Intense agitation from Bach flower essences/ remedies

[Meenal]

I understand that a lot of people love using Bach flower essences or remedies. I heard that they were gentle and safe. But my experience with them has been very, very different. I almost went to the ER from taking them because of how incredibly anxious and distraught I was feeling. Even Rescue Remedy only made things worse.

I was feeling a little anxious generally so I took Mimulus and felt intense dread and terror within two days. . But I want to stress here that I felt much, much worse after taking the Mimulus than I did before. My earlier anxiety before was not obsessive not did it dominate my consciousness. It was not intense and overpowering. After Mimulus, it was all this and worse. I realized I was terrified of uknown mysterious things. So I took Aspen.

The Aspen acted as a diuretic. The fears kind of subsided after a couple of days but before I could feel relief, a new terrible feeling popped up. I began to experience intense self-blame from every small mistake I made. Again, like with the Aspen, I felt intense, all-consuming, obsessive emotional agitation. So now after more online research, I went with Pine.

So now I take the Pine and then within one day, I start to feel creepy violent urges to hit random people. Then I got terrified of what was going on and I took Cherry Plum. I promptly felt extemely socially phobic and anxious as hell. And then in 2 days after taking it, I felt utterly miserable and depressed and hopeless. I took Rescue Remedy and it left me with a dead, wooden, flat yet anxious feeling.

[Meenal]

Something's wrong with the software here so I couldn't finish my message in the previous form. So here's part 2. A few weeks ago, I felt intensely guilty about something. I thought I'd give the Pine another chance. Because after all, like everyone tells you, Bach flower remedies are super gentle! They work great! They really help! Which is a great way of blaming the user if anything goes wrong. It's not the remedies, it's you! So then I take the Pine, because after all it's just a safe and gentle Bach remedy as EVERYONE says. After all, if it's supposedly 'natural' then it must be all good. It only leads to good things, right? Well the crazy urges to hit people came back! Oh joy!

So this time, I took Cherry Plum again. And it gave me intense repetitive thoughts. Over and over and over again going round and round in my head. This is when I thought I was going to have to go to the ER. And the repetitive thoughts were of hitting people. The Cherry Plum actually made things worse! It didn't take away my fears of losing control at all. It made them much worse. THEN I got on White Chestnut. Because it's for unwanted repetitive thoughts. And it helped a little with repetitive thoughts. Mostly it just made me feel depressed and weird and uncomfortable. I stopped the White Chestnut and now that I've completely stopped these remedies, I'm slowly coming back to normal.

I'm writing this because flower essence practitioners never ever talk about adverse reactions. I researched Bach remedies online for days. I only saw glowing accounts of them no matter where I looked. Even so-called 'healing crises' were marketed as being nothing more than mild little discomforts that would go away very quickly, and at the most you'd feel just a little more anxious or sad. I find these cheerleaders to be no better than psychiatrists who're dogmatic about pharmaceuticals. If the med doesn't work, the doctors blame you. And if you present medical doctors or flower essence enthusiasts with something that contradicts their dogma, they side with their product. Flower essence practitioners, who market this stuff on the web, need to talk honestly about adverse reactions instead of simply acting as overly enthusiastic cheerleaders for these very potent and powerful substances. They've lost me as a customer because of their dishonesty. They need to acknowledge that intensely bad things can happen.

[Cat of the Moonlit Wood]

I just want you to know that you are not the only one who is very sensitive to flower essences. I am so sensitive, I often can't even touch the bottles without getting overwhelmed by their vibe. It can affect my whole body, within seconds. Shaking, vibrating, and dizziness, intense pressure in my guts, feeling like the floor is moving. And they give me very intense dreams.
I've never seen anyone talk about this stuff either, and I just shake my head when I hear people say there are no side affects. Vibrational medicine is very powerful, and can do bizarre things on people who are very sensitive!
It sounds like you were having reactions like one can with homeopathic remedies. It amplified the issues with you. (I can't even be in the same room with homeopathic remedies, as I found out when I went to a holistic vet with my cat last year).

[Cat of the Moonlit Wood]

Also, I often will just put a drop of essence in a glass of water and just let it be in the room with me, not ingesting it at all. Maybe the vibe will work more gently for you if you don't take it into your body. Essemces still can work energetically, just by being in the room. Or put a drop on a scrap of cloth and carry it with you.

[crystal woman]

Bach flower essences are not for everyone. Neither are a lot of other vibrational remedies for everyone. I don't have anything in particluar against reputable manufacturers like Bach except that I know their products are made on a large scale and are lacking in the personal touch. I feel the personal touch and intent is important so I don't use any flower essences that I haven't made for myself and I don't make them for other people either, I'd rather show other people how to make their own. If I'm going to make flower essences I like to self test first to confirm that I'll be choosing the right flowers for my very specific and personal needs that are suited to me alone and nobody else. The only time I make essences for other people is when I'm making gemstone essences.

When other people have had good experiences with flower essences and they get all enthusiastic about it - well I just take it that they're telling the truth, not being deceptive - they're just recounting the good experiences that they've had because that's what really happened for them. Meenal, it could be that you are a contrary person who is effected oppositely from what is intended by a given essence - what works successfully for others maybe doesn't work for you the same way and has a contrary effect. It could also be that you're expecting too much from other people's products. If that's the case with you I'd suggest you try self testing too to determine exactly what it is you're most receptive to and needful of, and then make your own. When you make your own you're putting your own personal energy, magic and intent into the product, it has more meaning and purpose for you and there is something very spiritually satisfying in the process of creating the essences. But do self testing first before you start making your own essences. If you don't know how to do self testing, here's the way to do it, this is the method taught by LadyB who is a member here on the board and it has met with a lot of approval and success with other members who have done it for themselves following her instructions: http://www.ladybarbara.net/html/self-testing.html

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[crystal woman]

Oh, something else too. It could be that all you need is to have certain plants and flowers growing around you for you to get the most desirable influence from them. Monitoring my own reactions to the scents of plants is one of the ways I choose plants that I want to grow at home. Something I like to do is walk through plant nurseries and herb gardens, garden stores, parks and other people's gardens just to smell the plants. Each plant I smell evokes a particular emotion or sensation in me. Sometimes it makes me feel energized, sometimes very happy or very sad or melancholy, sometimes it makes me feel hungry and sometimes makes me feel a bit sick, or very calm and sedated or rather agitated and a bit angry. Just another suggestion for you to try for yourself. When you find living plants that evoke desirable reactions in you then those are plants to grow at home. Just being in the presence of these plants and the vital energy and spirit that they generate can be medicine for the soul and these are plants that you can make your own personal essences from at the times when they're in bloom so you have the essences available to you throughout all seasons.

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[RoseRed]

It doesn't sound as if these are working for you. Perhaps it's best if you try a different type of treatment all together. If I had those reactions - I wouldn't use them again either.

[Lady Alinor]

I've seen adverse or repellent reactions to Bach's Rescue Remedy in my dogs, one dog won't even allow us to get near her if we have the bottle in our hand.
We are not made from the same 'cookie cutter', each of us is unique

[teatime]

what everyone has said can i just :yeahthat:?

not every kind of remedy is helpful for everyone. i'll come back in a few minutes after i think about how to condense what i want to say. thanks for starting this thread though. i think talking about such things is very helpful.

okay back! so i am a flower essence practitioner. i would LOVE to go around and say how f.e.'s will work for everyone, exactly the same. but not all of us are the same. we are all very different people. that is what makes the world such a wonderful place. it doesn't sound to me like you are the issue. it sounds to me like the bach's are the issue for you. i hope by now you aren't taking them anymore. if you want to continue with f.e.'s please do. there are several other brands flower essences services, green hope, mine ( maya made). but before you run out and spend money or trade why not just make them your self? here is a thread
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=27181 on how to make them for your self. look for alcohol free f.e.'s if you choose to buy them, some of your reactions may be alcohol related.

i am truly sorry you are having such problems with f.e.'s. :<3:

[opalessence]

Flower essences gentle medicine that can be potent medicine for sensitive folks. I have worked with them for abuse issues and its strong stuff. Bach himself said that his essences were made for a specific time in history and that other remedies would reveal themselves as needed with changing times. I find Australian bush flower essences and some others more recently developed touch on issues specific of our times, as plants reveal themselves, but theres definitely a bringing to the fore of what youre looking at. Making them is so beautyfully simple and you could dilute them or just have them near you, but yes sometimes just growing the plants youre drawn to is enough. Youre obviously very sensitive to plant enegies and thats a blessing although it might not feel like it at such times.Trust your response to them, if its not for you trust that.

[PurpleSage444]

Bach Flower essences gave me gastritis. After this experience, I became skeptical about other similar forms of healing like homeopathic remedies. I thought, "It was the brandy that made me feel cheerful. How are they going to trap some flower life force in a bottle anyway?"

[daffodil]

As it happens, I came across the following book this morning, then came to the Forum to find someplace to post it, and found this thread. I think the exerpt addresses not only the unusual reactions and misunderstandings stated in this thread.

http://www.nadayogacenter.com/SilverDov ... rBook.html I know nothing about this place, nor the person who wrote this, (Katharina Bless), and, but I know that this perception of Bach Flower remedies far better describes the philosophy than I could begin to do. The caveat again is, never act out of ignorance. This, too, is an exerpt. The dilletante approach to anything never works, and deeper study is needed - always. But also, the intention behind any action is not to be underestimated in effect.

I need to clarify, however, in posting the link to the book exerpt, that I firmly believe it is unhelpful, and is, in fact, damaging, to interpret a line like "...Illness cannot grow, if one has no affinity with it," as a woman choosing to be ill, not doing the "right" things for herself, etc. There is nothing like guilt and self-abasement to throw a body and spirit into utter disarray and give fertile ground for illness to develop. Bottom line? If things are out of kiler - things are out of kilter. What can we do, willingly, and without harming ourselves or others, to bring about a better balance. (If you have a Slavic background, as I do, let me tell you - this isn't easy - there is a joy in sorrow, and that's not really unhealthy - as long as there is the joy. But no Mary Sunshines here).

It angers me to see these gentle remedies so wrongly, and publicly maligned and misunderstood. There is much going on here that has nothing to do with Bach remedies, or even taking an aspirin, or, I'd wager, what should be a pleasant walk in a park. It concerns me very much that this "hit and run" post may be taken as remotely valid.

[bluebirdmama]

Also, I often will just put a drop of essence in a glass of water and just let it be in the room with me, not ingesting it at all. Maybe the vibe will work more gently for you if you don't take it into your body. Essemces still can work energetically, just by being in the room. Or put a drop on a scrap of cloth and carry it with you.

Interesting!

[Melissa Doordaughter]

Hi,

I would second Crystal woman's idea of allying yourself with the plant you'd like to work with. Maybe go find the plant and make the remedy yourself. I've found this a very beautiful and theraputic experience.

Melissa

[Mmmmmmmmma]

Hiya,

Having had a similar experince latley which shocked me I have some suggestions for you. i hope these are of help.

1) take ONE and only ONE remedy at a time for at least a week up to three, if you need more. Bring your trust back in the remedies by doing this and GO SLOW AND VERY GENTLY with yourself. SMALL STEPS! I'm too sensitive to these and it took me nearly three years of healing to come to accept this. Work up to takeing two or three remedies SLOWLY. They are excellent for you, but YOU must take resposibilty for your actions.

2) You may ask yourself 'Am I being impatient? And expecting too much too soon'? If the answer is 'yes' you should start with IMPATIENS.

3) Then you may ask yourself 'Am I BLAMING the remedies for 'doing something to me'?' If so your next remedy is WILLOW. Blaming a remedy is exactly the same as blaming the self or others.

I went through 2) and 3) recently and now I am so happy I admitted and went through these.

4) If you need some instant relief go find out about EFT, its amazing. I do F.E. and EFT

5) Recognise that you are sensitive and find ways to come to terms with it, I belive there is a remedy for us 'sensitive folk', I plan to take it at some point.

6) Be your own Inner Adult and comfort the Inner child in you, tell yourself 'I choose to move forward to feeling OK' know that feeling 'ok' is very acceptable and to know that healing is a jounrney....and the journey is the destination.

7) Going to A&E would only make things worse, ad they would probably tell yiu anytng ither than drugs will help, and that will make you feel low.Put a system in palace BEFORE in case of a healing crisis...call Samaritans ir a good free number helpline and have a great cry to a stranger, ask a mate to be your 'healing crisis person to call' to assure you this will pass. Warn people around you that healing can bring uo emotion and to accept it and know ir will pass it if it happens.

After three amazing and difficult healings I feel the absence if old parts of me that were really having a hard time. Peace in the absence of pain is a great feeling. Give it time. If you need help ASK and keep in touch on here for support.

Lots of love and light
Em