Homeopathic remedies; when to repeat ?

Are you confused about how many doses to give, Do you use homeopathic remedies and wonder when to repeat the remedy and when to stop? I can tell you that you are not alone. “When to repeat a Homeopathic remedy” is probably the most asked about question by beginner users of Homeopathic remedies. This is because in homeopathy there are no standard ways of doing things. While there is a standard guide to approach this; the timing of repetition is determined by the individual situation. 

Homeopathy is an individually tailored therapy. Each situation is approached as unique and this is where a lot of people struggle with using it.

This post explains when to repeat of doses of Homeopathic remedies in acute prescribing. Additionally you’ll find the basic dosing schedule I advise set out here.

In classical Homeopathy the dose of the remedy is intended to be; ONLY the lowest potency of a remedy, in the minimum doses required, and with the least repetitions in order TO TRIGGER THE BODY INTO HEALING IN THAT PARTICULAR SITUATION.

Let’s see how Homeopathic dosing works in practice

The repeat of a Homeopathic remedy needs to keep in step with the pace of the situation. Just like you need to keep in step to the rhythm of the music if you were dancing. It takes two to Tango as the saying goes; and ‘the patient’ will take the lead in this one.

Below are two scenarios that each have a very different feel to them; energetically and in urgency. And this is important to note because each of these needs a different timing in dosing. 

Consider the situations, put yourself there and imagine what this would feel like to witness were they real life situations;

Little baby Johnny has been fine all day, but come 3 pm in the afternoon he suddenly develops a fever. It rises quickly and very high; his cheeks are flushed, his eyes glare over and by 4.30pm he is screaming with a sore ear. He is inconsolable and whatever mum tries the screaming won’t stop.

If you would be his mum you would feel frantic. You would be trying everything under the sun to help him feel better NOW. Or at the very least stop the screaming. This is not a situation where you; sit on the couch and wait and observe, and calmly decide what to do. This is calling for action NOW, urgently and strongly.

The husband is complaining about a headache on Monday evening. By Tuesday night he has a sore throat as well, and he is becoming more miserable as the days go on. But he just keeps on going.

The husband keeps going regardless of his symptoms. He is deteriorating over time. But apart from complaining there is not much of an urgency to this, in the moment.

When do we repeat the homeopathic remedy in the above examples?

And here is where people often get confused about Homeopathic Dosing. They say to me “I have been told to always wait an hour before repeating a remedy”. Or “ I have been told to dose every 10 minutes for half an hour when I self prescribe” .

But in Homeopathy there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach. What ever we do in Homeopathy always matches the individual situation. That is so for the remedy we decide on, the strength of the remedy and also the dose repetition.  

And what is the most important is the observation of the situation to guide us in our decision in all these things.

It’s like when you are dancing; you have to listen out for the rhythm and the beat of the music to know the speed of your moves, to know if you need to move slowly and gently or be bold and flamboyant.

Johnny’s  dosing

Poor Johnny is not going to be served with 1 dose of a remedy; after which we’ll wait for an hour. This is because he is frantic, upset and in acute discomfort. It is distressing for mum and it is running late in the day. In Johnny’s case you want to see result fast for everyone’s sake.

So, you may give Johnny a dose. And if you don’t see result in 5- 10 min you give another one. You follow the general guideline in my schedule; but with short intervals. Up until the point where you see something is changing in Johnny.  His body will first be ‘using up’ that remedy quick in its frantic state. And repeat dosing may be required until it seems to ‘take hold’. This remedy can easily be given every 5-10 min for 30 min.

Then all of a sudden; he may stop screaming and just whine, he may be calmer, he may even just fall asleep. As soon as you see that change; you stop dosing as obviously Johnny is responding; his body is reacting to the remedy and it is showing.

Often when there is acute pain and discomfort like in Johnny’s sudden ear ache; after we see an improvement at some point the discomfort rises up again. 10 minutes, an hour or a day later. And that is the only point at which we will re-dose; if his symptoms are precisely the same. And in order to keep him moving towards recovery.

Its about staying in tune

If we would give 1 dose and wait an hour in Johnny’s case; we may see an initial response but then a worsening of his situation.  Waiting for an hour is going to be very uncomfortable in this situation. Homeopathic dosing at this interval would mean starting and stopping the healing process. It won’t be a smooth dance, but more a bumpy and toe squashing jig with a tone deaf partner.

It’s about staying in tune with Johnny and in step with his rhythm; so that we can just be that bit ahead of the ball game and anticipate that next turn. To repeat homeopathic remedies in this way and providing you see the improvement from each dose; you will notice that the interval between the doses required will start to increase. And the need for repetition becomes less frequent as his vitality and resilience grows with each stimulus of the remedy.

In this case there will be no need for different remedies, unless his symptoms change. Nor a higher potency; unless you no longer see any more response to the potency you are using; but Johnny’s symptoms have not changed.

As soon as Johnny is recovered enough to be happy again, no more doses are required. That can be after 1 or after 5 doses, after 1 hour or a day; but he will tell you if you continue to be observant.

The husband and his remedy dosing

Now the husband with his slow decline into….a flu??? This is a different matter. In this case the onset of the symptoms may initially even go unnoticed. As it would not be a very clear and ‘in your face’ acute. He isn’t screaming, he may not even say anything about it at first (typical men). But when it gets bad enough you’ll hear him about it. This feels much less urgent. It’s a very gentle waltz he is dancing there; twirling ever so gradually into misery.

Homeopathic dosing in this situation can be much more spaced out.  Here we also follow the same general guideline in the dosing schedule but at a much more spaced out interval.  We could easily wait an hour before dosing again initially. It may be a while before we see the husband’s body respond and hold the remedy effect. The whole process may be slower to react; the effects may also be more gradual in showing. Or if the remedy is a perfect match it may be instant; there is no way to predict this. But if you just observe and let the husband guide this dance; you’ll find that also easy to determine.

In both situations above if we would not see any change after 4 doses or if the symptoms would change during the process we would chose a new remedy to match those and proceed as we did before. Start by giving a dose and wait…….

Observation is key in knowing when to repeat Homeopathic remedies

So, in essence the guideline or approach is the same in each case. But as the prescriber you will need to decide if you are dealing with; a fast paced and intense situation, or a slow and gradual process. Will you be dancing to a Waltz or a Tango or a Foxtrot? In any case let your patient be your guide and adjust your steps to theirs.

Tripping up and stumbling along is okay and this will happen to beginner prescribers and dancers alike and it takes practice to make perfect decisions each time. It is just going to lead to a much more clumsy and less elegant process. But you’ll get there in the end. Homeopathy is forgiving.

Here is the link to the Dosing Schedule I generally suggest for any acute situation. You will note it does not give any time indications, but this I have explained to you in this post.