Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How long do I take a remedy for?

How long is a ball of strong? Remedies can be taken as frequently needed, even several times a week, as long as there is improvement after each dose. “Aggravating” effects mean that either the doses are too close together or a deeper acting remedy is needed.

If the remedy used to help but no longer does, the symptoms are a deep-seated constitutional rather than a temporary problem. A constitutional appointment with a practitioner is advised in this situation.

Do not use both multiple remedies at the same time – allow a gap of at least a few hours so it can be clearly seen what each one is or isn’t doing.

Q. I’ve heard that strong smells and flavours can antidote a homeopathic remedy. Is this true?

A lot of “antidotal” advice is given from over cautiousness.

As a general rule, most people can take their “acute remedies”, which are being repeated more rapidly than “constitutional remedies,” either before food, after food, or even on food.

Remedies may be antidoted when a person is overly sensitive to strong flavours or odours – the reaction to that flavour or odour overwhelms their reaction to the remedy.

Mostly, people will already avoid these substances because of their sensitivity to them: usually they are not being mixed with the homeopathic remedy.

Antidotal effects are obvious: any improvement will stop and the patient will relapse into past symptoms. This is corrected once the remedy is repeated again, as advised on our treatment advice (ie, repeat the remedy on return of symptoms).

Q. How frequently should I re-dose a centesimal?

Take a dose of either 6C or 12C twice a day for up to 3 days. If there is no improvement at all, the remedy is not the correct one: stop and see a homeopath. If there is improvement, only repeat the dose when improvement stalls.

If there’s worsening, stop taking the remedy as this may mean it is being taken more often than needed and you are in “overdose”. Improvement should follow on stopping. Repeat only when that improvement stalls.

The general rule is that if there is good strong improvement, don’t take another dose as your body is already responding to the remedy as quickly as it can – let it work at its own speed. If improvement is sluggish or waning, or if symptoms that had improved are starting to worsen, repeat the dose. Always stop the remedy if there is a worsening of symptoms after the dose – this can indicate a number of things, positive and negative, so refer to your homeopath for guidance.

Q. How do I preserve a homeopathic liquid?

Our own remedies use a 90/10 mix of water and medical-grade ethanol. Other types of alcohol can be used so long as there’s no strong flavour or additives involved. Brandy is fine, and many homeopaths still make their prescriptions with it. Just make sure the liquid in the remedy bottle is 30% brandy to 70% water to achieve the needed 10% alcohol for preservation.

What do the Cs, Xs, and numbers mean on the homeopathic ingredients?

Unlike herbal medicine that has levels of mg and mcg, Homeopathy is an energetic system of medicine in which it is highly unlikely that even one molecule of source substance exists. For this reason, its remedies are recorded as potencies which indicate the degree of dilution and number of succussions for each remedy. More information can be found at: https://homeopathyplus.com/tutorial-3-potentisation/.