Remedy Maps

Why do we change remedies as the client's complaints change, instead of giving a single remedy?

For this, let's look at Aphorisms 171 and 173 of the Organon.

Aphorism 171: remedies in succession

In Aphorism 171, Hahnemann tells us that to bring about healing we should give anti-psoric remedies in succession. Once the effect of the previous remedy has run its course, we are to give another similar remedy — again chosen homeopathically — for the symptoms that remain; and he speaks of these remedies being in concordance with one another.

Aphorism 173: starting with the dominant symptoms

In Aphorism 173, he speaks of one or two violent, predominant symptoms that prevent all the other complaints from coming to light. Since these patients show nothing beyond these one or two dominant symptoms, he says we must begin by giving a remedy suited ONLY to these two symptoms; afterwards, symptoms belonging to the underlying disease will most likely reveal themselves. And once these emerging symptoms are seen, he explains, we need to give a new remedy suited to them.

In other words, at homeopathy's core — in its spirit, in the way the system works — there is no chasing after "the one true remedy". The system does not operate by romantically searching for that remedy; it operates by giving the remedy that matches every observable mental, emotional and physical symptom that emerges in the state of illness.

This is exactly why we need remedy maps — and why we need to know which remedies follow each other well.

In fact, by looking at a person's bodily constitution, the disease histories in the family they were born into, the illnesses they went through in infancy and childhood, and their metabolic characteristics, we can anticipate what kinds of illnesses they may go through in life, which remedies they may need, and even how they may respond to stress. Setting aside the unpredictable "acute" layers and remedies produced by shock and trauma — where miasmatic stress continues, where a person is struggling to cope with the stress of being human and has not been properly treated with homeopathy — the problems they may experience are more or less known. The art of foreseeing these, drawing a map before they happen, and determining what may accompany a remedy in the future while giving the remedy of the moment is made possible by remedy maps.

Centuries of literature: which remedy follows which well?

Homeopathy offers a remarkably solid literature on which remedy follows which well, drawn from hundreds of thousands of cases. This is one of the greatest advantages of being an old system. We have thousands of cases from many masters, knowledge of remedies that worked and didn't work — and when we test them in clinic, we see that they hold true.

This accumulated knowledge tells us that some remedies follow certain others. For instance, we know that a person with a Silica constitution can bring out Pulsatilla symptoms in acute situations and in response to stress, or that a child constantly going through Chamomilla acutes can gain constitutional benefit from the Sanicula remedy.

We change the remedy, not the treatment

That is exactly why, when the symptom picture changes, we change the remedy. Although technically we have changed the remedy, we are working on the parts of a whole. We are moving along the same path; we have not changed the treatment. We are not doing anything outside "classical" homeopathy. We are following the changeable nature of the human being and moving in harmony with it.

Through a case: from Phosphorus to Nux-vomica

A very outgoing young woman with a Phosphorus constitution — sensitive to outside stimuli, easily affected — starts a new job, adapts to her ambitious boss's voice saying "you must succeed," works hard, sleeps little, drinks lots of coffee, and can turn into a Nux-vomica constitution. Nux-vomica is an angry digestion, liver and nervous system remedy — an overstimulated system that cannot calm down. We do not give this girl Phos just because there is a Phosphorus constitution underneath. We give whatever she needs at that moment. She needs to calm down, to sleep, for her overstimulated system to relax. When she takes Nux-vomica, the girl relaxes. Her digestion and sleep are good; her anger gives way to affection.

But we don't leave the girl there. We use a follow-up remedy — to secure the healing. After Nux-vomica, the girl calms down, sleeps, becomes outgoing and affectionate again. We don't automatically give phos just because there is a phos constitution underneath (see The Structural Remedy Myth). We look: what does she have now? What does she need now?

After working together for a while, we learn that the soles of this girl's feet often feel hot, that she forgets to drink water, and that she easily feels lonely and grows sad. Her periods are very irregular too — they come in a different pattern every month. We note the Pulsatilla remedy in a corner.

Heart disease and diabetes have recurred in the family, on both her mother's and father's sides. As a child she had frequent urinary tract infections. Even now, all her complaints pass when she swims in the sea. We call it the sycotic miasm and note Medorrhinum in another corner.

Bit by bit, we look — and a map has already formed. Roughly where the constitution is heading is clear; the real question is which one we will give, in what order and when. The short answer is this: when that remedy picture emerges! In other words, the simillimum. We don't give these remedies just because they appear on the remedy map — not before the periods become irregular, not before that sycotic ground emerges again with infection. We wait, we are patient, and we watch. Perhaps they will never emerge — and we don't give them just because we noted them down (see Is a Healing Crisis Necessary?).

And rest assured, it does show. Mostly through the body. If you chase vague emotional states, you can get lost. But if that person says "I don't feel cold anymore, I burn," if they say "I used to love spicy food, now it upsets my stomach," if they say "my head has started sweating in my sleep" — that means the constitution is changing.