by Have you ever purchased a homeopathic remedy but never used it because you weren’t sure how? Maybe you weren’t sure how many pellets to administer, or maybe you didn’t know how often to repeat. Save this blog post on how to use homeopathy in acute and first aid situations and get using those remedies!
This post is for general informational and educational purposes only. See my full disclaimer here. In the event of an emergency, always seek the help of a medical doctor, call your local health link, or head to the emergency room.
How to use homeopathic remedies
How to use Homeopathy is a roadblock for many people. It was briefly touched on in this blog post about an introduction to homeopathy, but this post will give you a more elaborate run down!
Dosing (ie, how much to take and how often) is not as concrete as “repeat every 4 hours.” It varies from person to person and sickness to sickness. It is so important to pay attention to your specific symptoms when you begin the remedy you’ve chosen, and to make note of any changes in your symptoms – good or bad!
It is also very important to write down what remedy you take, how much you take and what time it is. Because you will forget! This could be important information in the future for your homeopath or naturopath, or to help you remember what remedies have helped you and for what in the past. Or just to help in your current sickness when you don’t remember when you last took the remedy.
How to choose your remedy
Grab a notebook (I have one for each member of our family!) and start a new page for each sickness. Write down all symptoms that you (or whoever you’re caring for) are currently experiencing, paying special attention to those that are particularly strong or odd. Also include your current mood and any behavioural changes. Write down what, if anything, makes your symptoms or mood feel better or worse.
For example: December 20, 2019 – Jill stomach flu – nauseous, with bad stomach pain. Intense anxiety. Very thirsty but as soon as I drink, I vomit the liquid right back out. I feel less anxious when I am around other people, and feel less nauseous after sleeping (even a short nap).
Recognize if what you’re dealing with is a first aid or acute condition (a condition that lasts for a short time, but can have intense symptoms). If it is a chronic condition (a persistent, long-lasting, or recurrent condition), I would advise to book an appointment with a certified Homeopath.
Choose a remedy that best fits your symptoms. Not every symptom from the remedy has to be on your list, but your symptoms (especially peculiar ones) should be in the remedy description.
how to choose your potency
Potencies available to you for purchase in most pharmacies and health food stores are generally 12CH, or 30CH. I typically recommend to buy the 30CH. If you can buy all three, do, and you will use them! But if you only want to buy one strength, choose the 30CH. Or else just buy the strength that’s in stock. One is better than none when you come down with an illness!
If you have all three potencies, start with the lowest number. If your current potency has been working and seems to have stopped, move to the next highest number and so on. Your goal is to find the lowest strength that works and to move on only when it stops.
How to administer homeopathic remedies
Most often, you will come across homeopathic remedies in a tube that are in pellet form. Some tubes dispense the pellets by twisting into the lid, others you open the tube and will pour pellets into the lid. Do not pour them into your hand.
Make sure you are starting out with a “clean mouth.” This means to have no residual tastes in your mouth and does not mean to brush your teeth first, haha. No food or drink (other than water), and no teeth brushing for approximately 15 minutes before or after taking the remedy. Of course if you forget or if you need to take the remedy NOW and you just ate 5 minutes ago it is ok to do so. It just may alter the effectiveness of the remedy, making it ineffective or causing you to need to re-dose sooner.
For adults and older children, pop the pellets (2-3) directly from the lid to under the tongue (this is one dose). Homeopathic remedies are best absorbed when left to dissolve under the tongue. The mucous membranes in the mouth are thinnest under the tongue, and thus the remedy will act quicker if the pellets are left to dissolve there. If the pellets are chewed or swallowed, they have to pass through the digestive system and because of this, take longer to act.
A popular option for younger children (who are more likely to just eat the pellets) or babies, is to crush 2-3 pellets between 2 spoons, and then pour the powder into the mouth (this is one dose). You can also dissolve the pellets in half a cup of water, stir vigorously and take about a teaspoon per “dose.”
If a very new baby needs a remedy, I use the crushed remedy method or dissolve the remedy into a small amount of breastmilk. This is the only situation where I use liquid other than water; I have not seen it alter the effectiveness of the remedy.
How often to take your chosen remedy
As I mentioned, there are no concrete instructions for how often you should be re-taking your chosen remedy. In an acute or first aid situation, you could be repeating the remedy as much as every few minutes in very intense situations (until symptoms subside), to every few hours, to only needing to administer one dose! This is because Homeopathy is completely individual, and so will your response be every time you take a homeopathic remedy.
The infographic on this page shows to take the remedy every 30 minutes. This is only if you have NOT seen an improvement by the 30 minute mark, then you can take another dose, wait 30 minutes, if no response, take another dose. If you have seen no improvement for your acute complaint by the 1.5 hour mark, I would try your second choice of remedy.
Going back to my stomach flu example… I took the remedy chosen for my stomach flu (Phosphorous is what I would have picked) and immediately my stomach pain left and I was able to keep some water down. 5 minutes later, the stomach pain came back – so I would re-dose. All good again! This time, I’m good for 15 minutes, then bam, stomach pain is back so I re-dose.
Another example: my daughter got eaten alive by mosquitoes and was incredibly itchy. She felt better when she put a cool cloth on them, so I offered her Ledum 30CH. After waiting 30 minutes I asked how she was doing and she was not sure if the itchiness was better or not, so I offered her another dose. At the 1 hour mark I asked again how she was doing, and she wondered what I was talking about – ha! If she had still been very, very itchy, I would have offered her one last dose, but that was unnecessary. If her itchiness came back, I would offer her more.
If you have matched the correct remedy to your symptoms, you will notice an improvement. Some improvements are immediate, some are not. The improvement should be noticed within the first hour of taking a remedy (see infographic).
Get the picture? As long as you’re on the upswing, take no more. If you start to go back down-hill, take another dose. No response? If you’ve tried for an hour (or the remedy you’ve been taking stops working for you), go back to the drawing board (or search engine) and try a different remedy.
WHAT IF I TAKE A REMEDY ONCE AND NOTHING GETS BETTER?
If after the 1.5 hour mark you still feel completely the same, I would move on to your next best choice.
Don’t give up if your symptoms don’t improve with the first remedy! It sometimes takes a couple of tries to find the “best match” remedy for your symptoms – especially if you’re new to homeopathy.
It is also important to remember normal durations of sicknesses. For example, the common cold on average lasts 7-10 days, and influenza can last 1-2 weeks. We often expect complete, immediate results, but the reality is that may not always happen! The remedy may just shorten the illnesses duration while restoring energy and alleviating symptoms. Bottom line- if you see a response (improvement), stick with the remedy! Don’t jump around to different remedies if you don’t need to.
REMEMBER THE RULES OF MINIMUM DOSE!
In this blog post I explained the important principle of minimum dose. Go take a read if you haven’t, because it’s important! But to sum it up, we want to take as little as possible. That is why we don’t say “take every 15 minutes” or, “take every hour.” Only take it when you need it!
general tips for remedy storage
Please keep remedies away from cell phones, computers, microwaves, and any other item that emits radiation.
Store remedies away from strong smelling substances such as essential oils or balms and keep them around room temperature.
Questions? Leave a comment below or send me a message!
Hi! This goes with the minimum rule, take as little as possible. What about the opposite; can one take too much/too much be given?
Hi Amber! Great question. Some individuals can experience what is called a “proving.” If they take too much of the wrong remedy (ex, one that is not the correct match to symptoms and is not working), they may start to exhibit signs of that remedy. If this ever happens, it can be antidoted and is not an emergency, but something to be aware of in sensitive people.