This section is provided to give you some useful tips on taking and storing your remedies, monitoring your progress, and follow-up.
Taking the remedy
- If you have been advised to take your remedy in the form of dry pellets, please avoid touching them. The remedy is sprayed on top of the sucrose pellet, therefore, it may rub off on your fingers when touched and fail to act effectively. Your remedy is absorbed best and fastest when taken sublingually. Use the remedy tube or cap to transfer the pellets to underneath your tongue, without touching the cap.
- When advised to make your remedy in water, dilute the pellet or pellets in 4 oz. or ½ cup of spring water. Don’t touch the pellets when putting them into the cup or bottle you are using. It is best to transfer them by using the cap.
- To slightly increase the potency of the remedy when it is in a bottle, succuss the liquid by striking the bottle against the palm of your hand the number of times instructed at your visit. Or, if you are using a cup, stir it vigorously. These succussions create greater resonance within the substance.
- For best results, please refrain from eating or drinking anything, or from brushing your teeth, 15 minutes before and after taking the remedy.
- Observe your homeopath’s guidelines with respect to the time of day and number of times your remedy should be taken.
Substances to Avoid:
Certain substances have been found to interfere with the effects of homeopathic medicines. To ensure the best possible response, please try to avoid the following during the period you are taking the remedy:
Coffee, even decaffeinated coffee or coffee flavour as in coffee flavoured ice cream or candies, large quantities of caffeine,
Camphor (tiger balm), or products containing eucalyptus and camphor oils,
Mint, or mentholated products, mint flavoured toothpastes, chewing gums and mouthwashes (mint and menthol), menthol lozenges and candies,
Very strong aromatics or toxic odours like eucalyptus, wintergreen, peppermint, essential oils like patchouli, strong perfumes, strong after-shave and soap, smelly chemicals, moth-balls,
Excess alcohol,
Marijuana, because it is a high and aromatic,
Close contact with magnets,
Drugging of any kind, but especially steroids and opiates (These can overpower and antidote the remedy).
Interactions:
In some cases, homeopathic remedies may contain amounts of active ingredients and cause drug interactions. For example, the remedy Arnica Montana may slow blood clotting. When taken in low potencies and in combination with other medications that slow blood clotting, such as Aspirin or Coumadin, it may increase the chances of bruising and bleeding.
Your homeopath is careful in his or her assessment to study the medications and/or supplements you are currently taking and will avoid giving you a remedy that is contraindicated in your case.
Storing the Remedy
Store all homeopathic medicines in a dark, cool (but not cold) place, such as a closed cupboard. Keep them out of the sun and away from anything that has an electrical current, such as a computer or refrigerator.
Keep remedies out of the reach of children! If a child accidentally ingests the granules, he or she will not be poisoned because homeopathic remedies are sufficiently diluted. However, the child may temporarily develop the symptoms of that remedy.
Acute treatment
When treated for an acute condition, such as a cold, flue, or toothache, you can expect to notice the remedy acting fairly soon. If, after one hour, you feel a 50 % or greater improvement in your symptoms, don’t take another dose. In homeopathic medicine, less is more. The remedy is working and will continue working. Only dose again when you feel the beginning of a relapse. This may be in one hour or it may not be until the next day.
If you feel no improvement at all after one hour, take another dose equal to the first. Wait and watch. If again, you feel no response, repeat the dose a third time. Always remember to STOP taking a remedy when you are strikingly better or any worse after a dose.
If, after three doses, you feel no improvement, stop taking the remedy. Call us, and we’ll discuss another remedy. If you feel only slight improvement after your three doses, please call or e-mail us for instructions on whether to repeat or alter the dose or change remedies.
After taking a remedy, you may feel a brief intensification of the presenting symptoms and/or a temporary return of old symptoms, as the vital force is stimulated to heal. This is a good sign.
Chronic treatment or Constitutional remedies
Please do not treat yourself on your own. Follow the specific instructions that were given with your remedy. If it has been a while since you have been in the office, schedule an appointment to see if you are on track with the correct remedy and potency.
Please keep your follow-up appointments – they’re an important part of your healing path!
Follow-up
We will generally schedule your first follow-up appointment 2 – 4 weeks after the initial prescription to track your progress. During this period, it is helpful if you keep a brief, to-the-point journal. Some reactions include dreams, mood and behaviour, ability to react, food cravings, perspiration or changes in bowel movement. Bring your journal with you to your follow-up appointments.
You also can e-mail your notes to us in advance of your appointment, and we may be able to advise you on your next step by phone or e-mail. However, in general, e-mails should not replace follow-up appointments.
In the treatment of a chronic illness, follow-up appointments are usually scheduled 4 – 6 weeks after your initial consultation. The intervals between appointments will increase as you get better.
Monitoring your Progess
In order to gauge the action of the remedy and to determine your follow-up treatment, it would be very helpful to your homeopath if you could pay close attention your symptoms after taking the medicine. It could be weeks between appointments, so important, unusual signs and symptoms are often forgotten by the time you come in again. For this reason, some patients prefer to keep a journal or brief daily/weekly notes.
If you are concerned about any unusual symptoms or aggravations while in our care, please contact us. In the case of an emergency, please go the hospital!
Dietary and lifestyle recommendations
A very important aspect in the healing process is removing any “obstacles to cure”. For example, if you are allergic to a certain substance, then the homeopathic remedy may help you feel better, however, if you continue to be exposed to the same substance, the chances of becoming completely cured are greatly reduced. Of course, the same is true for undue stress you may be experiencing, lack of exercise or open air, habitual intake of harmful food or drink, or other avoidable harmful factors. Your health will often return spontaneously when the obstacle to cure is removed, provided there is no underlying illness.
Your homeopath will help you identify which areas may benefit from change, and make recommendations based on the information collected during the initial appointment.
