I’ve told the story many times, about the first time one of my children got a fever after I had committed to not using antipyretics like acetaminophen for my kids. And my son didn’t just get any fever…he got a whopping fever of 105 Fahrenheit! I was amazed… and terrified.
So what did I do? I did three things. First, I gave him Belladonna, as this homeopathic remedy is quintessential for fevers like this. Second, I read the book by Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor. And third, I got anxiety diarrhea.
I think it’s so important to dissect fevers in advance so that when our turn comes, (and if you’re lucky, your turn will come to face a fever…either in yourself or in a child) you will be prepared.
Fevers are Signs of Healing
In my Memory Work Music, the fourth song is dedicated to observing signs of healing. The lyrics state “It’s important to observe improvement by or around the fourth dose of the remedy you have chosen. Improvement may include feeling better in your mind, restful sleep, increased appetite, and sometimes the onset of a healing fever.”
So this reminds us that fevers are part of our body’s natural defense system. And that’s perfectly right. In homeopathy, many times when the correct remedy is selected, the sign you know you’ve selected the correct remedy is that a fever develops. This really is proof that homeopathy triggers your body to heal itself. The remedy does not provide a fever. Instead, it encourages your body to develop one for you.
12 Facts About Fevers
In his book, How to Raise a Healthy Child In Spite of Your Doctor, Dr. Mendelsohn says there are 12 facts about fevers that we need to acquaint ourselves with. Let’s go over a few of them in more detail.
Fact #1: 98.6 degrees is not everyone’s normal temperature; that’s just a statistical average. I used to really rely on my thermometer, but over time, I’ve been able to tell a ‘high’ fever, from a lowish one just by putting my face against my children’s. Face-to-face contact is really important because a lot of times our own hands are cold and someone may feel hot when they are not actually fevering.
Fact #2: Kids’ temperatures can fluctuate significantly throughout the day.
Fact #3: The fevers you should be concerned about usually stem from an obvious cause. So for example, someone ate something toxic, or they’ve hit their head, or they’re having heat stroke.
Fact #4: This one goes back to taking a temperature. Temperatures vary significantly depending on how they’re taken. In the butt. In the armpit. Laser versus digital versus mercury thermometers.
Fact #5: Newborns are different. If you have a newborn baby, take them to get help right away. The umbilical cord can be infected or the circumcision (if you did that). They can have pneumonia from the amniotic fluid they aspirated because mom was overmedicated during delivery. I love Dr. Mendelsohn. He says, “That’s why my grandchildren have been born at home!” He’s so cool!
Fact #6: Sometimes babies will have a fever, but there could be an external reason. I remember once when I was a new mom, it was frigid cold outside. My son was 4 months old, so I bundled him up in lots of layers and blankets because his bassinet was by a window. I woke up and checked on him, and I was shocked. The room was plenty warm and he was totally overheating. So I stripped off the layers and he was fine after that. Dr. Mendelsohn says to dress your baby in as many layers as you find comfortable yourself. Seems logical. I really wish I had this book when I was a first-time mom!
Fact #7: Most fevers are caused by viral and bacterial infections that the baby’s own defense mechanisms will overcome without medical help. Once, I was so sick when I caught the flu. I honestly think it could have been the swine flu; I was miserable. My little 4-month-old got it too. We were limp in bed and we both fevered it off. I probably would have taken meds if I had been well enough to get up, but I wasn’t, and my husband was gone all day at his graduate class, so we just laid in bed. It was awful. But we stayed really hydrated, and that’s what was important.
Usually, he says, you will be able to see fevers as a product of virus or bacteria because the accompanying symptoms are clear: cough, stuffy nose, watery eyes, etc.
Fact #8: There is no consistent relationship between the height of a child’s temperature and the severity of a disease.
I always thought that a high fever meant serious disease. But that’s not true. In homeopathy, we would explain that a high fever actually has to do with the strength of the vital force, or someone’s ability to heal.
Fact #9: Untreated fevers caused by viral and bacterial infections do not rise inexorably and will not exceed 105 degrees. This is the page that I went back to over and over and over again when my son had a fever of 105. I’m going to read to you what Dr. Mendelsohn wrote:
“Doctors do a great disservice to you and your child when they prescribe drugs to reduce his fever. The effect of this advice is to validate the common fear of many parents that their child’s temperature will continue to rise unless measures are taken to control it and bring it down. They don’t tell you that reducing his temperature will do nothing to make the patient well or that our bodies have a built-in mechanism, not fully explained, that will prevent an infection-induced temperature from reaching 106 degrees.”
He goes on to say again that it’s heatstroke, poisoning, or something like that that will cause a higher fever.
Fact #10: This one was really interesting to me too. He says that doing anything to reduce the fever, like sponging, is worse than just unnecessary. They are actually counterproductive.
Here is another quote I want to read to you:
“If your child contracts an infection, the fever that accompanies it is a blessing, not a curse. It occurs because of the spontaneous release of pyrogens that cause the body temperature to rise. This is a natural defense mechanism that our bodies employ to fight disease. The presence of fever tells you that the repair mechanisms of the body have gone into high gear.”
He goes on to explain that when you develop an infection, your body responds by manufacturing additional white blood cells (leucocytes). These destroy bacteria and viruses and remove damaged tissue. The white cells actually move more rapidly and raise the body temperature. The higher temp just means that your body is increasing its ability to heal itself. It’s something to rejoice over, not to fear!
Although reducing the fever may make the person feel more comfortable, you’re interfering with their natural healing process if you do.
Fact 11: Fevers produced by viral or bacterial infections will not cause brain damage or permanent physical harm. Enough said. Many of us have heard that Helen Keller went blind because of a high fever, and Mary Ingalls (Laura’s sister). We hear a lot of these stories, but it wasn’t the fever. It was whatever illness they had.
Fact 12: Fevers do not cause convulsions, or seizures. They happen because of the temperature change happening at a quick rate.
This can be scary when you see it happen. Whenever a child’s fever goes up very quickly, or even when it’s brought down quickly, it can cause seizures. My sister-in-law once had a baby that was sick with a fever. While her dad held her, she went into a seizure and he rushed her under cold water in the sink. This was possibly the worst thing that could have happened because now her fever, which was going up very quickly, was now being brought down too quickly. I believe this is why she continued to seize and wasn’t able to stop until they got emergent medical care.
Another time my friend’s husband called me in a panic. Their son was having a seizure. They had called an ambulance but it hadn’t arrived yet and my friend was dealing with the baby, so she said, “Call 911, then call Paola.” Which to this day makes me laugh. We determined that she had been holding her baby who had a fever underneath the air conditioning, and that caused his fever to go down too quickly. The seizing had stopped when they called me but he was having a hard time breathing. This is kind of normal after a seizure because your brain is really rebooting after a seizure, but boy, those seconds when they don’t breathe last forever.
I thought of the remedy Cuprum metalicum off the top of my head. I grabbed my materia medica, and everything matched. He cried out before the seizure began. His face was a bit bluish from the lack of breathing, and it was like he was asleep and couldn’t wake up. We gave him the cuprum, he started breathing and went to sleep. Then she’d watch and he’d start whining and crying, but like he was still asleep. She felt like that was a step back for him, and so she gave him another Cuprum, and he would relax and sleep again. It was a pretty awesome experience. The ambulance came, and everything was fine so they left. They did want to give him Tylenol, and she said, “Oh that’s ok, I just gave him some before you came.” (WINK.)
Be smart mamas.
Fever Remedies
From my earlier story, the homeopathic remedy I used when my son’s fever was 105 was Belladonna. Another song from my Memory Work Music helps illustrate why I chose this remedy:
“When your symptoms are red, hot, angry, and throbbing, reach for Belladonna, there’s no need for sobbing. For symptoms dry, swollen, painful, and sore, or a sudden high fever of 103 or more, that’s Belladonna.”
This is a beautiful remedy for fevers. Another common remedy for lower fevers that aren’t quite so high, is Ferrum phos. I teach more about fevers and remedies for fevers in my curriculum. You can learn it yourself through my book club class materials or you can learn it alongside your kids!
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