1st appointment

Lily (not her real name) is 8 years old. She received a diagnosis of ADHD combined type when she was 5. Lily is hyperactive, very distracted and impulsive.

She finds math, reading , writing and spelling difficult. Memorising things is a challenge. Her mom remarked that she can't remember how to sing happy birthday.

Her mom's biggest struggle was her defiance. She resisted everything unless she's in a good mood. She would cry and sometimes get aggressive. Triggers included anxiety/ being scared, having difficulty learning something, low frustration tolerance and her sister annoying her.

She suffered from horrible night terrors, sleep walking and nightmares. Restless at night, tossing and turning, and sometimes an inability to sleep at all. Restless leg syndrome. She was fearful of the dark, being alone, and intruders coming into her room. She would go into her mothers room at least 3 nights per week.

Lily is very social. She likes science and art, loves crafts, bird watching, dancing and gymnastics. She's a thrill seeker. Lily prefers to be a leader and wants to be the boss. If she's in a bad mood she complains about things not being fair, as if she's been slighted in life.

2nd appointment

• Anxiety/ fears have improved. No longer anxious about being alone or the dark. She's been wanting to do more things alone. No mention of intruder coming into her room.

• Focus is still off.

• Still argues and gets angry about everything. Still frustrated easily. When sister annoyed her she scratched, pinched and pulled her hair.

• The days after Carcinosin she was happier, more energetic, doing other things not just TV, more agreeable but it only lasted one day.

• Sleep better but she still takes melatonin.

• Hyperactivity, distractedness, impulsivity the same.

• Restless legs has improved.

• Not as clingy.

• Screen addiction constant. Meltdowns when her time runs out.

• Gets upset that she doesn't have friends. She feels rejected a lot. Complaining, whining. Nothing ever good enough. Never happy with what she has. Struggles to express how she feels. Stomps off. When she get angry it's usually because it's not fair.

3rd appointment

• Mom says she is much better. 75% improvement in defiance. 25% improvement in hyperactivity. More calm.

• No change in focus. A lot of redirection required. Mother has to prompt a lot and give a lot of encouragement. Inconsistent, one day she will know how to do a maths problem the next day she will not.

• Lack of motivation to do chores and school work.

• Whining is much better, easier to be around.

• Aggression is better. Can control herself more. Better able to express how she's feeling and say what is upsetting her.

• Frustration tolerance is better. More patience.

• No longer fearful of being alone. No fear of intruders. Fear of dark resolved.

• Sleep is good. No longer going into mothers room. Last time was 12 weeks ago.

• Impulsivity 50% better.

• Reading, writing, math still difficult.

• Memory a little better. Shocked her mom by remembering a few songs.

• Addiction to screens still consumes her. That's all she wants to do. Still has a tantrum when it's turned off.

• Emotionally not unloading as often. Only once a week. More happy with what she has. Not stomping off as much.

• Anxiety much better.

I heard from her mom a couple of weeks ago. She said 'I have a very different child...Her schoolwork was amazing this morning. Lily even said she felt good today too'.

This type of progression is typical of the homeopathic process. It usually is not all gains. Improvements are usually gradual over a period of time, and over several prescriptions.

I expect we will see improvements in reading & writing ability, less addiction to screen time, and further progress with emotional regulation, impulsivity and hyperactivity as we continue to work together.

I hope this post encourages some of you to not give give up on your homeopathic journey. And inspires others to give homeopathy a try!

MYMOP is an outcome measure tool for measuring what patients want to 'come out of the treatment'. These choices are written down in the patient’s own words and the patient scores them for severity over the past week on a seven-point scale: 0 = as good as it can be, 6 = as bad as it can be. A one point reduction in score is clinically significant. When the score reaches 0 the patient either no longer requires treatment, or it's time to pick new symptoms for the MYMOP to focus on.