Dr Antonina Matsuk

How did you start your journey in Homeopathy?

I am a doctor and have been looking for alternative methods of treatment for a long time.  Working in the X-ray department of the hospital association, I noticed that at the end of the working week, employees became irritable or very tired.  I encountered such patients from "Soyuzchernobyl" organization after the accident at the nuclear reactor.  Their immunity suffered, and I wanted to help them. 

How I integrate homeopathy into my practice?

The Bright Star of Homeopathy has shone for me. I finished specialization at the Kyiv Institute of Advanced Medical Training.  Inspired by the miraculous method, I headed this new direction, received patients in the regional clinical hospital. The Regional Health Department confirmed my authority and with the Regional Pharmacy we opened a homeopathic department in local Pharmacy. At the appointment, the question sounded: "What to prescribe?".  A long-standing saying goes, "A good start is half the battle."  

On a second visit, the leading message was: "What's next?"  Simila medicine, hitting “the bullseye”, is able to heal the patient both in an acute case, and in a deep chronic pathology.  Homeopathy can not only remove local physical symptoms, but also give true healing and return a person a feeling of happiness. 

The organization of the homeopathic service went along with the provision of medical care.  I love to treat the sick. Amazing cases of healing were simulating me to move on.  There was an incident: patients approached me as to a "cosmetologist".  Among the first patients were those affected by severe skin diseases, deforming their faces. They went with hope and faith in a new method of treatment.  The girl was able to remove the bandage (she used to hide her face from prying eyes and suffer a lot).  A student was embarrassed by his acne, could not date with his girlfriend. Now they looked in the mirror and were happy to see their clear skin.  I was happy when a few snow-white grains relieved them of itching.  Other patient came in thread gloves, which she wore constantly (due to the contact with paper dust at work).  She had vesicles on her skin, bleeding cracks.  The woman began to cry when the skin on her hands became smooth after Petroleum.  She stopped hiding her hands from those around her. I can't imagine anything completer and more useful than helping the sick in this way.

I realized the limitless nature of homeopathy.  They brought a girl with neurodermatitis. Parents were tired of medical examinations, unbalanced behavior of the child.  The story of the family helped to deal with prescription.  Mother suffered from "Syndrome of husband", on the day of her next date with another man, the child gave out a severe exacerbation.  The use of hormonal ointments aggravated the situation. I understood the reason and was able to help quickly. Every patient was a revelation to me.  I was constantly looking and did not hesitate to look at the manuals. I compared cases and remedies. Remembering the recommendations of S. Hahnemann, D. Kent, I questioned not only patients, but their loved ones.

T. Popova gave me wise instructions, a book as a gift. At the appointment, observing the behavior of patients, their posture, I was looking for special, unusual symptoms.  I was very attentive to complaints and wrote them down carefully. I learned in medical school: The great thing is differential diagnosis.  It came in handy immediately at the homeopathic appointment. From the mass of various symptoms, how to choose the main ones that should be included in the List for repertorization?  These questions constantly occupied me.  I used every opportunity to read everything I could acquire.

I have been accumulating observations.  Children were well helped by the 200th potencies.  A middle-aged woman had a strong exacerbation on Sulfur 200C, but also got rid of a long-standing skin problem.  For myself, I came to the conclusion, to be careful with this drug in high dilutions, when skin problems coincide with the constitution!  Not yet knowing the Classification of all Prescription Strategies, I chose the least traumatic approaches.  In seriously ill patients, I used low dilutions with frequent repetition so as not to aggravate the dangerous condition (the case of a patient with bowel cancer).  In the work, I had to rely on the symptoms and consider the general pathology, laboratory, instrumental studies.  Such argumentation, together with homeopathic dynamics, helped to justify the correctness of treatment and defend our method.  Thanks to homeopathy, I clearly understood that one should be able to defend the cause. I have a case with a 10-year catamnesis of the disease, when a patient with a pancreatic cyst did not have a surgery. Homeopathy allows to avoid surgical interventions, for example, patients with appendicitis who did not have a surgery after receiving Staphysagria; or with uterine fibromyoma and endometriosis from Phytolacca. Homeopathic drugs stop uterine bleeding (the case of Lak Husky, presented on LMHI-22).  Homeopathy helps the resorption of large cysts (5 cm!)  and give a chance to find happy motherhood in the case when a woman had a single ovary. There also are good results from homeopathic treatment for diseases of the thyroid gland, allergies. In each case, I was looking for Similia. 

I am a supporter of mastering basic MM.  But it's a new time of pandemics and wars, like in my country. There's a lot of psychological problems, stresses, traumas, in addition to the overwhelming effects of allopathy and vaccination. Therefore, if necessary, I prescribe Lanthanides and Actinides, mushrooms. The real discovery for me was Arnica during Covid. I used to wonder, "Why was this plant placed in the Red Book?"  Studying the place of plants in the Table of Series and Stages, I received an obvious answer: Arnica m. - Lanthanide, 666 44 08 - such a code is assigned to this plant!  Therefore, it has an amazing healing effect. 

Working under the UNESCO Program at the Department of Non-Medicinal Methods of Treatment, I trained doctors and treated patients with birth and military trauma, used homeopathy, manual therapy.  I was engaged in the craniovertebral area, received a Patent for an invention, wrote a few recommendations. I became interested in small remedies, the amazing Haematoxylon campechianum, prescribing to a patient with angina pectoris with typical symptoms: the sensation of a rod permeating the heart (Boericke stands for its "Logwood").   Difficulty breathing is the second characteristic physical symptom.  The main sensation in the pathogenesis of the Haematoxylon campechianum is the "iron stick" that penetrates the chest and passes through it.  This is the kind of complaint we often hear from patients with a heart attack. In Kent’s Repertorium we find 2 rubrics (K. 824).  If the patient has angina pectoris, there is no time to ask a lot of questions, only 3-4.  To help, you need to give Haematoxylon as quickly as possible, preventing the occurrence of a heart attack. I advised the patient's wife to store the drug in the home medicine cabinet.  She had a thyrotoxicosis, after stress she felt a sharp piercing of the throat with a spasm. The picture resembled the condition of her husband, but the pain in the thyroid gland was like from a "stake".  I clarified the idea of the symptom by describing it in MM as an addition to the small drug. Thus, a small medicine can be used in critical situations not only on the eve of myocardial infarction, but when pain occurs in the thyroid gland (a new local symptom in MM is the sensation of "stake"-auth.). 

The possibilities of homeopathy are endless. The appointment takes a lot of time. I determine the level of health, choose tactics for re-appointment, with an acute illness, predict the outcome of treatment.  But that understanding came later.  At first, while receiving amazing healings, I began to notice that it happened int full only to some patients.  The answers to the questions on the further management of the case had to be sought in books, endlessly learning, and then comes the moment of TRUTH.  The patient comes to the consultation, I talk to them, examine, choose the symptoms and with mathematical accuracy calculate the treatment options based on an in-depth analysis.  I began to feel the patient, to penetrate the essence of his problem, and not to mechanically summarize the symptoms.  It is very important to be able to keep a certain distance, to think soberly in order to objectively assess the situation.  From studying MM, I moved on to mastering linear repertorization, from a paper repertories to working with homeopathic programs.  These are important assistants, tools but without a clinical assessment you cannot help the patient. It all depends on the information entered and affects the choice of the drug. Weather we use the four-dimensionality of the symptom or take it formally… Now, I use VES and compare it to my conclusions. I think modalities (time, food) are important. I try to make the patient comfortable at the appointment, because a homeopathic conversation is a Confession. I rely on pieces of advice of S. Hahnemann in the Organon.

When, thanks to homeopathy, a patient with Bechterew's disease came into remission, with excruciating night pains passed, stiffness decreased and he was able to work, I was proud that I was involved in homeopathy. Over time, there have been more patients with chronic diseases, often having a prior homeopathic anamnesis.  Every medical history is someone's life, suffering. The path to recovery is a path that needs to be found and not turned away.

Homeopathy is impressive, patients have high expectations!  Lots of questions. Fortunately, there have been such miraculous cases. I have talked about them, written articles, spoken at conventions and colloquia so that more people will know the truth about the homeopathic method of treatment. Membership in lMHI and in AHU, participation in Projects and volunteer assistance during the coronavirus pandemic and during the war enriched practice and gave experience. I suggested paying attention to the use of capsicum in immigrants and Aconitum for panic attacks. I read the research carefully in the journal “Homeopathy”. I love statistical Reports, I like to read Prowing Protocols. All of this taken together objectifies and gives a more accurate picture of the drugs, specifies the MM, the extent of the pathology.  I recently heard that the IACH in Evidence in Pediatrics is considering the drug Chamomillla. Interesting idea of a Ruler-Scale in color to assess the significance of the result.  The previously accepted opinion that Chamomilla is effective in cases of seizures during teething has not been confirmed in clinical observations. Here the frequency of clinical confirmation is low (although of the 42 drugs in the Repertory, Chamomilla is in 3rd degree).   Therefore, we need to be careful in prescribing this drug in such cases. Thanks to such daily work, MM is refined and we are approaching Similia. 

But the main proof of the effectiveness and power of Homeopathy is the cases of healing when conventional medicine was powerless.  This was the case of a tumor of the left lobe of the liver in a patient with jaundice (MRI verification, biopsy) with an improvement from Magnesia mur.  Such cases are impressive. A child from the children's regional hospital was brought to the appointment with acute severe pain in the right hip joint and high fever.  Traumatologists prepared him for surgery.  But it wasn't necessary. The child was very capricious, screaming, did not let anyone touch himself. I assumed it was helminthic invasion with intoxication, after a dose of Cina 200 C his condition was normalized.  There were acute conditions with angina and a temperature of 40 degrees, after taking Belladonna the patient quickly felt relief. Treatment of severe purulent blepharitis with Euphrasia with rapid dynamics caused approval among colleagues. Restoration of the nail plate after unsuccessful manicure and many others.

I fell in love with Homeopathy so much that I did not narrow down the circle of observations, pathologies.  Very close acquaintances asked to consult a boy, he did not talk until the age of 3, with autism spectrum disorder.  After a dose of Natr - mur 30C he spoke (I described this case in Ukrainian Homeopathic Journal).  Now he is 10 years old, he goes to a general education school, plays sports, plays the piano, sings and reads poetry (I saw his performance this summer).  My leading specialty is neurology (panic attacks during Covid, cognitive disorders, effects of birth injuries, hyperactive children). But I take patients with other problems as well.

In homeopathy I like everything.  Of course, I am looking for special, rare symptoms, but in cases of deep pathology, you can not focus only on them.  The cumulative symptom, the essence of the case, causality, connection with pathology, not only local symptoms.  Therefore, I could not go into narrow homeopathy. It's huge! But I was lucky - with Teachers, Schools, communication with colleagues and devoted patients. I couldn't imagine my life without it. The miracles that Homeopathy works often cause distrust of colleagues.  My deep conviction is that it is more effective to practice Homeopathy if you come with some medical experience. Invaluable experience, knowledge of general medicine, understanding of people, love for the profession and tireless thirst for knowledge, creativity.  I like such a direction as integrative medicine. From my observations, I realized that there are limits to the use of any method.  And then manual therapy can come to the rescue, as in cases of traumatic injuries, and other non-drug methods of treatment. But Homeopathy remains the main thing. 

In conclusion, I will share a rare case of veterinary care in my practice.  I was almost like a kind Doctor from a kid’s tale: a colleague called, she was desperate.  A cat, a purebred Briton, Purina, 9 years old, almost dies. Veterinarians have already administered antibiotics, dexamethasone repeatedly.  It was suffocating. They assumed a hernia, they wanted to do surgery. A very beautiful individual, but I drew attention to its drowsiness, lethargy, periodic unilateral twitching of the head.  Cerebral symptoms. It didn't eat, didn't drink, didn't defecate for a few days.  I asked to record its gait - dragged its rightpaw (paresis).  How did it get sick?  That was the cat of character and even before the disease was not very affectionate. They also got a dog, Fifa, which ate from the cat’s bowl and became the new favorite of the family. The cat was sad, first ran away into the darkness under the stairs, sat there for the night (no one noticed).  The next day, the daughter of the owner wanted to take it in her arms - the cat tried to escape, the head was lowered down - and at that moment the girl pressed the cat.  A real disease has occurred. After Helleborus niger 30 10 gr in aqueous solution there was a short  exacerbation with the following improvement.  And I got a text message: "You saved my cat's life! 

I am very pleased with the choice of profession. Homeopathy benefits me and my patients. My motto: "Servare Alios".