Night Sweats - Homeopathic Remedy?

[Psamathe]

... Maybe my GP should be involved. If only the surgery wasn't so hopeless....

Off topic but is it the GP or the practice that is useless (it's an important distinction). I'd suspect it would be the GP you see in which case try a different GP in the practice. Often easy to do given the normal booking delays, just when you call for an appointment and they say "fully booked for next 3 weeks" just say you don't need to see "your" GP but any other will do - I've done this before and then rejected their next offer (GP already known as useless) and tried another.

My own practice was "useless" in that all the GPs there seemed to have lost interest in the patients, couldn't be bothered to look into what might be the cause of a problems, etc. I'd tried them all and was ready to change practice when the a load quit and retired and they managed to get a load of new ones in and I got assigned to one who is very good (so no need to move).

If it's long wait times at the practice as a whole then ... welcome to the new NHS (and it's getting worse). My own practice has ongoing 3 week wait times in summer (I'd guess it's worse in winter - though I suspect they also don't book more than 3 weeks ahead from last appointment in spring when they said "we are releasing more appointments next week").

If your practice or GP is useless for reasons that would not apply to another practice then change practice. I understand there are practice reviews on some NHS web site - though I suspect those are either people who quite rightly had to wait or did not get e.g. given the antibiotics they wanted for their viral infection or a local campaign to increase the practice rating to help recruit new good GPs (which does happen).

Ian

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
On dogs mine have been mixed health which is what you would expect buying from any commercial source, except the vet bred one which although had arthritis from a puppy lasted 15 years G S Pointer .

My vet said that the best dogs he has seen are those bred on proper farms, that's farms not puppy farms, they are smaller too, not bred too big.
I am talking specifically my breed a pointer not a general statement

I would guess that the sheep dog owners on farms get rid of ones they suspect are no good or don't buy or breed them, they are a tool and you need the best after all that investment in training.

Sad to see another post gone to meds argument again.........................................
When I found my dad 42 years ago at same age as I am now (58) outside the toilet blue and dead, if this was today he would probably still be alive for another 25 years. that's meds, the argument that you don't need them is ok now health and knowledge and meds has progressed so we will probably expect to live to 100.
Common fatal viruses and diseases have been all but eradicated in the developed world.

Caesarean births have increased because previously narrow hip births were dangerous and commonly fatal for both, removing that flaw from repeating in later generations of family, that fact is as difficult to discuss as abortion..................

Above all diagnoses by qualified staff won't do you any harm.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Night sweat have never left me lethargic, so I would see a GP if that was the case.

One of my (now forgotten..almost) family members is / was so independent and admits / denies help from anything / one, less superior than themselves........................was shrinking................really like a geriatric on a fad diet................eventually he bit the bullet and ended up with help to return to normal........I guess he and he said it many times, that he was worried that worry would result in contracting cancer...............pituitary malfunction that was all...................

[bigjim]

I had the nights sweats and fatique, plus swollen lymph glands in the neck. Cancer was confirmed eventually. I had to kick some ass as well. Thank god though for the NHS.

[Annoying Twit]

And even for depression there are drugs such as Zoloft and Lexapro which have better evidence. E.g. reported here: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/01/3 ... =PM:HEALTH How would an individual 'find' that a drug is more effective?

That doesn't reference the study discussed, but even the most effective anti-depression medications are only about 85% effective, meaning that 15 people out of 100 will not find any improvement from them. In addition, most anti-depressants become less effective over time, and the person taking them needs to find an alternative or increase dosage, which can make any side effects worse. Also, some side effects of anti-dpression medication are ones that can complicate the illness (even if they generally improve mood) such as impotence, disturbed sleep patterns, or disconnected feelings.

(Sorry about the wandering off-topic, HC)

Sorry I haven't had time to address this thread much recently.

It is true that conventional medicine is not perfect, and nobody denies that. E.g. that anti-depression medications are not 100% effective. But, what are you suggesting as a consequence of this? As some people use the fact that conventional medicine is not perfect to justify claims that people should use alternative treatments which are much less effective, or even not effective at all. If you say that the best anti-depressants are 85% effective, then how effective are the best alternative treatments for depression? That's the crux: people are rejecting conventional medicine for reasons of imperfection, but then uncritically adopting other healing methods which are far worse in terms of their benefit/harm ratio.

Also, you mention the side-effects of anti-depression medicine. Alternative and natural medicines are often said to have fewer or no side effects, but St John's Wort is not one of these. See: https://nccih.nih.gov/health/stjohnswor ... ession.htm for a list of side effects. There is a problem with finding effective medicines without side-effects: if there is the biological effect to cure, it's most likely going to do something else to the body and/or mind as well. It's easy to find medicines with fewer side effects if you are prepared to accept lower, or no, actual curative effect.

I think it's safe to wander off topic here as the OP has had significant advice to see a GP about his symptoms.

[Vorpal]

I was only saying that same solution doesn't suit everyone. And many, many medications are not at all effective. Most medications list effectiveness as the result of studies in terms of the difference between a placebo, and their medication. As little as 20% benefit is considered significant, even for relatively low incident illnesses.

So, a pharmaceutical company might do a study with two groups of people, and give one 'at risk' group their medication for 5 years and another 'at risk' group a placebo for 5 years. Then, lets say that over the period of 5 years, 32 out of 1000 people on medication died, but in the control group 41 people died, the medication will be consider successful, and the information provided to GPs about the medication will indicate that there is a 22% percent benefit. Most people (and even many medical practitioners) take this to mean that the medication will help 22 out of 100 people, when in fact, because it it a relative risk reduction, it will only help a very small percentage of patients.

In the case of anti-depressants, however, they put effectiveness in terms of the percentage of patients who respond to treatment. So, 85 out of 100 respond to treatment with the best anti-depressants. However, some studies have found that a similar percentage of people repsond to treatment with placebos. https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... dont-they/

This kind of problem is especially difficult with anit-depressants because
-they don't cure anything
-the variability of side effects and effectiveness has wider range than most other medications
-they become less effective with time
-some people are not helped at all by anti-depressants
-some studies have found no benefit from anti-depressants
-the side effects of most anti-depressants are significant and at least partly offset the benefits

The side effects of St. John's Wort, on the other hand are *usually* mild, although it is more likely to interact with some other medications and should not be taken with pharmceutical anti-depressants.

I'm not suggesting that anyone should avoid conventional medicine. But if conventional medicine isn't effective, what then?

Also mental and emotional illness are not, as a rule, well treated in the UK. They have a tendancy to just prescribe anti-depressants, unless someone is actively suicidal. Then, they receive therapy until they are no longer actively suicidal, even if they are not yet functioning well in society. GPs who prescribe anti-depressants, often don't refer patients for counselling or psycotherapy, even though the evidence is that counselling/psycotherapy produces a better outcome, whether anti-depressants are prescribed or not.
http://www.bacp.co.uk/research/resources/

I don't believe that many people are rejecting conventional medicine for less effective treatment. The majority of people who use alternative medicine have been failed by conventional medicine. The only person I know takes St. John's Wort, struggled for years with severe side effects of anti-depressants, and little improvement. She finds that St. John's Wort helps her, and she doesn't suffer from any side effects.

[softlips]

Night sweats can be a sign of many things. I remember lots of patients used to present with them before being diagnosed with TB.

If you decide to use a homeopathic remedy then make sure it's effectiveness has been proven by a double blind randomised controlled trial. To help I've prepared a concise list of such 'treatments':

1.