Homeopathic Aggravations

Real world examples of homeopathic aggravations

Many homeopaths expect to see aggravations. I don’t. I do see them occasionally, but they are not a regular part of my practice. I believe that is because the basis of my homeopathy practice is the Banerji Protocols model. 

In the ‘Classical’ model of homeopathy, when an aggravation occurs, the remedy is repeated. This is not an issue with the Banerji Protocols, as repetition is already ‘baked in’.

In the Banerji Protocols the remedies are always repeated— The frequency might be every few hours, twice a day, once a day, every other day, once a week, every two weeks, or once a month. Whatever the frequency, the protocols never give just one dose, or a few, and then wait and see what will happen.

I will add here that some clients of mine who come from ‘old school’ homeopathy can get stressed out about repeating remedies regularly. The Banerji Protocol approach IS a new paradigm. It’s not uncommon for these people to be on edge, thinking every little change, twinge, sniffle, pain is a proving or an aggravation. Sometimes this is because of past experiences with classical homeopathy, where aggravations are much more common. Mostly I think it’s because of the myths that still circulate in homeopathy worlds, that tend to make people more nervous than confident, unfortunately.

You could say I’m spoiled, or lucky, because once I discovered homeopathy (although that took a long time) I got on the Banerji Protocol track rather quickly. And the more I use the protocols the more confident I become.

Being gun shy is actually one of the biggest obstacles to using homeopathy effectively. This can result in the tendency to stop the remedies too soon, always doubting, changing horses, rethinking things, always adding more symptoms to the list, and worrying about it.

All I can do is urge you try this method. And, in time and with experience, learn to trust how gentle and kind homeopathy is, and to rest into the repeated doses. I have many clients who have been taking protocols for a year or more. Progress slowly continues. And one day it’s as if they just wake up and their blood pressure has dropped, or their allergies are gone. Like magic, except it’s not.

And, referring to my last article about homeopathic provings, when we accept the gift of provings (and aggravations), they no longer are a source of stress.

---

Building on the topic of provings, today we’ll cover aggravations:

Here’s the definition of a homeopathic aggravation from my school (the Academy of Practical Homeopathy): 

“An aggravation is the temporary appearance of new symptoms, or a temporary intensification of existing symptoms, following a dose of a homeopathic remedy.” 

With an aggravation there may be—

An increase in existing symptoms (followed by improvement or cure).

The existing symptoms may get worse or increased but will soon pass (ie. eczema behind ears is also behind the knees now).

Or an old symptom may reappear. 

(Although in my world, when an old symptom reappears, I would put that in the category of suppressions— the revealing of old layers that got stuffed down, typically by allopathic medical treatments or drugs. But more on this in the next article.)

It’s important to note the differences between provings and aggravations, because if we think it’s a ‘proving’ (see my last article), then we might take different steps.

An important difference is that an aggravation generally comes on after the first dose or two. And usually it is an ‘aggravation’ of existing or related symptoms. Not something totally new.

With a proving, the longer you keep taking the homeopathic remedy the more the new symptom will increase. (Until you stop taking the homeopathy and then the symptom disappears in a day or so.) 

Remember, in a proving, the symptoms will generally be new and will arise after some time. I have yet to see a proving happen after one or two doses, unless it’s a very high potency. (Say 10M or higher, but just because it’s a high potency doesn’t mean that there WILL be a proving or aggravation, it’s just easier to have one with the high potencies.)

Now for some examples of Aggravations:

Calcarea Carbonica 1M— 

My husband has had allergies for as long as I’ve known him (30 years). Worse seasonally, but also worse dust and other environmental exposures. It’s been a couple of years that we’ve been working on it homeopathically, and he is virtually symptom free now. (Though still taking remedies daily, as it’s not totally uprooted yet. But as long as he takes them he is symptom-free.)

At one point I decided to add Calcarea Carbonica 1M once a week. (You’ll find this in both the Banerji protocols for Allergic Rhinitis and Sinusitis.)

[As an aside, these types of doses in the protocols can be considered baselines. A once a week high potency may be included to gradually uproot the underlying tendency to the condition. In addition, other remedies, taken daily— which are also helping to uproot— are addressing active symptoms more acutely.] 

So I gave him a dose of Calc Carb 1M, and that night his allergic symptoms were super flared up. His usual post nasal drip increased, the dreadful tickly cough came on when lying in bed. This would be part of his usual allergic picture. So, at first glance, it could have been something that happened that day to cause this aggravation. But he also had taken the Calc Carb 1M, so that was in my mind as well.

I got up and gave him the usual remedies that we use for acute symptoms like this. (I’m sure you want to know what they were. In his case it is Wyethia 200 and Rumex 30.) After 2-3 doses in quick succession, all calmed down and we were able to go to sleep. 

The next week we tried the Calc Carb 1M again, with the same results. Now it was clear to me that it was the remedy and not another cause. Acute remedies took care of the aggravation again.

Now, in some cases, an aggravation is very mild and you can get just get past it. (See examples of this below.) But this was annoying, as it affected our sleep. So, I decided to abandon the Calc Carb 1M for him and to look for another option. 

I had already tried him on the Calc Carb 200 every other day, for a good length of time, with no apparent effect. (Another protocol for immunity and chronic allergic conditions.)

Eventually, I got him going on Psorinum 1M once a week. In addition to taking care of his chronic tendency to canker sores, it has also been instrumental in uprooting his allergies. He’s been taking it once a week for about a year now, and I don’t have an urgent need to stop it until he is no longer needing homeopathy for allergies (or until a proving comes along).

I’ll write much more about dealing with chronic allergies in the future. But take note that often either Calc Carb 1M or Psorinum 1M every week or two can be very helpful baselines. You can read the entries in the Materia Medica and look at which fits the person better. But in the end it’s nearly a 50/50 as to which will be a better option. When in doubt just start one with one and observe. I would have said my husband fit Calc Carb better, but in the end it is the Psorinum that has been most helpful. The Psorinum 1M helps a lot of my clients who have chronic allergies.

[Side note: The Psorinum 1M shows up in some of the Banerji Protocols, but NOT for allergies specifically. If you read in the Materia Medica it certainly addresses allergies though. In the protocols it’s taken every 14 days, which we use as a template. I have just found through experience that many people feel that once a week is more supportive. The way to know this is to take a dose, wait two weeks to take the next, and notice in the interim if you really wish you could take it sooner!]

Hamamelis Virginiana 200 + Arnica Montana 3C:

A common Banerji Protocol for various issues related to blood vessels and supply (from varicose veins, to venous stasis, to clots and stroke events) is Hamamelis 200C + Arnica 3C twice a day. (Yes, that’s a 3 and not a 30.)

This is one I’ve occasionally seen cause aggravations in people. 

A few times I’ve had someone start this protocol and the first day they report a feeling of increased pressure (not exactly pain) in their lower legs (where the varicosities are). One time it was reported that the sensation was like a pulsating of blood. 

Each time, I’ve found that dialing back the frequency to once a day for a few days takes care of the sensations. And then twice a day is resumed with no problems. 

It’s rather like the protocol gets things moving, and there’s an adjustment period which may be felt at first. (Most times this does not happen though. And it is an excellent protocol, not one I want to abandon lightly.)

This is a good example of  what we would call an aggravation. Even though the person wasn’t having symptoms like this in their day-to-day life, it was clearly related to the current symptom picture, and was related to the reason why we started the protocol in the first place.

Aconitum Napelles 200 and Arsenicum Album 200:

I’ve had a few cases where people have reported feeling mild palpitations when starting one of these remedies. 

Usually it’s after the first dose or two, and it can be noticed as directly linked to taking it. (They take the remedy and little heart flutters follow.)

Usually, assuming it’s mild (which it always had been), I first ask them to try it again for another dose or two and report back. In most cases it was a one-off and the palpitations don’t continue: It was just a little aggravation, again like stirring something up, and we continue on with the remedy.

In all of these cases the person had a pre-existing heart condition of some sort.

I do have one client who gets palpitations after taking Arsenicum every time, so we have switched to other remedies because it makes her too nervous. To be clear, I don’t see it as a threat in any way, but understand her preference not to take it. And in my world, I don’t subscribe to the getting ‘worse before better’ mentality. It’s just not necessary. 

Maybe in time, with further healing using other remedies, she will be able to take Arsenicum with no aggravation. Not that that is the goal, but it is possibility.

Other Aggravations:

1. One client was taking Coffea 200 very often for chicken pox-related itch. They started to get irritable and super sensitive to noises. Decreasing the frequency solved it. It still helped the itch, but without the aggravation.

Often decreasing the frequency will solve aggravations.

2. For some time I’ve been helping my cat with homeopathy for chronic constipation. After taking a remedy for a while, she will get diarrhea. It happens over and over again, regardless of what remedy it is. I would call this an aggravation.

I also take it as a sign to stop or adjust the remedy. With a little experimenting, I found that every other day dosing helps her have regular bowel movements (every 1-2 days instead of every 3-4) without the diarrhea episodes (or less frequently at least).

When she gets diarrhea I give her something for that. Because once it starts it can continue for days. Normally Arsenicum Album 30 and/or Veratrum Album 200 + Cuprum Metallicum 6C will take care of it in just one or two doses. (See the Banerji protocol for diarrhea. It’s a great one to know.)

[Find a complete index of all the Banerji Protocols from the two books here.]

As you’ll note, when there is an aggravation, I either stop the remedy, change the frequency, and in acute situations I give the homeopathic remedy needed for whatever is occurring.

3. I have a very sensitive client with a lot going on who was aggravated by almost everything when we started. Even the first dose of Camphora 200 (a clearing remedy) caused an allergic-type reaction. (Arsenicum Album 200 took care of that in quick order.) Following that, many well-selected homeopathic medicines caused digestive upset, flatulence and diarrhea. 

So it became a process of introducing something new, observing, giving remedies to support any aggravation, and changing the remedies. It took some months to settle into a plan that had no aggravations and that was starting to help. 

I share this because sometimes there may be situations like this. Extra patience is required to work through it, but this client hasn’t had an aggravation with new remedies in her plan for a long time now. To my mind, there was just a lot of old stuff getting stirred up at the start.

4. Another type of aggravation is weird or bad dreams and restless sleep after just a dose or two. When someone reports this I usually take it as a sign that the remedy isn’t correct and stop it. (Reminder, just because a homeopathic selection isn’t the right fit today, doesn’t mean it won’t be useful in the future. It all depends on the symptom picture AT THAT TIME.)

5. Other vague issues that might be called aggravations could be feeling fatigued, or getting mildly constipated. Usually, in instances like this, I will add an appropriate homeopathic medicine to address the symptom. If no better in 3-5 days, we can reassess, but almost always it resolves the problem in short order.

6. The only aggravation that came on after a long time (many months of taking a remedy) was a situation that I personally experienced. I had been taking Bovista 30 daily for many months for general food intolerances and chronic allergic reactions. 

The protocol is actually Bovista 200. Depending on the condition, it is taken between twice a day and every third day. I began with the 30 because that’s what I already owned at the time. Later, when I received the 200, I started taking it and within days I had a breakout of itchy hives, the first episode like that in a very long time (going back to before I even knew about homeopathy).

To address the acute reaction, I took Antimonium Crudum 200 + Arsenicum Album 200 a few times in a few hours and the reaction faded. (This is a Banerji protocol for general itchy conditions.) The only thing that remained was itch at the back of my knees, and some Calendula ointment topically took care of that.

[It is said that the Arsenicum 200 is included in many of the protocols for itch. And that is true. However, so is the Antimonium Crudum. During this episode, I experimented by taking first the Ant Crud and observing while about half of the itch receded. I then I took the Ars Alb and the other half receded. A beautiful example of how the Banerji protocols are so well-designed!]

In this case, I could have gone back to the Bovista 30, possibly after a few days break, but because I had been on it for months already, I decided to change tack. IF it had been making a difference, but the higher potency caused an aggravation, I would have gone back to the 30. 

In the end, I determined that the Bovista wasn’t that useful for me and switched to Psorinum 1M once a week—  and that has made all the difference in the world for the chronic itchy condition. (The food intolerances are a big subject for another day!)

Could this last example be put into the category of an old suppression arising? Maybe. Although I never treated the itchy hives with anything except cleaning up my diet. So nothing was suppressed in my original treatment of it. (And it sure felt aggravating, like everything was stirred up in me!) 

It is always important to remember that there’s nothing to grit your teeth and get through with homeopathy. It is here to alleviate suffering, not to cause it. 

In my next article I’ll talk about suppressions, as it’s a broad topic that includes not just how homeopathic remedies can have the ability to bring forward conditions that were suppressed, but also how pharmaceuticals and even some surgeries can and do cause conditions to be suppressed. (Meaning driven down to a deeper layer instead of uprooted once and for all.) The good news is that homeopathy can uproot even old and deeply suppressed conditions.

Keep in mind that Murphy’s Materia Medica includes 2,179 homeopathic medicines. And that is not remotely all of the homeopathic medicines in existence. There is ALWAYS another option. And I can’t tell you how many times I have muddled through for a while, trying this, trying that, until ‘lo and behold’ we hit on the right protocol that starts to give real relief, or an added remedy that really brings improvement. In my experience, each step is important and almost always it’s a combination of protocols and individual medicines that finally uproots the condition. 

And with complex and chronic conditions, persistence pays! Get those baseline protocols going first, and then find additional remedies for the acute occurrences, and you will be well on your way.

And that’s it for today! Thanks for reading and subscribing. Until next time. :)

As always, I am not providing medical advice and it is up to you to use common sense in your life. Paid subscribers can ask questions in the comments section and I do answer them.

---

@HomeopathyNews on X.com

Homeopathy Rising- The Complete Archive: If you are new to homeopathy, or to this Substack, you may want to go back to the beginning and start there. These articles are designed to build on one another, teaching and guiding while always aiming to bring something new and fresh to the table, based on my real-world practical experiences with homeopathy.