Has anyone heard anything about Bach's Flower Essence Remedies? The company claims they can assist with a varietly of ailments.

I recently stopped taking Wellbutrin SR cold turkey and I'm looking for something natural to help out while my brain re-adjusts.

I have some fish oil omega-3 supplements, but I haven't been taking them. I'm also considering some St. John's Wort.

Anyone have any advice? Something that may give me noticable differences?

Thanks!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/2008 01:42PM by Leesah.

I tried them about five years ago. I felt happier and more relaxed. It was subtle. I heard the rescue remedy worked well, but never tried it myself.

rescue remedy is great. Bach flower remedies are lovely but like everything else they have been got at by big companies making money. Buy individual remedies not a made up bottle of several remedies that is supposed to treat - lets say - pre menstruel tension. Every one is different and bach flowers work on emotions so no particular remedy will be right for every one. Get a little book outlining the remedies and go from there. when you read the list of different remedies one or two will sing out to you - go for these.

St john wort can make you more sensitive to sunlight so be extra careful when the sun is out (heaven knows when that will be here!!!)

enjoy the bach flowers

I studied Flower Essences as a part of the curriculum in herb school. I instantly took a liking to the therapy. If the essence chosen is what you need it works on an energetic level pretty much instantly.
(In my personal experience, a properly chosen Flower essence would leave me feeling as if I'd just had an hour's worth of Jin Shin Do.)

If the essence chosen isn't what you need, it does nothing. Zilch!

flipperjan Wrote:
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>
> St john wort can make you more sensitive to
> sunlight so be extra careful when the sun is out

A Flower essence is so chemically dilute of the chemical constituents of the actual flower that I don't think the usual St. John's wort warning applies.

Curiously, if you'd be taking St. John's wort in the usual herbal dosage for what its suggested for it could take up to 6 weeks before you might see any effects

but if St. John's wort Flower essence is something that could help you, you're going to experience the results in a matter of seconds.

A flower essence isn't going to lower your blood pressure or make you loose weight,
but if the essence chosen is correct for you the theory is that you'll be more energetically open to the changes you'll need to do to resolve the physical problems.
You're still going to have to do the physical work that the problems require for resolution.

When I used to have moderate anxiety in my life, rescue remedy did calm my nerves a bit.
I'm not sure if it was all in my head or the alcohol content of the spray!

redstar_38 Wrote:
> I'm not sure if it was all in my head or the
> alcohol content of the spray!

The rule they taught us in school for dispersing a Mother Tincture of Flower essence for personal consumption is to add the drops of the Mother Tincture (which is very dilute to begin with but has 20% alcohol as a preservative) to more distilled water and then bring the alcohol content again up to 20% as a preservative.

If you buy a Flower Essence at a store that dilution of product is what you're usually getting.

It might sound like a lot of alcohol but a therapeutic dosage is usually no more than 5 drops from an eye dropper which can be diluted in more water before consuming, dropped on the tongue neat (straight from the bottle), or even just rubbed or sprayed neat on one's skin.

You're probably getting way less alcohol than you would if you ate a ripe banana.

subtle, that's the word that i would use to describe the effects for me. and i do think that your mind must be open to this kind of therapy already because a closed mind is a powerful barrier to the gentle effects of flower essences.

homeopathy is interesting too but for a strong reaction accupuncture is amazing.

I have post traumatic stress disorder. Rescue Remedy calms me down quickly when having a panic attack.

Thanks for all the input. I went ahead and bought 2 vials (hornbeam and gentian) and I have been putting them in my water for the past 2 days.

So far, I do feel like I can feel the effect...I seem to have more energy and I feel very talkative. Perhaps its the placebo effect.

My fiancee has volunteered to be my experimental guinea pig. I haven't told him what they are supposed to do. The researcher in me finds a way to come out!

If you think they will work, they will probably work.

A real test with your friends would be to give them a dose without telling them about it and seeing their specific reactions. But they would have to agree to such a test beforehand.

It would work best if you had a few thousand friends, half of them getting the flower remedy, half of them getting just the excipient.

In small scale trials (less than 50 people), some of the results are positive and some are a draw. There are actually some legitimate studies but the bottom line is insufficient evidence.

On an emotional level, I think they are very appealing. Who wouldn't rather take a flower than a pill from big bad pharma?

arugula Wrote:
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> If you think they will work, they will probably
> work.
>
> A real test with your friends would be to give
> them a dose without telling them about it and
> seeing their specific reactions. But they would
> have to agree to such a test beforehand.

No.
One of the beauties of Flower essences is if it is not something you need, it has absolutely no effect on you.

Chemically, Flower essences are so dilute that its questionable that there are any of the chemical constituents of the actual herb in them.

You're only getting an essence of the flower. Some might interpret that to be the spirit, deva, or dryad of the herb.

Hyldemoer, what about the case of your friend needing it, but not knowing that it had been given? If it is going to work, it should work in such a case.

arugula Wrote:
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> Hyldemoer, what about the case of your friend
> needing it, but not knowing that it had been
> given? If it is going to work, it should work in
> such a case.

Uh huh. If the assessment of the problem is correctly matched to a specific Flower essence it is said to work without a person's knowledge of it being applied.

Mind you now (least ethics be a question here) it can be applied externally and a standard dosage is no more than perhaps 5 drops of a highly diluted solution.

Rescue Remedy gets suggested all the time by vets for pets (cats, dogs, birds) going through traumas.

Unless its an etiology addressed by Rescue Remedy one needs to find the specific Flower essence they need to have any effect.

Self assessment is sometimes difficult because of ego issues. For example; it seems my present constitution disposes me for fear issues.
They aren't acute, bordering on terror which would be Rock Rose

but might they be of some vague unknown something (Aspen) or is it a fear of something I'm aware of (Mimulus)?


Leesah mentioned getting Hornbeam and Gentian.
Gentian is generally used for being pessimistic and knowing why.

Hornbeam is for exhaustion a mental plane
but if the weariness was from something physical, Olive would be the suggested Flower essence instead.

Where Hornbeam might be good for a person who is mentally over burdened,
Scleranthus is for a person who can't decide between options
and
White Chestnut is for someone who's thoughts just go round and round making a person a prisoner of those thoughts.

Sometimes just the process of identifying which Flower essence would be the most effective seems to be a major part of the therapy, no?

Thanks hyldemoer!

[[Sometimes just the process of identifying which Flower essence would be the most effective seems to be a major part of the therapy, no?]]

I hope so. Yes, if it pushes the ego out of the way gently.

I have 4 cats. 2 of them absolutely hate each other. I'm trying some Holly in their drinking water. We'll see if it is helpful.

I gave my fiancee some of the rescue remedy (via a couple drops on the tongue) but didn't tell him what to expect.

He said he noticed a slight effect almost immediately. Of course, he knew he was getting something!

"On an emotional level, I think they are very appealing. Who wouldn't rather take a flower than a pill from big bad pharma?"

Yes, Arugula, it is much better than taking a daily pill (of who-knows-what?).

I believe it works. It works in a way that isn't blatently obvious. Sometimes at work when I felt myself to be stressed out I would take them. Then I would just continue on my way. I always noticed that after some time I would feel in higher spirits and more easily able to deal with stress. It works so subtely it is hard to really notice, but always in retrospect I sincerely feel as though it helped.