Homeopathic medicine may be antidoted unintentionally or intentionally.
Unintentionally
- Some authors suggest that antidoting may happen accidentally depending on a person’s unique sensitivities. Others maintain that in experiments, food and drinks have not antidoted homeopathic medicines, so they give their patients no dietary restrictions.
- The following are often cited in the literature and by experts as substances to avoid while taking homeopathic medicines to ensure your remedy is not antidoted:
- emotional or physical shock, dental work with Cavatron, coffee (caffeine is ok), camphor, strong smelling herbs, mint or clove mouth wash near the time you take your remedy, menthol/eucalyptus, medicated cough drops, addictive drugs, mothballs, highly perfumed toiletries, strong household cleaners, tobacco, essential oils, concentrated tooth tea tree oil, Swedish bitters, hot hair permanents, electric blankets, living close to high tension electric wires, acupuncture, geothermal baths, and MRIs (one should never avoid required medical or dental tests or procedures, but do tell your homeopath in the event your remedy needs to be repeated afterwards).
- The following substances should be taken if prescribed but may interfere with your homeopathic medicine’s action:
- steroids, tranquilizers, oral contraceptives, sleeping pills, antihistamines, as well as antibiotics.
- Dr. George Vithoulkas reports Natrum muriaticum is antidoted with mint. He also reports antidoting occurs with excess coffee, alcohol and recreational drugs.
Intentionally
- Homeopathic aggravations occur when you have a short term aggravation of symptoms followed by improvement. For instance, if taking a remedy for a runny nose, your nose might run more for a short while right after taking the remedy. If you have indigestion and take a remedy, the discomfort in your belly might intensify for a few minutes. These temporary symptoms are followed by the body’s natural healing power. Slight aggravations are a good sign that you have chosen the correct remedy.
- In certain people who are hypersensitive to conventional pharmaceuticals, odors, noise, or foods, an aggravation may last longer than short term. This could also occur if you accidentally take too high a dose, or too much of the remedy over a short period of time, or take a remedy for a long time after you are better. If you believe you are having such an aggravation, stop taking it and talk to your homeopath. He or she may or may not have you antidote the medicine’s action.
- The below substances are generally agreed by experienced practitioners to antidote homeopathic remedies to some extent, if not completely.
- Camphor (Vicks Vapor-Rub, Noxzema, Tiger Balm, etc)
- Coffee (There is debate about this and some report no antidoting whatsoever. Dr. Gray, below, opines that it depends on how the coffee is processed)
- Menthol/Eucalyptus
- In addition, there are antidotes that are unique to each remedy. If you are in need of further information:
- Miller, R Gibson, Relationship of Remedies, 8th Ed. B Jain Publ. USA/Europe/India. 2016.
- Blasig, Thomas and Vint, Peter. Remedy Relationships, First Engl. Ed. Hahnemann Institute, Greifenburg, Germany. 2001.
- Clarke, JH. A Clinical Repertory to the Dictionary of Materia Medica. Health Science Press, England. April 1971: pp. 202-321.
References
Castro, Miranda. Homeopathy for Mother and Baby. MacMillan, London. 2005: p: 21.
Cummings Stephen, Ullman Dana. Everybody’s Guide to Homeopathic Medicines. 3d Ed. Tarcher/Putnam NY. 1997: pp. 35.
Gray, William. “Antidotes and Interferences”, Homeopathy School International, Webinar, Mar 29, 2020.
Lockie, Andrew, The Family Guide to Homeopathy, Fireside, 1st Ed., New York, NY(1993), p. 31.
Moskowitz, Richard. Homeopathic Medicines for Pregnancy & Childbirth. North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, CA. 1992, pp. 16-17.
Sankaran, P. The Elements of Homoeopathy, Vol. 2, Rajan Sankaran, Ed. Homeopathic Medical Publishers, Bombay. 1996: pp: 491-501.
Stub M, Kristofferson AE, Alraek T, et al. Risk in homeopathy: Classification of adverse events and homeopathic aggravations – A cross sectional study among Norweigian homeopathic patients. Complement Ther Med. 2015 Aug; 23(4):535-43
Ullman, Dana. The Consumers Guide to Homeopathy. Tarcher/Putnam, NY. 1995: pp. 148-49.
Vithoulkas, G. Levels of Health. Int’l Academy of Classical Homeopathy. Greece. 2019: p. 163.