Potency and Dosage for Homeopathic Remedies

Potency and Dosage in Homeopathy

Written By Stephanie Joachim

This guide is intended to help those who would like to home prescribe homeopathic remedies with information on potency and dosage.

Home prescribing can be very rewarding and empowering but as always, common sense is needed.

Always seek help from a professional homeopath or your GP or A&E if you have any questions or concerns.

Always be aware of situations where it is vital to seek immediate medical assistance e.g. a serious burn, head injury, accident etc.

Potency is the strength of a remedy or the degree of dilution and succussion (shaking) of a remedy.

The potency of a remedy is indicated by the number and letter after the name of the remedy.

e.g. Belladonna 30c: remedy Belladonna, potency 30c – the “C” stands for centesimal – It means that the remedy has been diluted to the strength of 100 by 30 times.

30C is considered a low to medium potency. If an acute situation is very intense, the potency 200C may be required.

The common home prescriber’s kits (e.g. Helios basic kit) contain mostly 30c potencies.

How much to give? How often?

1 pill is 1 dose. You will see that some remedies you can purchase advise to take 3-5 pills, but really 1 pill is sufficient to count as 1 dose. The same applies to homeopathic remedies in tablet form.

Give one dose and observe. If symptoms continue, repeat the remedy, as early as 15 minutes after the first one. It's quite individual. If the person is in a highly intense state of discomfort, one can repeat as early as 5 minutes, if it's not this urgent, one may wait an hour. 

Repeat as needed, but if no changes are seen after 3-4 doses, reconsider the remedy. Sometimes we have to go back to the drawing board and review what has changed and if another remedy is better suited. 

How do I know if it works?

Only give one remedy at a time – it’s like the golden rule in homeopathy. It helps for you to see when a remedy works (or does not work). Use a small copy book to write down what you gave to whom and for what and what was the outcome.

When a person's mental state improves (e.g. in case of shock), when levels and intensity of pain reduces, when there's visible changes (e.g. swelling reduces), then a remedy is working. 

(e.g. I gave Paul Aconite 30c for his headache on Monday 30^th November – it improved the pains)

This will help to see when a remedy is needed – as you will already know what helped that person the last time. It will also show what may not have worked.

Disclaimer: Nothing contained in this lecture should be taken as individual medical advice or as a substitute for consulting your doctor or homeopath.