​I touched on the idea of remedy repetition in my recent “broad and shallow sweep through homeopathic potency.” In that article, remedy repetition was more related to various homeopathic ideas that certain potencies (generally low) are more suited to repetition than others.

I understand there are plenty of “classical” homeopaths who work with multiple remedies at a time (for example: a weekly “constitutional” remedy and a daily cell salt and perhaps an occasional “lesional” remedy — all used in the same time frame), but for this article, I will use the term “classical” in regard to homeopaths who practice with one remedy at a time.

“Practical” homeopaths, in this article, are referring to those who use multiple remedies simultaneously or even combination remedies. (I am aware that there are plenty of “classical” homeopaths who apply homeopathy in a “practical” manner, but do not use polypharmacy, for instance.)
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As we learned in the above mentioned Homeopathic Potency article, it’s important to remember, as always in homeopathy, the individual is the driving and deciding force.
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Digging through my bookshelves, it’s clear that repetition of remedies during acute conditions is pretty universal and considered to be sometimes necessary even. Let’s take a look at a few different authors and see what they recommend. (All emphases are from original authors.)

Dr. Ratera (2020, p 19), writing about First Aid with Homeopathy (so ostensibly dealing only with acute situations) says:

"Use low potencies (from 6 to 30D and C or K) for milder cases, repeat several times in dry dose or diluted in mineral water…. In severe cases, the frequency of administration initially must be high (every 1-5 minutes in severe poisoning), progressively decreasing the frequency with improvement. In medium and mild cases, every 2-8 hours the first day, and reduce the frequency to 1-2 times daily for 1 or 2 days.… Stop or reduce remedy administration when the patient starts improving. Prolonged, unnecessary repetition of homeopathic remedies can produce proving symptoms in the patient."

Dr. Colin B. Lessell’s The World Travellers’ Manual of Homoeopathy (1999, p 5) in discussing remedies for a sun headache:

"… in an average case, one dose of Belladonna 30c should be given initially every two hours. The strength of the treatment may be varied, however, according to the severity of the case. A mild case may require dosage repetition every four hours, and a severe case every hour, or half hour. For the beginner, it is best to start with the directive of the text. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the frequency of repetition should be reduced as the patient improves, and in most instances the remedy should be discontinued once significant improvement has occurred.

Occasionally, after the administration of a remedy, the patient experiences what is termed homoeopathic aggravation (see below for further explanation). This is a transient worsening of the patient’s symptoms, and may be caused by the use of too high a potency, or by too rapid dose repetition. In fact, it signifies overstimulation of the bodily healing response. Should this occur, the remedy should be discontinued, whereupon the phase of aggravation will be followed by one of remission, often proceeding to cure. However, it sometimes happens that this phase of remission is short-lived, and is followed by a resumption of the previous symptoms, although they are often less severe. In this case, the remedy should be reapplied, but less aggressively. Reduce the frequency of dosage, or select a lesser potency."

Dr. Andrew Lockie’s The Family Guide to Homeopathy (1993, p 30):

"In acute conditions, doses should be taken every 1/2 or 1 hour to begin with, up to a maximum of 10 doses. But as soon as there is some improvement, the interval between doses should be increased to 8 or 12 hours for 2 or 3 days at most. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO POINT IN CONTINUING TO TAKE A REMEDY ONCE THE SYMPTOMS HAVE STARTED TO DISAPPEAR."

Drs. Jonas & Jacobs in their Healing with Homeopathy state:

"The cardinal rule of homeopathic treatment is that once a remedy begins to work, it should be tapered off and/or stopped. This is because the remedies stimulate the natural healing mechanisms of the body, and once that process begins it continues on its own.… Marked improvement can sometimes occur after only one dose, especially in a particularly intense situation… at other times several doses are necessary before the effects of the remedy are noticed. At the point where an effect is noticed, stop the medicine and wait."

Miranda Castro in The Complete Homeopathy Handbook (Castro 1991, p 26):

"Having selected the remedy for your patient, you will need to decide on the dose. This will depend upon the urgency of the case: frequent doses for an acute illness that has come on suddenly and strongly, and less frequent doses for a slowly developing illness. Some earaches with very severely distressed patients need their remedies repeating every five minutes; a head injury may need the remedy repeating every half hour; and a slowly developing flu may need a remedy every four hours or three times a day.

Once you see that a homeopathic remedy has started to work — once you notice a definite reaction or change resulting from the remedy — then continue with the same remedy but give it less often (that is, increase the gaps between the doses) as the patient continues to improve.

Once there is a marked improvement — once a strong positive reaction has occurred — it is essential to stop taking the remedy altogether. This is the absolute opposite of the instructions you receive when taking orthodox medicines (for example, antibiotics), where it is often necessary to finish the whole course of pills. A homeopathic remedy acts as a trigger, a catalyst — it stimulates the body to begin to heal itself, and once that has happened the body’s own healing process will take over. In some cases, taking another tablet after this reaction has occurred can actually stop the remedy working and even exaggerate the symptoms and consequently you can be persuaded into thinking it was a poor prescription."

With these, we see the theme of remedy repetition for acute situations from what I would term the more classical homeopaths and they are all pretty much in agreement, with just a little fine tuning here or there.

Let’s talk about the homeopathic aggravation a little bit.
Dr. Hahnemann in §158 says:
"A small homeopathic aggravation is a good indication in an acute disease.

This small homeopathic aggravation in the first hours is a very good portent that the acute disease will be mostly finished by the first dose. Such an aggravation is not infrequent, since the medicinal disease must naturally be somewhat stronger than the malady in order to over-tune and extinguish it…"

Translation:
Unlike conventional (allopathic) medicines, which treat disease with “anti” remedies — meaning “against” or “opposite,” as in antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, antipyretics (fever reducers), etc, homeopathy is based on similarities (Homoeo means “similar” or “same”). (See also, Hom, not home). A homeopathic remedy for a fever would match the totality of the patient’s symptoms, including the unique symptoms of the person’s fever (sudden onset, throbbing, causing restlessness, etc). This remedy would then gently stimulate (“over-tune”) the vital force* — the body’s self-regulating life principle — creating a similar but slightly stronger “medicinal disease” (the dynamic, artificial disturbance produced by the potentized homeopathic remedy). This “medicinal disease” gently nudges the vital force in a similar direction to the existing illness, enabling the body to kick in and extinguish the fever on its own. It’s important to mention here that it’s not literally about inducing a full-blown fever in an already sick person — it’s about matching the energetic signature of an illness to a potentized homeopathic remedy which would support the body’s own self-healing process.

“Similia similibus curentur” — Like cures like. If a remedy or substance can create or provoke a symptom in a healthy person, that same remedy or substance in homeopathic form can help relieve that symptom in an unwell person. (See also, The original drug testing… Homeopathic Provings.)

What about the Banerjis? What do they say to do for acutes?
Interestingly, their written instructions show that remedies are actually given a little less frequently than the traditional homeopaths. To be fair, their book isn’t really aimed at treating acutes.

For example, their first line remedies for influenza suggest:

• Rhus tox 30c and Bryonia 30c, one dose every 2 hours alternately.

Being the Banerjis, they also suggest other remedies to be taken in conjunction with the main remedy/ies.

• in case of temperature — Belladonna**, one dose every one hour (SOS***)
• for nausea and vomiting — Arsenicum album**, one dose every 30 minutes (SOS)

The Narayanis, on the other hand, address the full range of issues in their selection of remedies (see also, Quickie: Narayani Books). It’s important to note that potency selection has already been done for us with Narayanis — there’s nothing to do except purchase the ready-made combo and decide how often to take it.
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Contrary to classical homeopathy, the Narayanis repeat remedies quite frequently, regardless of potency. Here are some examples:

• Throat, mix 30, (200c) repetition is suggested every 15 minutes for acute sore throat. Reduce on improvement.
• Cold, mix 11 is in a 6x and they suggest it every 15 minutes until eased, then reduce to three times a day (which is technically equivalent to every 8 hours but is more often used upon waking, in the afternoon and before bed).
• Flu Pack, mix 79 is a 10M combination and they say: “as soon as one feels flu is coming on, take this remedy every 15 minutes. Take 2 pills once a day as a preventative. Every 15 minutes in an attack.”
• Injury, mix 20, (200c): 6 times a day (which is equivalent to every 4 hours). Reduce as condition eases.

Let’s recap the general rules of thumb for acutes:

• Remedies are repeated, depending on the intensity and severity of the symptoms.
  • Very intense symptoms may warrant repetition every few minutes and once there is some level of improvement, then the remedies are spaced out further (e.g., severe injury).
  • Less intense symptoms would warrant repetition every hour or two (e.g., sore throat).
  • Milder symptoms would be repeated every 2-4 hours (e.g., feeling like you are beginning to come down with a bug).
• Use dry doses or pellets diluted in mineral water
• If there is an aggravation/worsening of symptoms, space the timing out further. (Note: sometimes this may be a result of an incorrect remedy. If there is no improvement, move to a different remedy.)
• If the symptoms return, repeat the remedy.
• The Banerjis standard repetition is twice daily, though they often mix in other remedies to address accompanying concerns making the actual dosing more frequent.
• Narayani remedies often begin with every 15 minutes and taper off with improvement.
  • A standard repetition for many of their acute remedies is 6 times a day, reducing on improvement.

We see, a good deal of common ground between classical and practical homeopaths in terms of remedy repetition when it comes to treating acute conditions.

When we get to chronic treatment next week, however, that’s where the waters start to part…


Julia Coyte, CHom
Classically Practical homeopath


#wellnessawaits


*Vital Force is Hahnemann’s term for the dynamic, spirit-like power that maintains health and produces symptoms when it is “untuned.”
**Their book does include potencies but they are not readily available potencies so I left them off — 30c is a good alternative.
***SOS stands for, as needed. Translation: no fever = don’t repeat the remedy.

Reference list
Banerji, P. and Banerji, P., 2013. The Banerji protocols : a new method of treatment with homeopathic medicines. India: Pratip Banerji.

Castro, M., 1991. The complete homeopathy handbook : a guide to everyday health care. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Hahnemann, S. and Brewster O’Reilly, W., 2001. Organon of the medical art. Kindle. Palo Alto, Ca: Birdcage Books.

Jonas, W. B. and Jacobs, J., 1998. Healing with homeopathy : the doctor’s guide. New York, Ny: Warner Books.

Lessell, C. B., 1999. The World Travellers’ Manual of Homoeopathy. Random House UK.

Lockie, A., 1993. The family guide to homeopathy : the safe form of medicine for the future. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Ratera, M. M., 2020. First aid with homeopathy. Kandern, Germany Narayana Verlag.

​Maybe it’s the general feeling of the world. (See also, Homeopathy can make a heavy world a little lighter.) Maybe it’s that winter has gone on too long now. Maybe it’s all of the above. Maybe it has no relation to anything.

In the last couple of weeks, I have had 4 urgent phone calls from clients (and one general consultation with a new client), all with very different presenting symptoms, but all rooted in grief… all of whom benefitted greatly from Ignatia.​​

--18 months after losing a spouse
--intense anxiety from many years ago
--behavioral issues in a young child
--recent ramifications from an old divorce
--sleepless from worry trying to leave a warzone

One client, however, took one dose of Ignatia and the next day said to me, “that dose felt like ‘resilience.’”
I think that one word sums up Ignatia so beautifully.

The Oxford Dictionary (Oxford University Press 2021) defines “resilience”: “capacity to withstand or to recover quickly* from difficulties; toughness.”

All five of these people needed shoring up in their resilience and Ignatia did just that by providing a little emotional scaffolding.

When it rains, it pours and if you find yourself in an emotional downpour, I suggest giving Ignatia a try at being your proverbial umbrella.



Julia Coyte, CHom
Classically Practical homeopath

#wellnessawaits


*I removed quickly — homeopathy does not care if the catalyst was recent or long ago.

The yucks hit my house in very early January. For the next couple of weeks, I sometimes felt like I was on the verge of succumbing to something yucky. Many weeks later, I can safely say I skirted it.

The important piece of this puzzle, is this:
Your remedies do not have to be perfect. Remedies are forgiving. Many remedies share many symptoms and many overlapping symptoms. In most cases, there is not one single remedy that you have to get absolutely right in order to feel better.
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I did all the usual things when one feels like they might be getting ill:

• first sign: Aconite/Bryonia
• echinacea (herb, not homeopathic)
• Narayani Flu Pack​

I drank bone broth and I skipped the treadmill if I didn’t feel there was energy enough to spare. Listen to your body - it’s always talking to you.

When I really thought I was in trouble and realizing that all those things I had been doing didn’t actually do what needed to be done, I was ready to acquiesce; I was ready to throw in the towel.

Then, the shaky quakes, as I call them, set in. I felt so weak and trembly. I had gone to bed really early (the headache was too much) and I slept really hard and I slept late and I did not want to get out of bed the next morning. I did get out of bed and I had some breakfast — even though the thought made me nauseous (I did feel better after eating) — I knew I had only a short amount of time to get the bills paid and do a quick couple of other things with deadlines before I was no longer going to be able to get to them for a while.

But then, when this new symptom set in, I decided to throw one more remedy at it. Main symptom? Trembling and weakness. Just sitting and opening the bills was too much. I was waffling between Arsenicum album and Gelsemium (both really good flu remedies, in general; and, both are in the “eating ameliorates” rubric, so that fit, too). I went with Gelsemium because the trembling was the chief complaint. Within 30 minutes, the trembling had completely disappeared.

The weakness remained, however. Gelsemium no longer felt right, even though it had done what was asked of it, so I switched to Arsenicum album. I couldn’t tell you now and I don’t think I could have told you then why the Gelsemium no longer felt right. Could it have done the job just as well? Perhaps.

One dose of each and the world was quite simply a happier place. I continued to feel better hour by hour. By the next day, I was completely back to normal.

I know I (and others) have said, that if a remedy is working, stick with it, but I broke that rule and I’m pleased I did. I took the “chase the symptoms route.” (See also, tis the season… for the crud.)

After a couple weeks of occasionally using good, general flu remedies to ward off symptoms that seemed to maybe be trying to creep in from time to time, I decided to focus on just the new main symptoms - one at a time. Once again, I never actually felt unwell until the very end — I just didn’t want anything to take hold.

It is entirely possible there simply weren’t good symptoms to follow previously - just a general sense of uh-oh. If I had worked with another homeopath, perhaps they could have seen something, but, I couldn’t see it in myself.

Had I taken these two remedies earlier in my battle of the on again/off again possible yucks, would I have put it all in my rearview mirror sooner? Maybe. The symptoms calling for these remedies, if they were there, they were very, very quiet and I couldn’t hear them.

There is another possibility… Maybe I didn’t, in fact, dodge the yucks and was just “homeopathically unwell” : translation, I had a bug, but the remedies were working well enough to keep me going — and these last two remedies were the clean up crew. (Arsenicum album and Gelsemium are both indicated in convalescence.)

Will I ever know? Nope. Do I care? Only in that I could have shared more detailed information so others may learn from my experience.

Stay well — spring is coming to the rescue soon!



Julia Coyte, CHom
Classically Practical homeopath

#wellnessawaits