(11-13-2012, 03:30 PM)Tenet Nosce Wrote: There are herbal remedies for snakebites. I know an herbalist out in the Superstition Mountains that uses echinacea for snakebites. But personally, I would go with the anti-venom if available.
Personally, I'd do both, and actually have done both! The anti-venom remedies I know of are Echinacea, Plantain, digestive enzymes, homeopathics, and Bluegreen Algae.
I used Plantain on a spider bite near my eye. I had a huge welt. I kept plastering mashed plantain on it and it showed rapid improvement, and after 3 days was gone.
My 130-lb. dog got bitten by a baby rattler (who have even more venom) hiding in a manhole cover when we were out for a walk. We were only a few houses down the street so I was able to get him home quickly. I poured out a handful of bluegreen algae tablets, thinking it would just help stabilize him until I got him to the emergency vet. (Naturally it was on the weekend!)
Normally, he would turn his nose up at it. The stuff is strong! But this time he gobbled it up and wanted more! So I dumped out more...he gobbled it up and wanted more! So I kept dumping more and he ended up eating almost a whole bottle of Algae!
Then I took him to the vet. (This was about 15 years ago and I didn't think to use Echinacea, though I did use that herbs for colds and flus.)
They were astonished! He definitely had gotten a strong dose of venom, and his face did swell up, but he never needed any anti-venom medication!
Later, I talked with a vet who uses bluegreen Algae in her practice. She told me it was the live enzymes in it that broke down the venom, and that her normal protocol was to use digestive enzymes in cases of snakebite.
I don't know...I just know it worked! He probably would have done fine without even going to the vet.
Still, until I get better educated about how to monitor a snakebite situation, I would go to the ER for follow-up...after taking a large amount of natural anti-venom remedies of course!
Tenet, do you happen to know what is in a medical anti-venom med? Just curious!
(11-13-2012, 03:30 PM)Tenet Nosce Wrote: Glad to hear it turned out OK! I hope your holistic friends didn't give you too much flack. That wouldn't be very "holistic" of them seeing as how that word implies an "all of the above" approach!
Nah, they didn't. It was really more just me feeling self-conscious. Although, I did run into a 30-something mom at some event who had the audacity to tell me that no one should ever use medical intervention in such cases, but that mother and baby should be left to die...survival of the fittest!
I didn't know that person and didn't care to. That had to be one of the most extremist individuals I've ever met!
(11-13-2012, 03:30 PM)Tenet Nosce Wrote: Exactly. To their credit, I don't see too many Western docs claiming great success with these.
Not sure what you mean by that. They continue to dole out meds, implying that the meds are viable 'treatments.' They continue to scoff at alternative methods.
Confessions of a Pharmaceutical Drug Pusher