Homeopathy 

Mode of taking Homeopathy medicines

Under the diagnosis and advice of a qualified Homeopath, Homeopathy medicines will usually give comfort, calmness and hope to suffering mankind even in difficult cases, for some of which the modern medical world says nothing can be done. Homeopathic medicines can provide cure gently, promptly and permanently if they are taken properly. The medicine, its potency (power), its frequency (repetition), may vary according to the patient and the condition. Even with long time medications, Homeopathy medicines are completely safe and free from all sorts of side-effects and addiction. It can be safely used in infants, children, adolescents, adults, elderly people and even in pregnant women.

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Medicine administration is not child’s play. It should be dealt with carefully by experts. One should be aware that success in treatment does not entirely depend on God or doctor or with patient cooperation/management. Everything should go hand in hand for fast cure. Finally, it depends on the patient who takes the medicines. A patient needs to take care in all aspects, in correct administration of medicines and safe handling of it to avoid contamination. 

Care equals cure – Care should always be taken in all aspects while taking Homeopathic medicine i.e., in preserving and serving the medicines, by way of administration, by way of following restrictions, etc. If one takes care of medicine handling and promptness in intake of medicines, Homeopathy will never let one down. Simply ignoring the proper way of intake is like losing track in spite of having a torch (right medicines from right doctor). Also, the “best of all the medicines” is rest, sleep, water and diet, without which in no way treatment will be successful.

Homeopathic medicines – come in different forms i.e., in pill form, tablet form, trituration powder form, dilution or liquid form, oil form, ointment form, etc. Since all Homeopathic medicines come with a base of alcohol or sugar of milk or vaseline / gel / oil, mostly the medicines taste the same: they cannot be identified or redefined once the label is removed. So, care must be taken to avoid confusion by losing the label.

The healing secrets of Homeopathic medicines are 

• Take right medicines in right dosage, from the right doctor. 

• Don’t self medicate. 

• Avoid drug cocktails, like adding a pill for each complaint or symptom. 

• Timely meals, good amount of water intake, regular exercise, good aeration, good sleep, etc., will usually support one’s healing process. 

• Ruling out causative factor and following proper diet with restriction (if any) will also lead one to be cured at the earliest. 

Safety measures in handling Homeopathic medicines – Usually, costly things will be cared and stored well. Health is more than wealth, so health promoting Homeopathic medicines should be cared for more. One must know what should be done and what should not to be done.

• Homeopathy medicines usually come in minimum dose, so any strong agent will suppress the power of Homeopathic medicines. To realise or attain full effects of Homeopathic medicines, it is better to keep them safe in a cool, dark and dry place, i.e., it is better not to keep Homeopathic medicines under direct sunlight, heat, in the midst of aromatic or strong odour substances. 

• It should be cared well for avoiding contamination

• It should be kept out of reach of children since due to its sweet nature, children often take the entire pills at one go which may lead to complications. 

• The medicines mostly come with alcohol base, so it will evaporate if left open for a long time. So care should be taken to keep it well closed i.e. air tight. 

• While taking globules, it is better to avoid handling or counting by hand to avoid contamination. The container cap itself can be used for dispensing the medicine without touching the globules. 

Expiry of Homeopathic medicines – Usually, homeopathic medicines do not come with expiry markings, since they are mostly prepared with the base of alcohol, which is a very good preservative (like old wine). 

So if there is no contamination, it can be used for several years. 

Determination of the way of Homeopathic medicine intake - 

• Medicines should be taken with a clean tongue - Unlike other systems of medicines, Homeopathy medicines don’t act through blood after digestion of the drug but they act through nerve endings in the tongue to reach the brain and work from a higher level. So it is better to avoid taking anything (foods or drinks) 10 minutes before and after taking the medicine i.e. medicine should be taken on a clean tongue. Clean tongue means one need not wash the tongue, but simply that it should be devoid of any taste. For example - if you take coffee or tea, the taste of it will remain for 15-20 minutes. So in that period one should avoid taking medicines. 

• Medicines should be allowed to dissolve in/under the tongue on their own and are not to be swallowed. Don’t alter (increase or decrease) dosage - follow the doctor's advice. 

• Medicines can be taken before or after food, even on an empty stomach (since it will not cause any ulceration, also it will dissolve in the tongue itself and won’t reach the stomach to cause any effect). But at the time of administration of the drug, the tongue should be tasteless and free from all hindrances.

• Don’t touch the medicines with hand for counting the tiny globules or for taking it, since it may get contaminated. Discard contaminated medicines. 

• There is no specific restriction in food while on Homeopathic medicines. But some medicines may need specific food restriction since that type of food may have inimical action against specific medicines. But any way, it is unnecessary to follow strict diet restriction unless otherwise the situation requires or the doctor calls for it. 

Restrictions – Some would say that onion, garlic, tamarind, tomato, asafoetida, pepper, coffee, tea, etc., should be strictly avoided while taking Homeopathic medicines. Actually, it is not so always. Likewise, some Homeopaths restrict perfumes and sometimes some doctors would suggest not using even paste. But the real need for restrictions usually differs from person to person depending upon their suffering and the selection of drug. So the doctor would mention the required restrictions, if any. But anyway, alcohol, smoking, tobacco chewing and mouth fresheners should be strictly avoided since these hinder the action or acceptance of drugs.

Restriction cannot be followed in all cases, i.e. because of unavoidable situation as nature of work, surroundings, etc. For example, if one suffers from pollen allergy, is the advice for shifting of place to avoid pollens advisable? Is it feasible all the time for everyone? In such a situation, if one can avoid it, it is totally unnecessary to take medication since there won’t be any complaints thereafter.

If the patient is going to live in the same situation in future also, any type of restriction (unless it is irrevocable like in diabetes, one needs to restrict / avoid sugar, likewise in hypertension, one needs to restrict / avoid salt compulsorily) will give him only temporary relief (for example – for skin allergy many doctors recommend restricting the eating of brinjal, fish, tomato, etc.). This doesn’t mean that one can dabble in allergens / irritable agents / causative factors during treatment, but one need not go for total deprivation.

Also, following strict restriction is not that easy i.e. none could follow restriction in every aspect. Also restrictions could not be maintained all the time and in all places. Also, in these types of cases, people, after feeling better, cannot judge whether the improvement was due to the medicines or the restrictions. Here medicines cannot wholly be claimed to be the curing agent.

If the sufferer happens to take these restricted things later, they may immediately feel the complaint again, i.e., a simple variation may often bring on a flare-up. But if he is cured without any restrictions, amidst all the pollutants, by raising immunity, he will be cured once and for all. One can live with his desires and aversions because everyone is living in a polluted world where water, food (fertilisers) and air is polluted. So one cannot get away from it / should follow restriction for it. Homeopathy can comfort / ease modern (polluted?) living.

Expecting good health instantly, some patients will switch over to Homeopathy from other schools of medicine throwing off their long-term medicines. It is not safe to withdraw like this, since they would have developed dependency due to long time usage. For example conditions like BP, sugar, thyroid, epilepsy, steroids, etc. If one does like this, the worsening of complaints due to skipping of medicines will be unnecessarily blamed on Homeopathy. In this case, one has to go for tapering of medicines on getting better after taking Homeopathy medicines along with the previous one with doctor’s advice.

Homeopathic medicines can be safely taken along with allopathic medicines or other systems of medicine, but it is better to avoid them at least half-an-hour before and after taking Homeopathy medicines. Likewise, are the vitamins, minerals and health drinks that one has been taking for quite some time. 

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Published on May 29^th, 2006