We all know that feeling. Oh no: you are suddenly aware that your throat is sore! You know you have to do something to look after yourself, or you could be in for anything from a minor sniffle to a horrid flu.
Homeopathic remedies can often come to the rescue at that time, providing excellent and inexpensive treatment. If you can address an illness in the first few hours, just as you are coming down with something, one of the homeopathic remedies below will often nip it in the bud. We like to keep these “first stage” remedies available at home, to take as soon as they are needed.
We turn to these for a sore throat, because that is usually the way colds and flus start, but they can be used for other ailments if the picture fits. These remedies don’t cover all respiratory ailments, but they do work for most people much of the time. You just have to get the right one! Here are some guidelines on how to do that.
ACONITE
Symptoms come on suddenly
Often after exposure to cold, dry, windy weather
Possibly after a shock
Person is anxious, fearful or restless
Pulse may feel hard or full
BELLADONNA
Symptoms come on suddenly
Person is red, hot and dry
Throbbing or pulsating sensations
Person may be “spacey”: pupils may be dilated
High fever possible
Great thirst, not better for drinking
Pulse is likely fast
Person likes the feel of cool packs
High-pitched cry in an infant
NUX VOMICA
Symptoms come on suddenly
Often after excesses: coffee, alcohol, work or other stressors
Person may be irritable and hypersensitive, especially to noise
Hates draughts - maybe even just from turning over in bed!
Wants warmth and covers
Hungover feeling
Fast pulse and high temperature possible
FERRUM PHOSPHORICUM
Symptoms come on gradually
Person looks pale and anemic, possibly with flushed cheeks
Symptoms that come and go, leaving you thinking "I'm not sure, but I might be getting sick"
You don’t have to be experiencing all of the symptoms in the list: just pick the best match. Generally, if you can find the remedy that works for you, it will work most of the times that you feel an illness coming on. Many health food stores carry these in a 30 CH potency, which is a good strength to use for acute illnesses such as colds and flus.
If none of the four remedies above looks right, our fallback remedy is:
OSCILLOCOCCINUM
For flu-like symptoms, including:
Fever
Chills
Body aches
Headaches
Sweats
Or a sore throat you want to stop in its tracks so it doesn’t get the chance to turn into those symptoms!
If you do get a flu, you can take oscillococcinum once a day until you are better, to get better faster. One of Dr. Penny’s patients calls it “oscillo-blah-blah.”
Homeopathic remedies should be taken “on a clean mouth”, when you don’t have the flavour of any food, drink or even toothpaste in your mouth. 2 pellets are sufficient, or a capful of the tiny pellets of oscillococcinum. If a remedy looks like a fit and you try it, you should feel a benefit within 30 minutes, maybe sooner. If it helps, the symptoms will reduce or disappear. If you aren’t sure whether it helped, you can try it again after 30 minutes. If you are still not sure it helped after the second dose, it’s not the right remedy: please put it aside.
If it was helpful, repeat only if the symptoms return: you may need to repeat it a few times, but sometimes 1 dose is enough!
Taking one or two doses of a remedy that isn’t the right one for you won’t cause problems. However, if you continue to take a remedy that isn’t right for you, that can trigger symptoms. This is why we say to stop if any remedy hasn’t helped after two attempts. At that point you are better off trying a different remedy, or a different kind of treatment.
None of these remedies cause drowsiness, and there is no problem taking them with other kinds of medication: they work very differently and don’t interact. However, all homeopathic remedies are undone by the smell of camphor, eucalyptus, and menthol, so if you are using Vic’s vapo-rub, sucking menthol lozenges, or steaming with eucalyptus, these remedies won’t work for you: try herbal or nutritional support instead.
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