Homeopathic Remedy Information
Quick Homeopathic Rules:
1. # of pellets: the number of pellets doesn’t matter as much as following the instructions on how often to take them. 3 pellets is usually enough to experience a change, but 10 pellets is OK as well. Most people take 5.
2. When to take more pellets (another dose): Consult your doctor regarding the frequency as this changes based on the strength of the remedy and the nature of your illness.
3. Take pellets under the tongue (or at least in the mouth for small children) when nothing else is in the mouth, including flavors left over from tooth brushing etc. For liquid remedies such as UNDAs, it is Ok to put them in water for a child and have them sip it. With babies you can dissolve the pellets in a mouthful of water and have them sip it through a straw. Or for very young babies you can use an eye dropper to drip it into their mouth.
4. Do not eat or drink anything for 10 minutes before or after taking a remedy.
5. Avoid mint, menthol, cinnamint, eucalyptus, tea tree, and coffee as these may antidote a remedy. Homeopathic safe toothpaste is available in the office. If you are using a higher potency remedy that is not given daily you should avoid the above substances all together. It is best even for repeated daily doses to avoid these things while under homeopathic treatment. However, if it is not possible for you to avoid all of them then make sure the mint or coffee etc. is used at least 2 hours prior to the first dose of the day.
A quick history of homeopathic medicines: ‘Homeopathic’ was a term created for these medicines because ‘homeo’ in latin means ‘the same’ or ‘like’. Homeopathic medicine is based on the idea that ‘like cures like’. Over 200 years ago, Dr. Samuel Hahneman noticed that people who were exposed to squid ink (Sepia), which was used as an ink for writing and drawing, were getting symptoms that were similar among all people with exposure to this ink. He diluted the ink over and over until the amount of squid ink in the water was undetectable. He then gave this diluted form of the ink to the patients and saw a relief of the symptoms the patients were experiencing.
Since then, many substances have been investigated by doing “provings”—volunteers taking large doses of a substance and then writing down all of the symptoms that it caused—as well as using homeopathically diluted doses of these substance to treat people with symptoms like those that these substances caused. This is why your doctor wants detailed information about your symptoms. For instance, a remedy is not given for a sore throat. A remedy is given for a sore throat with stitching pain that extends to the ears upon swallowing and is worse in cold weather but better from warmth. It is sometimes difficult to choose a remedy for children because they don’t describe symptoms like this in detail, so the parent should pay close attention to the emotional disposition of the child and when he or she seems better or worse.