When I wrote the article, Homeopathy for Pain, a year and a half ago, I had been using 1M potencies for some time, but was just beginning to work with 10M homeopathic potencies and higher.
Since then, I have gained a lot— no, a ton— of experience with the so-called homeopathic megapotencies.
That original article, although still very useful, definitely reads as conservative now.
So let’s take it up a level.
What are Megapotencies?
These are the homeopathic potencies over 1M.
To review, the common potencies we use in homeopathy (in the U.S.) are X, C and M.
Which use the Roman Numerals:
X = 10
C = 100
M = 1,000
In terms of homeopathy, these mean:
X = 10 levels of dilution and succussion
C = 100 levels of dilution and succussion
M = 1,000 levels of dilution and succussion
Important reminder— homeopathy is not about dilution (anyone can dilute a substance).
Instead, the succussions are increasing the potency of the substance, while the dilution removes or diminishes any toxic or poisonous elements.
Megapotencies in homeopathy are referring to potencies such as:
1M = 1,000 (also may be written as just M)
10M = 10,000
50M = 50,000
CM = 100,000 (C = 100; therefore, 100 x 1000 = 100,000)
DM = 500,000 (D = 500; Though we don’t often see this potency in the US. And it’s not one that Helios sells either.)
MM = 1,000,000 (M = 1,000; therefore, 1000 x 1000 = 1 million)
Note: LM used in homeopathy is a misnomer and does not equate to a 50M potency, as above. (L = 50 in Roman numerals. Which makes it confusing.) This is a different homeopathic medicine preparation altogether, also known as Q. Q stands for Quinquagintamillesimal. The process of preparing homeopathic remedies in this potency is described in the 6th edition of the Organon by Samuel Hahnemann.
When you see LM remedies for sale, this is what they are referring to (the specific ‘Q’ potencies). For example, through Helios Pharmacy, you will find LM liquid and LM granules listed under ‘Form’. Then under potency you would choose the level: LM1, LM2, and so on. Not only is it prepared uniquely, but it is meant to be employed differently. A deeper explanation of this is beyond the scope of this article.
In the Banerji Protocols, you will find some use of the 1M potencies. In the original book they are designated as 1000C. This is the same thing as 1M. In the Additional Banerji Protocols book they are called 1M.
The remedies that show up in the Banerji Protocols in a 1M are Calc Carb, Psorinum, Hepar Sulph, Lycopodium, Conium Maculatum, Rhus Tox, Thuja, Arsenicum Album, Nat Mur, Phosphorus, and Graphites.
Psorinum and Conium show up the most often in a 1M, the others are rarely used. Generally speaking, potencies over 200C are not utilized much in the Banerji Protocols.
And there are no instances of using potencies over 1M in the Banerji Protocol books.
When using a 1M, they would generally give it just once a week, every 10 days, every 14 days, or even once a month.
However, as we will discover today, there are much higher potencies, and in plenty of cases they can be used much more often than that.
There are potencies that go as high as 10MM (10 million).
And in theory any potency is possible.
However, in the real world, these megapotencies generally would have to be made with an imprinter/radionics machine, as the number of succussions required to physically prepare a remedy at this potency would require weeks, or even months, of 24/7 succussing. Of course, this would require a homeopathic succussion machine, no human arm could survive it!
For most homeopathic pharmacies, this would not be worth it, in a cost/benefit analysis; factoring in the wear and tear on the machine, the inability to use it for anything else during that time, and the relatively lower number of sales for these megapotencies.
Watch this short video from Helios to see how homeopathic remedies are made by hand and to catch a glimpse of their succussion machines, as well—
Here are a few of screenshots from the video above, to provide a glimpse of the types of machines that do the succussions:
The above machines are replacing a human arm hitting (succussing) the mixture manually. The succussion machines act as a mechanical arm. Otherwise, a human would have to do this potentially thousands and thousands of times—
Helios states in one place that they use 10 hits/strokes/succussions per level of potency increase, in another place they say a minimum of 20 per level. (Hahnemann used 100 successions per level. And what others use seems to vary widely.)
Therefore, at a minimum, to prepare a 1M potency, multiply 10 succussions by 1000 levels, and we have 10,000 succussions (hits on the book) to make just a simple 1M.
Then, let’s say you want to make a CM (100M). That would be a minimum of 10 succussions multiplied by 100,000 potency levels. Which would come to a million succussions.(!)
Of course, this is far beyond what any sane person would take on.
Based on what I see in the videos, a machine could maybe manage 170,000 succussions per day, running 24/7. Therefore, it would take almost 6 days to prepare just one remedy in a CM potency.
Again, probably not the best return on investment for a pharmacy, which is why these megapotencies are harder to buy. And which is why you often will find that they are made using imprinting/radionics machines.
(If so, the companies will tell you this— for instance PS11 indicates this with (rad) after an MM potency is listed. Rad stands for radionics. Homeopathic Remedies Online also has some megapotencies that are made this way. Here’s one example. This does not mean that all of their remedies are made this way, just the megapotencies. And they indicate this in the product description. For the reasons explained above,)
Therefore, if you are purchasing remedies such as 10MM, it most likely has been made with a machine that imprints frequencies.
If you have never heard of this before, don’t worry about it too much for now. I’ll be writing more soon. For now, this provides a little introduction to the topic.
Helios stocks more megapotencies than any other pharmacy that I know of. And these are not made with an imprinter machine (radionics). You have to check each remedy for what they offer. Many remedies can be purchased in potencies up to 50M, some up to CM, and others all the way to MM.
Why Use Megapotencies?
Okay, so now that we’ve gotten the what out of the way, we can get into the why and how.
The fact is, there are plenty of times that lower potencies are not enough to meet the level that a condition requires.
The main categories where megapotencies are most often needed, in my opinion, are for pain and mental/emotional states.
This is not to say that higher potencies don’t benefit other aspects of health and healing. But I tend to go straight for the megapotencies when the pain is super intense, or the emotional suffering is.
Joette Calabrese does not get into higher potencies, at least not in public. Even in the Academy of Practical Homeopathy, she mentions using a 10M maybe one time, and that being Hypericum for the most extreme sort of injury.
Others, such as Manfred Mueller in Extra Strength Homeopathy, warn about the high potencies as having the potential to cause intense aggravations. However, as he later clarifies, this is in the context of constitutional prescribing of remedies. As I covered in the article on Miasms and Nosodes, a truely constitutional condition means you have had it from birth. And therefore, it would be the very last layer to treat— after all of the other layers have been peeled back.
When we start with what is presenting right here, right now, the issue of aggravations and provings drops incredibly low.
Probably the first mentions of using 10M potencies that I noticed were in Dorothy Shepherd’s books.
For instance, in Magic of the Minimum Dose, she used a dose of Mercurius Protoiodatus 10M in one case, and Mercurius Biniodatus 10M in another case, to rapidly cure tonsillitis. She also shares a case cured of epilepsy using Lycopodium 10M.
In More Magic Of The Minimum Dose, she mentions even more cases with 10M remedies—
In one example, a woman had had debilitating Trigeminal Neuralgia for two years and nothing had helped her at all. (Shepherd doesn’t use this term in the book, but we would today.)
‘Sulphur 10M was given in the morning. On the customary round with the night sister, this ward was visited, and to the astonishment of the young doctor, no Mrs. S. was seen sitting up in the corner. ‘Had she been moved? Had she died suddenly? Had her heart given out from the constant pain?’ The young medico’s face blanched with anxiety and she tip-toed to the bed. But no, there was the patient, peacefully sleeping the sleep of the just. The next morning this patient was the first visit the house physician paid, to be told that the patient had slept all night, the first time for months and months and there had been no returns of the pain up to that time, the grateful woman said. The patient was jubilant, the relief was so sudden and so unexpected. She stayed in the hospital for another week or so to make sure that the cure held good. But there was no recurrence and the patient kept in touch with the hospital for several months, until she was lost sight of. As you may have guessed, I was the tyro, and it was my first case on whom I tried out my newly gained knowledge. Yes, homoeopathy does sometimes cure like that, instantaneously, miraculously, if the patient gives the right symptoms and the right remedy is found.’
— Quote from pg. 113 of More Magic Of The Minimum Dose
Of course, Dorothy Shepherd was using the classical approach of matching the remedy to the full picture and giving few doses, often even just one.
Stories such as this are also excellent reminders that, if a well-known remedy or protocol fails, there is (truly) no shortage of other homeopathic medicines to turn to.
I also recall being shocked when I read the following passage in another book. I even copied it down at the time:
‘One of the more striking effects of homeopathy was the rapid relief of pain in a patient waiting for operation for a protruding lumbar disc, when large doses of Omnopon had failed, by giving Coffea 10M.’
- Dr Donald Foubister, Tutorials on Homoeopathy
If you look in a homeopathic Repertory under PAIN, you will find that Coffea is listed as a top remedy for pain. It’s not usually my first pick, but in some cases, it might turn out to be just the thing.
Foubister generally used ascending potencies in three doses— 30C, then 200C, then 1M. But in this case he went straight for the 10M. As we learn to do with terrible pain.
This company, Alpine Pharmaceuticals, has done research studies using arnica for recovery from plastic surgery.
They found that Arnica 1M and 10M greatly reduce bruising and speed healing post-surgery. Their product is called SinEcch. (The Ecch, is for ecchymosis or bruising.)
As you can see in the study results (see PDF below) the lower potencies didn’t perform much better than placebo. But the 1M and 10M sure did. Does this mean that the lower potencies never have their place? Of course not. But when the need arises, nothing can match the higher potencies.
The book that really launched me into the world of megapotencies was Jill Turland’s, Getting Back on Track, Using Megapotency in Homeopathy.
It’s a dense book, so even while I was still reading it, I started experimenting on myself, began sharing with my study group (which includes a bunch of adventurous women!), and began implementing some of these higher potencies with my clients.
(I don’t know if Jill Turland coined the term megapotency, but her name is strongly linked with it. Also, she did pass away on October 21, 2024, in case you are wondering.)
In Getting Back on Track, she details 10 common remedies that she used extensively, developing deeper understandings of them that go beyond the average Materia Medica entry. She worked with potencies above 1M, and up to MM. Nat Mur gets an honorable mention chapter, and a handful of other remedies make appearances as well. (Yes, Jill Turland used a radionics homeopathy machine. But you don’t have to, as almost everything mentioned in the book can be purchased through Helios.)
These are the ten remedies that she worked with and that are discussed extensively in the book:
Aconitum, Arnica, Conium, Hydrastis, Hypericum, Ignatia, Ledum, Ruta, Staphysagria, Symphytum, plus Nat Mur
A few quotes from Getting Back on Track about working with the megapotencies in homeopathy—
‘Sounds easy [turning people from dark to light], and the only reason it has been so hard, to date, is because so few people are conscious that hate, greed, anger, vindictiveness, revenge, jealousy and envy, every form of malevolence, are as easy to eliminate as I have found them to be, and that once eliminated by the great light and insights given by these remedies, there is no going back. Although some remedies bear repetition occasionally, over a few years, the enlightened sufferer never goes back to thinking the way he had before the remedies. Persistence wins out even with the most intractable criminals.’
‘Guilt release remedies free us up to create our greatest dreams, lifting us out of dreaming for revenge and destruction and enabling us to convert our enemies into brothers. They help us to rise out of helpless frustration, out of feeling a victim of others or of circumstances not of our making, and out of the perception that others are more powerful than we are.’
‘Guilt release remedies shift our awareness out of the belief that we are powerless against the power hungry, helpless against the war machine, the controllers, the law makers and against aggression and destruction. Powerlessness, weakness, helplessness and frustration are the retreats of those who know that there are good and happy ways of being and doing, but know not how to create the reality of these ways into their lives.’
In my work, both as a homeopath and as a psychotherapist, I have found these megapotencies to be incredibly helpful. There are cases, I believe, that involve stuck habitual emotions (trauma) that act as an obstacle to cure. And, in other more simple cases, a few doses of a megapotency can accelerate a person’s therapeutic progress by months, maybe even years, by calming and clearing the habitual fear reactions and mind loops.
Many a time, a high potency dose of a homeopathic remedy has shifted things in short order— A client can’t stop crying, and after a dose of Ignatia 10M or 50M they gently settle, their perspective shifts and they calm, right before your eyes. If they are super tense, even vibrating with anxiety, whether acutely or habitually, just a dose of Aconitum 10M or 50M and you can watch with amazement as half an hour later they are relaxed across their chair as if they never were anxious at all.
These potencies are also wonderful for the crazy pet, the wild child, and even end of life support.
I won’t break down the whole book for you here, but I will share some excerpts so you can get a taste for the style and how she used some of the remedies. I do recommend the book. However, as a resource, it’s hard to find what you need in it again. (Which is why I digitized it, as usual, in order to make it searchable by word.)
For example, these very unique notes about Sepia are spread throughout the book, impossible to find again when wanted—
‘Sepia is the primary remedy for griefs and disappointments relating to one’s father.’
‘Case— Woman given Sepia 10MM for three nights. She had darkness under her eyes, often a sign of grief over father[…]. Father had died 11 years ago, then she had lost her brother. Lived alone and said ‘I’d kill if I lived with someone.’ Also hormonal issues. Sepia is the primary remedy for griefs and disappointments relating to one’s father.’ (Quote found in the Conium Chapter.)
‘My first remedy [in the case] was Staph MM. He did very well for three weeks, then began to get into bad moods, especially angry and resentful towards his father, who was also moody and angry, and was trying to spare from his marriage. The boy had a lot of inside anger- black, gloomy. This time I gave him Sepia 10M. Ten weeks, later I heard that he was vastly better and has remained so.’
‘Sepia is a magnificent remedy for black moods, estrogen imbalance and apathy, and invariably, find the major mental issue is a great disappointment over father, a grief relating to father in some way - father is not the kind of father you would have preferred to have, he has died or left home, he mistreats you or your mother - always this great sense of grief over who he is or is not, whether you are male or female, of any age. It is like Ignatia and Nat Mur, but specifically father-related. Sepia is just as deep-acting and powerful as any remedy could be, and rarely needs repetition.’ (Quote found in the Staphisagria Chapter.)
Since reading this book, many women I know have taken Sepia 10M and 50M. Many report loving this remedy.
(In these cases, we generally used it where we would choose Sepia— not necessarily for father issues, though that could be a factor. Either way, these women felt it to be much more effective in the megapotency taken less often, than in the 200C more often.)
This is also also an excellent example of how different a remedy can be when we go from the lower potencies to the megapotencies.
I tried Sepia 200C myself plenty of times over the years and never got much out of it. When I first tried Sepia 10M, I had the most relaxed wonderful sleep, maybe in my entire life. Unfortunately that was one time deal! However, I do repeat this remedy periodically, when tired or overwhelmed, or with a mild stress headache, and it always gives me a lift.
There are some people who never liked or got much out of Ignatia 200C, but find great benefit with Ignatia 10M and higher.
Conium 3C is used often in the Banerji protocols for a variety of physical conditions. Conium 50M and higher is a remedy for issues around finances and poverty. I have seen Conium MM make powerful shifts in people around lifelong fears of not ever having enough, or not being able to make it on their own.
I know a number of women who absolutely love Hydrastis 10M, 50M and CM, and use it whenever they are feeling burdened and overwhelmed. We don’t tend to think of this remedy for emotions, but it suits a very particular type of profile. (The personality type of the ‘Enduring Pattern’, specifically, from The 5 Personality Patterns.)
For trauma, it’s hard to beat this triad: Aconitum 10M or 50M, and Staphysagria 10M or 50M or higher, and Ignatia 10M or 50M or higher.
Just a few days ago I got a very long email from a client who was freaking out about a recent relationship event. I reminded her of this triad and suggested Aconitum 50M, Staphysagria 50M and Ignatia 50M all be taken right away. She wrote back within hours to say thank you and to report how much better she felt after just one dose. In the past she would have spent weeks trying to unwind and find her footing again.
Also, although the Banerji Protocol for low libido in women is Sepia 200C, I have found that Staphysagria 10M and higher, repeated over time, has had the most positive effect when the Sepia protocol failed. (Interestingly, not the higher Sepia, though that might be useful, but Staph!)
Do let me add here, that if you are constantly needing higher and higher potencies, with the sense being that you need a sledgehammer to break through some unseen obstacle, then do remember about Obstacles to Cure, which are real, and please take a step back to assess.
Note: I strongly recommend not starting new remedies at night, particularly the megapotencies. Although it may be fine, it could mess up your sleep, and I prefer to be conscious when starting a new remedy in order to make observations. Once established, you can take it any time you want, and of course some remedies we will prefer in the evening or before to bed, to help us relax and sleep.
Hypericum in higher potencies isn’t just for physical pain. I found that my tension around time and feeling sped up just melted away with Hypericum 10M, 50M and MM. It’s a very specific type of anxiety— like the white rabbit who is always late for a very important date. So, if Aconitum isn’t the right fit, or doesn’t help, it could be Staphysagria that’s needed, which also has a unique flavor of anxiety, or possibly Hypericum.
Nat Mur in a 10M can be wonderful for chronic fatigue. I took it once a day for ten days during a phase when I was extremely exhausted and depleted, and it completely pulled me out of that hole. Others have reported the same. (The number of days depends on how you feel!)
One woman took Ruta 10M and Ledum 10M daily for many, many months, in addition to the Banerji Protocols for hemorrhoids. These 10Ms were instrumental in helping her heal. Every time she tried to stop them, they were missed. (Always a good sign to resume.)
I have since discovered that some people can take 50M remedies twice a day for months and months (and months). The key is that they still need them and still get benefit from them.
As I have shared about provings, it’s when the person is feeling quite well and recovered, or the homeopathic medicine isn’t doing much for them anyway, but they continue to take the remedy, that you should be on the lookout for a new symptom to indicate it’s time to stop.
Megapotency Case- Attack of Hysteria
…and other excerpts from pages 240-242 of Getting Back on Track by Jill Turland
‘By June ’99, an horrific grief event in a friend’s family, three days prior, had triggered off this attack of hysteria, which had rapidly worsened and had been very severe for thirty hours. She had not slept for three nights.
My friend was totally absorbed by thoughts of all the griefs she had suffered over years, and could not focus on what was happening outside of herself, and all day, she cried, screamed, muttered rapidly about old events, reliving her three daughters’ births, her father’s death, and the fear she felt for her mother’s health since Mother had developed the heart problem. I put her on my bed and wrapped her up in the blankets. ‘I just want my mum,’ she kept saying through the tears, then would disappear from us again in a confusion of memories.’
Her husband was not prepared to take her to hospital as he had had to do this once, years ago, and was not happy with the slowness of her recovery then or the drugs she had been given. He knew that the right homeopathic treatment would not only get to the bottom of the problem quickly, but would strengthen her against repeat episodes.
I gave her Ignatia M, Ignatia CM and Ignatia M again, one hour apart, keeping her with me all the day. Her husband and girls came to get her in the evening, by which time she was calmer and becoming more mentally coherent. Once home, she ate a meal and went to sleep, slept nine hours and woke feeling much better. She was still thinking and talking about old events, but now was much happier and quite lucid. Some months later, doses of [Ignatia] 10MM sealed the improvement.’
[…]
‘Take Ignatia,
• [Ignatia] whenever life deals you a sudden change of plans or lifestyle, whether by death of a partner or family member, through a failed relationship, an accident or illness, loss of a job, being made redundant, or when, through failure of business, plans for your future are curtailed, leaving you disappointed and at the whim of fate.
If these things make you feel worthless or abandoned, take Hypericum;
or if you simply feel hotly indignant at the injustice of it all, take Staphisagria;
if you feel it was all your fault and you could have done things differently for a better outcome, take Hydrastis;
• [Ignatia] when ideals fail to materialize, for any of the above reasons or from repeated disappointments, even from such idealistic dashed hopes as failed lottery tickets: whenever you feel inclined to say ‘I never get the breaks, when will it be my turn?’
Take Conium as well, if you feel the financial deprivation badly;
• [Ignatia] when you feel regret over a missed opportunity, lack of foresight causing you to miss the wave that would have carried you on to fortune;
• [Ignatia] when you feel grief over the state of the planet, the suffering in starving nations and war-torn areas; Ignatia helps you get the strength to take some action towards changing the state of affairs. It is this that will raise the planet out of poverty and filth.
If you also have a helpless fear of authorities who will not listen, take Staphisagria as well;
If you suffer guilt of inaction over things that could have ben done to help, through fear of retribution, take Aconite;
and if you find it hard to forgive the situations you encounter, take Ledum too. Ledum’s ability to bring forgiveness is going to prove the greatest factor in speeding up world healing.
I often use Ledum immediately after Ignatia for this forgiveness benefit;
• [Ignatia] when you feel grief/ guilt that you cannot afford the high cost of living in the expensive capital cities, yet do not know how to solve the dilemma - Ignatia helps you to see a solution and move into a new future with excitement and joy;
• [Ignatia] when you cannot get your mind of the past: nostalgia, remembering how good things were at one time or another; dreaming of schooldays, school friends, childhood experiences, earlier married days and such; and look into Nat Mur as well, a long-respected remedy for suppressed griefs, and often the mineral follow-up to Ignatia;
if this retrospection makes you feel grumpy or resentful over how things are at present, take Ledum as well;
• [Ignatia] when you feel grief over loss of youth and vitality, particularly when it seems impossible that they could be regained because of injury, chronic illness or aging.’
(Bold notes are mine.)
These homeopathic remedies also have the ability to help people get off of certain pharmaceuticals, such as antidepressants, by replacing and healing what they were being used for. Instead of masking and numbing symptoms, they help uproot the condition.
Many times I have also received inner clarity or insights while taking them. I won’t say they completely replace inner work, but they are extremely supportive.
I, personally, have found Aconitum to be very helpful. I had used the 10M some already, and then one day I was reading a book with a bunch of stories about rape (in a context of reporting facts) and I felt very triggered. I know how to shift my state, but this time, instead, I took a dose of Aconitum 50M. And, BOOM, within a few hours all the ‘pain body’ triggering was gone without a trace.
As for Staphysagria, it’s a remedy that probably everyone could use at some point. However, it is true that it can unmask suppressions, which can look messy. Some people really don’t like to feel anger, and don’t know what to do with their emotions, and can find it very challenging if not supported. One homeopathy client outright told me she wasn’t willing (ever) to feel any negative emotions come up!
The old guideline is also to never give Staphysagria to someone who is still in an abusive situation, as they may rise up to fight back and come to harm.
Some case examples from my notes:
Early on with the higher potencies, I had a client who was going in for a knee replacement. She owned Arnica 200C and Hypericum 200C. I strongly suggested she order the 1M, and even 10M potencies, as well. But being old school, and conservative, she didn’t. By day two post-surgery, the 200C potencies were not helping at all, even taken quite often. Fortunately, she was able to get the 1Ms delivered by the next day. I got a text expressing joy and amazement that, after just a couple of doses of the Arnica 1M, the pain was under control.
Later on, I had a very similar situation with a woman who had a knee replacement. In her case the 1M potencies made no difference. The 10M remedies started to help. And once she got the 50M Arnica and Hypericum, then the pain was handled.
As mentioned, I also work as a psychotherapist with clients, and often find homeopathy to be very supportive.
I had one client who told up me front, at the start of therapy, that she was not interested in homeopathy. I didn’t inquire further and respected her boundary.
However, as time went by, and knowing the power of our remedies to help get past deep grief, panic attacks, and to help soften or alleviate many mental-emotional states, I had to find out why she wasn’t open to homeopathy.
She told me that she had worked with a therapist/homeopath for five years and not a single remedy that he ever prescribed (classical method) ever did anything at all for her. Her exact words were, ‘No homeopathy has ever helped’.
In addition, according to the old-school homeopathy model, she also couldn’t have coffee and other things she enjoyed.
So I asked if I mailed her a homeopathy combination to take in wet dose if she would do it (and she could keep her coffee and toothpaste). She agreed. After some time, and no word, I checked in. She said she’d been taking it twice a day as instructed, but with no results.
What I had sent her was:
Aconitum 200 + Arsenicum 200 + Coffea 200 + Aurum Met 200 + Chamomilla 200 + Ignatia 200
It’s unusual to have NO response. Maybe not excellent results, but rarely nothing with well-matched remedies. However, her situation was intense, she had just been through severe trauma, and she had the history of not responding to homeopathy.
It came to pass that I had the opportunity to meet her in person. The tension she was carrying was palpable. She was still having trouble sleeping, waking up in panics, and feeling like she would never be able to get past this incredible emotional pain and fear from the shock and trauma she had experienced.
So, while she was with me, I offered a dose of Aconitum 10M.
Within 10 minutes I could watch her unwinding. She looked at me, and couldn’t believe it. She said it was the most relaxed she’d felt in a year.
Of course, I sent her off with the wet dose bottle, for her to take as needed.
Over time, we experimented with some other megapotencies, and she also found Nux Vomica 10M to be extremely helpful for the intense anger that would hijack her at times.
We found two very helpful homeopathy megapotencies, and they greatly accelerated her healing.
When my husband gets into intensive workaholic mode, Nux Vomica 1M twice a day for a few days helps tone it down measurably.
Another friend prefers to use the Nux Vomica 50M when she starts to feel over the top!
I took Nux Vomica 30C or 200C twice a day for a very long time. But when I tried the 1M, just a few doses had me constipated. (Which resolved when I stopped taking it.)
So it does vary a lot from person to person.
There is no one size fits all with these.
Many times during acute allergic reactions, homeopathic remedies such as Apis 1M, 10M, or 50M can be employed repeatedly. Others such as Vespa Crabro (hornet) 1M or 10M, Arsenicum 1M or 10M, Histaminum 1M or 10M, as well as Urtica Urens 1M or 10M, could all be considered if lower potencies aren’t helping enough.
How about megapotencies for animals?
We adopted a cat who was 8 or 9 years old when she came to us. She was extremely overweight at the time, and a generally pissed-off fireball, who loved me and otherwise was very uptight and defensive.
If my husband walked up behind her she’d pivot around and attack his ankles. If there was a loud noise she’d bolt. She’d attack our other cat ferociously for no reason. If guests came to visit she’d hide in the bedroom the whole time, only coming out to eat and use the litter box after everyone had gone to bed. Her greeting for new people was a hiss.
I tried a great many remedies. (I’m sure you are thinking of Aconite, Stramonium, Hyoscyamus and others like that. As did I.) Eventually found that Ignatia 200C was the most helpful.
Then I started to get into the higher potencies.
We had a guest coming to stay for a few days, so shortly before they arrived I gave her Ignatia 10M. And within a few hours she was lying on the floor, right by her food, while we all talked in the area. It was amazing.
I continued to use the Ignatia 10M as needed. And, as always with homeopathy, every dose helped to uproot the condition, and she gradually got softer and gentler. Still with a fiery aspect, but not outright mean anymore.
But then our other cat died. Suddenly, and without meaning to, I made a bunch of changes at the same time (to her food and litter), and she started to get very unhappy. Not so much feisty, but now more depressed. And then she started to leak pee on the bed. Which at first I thought was a bladder issue, but I gradually came to realize was her way of communicating her unhappiness— as I wasn’t listening well enough to her.
Ignatia 10M helped some. Aurum Metallicum 50M helped some, but gave her (temporary) diarrhea. Giving her back her favorite foods and getting rid of the litter she didn’t like helped a lot.
Then, more recently, as I have been experimenting with the Narayani Remedies, I decided to give her a dose of the Narayani Tension Mix 10MM. It’s a combination of a bunch of remedies in a very high potency.
(I know you want to know what’s in it— Tension Mix is a combination of combinations and includes everything in these Narayani mixes: Hysteria Balance, Fear Balance, Bad Temper Mix, Stress Balance, Depression Balance, Heart Balance, Calming Mix, Rescue Plus, and Walnut. If you look up each mix, this comes to a LOT of remedies.)
After taking her first dose, well, all I can say is that I have never seen her so chill and happy.
I have now given it to her a handful of times, spread out and dosed when it starts to look like it is waning, which currently is around 10-14 days. Though it wanes less each time, as a new baseline is established.
She now expects my husband to greet her when he comes home, and she sniffs his hand and sniffs his face with ‘kisses’. She rarely jumps at sounds. It turns out she loves to be brushed. And, although I haven’t put away the pee pads just yet, there haven’t been any leaks in quite some time.
One of my first forays into using the 50M remedies for extended periods was when my husband crashed on his mountain bike and got severe whiplash. (He actually told me he was injured this time, which for anyone else would have meant they would be almost dead and on the way to the ER. LOL.) He couldn’t move his head or spine at all, and although basically incapacitated, he kept working.
Here’s what I gave him:
-Aconitum 50M six times over two days.
-Arnica 50M three times a day for two days. (Not longer term because he has proved it a couple of times, so I generally use other options with him. However, many people could use the Arnica more continuously.)
-Nat Sulph 10M twice a day for three days. (Commonly given for head injuries.)
-Ledum 10M, Ruta 10M, Bryonia 10M, Hypericum 50M, Rhus Tox 1M, Symphytum 10M, Staphisagria 10M taken often for the first two days, in rotation, with no counting of doses, just as needed.
-Then continuing Ledum 10M + Ruta 10M twice a day, plus Bryonia + Rhus Tox + Hypericum 1M twice a day, continued for 16 days.
At this point the pain was low, and healing the deep spinal stiffness/whiplash was the issue.
-Then Ruta 50M x 1 dose and Ledum 50M x1 dose and continuing BRH 1M twice a day for a bit longer. (BRAH minus the Arnica.)
-He also got SPACH and calendula ointment on his road rash wounds.
After a few weeks, he was doing well, so we took a break from remedies to assess.
About 10 days later, he reported that the deep whiplash in his upper back still wasn’t totally resolved, so—
-Ledum 50M, Ruta 50M, Symphytum 10M once a day for 5 more days.
Stopped. He reported feeling 95-98% better in his upper spine, and he had started to feel restless at night in bed (probably the remedies, as he was so much better).
After that, he was fully functional, and in time the rest of the healing took place.
My husband sure has been a great guinea pig, Appreciation to him for all that I can share with you all!
How to start using the megapotencies:
A simple way to begin is to select a remedy in a 10M and take one dose a day for three days. (If it feels bad, stop sooner.) Then take a day or two off and compare how you feel with and without. Then use as needed.
That is what I did to start, testing out all of the primary remedies from the Getting Back on Track book on myself, with no particular health issues going on at the time— apart from some old anxiety that could still arise occasionally.
Some of the remedies I loved (Aconitum, Hypericum, Staphysagria, Ignatia, Ledum), some I didn’t notice very much (Conium, Ruta, Hydrastis, Symphytum)— and on day three of the Arnica 10M I got a bloody nose!
Other people like to use the ‘split dose’ method (which means three doses taken am, pm, and am over the course of two days).
These are both good conservative approaches for getting introduced the these higher homeopathic potencies, to see what they are like. As with everything, confidence comes with experience.
One reason I am not worried about sharing all of this with you, is that I have found most people to be extremely cautious with homeopathy in general, and especially with the megapotencies. Some have resisted trying them for ages, and once they took their first 10M they were amazed at how gentle the action was. Yes, it’s still homeopathy!
So, I expect you all to go at your own pace and tread lightly to start. As you build confidence, you will feel what to do. Just do what you need to feel comfortable. (And get help if you need it. It can sometimes be hard to see ourselves clearly!)
The action also can feel different. Sometimes with the megapotencies the effect comes on more slowly and lasts longer. So watch over the first few hours especially. But it depends a lot on the remedy and condition. If it’s acute and extreme pain, the remedy may get ‘eaten up’ very quickly and need to be repeated.
If someone is in dire straights, it can be very helpful to go straight to a higher potency and not mess around. I know a woman with excruciating menstrual cramps and she would just have her 50M mix available to take, literally as often as needed.
What about provings?
‘I have proven over the years, with the enthusiastic co-operation of numerous friends and patients, that the right [homeopathic] remedy works dramatically well, while the wrong choice rarely has any effect at all. It simply does not hit the spot and nothing happens, or if it does, it is a very temporary discomfort. If I had a dollar for every time I had taken a remedy that was not the right remedy for the problem, I’d be a millionaire by now, yet my own health has improved, little by little, over the years and I am now healthier that I have been since I was twenty.’
Jill Turland, Getting Back on Track
I agree with Jill and have had the same experience myself. Especially when taking just a few doses, the risk of proving is nominal. And if there is any aggravation, we just stop the remedy, and treat what is appearing, or wait and it will pass.
As long as we stick to what is presenting now, and don’t get cute with trying to root out the oldest and deepest stuff first, then I just don’t see people run into many problems.
However, there are some remedies that are more intensive than others—
Having worked with some of these high potencies extensively now, the top ones to watch, in terms of repeating too often in the megapotencies are Aconitum and Sepia.
I have seen a handful of aggravations with these two. The Aconitum can be taken regularly, IF NEEDED, but do stop when clearly feeling better.
I went too far with it once, and woke up one morning nearly in tears, urgently reminding my husband where to find the important documents in case something happened to me. LOL. As I was speaking the words, it clicked that it was the Aconitum. That is the picture of Aconitum— death is nigh!
The Sepia I usually employ dose by dose, not repeated day after day. Maybe a few days, but then break. For most people, if the Sepia is not a good fit, they will feel it after one dose— it could be a headache, or emotional, something like that.
On that note, don’t ‘push through’ either. If something feels off, just stop and observe.
One client, despite clear instructions, kept taking the Arnica 10M even though he felt achey and terrible. He was imagining that it was detoxing him, or something. (It’s hard to understand how homeopathy works unless you study it, and it can get conflated with other ‘natural healing’ approaches.) Within a day of stopping it, he was fine.
[It can be helpful to remember that homeopathy is creating a ‘faux’, or fake, disorder to offset the actual one. The principle is that two instances of a similar condition cannot exist in one person at the same time.]
Some people are sensitive to Rhus Tox, and will know it in short order. Others can take it (seemingly) forever with no issues.
I have yet to see any clear provings of Ledum, Ruta and many others, even taken in a 50M twice a day for many, many months.
But I will add that more is not better. There’s a tendency, when it feels wonderful, to want to take more and more. That’s not how homeopathy works.
When you feel great, that means there is no call for a remedy— and there is no ‘getting ahead’ of it either. Take the remedy, enjoy it, then wait for symptoms to start to peek out at you again— and then you can take the remedy again.
And over time, you should find that you need it less and less often.
An interesting side note— I have found that taking megapotencies at the start of my period can delay it from starting. However, ibuprofen used to do the same thing. And I have never seen this occur with any other woman.
One more approach might be to take a megapotency remedy for a condition once a week, or once a month. Such as the Banerjis would do in their protocols with the 1M potencies.
These megapotencies are not going to be necessary for everyone.
They are also not necessarily something to avoid with sensitive people. In some cases, I have found that ‘sensitive people’ do exceptionally well with megapotencies.
A friend of mine told me that she read in a Robin Murphy book (not sure which one), that he believed each person had a potency level that was optimum for them. He would start clients low and work up through the potencies to discover this level.
I also have found, through trial and error, that often this is true— there are people who will respond well to a Rhus Tox 30C while others need a 10M.
We also don’t have to choose one method.
I find that the megapotencies in homeopathy are complementary to the Banerji Protocols. If there is a protocol, it serves as an excellent baseline for the condition, and the higher potencies can be added on for support as needed.
And we don’t necessarily have to choose between high and low potencies of the same remedy. As mentioned above, it’s like they are operating on such different levels, that in some cases both may be used.
One woman I know, someone with a good amount of base level anxiety, took Aconitum twice a day for at least a year as part of the Banerji Protocol for high blood pressure. (Aconitum 200C + Rhus Tox 30C twice a day)
But when she started working with the Aconitum 10M and higher, it definitely addressed the fear in a way that the 200C had never even touched, not in a year.
In fact there is an approach to homeopathy called the ‘homochord’ (it also goes by other names), where they give many potencies of a remedy at one time. For example 15X 20X 30X 60X 90X 120X 150X 200X 500X 1000X all together. The idea is to let the system use what it needs. (There are many approaches to this, that may also use higher potencies as well.)
There is never only one way with homeopathy. As I often say, however you want to work with homeopathy, it will work with you.
The topic of megapotencies and homeopathy is not at all like the Banerji Protocols. There’s no cut-and-paste method to follow. So, please feel free to ask questions in our monthly meet ups!
If you missed the article on Combining Remedies, you may find it is a good companion to this article.
Also, the Narayani Remedies can offer a good introduction to working with the megapotencies as well.
Please remember— This information is for your educational enlightenment. I do not diagnose or prescribe and I do not know your particular situation. These pages are for you to use (or not) as you see fit in your life and for your loved ones.
As always, thank you for reading and subscribing.
Until next time!
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This is a very useful post. Dorothy Shepherd had good things to say about the higher potencies, so I've often wondered why more homeopaths don't use them. I am wondering about treating my husband's acid reflux. He's had it all his life and was, for many years, on antacids of various kinds with doctor reassurance that there were no negative effects.... Now, of course, they've changed their tune. He is off all of them now, and his heartburn has been greatly ameliorated by the fact that I use almost 100% animal fats instead of any kind of seed oils in my cooking. Lately, though, he's had some issues (and he often has a problem if we eat out at most restaurants, with the result that I make nearly everything we eat at home!). Nat phos has helped him in the past, the cell salt, and I've tried Iris versicolor with him as well, which is what the Banerjis recommend. There are some problems with their protocol, though, as I believe they recommend dosing 30 min. before meals, which is just about impossible for him to do consistently--he's a professor and would have difficulty taking a dose 30 min. before his lunch, to say nothing of the fact that his students have a habit of invading his office to talk, and he doesn't know when he'll be able to grab a bite, oftentimes. So.... I'm wondering about Nat phos in a very high potency. What do you think? Especially given that he's had results in the past from the cell salt or 30c potency. It just doesn't always work. Any other suggestions are welcome, too.
Dr. Mercola posits that the seed oils relax the esophagus too much and cause acid reflux. I was thinking if there was a remedy that would address this excessive relaxation, that might help. But I wasn't really able to find anything in either of my repertories that seemed to match this rubric.
I am also wondering if Manfred Mueller would recommend clearing all the antacids he's been on through his life, including one fairly powerful one he was taking as a child (can't think of its name at the moment, but I did inquire if Helios has it potentized, and they do). He's also had two or three others. Comments? (I probably just need to spring for Mueller's *Extra Strength Homeopathy* book! lol His book on oncological remedies was a Christmas present from my husband!)
Good morning! Another great article—thank you, Emily!
I just started reading Getting Back on Track, but I’m not quite at a point where I understand the “how-to” yet. I was really intrigued by your mention of using Staphysagria 10M for low libido when Sepia doesn’t seem to be acting. That feels very relevant for me, as I haven’t noticed any shifts with Sepia and was really hoping it would help with my low libido.
Before I get further into the book and have a better grasp on dosing for myself, would you be willing to share any general guidance on how often Staphysagria 10M might be taken for low libido specifically?