis, doctors, big pharm, health insurance, and Type 1 “insulin therapy”. 
Jenn…when I was first diagnosed 5 years ago, I was given Amaryl to help push out what little insulin I might still have been producing. I had a lot of lows, but a lot of high #'s as well, so was put on insulin. I have read that there is the thought now that “pushing out” what last bits of insulin you are capable of producing might not be a great idea as it may cause the islets to shut down sooner. Apparently the thinking is to not overly tax them so as to keep them productive longer.
Interesting, Elaine. Could you (or anyone) explain why it matters when it shuts down? I’m not clear on the advantages of still making any if already insulin dependent. Thanks!
You know what? Me either. As I said, my #'s skyrocketed when I ate carbs regardless. What insulin I was producing was not enough. I don’t see what difference it makes…we end up on insulin.
i do not think that homeopathy is a crock… but i am puzzled by this one. the action of arnica is on blood engorged mucle tissue. that is why it works on some sore muscle issues and bruises. the action of homeopathy is basicly this: you have a drug, and anything is a drug, food is a drug. that drug has two actions on you body. the action of the drug overtly (i.e. onions make your nose run and eyes burn) and then it utilizes the action that your body has to counteract the action of the drug. (in the case of allium, or onion, you will have a drying effect on your eeys and nose. in the case of a cold, this is helpful) if you can micro dilute the drug till all that you have left is the electrical fingerprint of the drug… supposedly all you will have is the bodily reaction. that is the theory. i think that most companies that make homeopathis remedies are the crock. there are quite a few people who look at the ama as a crock. they have some mechinical successes, but at great expense to the quality of human life. there are some basic things that homeopthy can do, and do well, but curing diabetes leaves me very sceptical. it will not fix a mechanical problem, but it might acentuate a honeymoon period…
What the heck is an “electrical fingerprint”? I’m sorry, but homeopathic treatments have never been proven efficacious. If you have evidence to the contrary I would be happy to take a look at it though.
all i have is the things that i have done myself. i have seen amazing things, but all in the realm of acute illness. i have not collected, because i am not going to convince anyone. what i really think… (and this may rock your boat) …is that your faith heals you. if you have faith in the ama, they can heal you, if you have faith in homeopathy, it will heal you ect ect. that is why there is so much antidotal evidence for all of this stuff.
electrical fingerprint… the frequency charge left behind that makes your body reply. this is not as hoky as it sounds, it is a well known and established fact that all elements have a certain frequency. in the case of alergies, that is what tips your body off to the alergin being around. so yes, there is no proof, but if placebos cure people, why the heck not use them?
Kristin,Dr.Bernstein will now be referred to as Dr. GOD, thank you very much.
The placebo effect is indeed real, and rather unexplained at the moment. But that has nothing to do with homeopathy directly. It would be just as effective for a doctor to prescribe you a sugar pill and tell you it was good medicine, but no one is too hip on being lied to by their doctor. Similarly, I don’t think relying on false claims is a good idea even if the placebo effect may be an incidental benefit (and since it is unexplained, there is no guarantee it is going to show up based on “faith” or any other human emotion).
I don’t really understand what you are talking about with the “electrical fingerprint” or elements having a “certain frequency”. Allergic reactions are mediated by histamine, not by electricity. I’m all for everyone choosing their own methods of treating diabetes to a great extent, but I think we need to be careful in a public forum such as this one that we do not lead the newly diagnosed down paths that might be harmful to their health, and I certainly do not think it is a good idea to promote modalities for which there is no evidence of efficacy. The only people who reliably benefit there are the people selling the products.
i am sorry if i was promoting. i was trying to explain the question that some one else had. i am a homepath, and i think that i said often enough in the last couple of comments that i see a lot of antidotal evidence with acute, not chronic conditions. i am also an amature medical historian… there is no evidence of efficacy with chemotheropy, vaccination or a host of other commonly practiced medical procedures. i am a firm beleiver in the buyer beware method of medical advice, but my firm advice is still DO NOT STOP TAKING INSULIN FOR ANY REASON… that is what i do and that is what i say. i think that these other things are of interest, but i have little faith (there is that human emotion again) in these things curing t1 or anyother autoimmune disease.
as a side note, did you know that until very recently harvard medical school required its med students to take a semester of homeopathy… it was under the idea that the bedside manner was far superior in homepathis practice than allopathic…