At 01:34 PM 7/3/00 EDT, you wrote: >Could someone please explain what "rescue remedy" is. It was discussed in >the case of extreme engorgement by Pat Gima. Thanks Kathy, I am going to "cheat" again and re-send some earlier posts. Chris H-E had given some information on Rescue Remedy, as did Mary Kay Smith today. Below are a couple of posts that I sent earlier when people were interested in RR and its use in lactation work. You can search the archives for further posts. Pat Gima, IBCLC Milwaukee, Wisconsin _________________________________________________________ Chris gave you information on Rescue Remedy and I will tell you how I use it. It has many uses that I knew about before I began recommending it to nursing mothers. My daughter is a singer and if she has a solo she puts 4 drops under her tongue and she doesn't get "butterflies" in her stomach. I have used it for the same purpose when speaking before groups. It is basically a calming remedy beginning with 5 calming herbs. Since it is homeopathic it cannot be allergenic, nor does it have any side effects other than calming. I began using it with mothers because of all of the stress they were experiencing with Instant Motherhood. It is recommended for crisis times and times of great frustration, so it seemed appropriate. One mother who had a 4-year-old, a 2-year-old, then twins found that it helped her get through the day. She said that what happened didn't change, but when she took Rescue Remedy before each feeding she could take the challenges of the day with some ease. She used it until everyone settled into the new routine of two little ones. I recommended it before feeding only so that she could remember to take it. One mother was so uptight that her seemingly bountiful milk supply wouldn't "let down." So we tried RR, and she called the next day and said that it had increased her milk supply. It doesn't do that, but it helped her relax so that the milk was released. That's what gave me the idea for using it with mothers who are pumping if they find they have trouble with an MER and a breast pump. I was working with a newborn once and the middle child (2 yrs) awoke from a nap with nigh terrors. No one could stop his screaming. I put 4 drops of RR under his tongue and in half a minute he happily ran off to watch TV with his brother. It doesn't always work that fast; the more extreme the agitation the faster the effect. And there is no "felt" effect like with a sedative or tranquilizer. One just notices that she feels more at ease. It is not a drug, nor a sedative, nor habit forming, nor does it solve all problems. I use it at night when I awake stewing about a client and can't get back to sleep (I'm sure that I am unique in that scenario). It helps. That's actually how I discovered it. I also found it most helpful when I was flying from Nashville in March when the tiny airplane that I unwisely chose to fly home in, was tumbling around in a storm. I even shared it with my seat-mate. It has a calming effect when a person is anxious. As Chris said, the original came from England and most health food stores in the USA carry the original Rescue Remedy. All of my success in using it is anecdotal, sort of like cabbage leaves and fenugreek. It is totally safe and I find it most helpful in my LC work. I know that many of you have constraints on what you can recommend to a client, but if a client mentions it, you can say that you have heard of its use with breastfeeding mothers. Patricia Gima, IBCLC Milwaukee __________________________________________________ Date: Fri, 16 May 1997 11:30:23 -0500 Reply-To: Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]> Sender: Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]> From: "Patricia Gima, IBCLC" Subject: Re: Rescue Remedy Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >I was rather amazed that, after reading of this product for the first >time on Lactnet, a mom showed up to my office with some! So I guess it >is available in my community. :-) Her sister recommended it to her, and >she "dots" the cream behind her ears. So my question: is this just a >cream, or does it come in any other form? How else does it get >applied/used? Rescue Remedy is usually used in its tincture form. But there is RR cream for topical use. The tincture dosage is 4 drops under the tongue, or it can be added to a small amount of water and it can also be used topically in ointment form. I hesitate to list all of the uses I have for it because it begins to sound like "snake oil" that cures in-grown toenails and male-pattern baldness, along with improving eye sight. I recommend it for problems that are created or made worse by stress and frustration. And we know that that covers a lot. I began recommending it when I would walk into a home and mom was overwhelmed with all that was not going well with breastfeeding, and she was in tears, and the 2-year-old wouldn't take a nap, and the laundry was piling up, and what was she going to do? I would invite her to sip a little water with these 4 drops in it. I described its effect as similar to a cup of relaxing tea. Very soon she was feeling that she could see some solutions to her problems and we could get to work on the b'feeding problem. If she wanted to use it I would leave a small 7 1/2 ml (1/4 oz) bottle of it for her. As time went on I saw its effectiveness in more situations. I have found that it is very effective in initiating an MER when stress and anxiety are the inhibiting factors. I always recommend its use along with galactagogues, and for my clients who are pumping at work and, with being rushed, find that their MERs are reluctant. Patricia Gima, IBCLC Mailto:[log in to unmask] *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html