Please store your remedies away from heat, moisture, direct light, and strong smells (in other words, don't wrap them in seaweed and lay them in the sun where the tide will come up over the whole lot!). Also, avoid storing them near routers, cordless phones, cell phones, or right by appliances or power strips which give off various forms of radiation and electromagnetic frequencies. We want to be able to understand the action of a remedy in you so want to avoid the confusion which can come of remedies being antidoted and then puzzling over why you have not has as much help as would have been expected from your remedy. The concern is that, just as these tools can overwhelm us, it's possible they can overwhelm the remedies.

When homeopathic remedies are from a very good pharmacy, they "hold" well. But why risk antidoting them? We're doing this work to help you toward wellness, after all. The hassle factor will be worthwhile and save us time (and save you money, in many cases), in being able to move your case along toward wellness and freedom.

* There is no true expiration date for homeopathic remedies (though the FDA has labs put such dates on labels)

** Please do not take your remedy right before or after eating or drinking anything. A common rule of thumb is to leave at least 15 minutes on either side of eating or toothbrushing. If taking a dry dose, let the remedy dissolve under your tongue. If you're taking a split dose, make sure to keep the jar or glass covered, and away from strong smells, and dispose of the extra after taking the final dose.

If you are having a meal with a lot of intense flavor (think of that sublime garlicky meal), or drinking coffee, wait a couple hours before taking your dose. Homeopathy is very powerful, but we have to give it some space to do it's work.

While under homeopathic care, please completely avoid anything made with Camphor (think: Tiger Balm; White Flower Oil; Noxema; some lip balms) and anything containing Tea Tree Oil (think: shampoos; soaps; dish soaps, laundry products; skin lotions; lip balms; sunscreens). These substances very commonly antidote homeopathic remedies. Those who know they have high sensitivities might also want to avoid Eucalyptus such as in cough drops.

We want to understand how you are responding to the remedy, and avoid extra confusion in the process. To that end, you may want to avoid ultrasonic toothbrushing and tooth cleanings. Of course it's a decision you need to make, but I have experienced what is common, an ultrasonic tooth cleaning completely unwinding what had been good improvements on a remedy. Since then, I have chosen to continue with old-fashioned hands-on teeth cleanings.

And Cortisone creams and shots? Often, they antidote a remedy's action.

For wounds and skin issues, Coconut Oil and Raw Honey are excellent skin support, even for dramatic wounds. They nourish with anti-viral, anti-(unwanted) bacterial, and anti-fungal properties, and add vitamins and moisture.

Please let me know if you are a regular coffee drinker. For many people, some coffee does not antidote once the remedy has taken hold, but if you drink daily, please let me know as this may lead to a different way of having you take your remedy, possibly a daily very low potency dose. The issue is not caffeine, but something else in coffee which antidotes the remedy action in some people, particularly those who already show a lot of sensitivities. If it tries to overpower the remedy's action, we need to keep giving the Vital Force reminders of the remedy. Some people are antidoted by coffee use, or in extreme cases, can be by walking by a cafe with the smell of coffee wafting out. This is more likely in people who generally have great sensitivity to smells, or to chemicals, and already have to practice avoidance of certain kinds of exposures. But all hope is not lost: someone close to me had this level of sensitivity but deep homeopathic care reduced this sensitivity to the point that, they were able to work as a barista and drink coffee, too. Hahnemann, the founder of Homeopathy, sometimes used to give remedies in soup or coffee, so we can talk about this!

If you are an extreme coffee drinker, or heavy user of anything else, we do want to consider that, too, as it may help us determine how we begin your treatment to achieve a better understanding of you in your more fundamental state, and that better will allow us to find your 'chronic remedy state', or 'constitutional state'.

On the topic of smells affecting remedies, please do not wash your hands with a scented soap before taking your remedy. Since you won't be touching it at all, you don't need to worry about washing hands before taking your remedy. You simply tip the packet into your mouth, or tip the vial cap into your mouth without allowing the cap to brush your lips, if taking from a vial. If you pour more pills than prescribed or needed into the cap of a vial, it's okay to pour them back in as long as you have not touched them. No need to waste. Always close the vial as soon as you've taken the remedy. When possible, take your remedy away from moving air.

In cases where you cannot give pills (for instance to a baby or somebody in dementia or in a state where the person could inhale the pills), letting pills dissolve in water and swabbing the person's lips or forehead or cheeks is an excellent alternative option.