EP1: Top Tips for Home Prescribing

Welcome to the Homeopathy at Home Podcast. I'm Marcus Fernandez and I'm thrilled to have you join me on this journey into the world of homeopathy. This podcast is inspired by my book, Homeopathy at Home, which aims to empower you to take charge of your health using simple, effective homeopathic remedies. Together we're going to explore how homeopathy can be the key to unlocking your body's innate healing wisdom. Whether you're dealing with everyday ailments such as coughs, colds, strains and sprains, sore throats, or just seeking to enhance your health and well being, this podcast is your guide. So let's dive in and discover the transformative power of homeopathy in your everyday life.

In this video, I'm going to go through some of the basics for harm prescribing. We're going to talk about the principles of homeopathy. We're going to talk about things like how to take an acute case and potency and how to prescribe. The main three principles you need to know is like cures, like the law of similars, one remedy at a time, like the single dose and minimum dose, which is the dilution and succussion of the preparation of these remedies. So what is line cures like? Well, this is the principle of the law of similars. And what can cause symptoms in a large amount, in a small amount it can cure it. So for example, you chop an onion up, your eyes water, your nose runs. Well, we use onion or allium cpet as a homeopathic remedy for people who are suffering from similar symptoms of streaming eyes, running nose can burn. So this is the principle, this is the main thing you've got to realize with homeopathy is like yours, like so again, another example of this could be coffee. So people drink a lot of coffee and the whole nervous systems get really wound up and they're very jittery and they're running around doing crazy things. We often will give kefir, which is the homeopathic preparation of coffee for people who can't sleep or feel very excitable in the nervous system. So whatever can cause it in a large amount, in a small amount it can cure it. And that's one of the first major principles of homeopathy. The second principle is one remedy at a time. Now when you're prescribing, home prescribing and getting to really understand and learn the remedies, it's best to give one remedy at a time. You have to remember the remedy does not cure the person like an allopathic drug. And we've got to get out of our allopathic way of thinking. So what the remedy does, it stimulates what we call the vital force to heal itself. Because we contain all the natural healing. Wisdom is within us. It's innate healing is innate within us. And what the remedy does is stimulate the body to heal itself. What we call the vital force. In homeopathy, in Ayurveda or yoga, it's called prana. In Chinese medicine, it's called chi. This is what we are trying to stimulate. It's already within us. And we give a single dose and we wait to see the results and assessments the effects of the remedy. And this is how you learn by you give the remedy. And often, like for example in children, you'll get them a remedy. Say they've got a cough or cold or unwell, you'll give them a remedy. And often they'll fall asleep pretty quickly after taking the remedy. Why? Because you've stimulated the body to start healing. And so often they'll fall asleep and the healing process will start. So it's good to give one a time because then you can see the action, the remedy. So it may. Something may be better for a few hours and it comes back. So you repeat the remedy again and then see the action of the remedy. So it really helps when you're learning homeopathy and learning to help prescribe to give that one remedy at the time. And often in first aid or acute situation, you may to do that quite often. So somebody's having a nosebleed, you may have to give the remedy every five minutes until the bleeding stops or, you know, somebody has a fever, you may need to repeat it every hour or every half an hour according to the situation. Now, I'm not saying that combination remedies are bad or wrong because, for example, you have things like teething granules, which is a combination remedy, or hay fever combination remedy. But what's good is when you're learning it is to give one remedy at a time, because you will learn how to use homeopathy. Okay, so that's the second principle, to learn one remedy at a time. And the third one is the minimum dose. So Hahnemann devides a dilution, he's the founder of homeopathy, to stop the side effects. And he did this by, by diluting and succussing the remedy. So it's not just about dilution with homeopathy, it's about dilution and succussion they succuss the remedy. And there's lots of videos on YouTube where you'll see how the preparation of remedies are done. But this is what's called a potentized remedy. And by circussian or shaking thy dilution, it releases the energy of the substance. And this is the theory behind it. Now when you for example, you'll see different 6C, 30C, 200C, 1M, all these different things. Well, 1C is equivalent of one drop to 99 parts of alcohol. This is how they make the preparation. So they take one drop of the substance and put it with 99 parts of alcohol and then they succeed. They then take another drop from that solution into another 99 parts of alcohol and circus it and this is how it goes up 2C, 3C, 4C, 5C. That's how the remedies are actually made. So let's look at acute case taking. How do we get this information in an acute case? So one thing you've got to first of all find out is this an acute or is this a chronic? So the definition of an acute is a self limiting disease. It's very can be fast onset, follows a typical pattern and comes to a clear end. Okay, It's a bit like the bell curve. So somebody for example, gets hot, has a fever, it peaks, the fever breaks, they sweat and then they recover. And within acute it comes to a clear end. As we said, it's either complete recovery of people that can die of an acute disease. People don't often die of chronic diseases. They're dying of an acute disease. So even if they've got chronic health issues, they'll often will die of an acute situation. And a definition of a chronic disease is that symptoms that don't really clear up and they go on, they may change in nature and last a long time, but it's an ongoing condition of ill health. Okay, so what we're dealing with today is dealing with acute situations and we're looking at symptoms. So this is the body's way of expressing that there's something going on that needs attention. And this great quote here by Dr. Farrington, who's a very famous homeopathic physician, says to the homeopathic prescriber, disease is disharmony resulting from the arrangements of the dilemmas or the vital energy which maintains normal physiological function. Disease is a condition, not an entity, and its manifestations are those of abnormal physiology called symptoms. The production of symptoms is always in accordance with natural physical laws and every sign and symptom is expressive of some Internal deviation from normal physiology that are nature's warning of trouble within. So that is a very comprehensive explanation from how we look at it as a homeopathic prescriber, which can be different than allopathic. So I always use the analogy of the car dashboard. If the oil light flashes, it means there's something wrong in the engine. But if you just go and take the bulb out or remove the symptom, suppress the symptom, there's still a problem in the engine and the car can break down two or three miles down the road. So the job when we're prescribing is to go into the engine and deal with the cause behind it with the homeopathic remedy. So the all light goes off by itself. And even with acute symptoms or acute situations, say for example, like a cough or cold or a fever, then there can be the cause behind it. It could be getting chilled, it could be from a grief or emotional upset. There's different causes why people can get sick. And so our job as a prescriber is trying to find match the remedy that suits the characteristic symptoms of the person or ourselves. Now, how do we get this information so often? You'll see people say, oh, I've got a cough, I've got a cold, I've got hay fever. What's a good homeopathic remedy for that? Well, in homeopathy it's very, very individual because we have lots of remedies for coughs, colds and different situations. But we need to know what the characteristic symptoms are that you've got. So we could all have a cough, but all have different characteristic symptoms. My cough may be better for I have to hold my chest because every time my cough is very, very painful or my cough could be better outside in the fresh air, another person's cough can be worse outside and better being kept warm. So this is what we call the characteristic symptoms. So we need to get this information from either the person we're treating or if it's ourselves, from ourselves. So when trying to determine what remedy to select, a really good quick way is to write down the abbreviation of clams, clams down a sheet of paper vertically and then fill in accordingly. So, and then once you have this information, you can identify the closest matching remedy to the person that you need. So what does CLAM stand for? Let's start off with a Etiology. So that's the cause. What is the cause behind the complaint? As I said, it can be different causes, can be getting chilled, getting your feet wet, getting overheated. From the sun. It could be from a grief or emotional upset. There can be different reasons why people suddenly get an acute situation, and that's what we call the etiology. So we're going to ask, okay, you've got this cough or cold, when did it start? We started three days ago. What was happening? Anything going on three days ago? Well, actually, yeah, I had my hair washed and I went outside to go and do an errand and I think I got chilled. Okay, so the etiology you write down is getting chilled, getting cold. So that would be etiology. The next is M modalities. So what makes the complaint better or worse? What makes the cough or headache better or worse? It could be better for pressure, putting the hands on the head. It could be worse for any movement. They got to sit really, really still. If you get any movement, the headache is pounding. Or they could be better for exertion and moving around. So this is what is really important to get what makes it better and what makes it worse. Really important, because that's how we differentiate between what remedy we're going to give. The next is S, which is sensation. What is the pain like? If they have pain, what's it like? Is it a sore pain, is it a shooting pain, is it a aching pain, throbbing shot? There's all these different sensations that people get, strange sensations as well. Or it feels like I've got a mouse running over my arm, like a crawling sensation. So it's really good to ask what the sensation is like. Don't presume that just because somebody's got a headache, it's going to be a banging headache like you always get. It'll be the people get different sensations. Some people can say, my headache, it feels like I've got my head in a vice. So what these sensations and modalities, do they really help you get into the remedy and wish and differentiate between all the different headaches, coughs, colds, acute remedies there are for people. Then we go jump up to L, which is location. Where is the pain? Where is. Where is it located in the body? Is it the head? Is it the chest? Is it the legs? Is it the arm? Is it the ear, is it the nose? You know, to find out exactly where it is. And also lastly, concomitant what symptom that accompanies the main complaint. So they could have a cold and feel nauseous. So that's what you would write down there as you're asking the questions. You fill this in on the sheet of paper or on your pad so let me just run through an example of that. So, so in this example here, Sally has a throbbing headache on the side of her head after sitting in the sun. It's better when holding her head, worse for the noise of the radio and worse for walking. And she has a red flushed face. So this is how you would fill in that sheet. Let's look at etiology first. Cause from the sun. So it could be sunstroke, but it's come from the sun. M is modality, worse for moving, worse for noise, better for pressure because she's better for holding her head. And the sensation is that it's throbbing and you could say it's sort of congested but it's really the, it's the throbbing. Okay, it's the throbbing, throbbing headache. And then location is in the head, side the head, temples and concomitant. She has a red flush face. So what you do with that information, you've got all that information down. You now refer to your homeopathic home prescriber book if you've got one with all the remedies in. If you don't have one, definitely say get one. Obviously I'm going to be biased and say get my home prescriber because it really gives you all these different remedies for all these different home prescribing situations and acute conditions. And when you look through the headache remedies, because it's the alphabetical order of headaches, you can then select the one that matches the characteristic symptoms on your list and your clams. Okay, now you may be down to two. Two remedies out of ten. Just choose one what matches the best, just give one because then you know where to go next if you needed to. That one doesn't particularly help. So select the remedy that matches the symptoms on your list by looking at others counter symptoms as I said. And if you did with this case, you've guessed it, it would be belladonna. Okay, so Belladon is the closest matching remedy to the symptoms that have been just being described. And therefore this is the remedy to take. So remember, you don't need all the symptoms under each remedy to prescribe. You just match the three characteristic symptoms of the remedy or the keynotes to the person and what we as homeopaths call the three legged stool. Okay so some really three main sort of points for each remedy. So I hope that was clear and I hope you know, remember again you can go back to this recording, rewind it and but always please should be automatic. You write your clams in Your book on your piece of paper before you prescribe the remedy. So let's talk about potency. Now, potency is a very interesting area. People would get confused with homeopathic potency. And I think again, what we have to remember that don't look at it in an allopathic way. This is a common mistake that people make. They think about homeopathy doses and potencies like allopathic medicine. With homeopathy, there's no material dose, okay? The remedy matches the vital force of the patient. So for example, you know, somebody's got a fever, well, you may use a 30C. If it's a really high, you may use a 200C. So it depends on the intensity of the symptoms as well. But remember, use one remedy at a time. Why? This is how you get to learn the remedies and see how these remedies work. And again, a reminder, as I said earlier, the remedy doesn't cure. It stimulates the body to heal itself. It's like a key to a lock. But the key, the remedy, is not powerful in itself. It's the interaction with. So imagine a key for a Ferrari or for a sports car or for any car. The key conce is not powerful. It's the interaction with the engine and the electrical system of the engine which gets what makes the engine go and make the car drive. So it's the same analogy with the remedies. So again, give the single dose, wait to see what happens and then you can assess whether to repeat the remedy or whether you need to stop the remedy or whether you need to change the remedy. And as I mentioned before, in acute situation, first aid situations, you can change actually quite often in acute until the body's doing what it needs to do. So on potency selection, you know, remi's come in different potencies. So they come in low potency like A6C, medium potencies, 30C or 200 and high potencies of 1M or above. Now, over the counter at health food stores or shops, they'll always be in the low or medium potency and the remedy choice. This is really important to remember. The remedy choice is more important than the potency selection because you're matching for the remedy. But potency is the tuning in. It's the tuning in. So let's look at 6C potency, 6C. The 6C potency is a low potency with a gentle and steady action, often more physical in its action. And if you only have 6c potency of the remedy, then in most complaints, you can give a dose, you know, every couple of hours for four doses and then maybe three times a day until the symptoms have improved. And if the symptoms are more intense, then you can give more frequently. Again, you're matching it with the person, you're matching it with the symptoms and how intense the symptoms are. So again, if somebody has a nosebleed and all you have is phosphorus, 6C and it's you may need to give that 6C every five minutes until the, until the bleeding stops. You may do that four or five doses and that's okay. And once it stopped, then you can stop the remedy. So you've got to adjust you're prescribing according to the intensity of the symptoms that the person's experiencing. The next potency 30C. Now, this is a very common remedy to use in home prescribing and it's in most remedy kits and most health food stores. And this medium potency is effective for many situations. So it's called like a middle of the road potency. It affects the mental and emotional as well as the physical and it's a good choice for home prescribers. You have some familiarity with homeopathy. And again, this can be given every 4, 6 hours until symptoms are relieved or twice a day depending on the situation. So again, somebody can have a cough, you may give them 30c. The coughing lot is very painful. When they cough, they're very thirsty, they have a dry mouth, very irritable, may have a headache as well, want to be left alone, worse for any movement. And that's very Bryonia as a cough. So you may give the person 30C Bryonia to take every couple of hours for four doses. It depends again on the severity of it. And you may find by, you know, third or fourth dose, they're feeling a lot better. Then you can have to decide whether to carry on with the remedy or to stop and see how the person gets on. Because remember, the remedy is the key to the lock that stimulates the body to heal itself. Once it's doing it itself, it may not need another stimulus as a remedy. And this is how you're going to start thinking. The Next is the potency 200 potency. Now this is often used for acute illnesses with intense or severe symptoms. So again, you may see this in fevers, you see the 200C use a lot in things like acute grief. Somebody's in a lot of grief, it's very cute. Crying all the time. You may give a 200. In childbirth we use 200 potencies a lot, but often they're only purchased from homeopathic pharmacies. And again, these can be given very frequently, every five to 10 minutes depending on the situation. And as I mentioned, for fever, accidents, childbirth, often there's a lot of energy around. So say somebody's just had a, a bang on the head or trap the fingers in the door, you may give them the 200 straight because the person's in shock. It's like a very acute. And you may give them one or two doses or three doses, depending on the situation. Again, back to what I'm saying. You're trying to get the body, stimulate the body to heal itself. And this little mention on the ponies is when you do things like 1ms. And 10ms, you don't need to, you won't need to use them for home prescribing. That's more for often different acute situations. And again, they can be obtained by a homeopathic pharmacy. Stick to either the 6C, the 30 and possibly the 200 if you need them. So when prescribing remedies, if you or the person you're treating feels much better after a dose and you can stop the remedy until the first sign that your symptoms have returned, they start to come back and then you can repeat again if it's indicated. And this is, as I mentioned, contrast to the state the cause pharmaceutical approach. So this type of dosing really reflects Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy's desire to find the minimal effective dose based on the belief that too much medication, chemical or homeopathic, impedes our inner healing power. As I said, we're trying to cement the body to heal itself. It's not a course of things that you have to complete, say like antibiotics or things like that. So just to finish off with some prescribing tips, and here's my home prescriber book here, you can get it in the link below. When you first start using homeopathy, it is best to practice with simple first aid problems like your cuts, your bruises, your grazes, your burns until you're really familiar how the remedies work. And you'll be surprised. With arnica, for example, people talk about the arnica experience where they took arnica for a bang or bump or they stopped bruising and they just felt so much better after taking it. And as nearly everyone experiences the same symptoms with first aid injuries, it's easy to learn which remedy to give for any situation. So like I said, arnica for a bang or bruise, hypericum, say the child crushes its fingers in the door while hypericum are the first remedy for that or anything to do with nerves like having a tooth extract and they've got nerve pain calendula for cuts and grazes. So some very very specifics in first aid situation. So it's really good way to start and as your confidence grow start to pass on acute complaints as I said with coughs and colds and headaches where it's much more important to prescribe for the symptoms of the individual with the condition rather than just the cause of the complaint. And as we said, colds for example can be different from one season to another and each individual will suffer differently because of this. Any the remedies will treat them will also differ and you have to choose between them. This is where you get really good at deciding what remedy and sometimes it can be confusing. Do I give Pulsatilla? Do I give Nature Mule? Remember the three legged story? Looking for keynotes and if you'd like a handy reference guide for acute prescribing, the Home Prescriber here, the yellow book provides handy hints and techniques to help you select the right remedy and advise on administering the remedies and potency and frequency. But I've just covered there some of the basic tips for home prescribing. Now again, if somebody says I've got a cold, if there's a remedy for that, yes, there's plenty of remedies. But tell me, how is it for you? Tell me what makes it better. Tell me what makes it worse. What's the sensation like? You know, where's it located? Is it in your nose? Is it also in your lungs? In your chest? And do you have any other symptoms with it, like a headache or feel nauseous or any sort of other sensation or pain?

Thank you so much for joining me today on the Homeopathy at Home podcast. I hope you found today's episode enlightening, empowering and made you feel that you can become a competent home prescriber. Before we wrap up, I just wanted to invite you to explore my latest book, Homeopathy at Home, published by Hay.

House and Penguin Random House, where you'll.

Find even more insights into homeopathy's transformative power. So for more resources updates, please look.

In the show notes below.

And until next time, keep embracing homeopathy. Use it in your daily life. That's how you learn homeopathy, by using it. Until next time, take care. Thank you.

SA. Sa.