How to take a homeopathic remedy: decoding product labels

When you buy a homeopathic remedy over the counter, it comes with instructions. However, the instructions on the remedy bottle rarely correspond to the suggestions that I (or any other homeopath) would give you for taking the remedy.

So why the discrepancy?

I can give you a simple answer: legal requirements. You’ll see that there is more to it than that if you read through the rest of this post — but basically, all drug and supplement companies have to print instructions on their products, and thus, in order to satisfy regulators and legal counsel, homeopathic remedies need instructions.

Homeopathy, however, is not a one-size-fits-all kind of medicine. If we are using homeopathy properly and effectively, then everything about our process, from choosing the remedy to deciding on the dosing, will be tailored to the person we see in front of us, and what they are experiencing. So…it’s pretty unlikely that the dosing on the bottle will match your unique situation.

Ok… but you told me to take one pill, and the bottle says five. What’s that about?

To understand this, we need to understand how homeopathy is works. Homeopathy is not acting on the material level, it is a form of energetic medicine. So how frequently we take a remedy is more important that how many pills we take.

It’s like sending a message to your friend. Let’s say you want to remind your friend about a dinner date you two have. If you send ten copies of the same message at the same time, it’s unlikely to have more or less impact on whether they remember the date, than if you just sent the message once. But if you send the message once today, and once tomorrow, and once the next day, and so forth for 10 days, then the periodic repetition will make it more likely that they will remember, and, if they aren’t completely annoyed by this time, show up 🙂

A homeopathic remedy is like a little message to your energetic body, and it works the same way. So whether you take 1 pill or 5 pills all at the same time doesn’t make much of a difference.

Then why do the instructions say to take five, if one works just fine?

You may well ask that at this point, especially if you have worked with a homeopath who had you take multiple pills at once. Why would they do that?

Let me give you a caveat to the rule that 1 pill = 1 dose, which relates to the manufacturing process.

Remedies are made by dissolving, diluting and strike/shaking (succussing) a substance in water. Then the water is transferred onto pills — and there are a couple different methods for doing so.

Method 1 :: A small vial is filled with pills; then a few teaspoons or tablespoons of solution are poured over the pills. This method does not guarantee that every pill will get solution on it.

Method 2 :: Wire baskets full of pills are dunked into vats of solution, much like French fries into a deep fat fryer. In this method, we’re confident that every pill is getting fully soaked in solution.

Historically, pills were manufactured using Method 1. So historically, homeopaths would give instructions to take multiple pills, just to be sure that there was at least one that had remedy solution on it.

Some homeopathic pharmacies still use the traditional protocol. If the remedy you have in hand was made using Method 1, it makes sense to take multiple pills at once, just to be sure. Usually 2-3 will do the trick.

Keep in mind though, that many remedy companies, including Boiron, use Method 2 to make their remedies. In that case, one pill = one dose. Taking more pills will not hurt you, but it isn’t necessary.

So to summarize…

Instructions on the remedy bottle are more for legal reasons than because those instructions are the best or most appropriate way for YOU to take the remedy given YOUR particular circumstances.

Taking multiple pills at once is the same as taking a single pill in terms of the impact on your system. If you are instructed to take multiple pills for each dose, that is most likely to ensure you’ve got at least one with some remedy solution on it.

If you have a question about manufacturing processes, reach out to the pharmacy! Most homeopathic pharmacies are small enough that it’s not hard to get a hold of real person.

Hi! I’m Chelsea Smock, and I’m a homeopath and health coach in Austin, Texas. Thanks for stopping by and reading. I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment below, or get in touch with me over here .