We’re certainly getting educated in the alphabet soup of virus names these days. For example, RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) is all over the news as it circulates among school children.
Now, before we all clutch our pearls, let me say that RSV is nothing new. It’s an established seasonal illness, which generally makes the rounds every year, along with colds and the flu.
We can’t freak out every time a group of letters makes the front page. Viruses have lived alongside humans since the beginning of time.
Viruses aren’t the end of the world!
Viruses are a natural part of the world.
But believe it or not, often, the most challenging part of homeopathy is trying to figure out what remedy to use for a cold or flu.
Why? Well, there are several reasons.
First and foremost, at the onset of a viral infection, we usually don’t know what we’re dealing with. All we know is, “I don’t feel well.” Many viruses present in a similar manner, and we can’t discern one from another until they ripen.
Also, the same virus may present differently in different people, often giving us no unifying thread to establish a clear-cut homeopathic remedy for each specific virus.
And there can be many unique variants — many variations on a theme, even within a single virus. (Years ago, folks didn’t even know the term “variant.” But post-2020, it’s hard to go through a single day without hearing the word.)
And lastly, viruses evolve. A sufferer may first notice fatigue and weakness, then experience a sore throat, then a fever, then vomiting, then a cough, then lung congestion, and on and on. So, choosing the most effective homeopathic medicine depends on the symptoms in the current moment of the illness’s evolution.
Consequently, it can be a bit frustrating because most people actually come to homeopathy thinking they want to take care of their family’s colds and flu! When they’re unsuccessful (because of these complex factors), they get discouraged and stop studying homeopathy altogether. But oddly, more sobering conditions (such as UTIs or otitis media) are sometimes easier to address because they’re more straightforward.
To address respiratory infections that have gone a bit further, we consider not simply the name of the disease but rather the symptoms as they present.
Case in point: Laurie knew that it was inevitable that someone in her family would get a cold or flu, so she owned all the most effective homeopathic medicines and knew how to use them (or knew where to look to refresh her memory).
Good going, Laurie.
So, when Laurie’s first grader came home from school with the onset of a respiratory virus, Laurie carefully observed as it evolved. For the initial weakness and other evolving symptoms, she kept Homeopaths Get the Flu Too, Ya Know printed by her daughter’s bedside. (Many respiratory illness symptoms were also covered in Ferocious Flu Fears.) When wheezing or asthma-like symptoms developed, Laurie re-read Four Homeopathic Medicines for Asthma. If pneumonia had resulted, Laurie was prepared with No More Pneumonia: Homeopathy and Pneumonia.
Do you see how this works?
Laurie stayed on top of the symptoms by addressing them with homeopathy — no matter what the viral strain’s alphabet soup name was. And that made her daughter’s condition more manageable and less severe.
But when confronted by a cold, flu or any respiratory virus, my mainstays are a common Banerji Protocol and speed. I have averted many viruses with Aconitum napellus 200 mixed with Bryonia alba 30, taken at the first inkling that a virus is taking over my system. Not later or before bed. Not the next day. I’m talking IMMEDIATELY at the first sign that I’m feeling an illness coming on. (And repeating every few hours — depending on the severity of the illness — until very much better or until the presenting symptoms require a different medicine.)
And not uncommonly, I and my family get sick less and less often as the years go by, by virtue of such knowledge.
That’s why I recommend that anyone susceptible to viruses (and that means everyone) carries Aconite 200 and Bryonia 30 in their pocket or purse. Don’t leave home without it!
So, things would have been different when Laurie picked up her daughter from school and heard that first little, “Mommy, my throat hurts.” Armed with Aconite 200 and Bryonia 30 in her purse, Laurie could have pulled the car over and administered this powerful homeopathic protocol immediately — at that moment — not waiting for later that night when they got home.
And who knows? Perhaps the virus wouldn’t have settled in so fully. Minimizing a viral condition before it gets severe is much easier than waiting until the virus fully blooms and the hospital is required. Once in the hospital, we lose all control. So, this is about prevention — keeping the virus from going that far. We endeavor to keep it at what is considered a perfectly acceptable level in all children’s lives — to get a cold or flu every year and recover without difficulty.
So, I bet Laurie will have Aconite 200 and Bryonia 30 with her next time. How do I know? Because Laurie wants to be the kind of mom I admire — a honey badger mom — resilient, tenacious, thick-skinned, undeterred, and ferocious when need be!
To help facilitate honey badger moms, I’ll soon teach my Mighty Members a homeopathic medicine that may be considered if the respiratory virus becomes fully established.
In addition, I’ve spent the last several weeks discussing homeopathic alternatives to antibiotics in my Facebook Live events. However, I have the freedom and time to teach with much more detail in my course, The Antibiotic Alternative. And believe me when I say that honey-badger moms shouldn’t be without that particular course!
Until then, I suggest our viral mantra be “Preparedness, swiftness and knowledge.” Utilizing that strategy, we can generally reduce our families’ respiratory suffering, be it a cold, flu, RSV or even one of the “C-word” variants. And that’s powerful!
(Plus, a little homemade chicken alphabet soup couldn’t hurt! Just don’t get bogged down by all the letters.)
Pass on the good news of homeopathy!
Warmly,
P.S. Have you ever wondered what is the best way to “pass on the good news of homeopathy”? What about giving a gift of homeopathy to an interested friend or family member? Click through to Joette’s Learning Center. The easiest and most valuable gift I can think of is a Practical Homeopathy® gift certificate, available with a simple click.
Perhaps, with your gift, your loved one will join a Gateway to Homeopathy study group! Can you imagine how much productive fun you two will have together — learning about homeopathy, supporting each other and comparing success stories?
You can make it happen. It’s easy. Just click.
I am a homeopath with a worldwide practice working with families and individuals via Zoom. I'm also a teacher and most importantly, a mom who raised my now-adult children depending on homeopathy over the last 31 years. I lived decades of my life with food intolerances, allergies, and chemical sensitivities until I was cured with homeopathy, so I understand pain, anxiety, and suffering. You may feel that your issues are more severe or different than anyone else’s, but I have seen it all in my practice and in my work in India. My opinion is that nothing has come close to the reproducible, safe and effective results that my clients, students and I have achieved with homeopathy.
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Joette is not a physician and the relationship between Joette and her clients is not of prescriber and patient, but as educator and client. It is fully the client's choice whether or not to take advantage of the information Joette presents. Homeopathy doesn't "treat" an illness; it addresses the entire person as a matter of wholeness that is an educational process, not a medical one. Joette believes that the advice and diagnosis of a physician is often in order.
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Thank you!!! I have been hoping for some info on RSV. I will add this protocol to your “flu and cold flow chart” that I refer to often.
I meant to ask – In your flow chart you give a certain remedy and say “up to 4 doses (or 6, etc.)” I know that means move on if the remedy is not acting in this time, but after listening to your podcasts, am I correct to think that you stay with a remedy if it’s acting even if you exceed the 4/6 doses? Thanks.
For some of us, sadly, the aconitum/bryonia combo does not work. Is their a second line protocol if we are unforunate regarding this protocol not acting? Thanks!
Read the links and you’ll find plenty more.
Can this protocol be used for infants too?
What I write about in these protocols is not age specific.
We tried to use Oscillo to stop the virus in its tracks without success. But I found that drosera helped immensely with the coughing fits that seemed to always end in gagging! It made the virus much more bearable. I am grateful for homeopathy!
We’ve also learned that Ipecac 30 is good for nagging and gagging coughs as well!! Always good to have a back up! 😉
We so need to learn or remedies! I had a flu come on a week back. I grabbed the Aconite and Bryonia at the first twinge in the back of my throat. Then my nose started to pour. I sneezed and sneezed! Eupatorium helped the aches, but didn’t touch the runny nose. Sangunaria, Belladonna mix helped the headache but wouldn’t touch the runny nose. I tried Nat Mur and I still sneezed. I tried Arsenicum, I tried Anas Barb,I tried Hepar Sulph for the sore throat, nothing touched it. After three days I put on a mask, it felt better to have my face covered. Then I stood in front of my remedies and said, what else is there? The only one I hadn’t taken was Gelsemium! In two hours when I got off the couch, I felt better. I’d never seen it before! Gelsemium has fluent coryza. Thanks Boerike for including that detail. I still couldn’t find; feels better for having face covered. That detail goes into my own reference book.
‘Nice job, GKY.
Thank you for this.
I am still new to homeopathy. However, this week when kiddo started sniffling and coughing, I implemented the aconite + Bryonia protocol ASAP, and I am convinced that this allowed the illness to remain almost trivial, which in turn allowed us to keep our plans for being with family. Additionally, I made sure to take with us a variety of other cold/flu remedies in case symptoms evolved or persisted. Which they did, and which thankfully I was ready to treat.
I am so thankful to God for his providential leading me to homeopathy. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I even started my husband on the protocol when he commented that he’d felt like he was “coming down” with something over the last few days. He said yesterday he felt normal, but tonight I hear him coughing, so I may see if he wants something else. (He isn’t completely “on board” with the whole thing and doesn’t necessarily understand how it is used and differs from conventional “cough medicine,” so to speak. 🤷♀️)
Is this protocol safe for pregnancy? I know pretty much everything except Apis is. But since it is at 200ck I wanted to double check. Thank you, Joette! I’m really loving learning about homeopathy and implementing it with my family.
How much of each do I take for the aconite + Bryonia protocol?
The number of pills that comprise a dose is printed on the bottle.
Maybe you clarify the amount of time you give a remedy to work? My baby has bronchitis I’ve been alternating ipeccac and kali carb. He’s had it a week and he’s getting better slowly.. but I feel like somany people have an immediate response to the right remedy. I know I did last night when I thought i was gonna get sick Arsicum made me feel instantly better. But when dealing with a 9 week old who can talk. I am just confused how long to give the remedy because I’m afriad of bouncing too much around.. because I read that can make things worse. I gave him a dose and he’s struggled to breathe and we’ve taken him to the er 2xto help him breathe.. I feel like theremedies should have made a giant turn around by now. We are 1 week into bronchitis and he is better today still coughing still sounds terrible but breathing eaiser. For next time this strikes what did I do wrong? ive been all over your blog.
There’s much to learn when using homeopathy and its not horribly complicated if you know what to do. I urge you to join one of my study groups and take some of the online courses.
Some conditions turn around on a dime while with others we’re looking for signs of improvement over time to determine whether the remedy choice was correct.
I’m taking your cell salts course I’ve gone through the Baby grande and in the storm cds. All very helpful.. I just can’t get the information fast enough! I think I own 200 remedies! I’ve been using for 10 years but have had so many missing puzzle pieces. I’ve cured things like croup, bacteria infections and ear infections but not before going throufh way too many remedies. I’m just trying to piece everything together. I’ve also just learned from your blog about proving.. that kinda scares me.. my kids tend to get the same illness 2x because i cut off the remedies too soon bbutim afraid of making things worse by keeping on them too long.. but how do youknow when dealingwoth infants??
Joette, I deeply appreciate your very practical approach to homeopathy, and the way you write in simple straightforward English about health issues. It is a perfect approach for parents who just want to get to the point and treat an illness quickly, or for anyone really.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with the world. I appreciate you.
Diana Adams
Just this morning I got up to use the little girl’s room. No sooner did I get back in bed than I felt a right-sided sore throat coming on that radiated into my ear. I really didn’t feel like getting up and taking a remedy, but common sense pulled me out of bed to my emergency cold and flu kit and I took a dose of aconite200/bryonia30. I put it under my pillow. I could feel it working on the sore throat and then it would get a little worse and when it did I would take the remedy again.It took four times of taking it 15 to 20 minutes apart before this sore throat finally dissipated. A while later, I felt it was still trying to work its way in so I took a dose of the Bryonia 30 by itself.
I still felt a minute sensation of something there, though I would have never noticed it had I not had the sore throat/ear pain earlier.
That’s it! All She wrote! Short work of a virus! I’m still curious though, would such a short-lived virus provide the same benefits to the immune system as it would to let it run its course?(not that I want to experience a 2 to 3 week flu bug)
But,I’m just curious? It seems to me that, because homeopathy nudges the body to do what it’s supposed to do, it might just be that the immune system gears up into fast motion and takes care of it more quickly with the same benefits of having had the virus run its course?
Does Bryonia Alba 30 mean 30x or 30c? I’d like to order this in preparation for family get togethers. Thank you!
Either one.
How would one use Sambucus nigra in a cold or cough protocol? I received a free bottle with my boiron order and it indicates that it’s for cough, but I don’t see this remedy mentioned at all in your blog nor in your materia medica.
It’s usually used for snuffling coughs esp. in babies and young children. Also, spasms of coughs with difficulty exhaling.
If our family is getting this nasty cold virus going around and one child has not gotten it yet is there anything we can give for prevention?
Sherry,
If you do a Google search on “Joette Calabrese prophylaxis” you’ll find several blog posts that you can read for help with this.
Just started to follow you more and more. Am thankful that podcast events Pop up on my FB page. But still curious. Hubby and I both got sick and we still have this cough hanging on. Especially my husband can’t sleep. As soon he lays down, the cough starts and keeps him awake. Any suggestions? We tried drosera and Kali broch as thos seemed to be the best fit for his symptoms. It goes on for weeks now already. Would be nice if he could get some sleep back again.
Watch me tonight on FAcebook Live. Its preciesly what I’ll be discussing.
Also on X, Rumble, and Youtube at 8PM EST. If you miss it,
You may watch at any time after the live presentation.
We just dealt with RSV. My son has a history of asthma and tracheomalacia, so viruses are bad news for him. I tried everything I could think of- Aconite/bryonia prophylactically when his brother came down with it, then continuing when he first got it, along with Kali carb for bronchitis and a laundry list of everything else sequentially to help with the cough- Boiron chestal combination, ipecac, Kali Iod, Rumex, Pulsatilla, Ant Tart. Even a dose or two of Carbo Veg. We still ended up in the hospital on IV steroids and antibiotics. The good news is, he did not have pneumonia (which is usually what happens) and since the hospital he has bounce back remarkably quickly. So was this a win? Or did I mess it up? I can’t decide!
Looking back, I tried to do a four-dose trial on everything- but it looks like for Pulsatilla I just did 3. Whoops. Is there anything else I should have tried for a barking, dry cough with mucus rattling in the chest and a purring sound of mucus he’s unable to expectorate? I thought of Spongia, but did not have it and ended up in the hospital before it arrived.
Own your knowledge (good job so far in your thinking) but also important to own your remedies before an event occurs.