Administering Homeopathic Medicines- Part 2

Acute, Chronic or Both?

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Acute, Chronic or Both?

This is one of the aspects of using Practical Homeopathy ® that may take a little getting used to, if you come from a more ‘classical’ background. But once you understand this, it will give you a lot of confidence, and increase your success rate dramatically. At least it has done so for me!

Too often people with an acute condition take one dose of a remedy, or maybe take it twice a day, and then report it didn’t act. However, you have to know HOW to dose homeopathy for an acute in an SOS situation, versus a chronic which is quite different and must be treated differently. In addition, we also have chronic conditions with acute flare-ups of the condition, so we have to know how to handle those situations as well.

So let’s get to it!

What is an “acute” condition and what is a “chronic” condition? 

1. Acute: Isolated, short-term, has a natural beginning and end. It is not repeated. 

According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary: "having a sudden onset, sharp rise, and short course.”

2. Chronic: Long-term time frame, constant or repeated attacks, tends to worsen over time. Often labelled “incurable.” 

According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary: "continuing or occurring again and again for a long time.” 

3. The third option is to have a chronic condition with acute attacks or ‘flare-ups’. (Also a chronic condition with an unrelated acute issue.)

An acute condition would be like a cold or flu, dysentery, an ear infection, an injury to a muscle or joint, a burn, a bee sting, a suddenly red eye, a splinter, your child hits his head and has a hematoma, a snake bite, or any of the myriad things that can come on all of a sudden.

A chronic might be called long COVID, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, chronic ear infections, arthritis, Erythromelalgia, chronic allergic reactions, Uveitis… and the list of chronic conditions goes on and on (as I’m sure you well know).

I talked a lot in the last article about choosing homeopathic medicines. That’s not the topic for today; but, as a reminder, always check first to see if there is a Banerji Protocol that might be useful.

HOMEOPATHY FOR ACUTES

Generally speaking, with an acute, the remedies should be administered every 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the severity of the situation. The greater the severity, the smaller the spacing between doses.

The chosen remedy/remedies should be administered for up to 6 doses. This is done to determine whether the remedy is correct. If improvement is evident, this indicates that the remedy is correct and can thereafter be administered over a period of days, weeks or months, depending on how long it is needed. 

If no improvement is seen during the first 6 doses, then the remedy may be wrong. If some improvement is seen, but not complete resolution, we can then increase the time between each dose so that a dose is given every hour or two, continuing with this so long as it is helpful.

As soon as significant improvement occurs, we stop the remedy. If the condition returns, we resume the remedy.

Acutes are the category that has converted many a person to homeopathy. To see a condition resolve in as little as even one dose, and to never come back, can seem like magic. 

I have seen myself. But it is definitely not always the case. 

Often I expect an acute to take a good week to fully resolve. Though it will be step by step. First we look for the intensity to decrease. Often the first thing that happens is the person gets calmer. Then some aspect gets a littler better, say the sore throat lessens, but the neck glands are still swollen. Then, over the coming days, the energy returns, but there’s a cough. Then the neck glands go back to normal. Then the cough resolves.

Many people start to get antsy after a couple of days of taking the remedies for an acute and expect to be done. This is when we have to notice that we are actually improving and moving in the right direction. That way we will continue the remedies until all better.

As I said, it’s helpful to expect about a week for many acutes to fully resolve. That will get us in the right mindset so that we don’t give up too soon. However, if it takes longer than a week, don’t let that arbitrary day seven ‘mean’ something that it doesn’t. Maybe you will take 10 days, or three weeks, to be all better. There is no rule here. 

Alternately, if truly not getting better then we need to reassess the current picture of what we are observing NOW (not what it was days ago), and pivot to find the correct homeopathic remedies.

In the case of colds and flus, the picture can change daily, which can make them very challenging. The good news is that with many acute conditions, they are self-limiting, meaning they will go away eventually by themselves, with no intervention.

But it sure is nice to be able to cut down on the pain and suffering (usually dramatically) with the right tools, and even to be able to avoid doctor and ER visits. Personally, I am always gratified to avoid pharmaceuticals, which often are the reason that acutes become chronics. Even if it takes a few weeks with homeopathy, you can know you are uprooting the condition and not driving it to some deeper level. (Of course if you need medical care, do get it, please!)

HOMEOPATHY FOR CHRONICS

Generally, with a chronic condition, we are going to take the remedies daily. Depending on the protocol it might be once a day, twice a day, every other day, once a week. Usually there will be more than one remedy, and often more than one protocol, included at the same time to address different conditions in the same person. (See my recent article about how many remedies can be taken at one time here.)

Here consistency is important. Missing a day isn’t the end of the world, but if you are skipping weeks or are very erratic it is going to be hard to get the results and to accurately assess if the remedies are helping. 

How long do we take the homeopathic remedies for a chronic? Until very much better, or until they stop acting and we must reassess and pivot.

Now what do we do within the chronic condition, when there is an acute situation?

This may mean a flare up of same condition, an acute attack, or it may be something else that pops up. 

I’m going say this here and then repeat it a few times, so it sinks in— first we establish the baseline remedies that we are taking day-in and day-out and we keep taking them and ADD ON for acute conditions.

In some cases, we will simply increase the frequency of the baseline remedies from twice a day, to, say, every 2-3 hours when acute. In other cases we will ADD a remedy or two for the acute. And it may be both. 

Here’s the summary:

• Baseline remedies in place for the chronic condition that don’t change, even when there is an acute we keep taking them everyday.

• Baseline remedies we can take more frequently when acute.

• Plus ADD ONS for acutes.

It’s like layers, or an orchestra with each instrument playing its part.

[Needless to say, but I’ll say it anyway, if the acute is something really traumatic, like a life-threatening accident, then we may very well stop the chronic remedies because we have to focus fully on the intense situation at hand. In this article, I am talking about the day to day experience most of us have with chronics and acutes.]

Let’s use ear infections for some examples of what this looks like in action. Ear infections offer a clear case of how we use homeopathy for acute, chronic, and acute episodes within a chronic condition.

ACUTE

A couple of years ago, while dealing with a bout of the flu, I suddenly developed intense ear pain. I had never had ear pain before. It was inside my ear and any minor change in ear pressure resulted in a sharp pain. I also had some very mild air belching happening (it was so mild as to be really just a change in the internal ear pressure) and with each little ‘urp’ it hurt terrible. On a scale of 1-10 I’d say an 8.

I was quite sick overall, and was already on remedies for the flu. I kept the rest going, then I took some Carbo Veg 200 for the ‘eructations’, and in just one or two doses, that settled down. This helped to not be in pain AS much, though the actual ear pain was unchanged, it just wasn’t getting triggered as often.

Next I chose to work with the remedies from the Banerji Protocol for ear infection. Here it is, with all three lines. I started with line 1, as we will pretty much always do:

External Otitis, Serous Otitis Media (outer and middle ear infection, also treats sclerosed mastoid bones without surgery) pg. 75

1. Psorinum 1000C in liquid e15D / Pulsatilla 30 2D / For acute pain- Chamomilla 30 in liquid e30min SOS. If that fails, Carbolic Acidum 6X in liquid e15min SOS til relief.

2. Hepar Sulph 200 # Symph 200, e3H alt, til all symptoms gone, then 2D for 3 months

3. Graphites 200 e3D / Hepar Sulph 6C 2D

I was already taking the Psorinum 1M once a week as part of my regular homeopathic schedule, so that was already included. I added the Pulsatilla 30 twice a day. Then I started the Chamomilla 30C (dry pills made in wet dose— I didn’t own the pharmacy made liquid remedy). I took it every 20-30 minutes for 6 doses with zero results. Not the right remedy. 

[At this point I could have tried a higher potency. That can be an option if a remedy isn’t acting that ‘should’.] 

But I moved on to the Carbolic Acid. This I owned in a 30C in the liquid dose (not the 6X). I made a wet dose bottle with five drops of the liquid remedy in a one ounce dropper bottle. I then took a dropper every 20 minutes. Literally right after I took the fifth dose the pain vanished. (A sudden blessed relief!) Maybe an hour later I felt the pain start to come back a little, so I took the Carbolic Acid again, and it went away. I continued like this for about another day, with the recurrences becoming less and less frequent, until the pain didn’t come back at all. And so I didn’t take it anymore.

Then, approximately one year later, I was coming back from a trip and felt like I was coming down with something. With this returned the same type of ear pain as before. Because I was flying I didn’t have all my remedies with me. I remember anxiously waiting to walk in the door at home so I could get the Carbolic Acid started. I took it every 15-20 minutes and after 6 doses, zero results!

(This happens sometimes with homeopathy! Often it will be the same medicine, and it’s usually wise to start there, but it won’t always act again.)

So I reversed course and tried the Chamomilla in the same way. No results! Finally I went to the Pulsatilla and used it in the same manner SOS every 15-20 minutes. It only took about three doses and I had total relief, and it didn’t come back at all. And I haven’t had this happen again.

Now, if I had not gotten any results after trying all of the remedies in line 1 of the protocol, I would have moved on to options in line 2 and line 3 of the protocol. If none of those had helped I would have gone to the Repertory and Materia Medica.

However, most of the time the protocols are all that’s needed. (If there is no protocol, then we go to the Repertory. Also, what you will find with practice, is that you often already know what to start with.)

Here’s one more, slightly different acute example:

Last summer we were on an outing and I jumped into a glacially cold river. When I got home my right ear hurt, on the outside, in front of the ear. I was mildly red and was particularly painful to pressure. It was not like the previous times with the internal ear pain.

Because of the cold shock from the hot air to the frigid water, I took a dose of Aconitum 200 right away. A bit later I took a couple doses of Belladonna 30, rather casually, to see if it would help. I wasn’t being very deliberate as it wasn’t life-altering pain. Mostly it only hurt if I touched it.

That afternoon I was doing some work and reading in the Materia Medica. As I was reading about Magnesia Carbonica, I decided I was going to try it on myself for some joint issues and mild fatigue I’d been noticing. (I am continually experimenting on myself.) I took a dose of Mag Carb 30C and went back to reading. Within half an hour I suddenly realized the ear pain was gone. Completely. So I checked the Materia Medica entry for Magnesia Carbonica, and under Ears it said ‘inflammation of the ears with external redness and sensation of great soreness.’ Cool. It’s fun when that sort of thing happens. Just don’t expect it all the time.

In review, above examples are for acutes. I had never had the ear pain before and haven’t had it again. And the time between the two acutely painful episodes was a couple of years. That does not make it a ‘chronic’ condition.

CHRONIC + ACUTE

Let’s say you get ear infections all the time, monthly or every couple of weeks. That would be considered CHRONIC ear infections. In that case you would start with line 1 of the Banerji ear infection protocol. However, you are not going necessarily to expect complete resolution of the chronic condition within 6 doses, or even days, or even weeks.

In this case you will take the baseline remedies regularly, the Psorinum 1M one dose every two weeks, and the Pulsatilla 30 two times each day, ongoing.

[It will be useful to write down a few notes AT THE START to help you remember how often you are getting ear infections, how painful they are, and other details, as we tend to forget and then it’s hard to evaluate progress accurately. ‘I’m no better’, he says! Really? You used to get these every other week and the pain was a 10, now it’s once a month and the pain is a 5 max! And we get it under control in a day or two with no lost sleep, instead of enduring a week of doctors visits and rounds of more antibiotics. That IS improvement, and exactly the kind of progress we are looking for with chronics.]

So, maybe you start the line one ear infection protocol right away, even though you don’t have an actively acute ear infection, knowing that one will be coming down the pike in a week or two. 

You start the baselines and then notice a month goes by before you get an ear infection. Interesting. Now you get out the acute remedies, the Chamomilla and the Carbolic Acid, starting with one, and using it frequently for up to 6 doses, as I did above. Here you are looking for acute relief, within a chronic condition. 

You continue the Psorinum and Pulsatilla as before, and only take the Chamomilla or Carbolic Acid as needed ‘SOS’. If you also need something else, say for other acute symptoms, you can add it on. Like the Carbo Veg I took for eructations. Don’t abandon the baselines!

When the acute ear infection passes (within the chronic condition) maybe you notice it was the same or slightly better than in the past. Now you keep taking the baselines, and after a two or three months you assess the big-picture. Are the ear infections coming less frequently, are they less intense? If so, then you continue the remedies until you are basically all better. This may mean a number of months with no episodes. At that point you stop taking them. However, if, say, after a year you get another ear infection; don’t worry, start back with the remedies where you left off and continue again until done (again).

But what is there’s NO difference in the frequency or intensity of the ear infections after a few months? 

Let’s say you found that Chamomilla or Carbolic Acid from line 1 did help with the acute pain, but the ear infections still come at the same frequency and intensity, virtually unchanged.

In that case we move to line 1 of the Banerji Protocol and proceed. Maybe the Chamomilla helps with earaches when acute, so you KEEP that in your arsenal for if needed, but now the daily baselines are Hepar Sulph 200 and Symphytum 200 twice a day.

Now, notice, in line 2 of the protocol, when acute, instead of just taken twice a day, the same remedies are alternated every three hours, until all symptoms are gone. After the acute episode has passed, the same baseline remedies are continued twice a day ‘for three months’’. 

Note: When it says two, or three, months in a protocol, think of it as ‘at least’, or ‘assess at this point’. If you are all better at three months, then by all means, stop taking the remedies. But if you are 85% better and feel you need more time, don’t abandon them.

There is no specific duration that you can take homeopathic medicines. If you need them for a year, and they are still helping, so be it. That’s what is needed. If all is resolved within a month, great, you are done. 

[So many people get worried after a week or two, or a month, that they have been taking the medicines ‘too long’. It’s an arbitrary idea. It may help to realize that the remedies will tell you when you are done with them. That is, if you aren’t already better and have stopped them naturally, which is what usually happens. I will write about provings soon. I have proved many remedies on myself and am not at all afraid of them anymore. In fact, it’s pretty amazing: No mainstream drug sends you a message to tell you it’s not the right one or that you are done taking it!]

Everyone wants to know how long it will take uproot a condition, and all I can ever share is past experience. But that doesn’t mean it will be your experience. And probably the biggest mistake people make is abandoning good remedies too soon. The other mistake is to take them too long, when clearly no change is happening. That’s why observational skills are so important with homeopathy: What is the picture now? How does it compare to before? What % better are you? What is the pain level now compared to before? How many days does it last now, compared to before? How often does it reoccur compared to before? If this is hard to do (especially on oneself) get someone to help— your mom, your partner, a friend— often they will clearly see what you may not be able to.

With chronic conditions, it is not at all abnormal for it to take 9-12 months to resolve. I found this in my own case, with chronic itch, food intolerances etc. It was right around nine months that I had my first totally itch-free week.

During the first few months I was mostly trying to sort out what to use, Once I found good baselines and remedies to help for acutes, then there was a gradual decrease in intensity and flare-ups. Nowadays I am essentially itch-free, but if I get a cold or something, I may get a little resurgence with the lowered immune system. In that case, I take a dose or two of my acute go-to remedy and then it’s gone. After living with the condition for over 10 years, that’s pretty awesome. Most people just get a bit worse year after year instead, and add on more medications as they go.

IN CLOSING

(I’m going to keep this post a bit shorter, for once!)

A reminder here that you have to OWN the remedies to use them! If I hadn’t had the Carbolic Acid on hand, I would have spent unnecessary time trying to figure out an alternative (when already sick).

Would there be another remedy that would act? Most likely! But why reinvent the wheel. One of the most challenging situations is when I’m trying to help someone with a dreadful acute condition and they don’t have any of the remedies I suggest. 

It’s getting harder to source homeopathic remedies locally, and even two-day delivery is often too late. So check out my post on creating your homeopathic medicine collection, and start with the ones you are most likely to need. The Banerji Protocols offer nice ‘recipes’ for you to work with!

A final tidbit: don’t be afraid to start the medicines. If you are new to this, just dive in. Use the guidelines and you’ll start to see in your own experience what it feels like, and you’ll begin to know better what to look for and what to expect. It can’t stay theoretical. You will discover, as I did, that homeopathy is so kind and gentle and flexible and works with us even when we don’t know what the heck we are doing! 

Looking back at what I did when I started exploring homeopathy, compared to now— well, let’s just say I could give my past self a lot of pointers! But that’s the nature of it. And I still got results, and I gained a lot of knowledge. There’s no way around a learning curve, you just have to begin. Even if you are taking the homeopathy alongside your mainstream medicines, they will not interfere, and in time they may very well make the medications obsolete.

The hardest part sometimes is we take a remedy and then just feel fine. When that happens the person will sometimes wonder if it was the homeopathy or if they just got better. That’s how this works! You never get hit over the head like with drugs. Or feel groggy or get side effects. You just return to your normal, healthy state.

So… dive in! Begin today! When you look back in 10 years you will be so glad you did. And I’m here to help shortcut the process as much as possible, by sharing all I’ve learned about using homeopathy ‘practically’.

As always, I am not offering medical advice, I don’t diagnose, and I expect you to use common sense and care when helping yourself and others. 

Thanks for reading and subscribing! Until next time.