Lesson 8: Separate dropper bottles

Introduction

Some herbs, especially Capsicum, Humulus, Sanguinaria, or Valeriana, are often prescribed in dropper bottles, separate from the main prescription. Then, a specific number of drops, eg. 1-20 drops, of the separate herb can be added to each dose of the main prescription.

This is because some patients may be sensitive to these herbs, and too high a dose may produce side effects. For example, a small minority of patients may feel more depressed with a large dose of Sanguinaria or Humulus.

As another example, whilst Mexicans, and English people who habitually eat very hot Indian curries, have no problem with hot Capsicum (chilli pepper), most German and Austrian patients, who do not eat chilli peeper and only use sweet paprika in cooking, find that really hot Capsicum is a shock to the system, and need to start with only a few drops, until their bodies adjust to the experience.

Please read both the Dose and Cautions sections in the Materia Medica entries for these 4 herbs.

Other examples

Headache

A few people who have headache or migraine, may have their headache aggravated by Astragalus or by Cimicifuga, because, in terms of Chinese medicine, both herbs can help to raise Qi and Yang.

If the practitioner has concerns about this, it is prudent to start with a low dose of either of these herbs, and slowly increase it, if there is no aggravation of the headache. One convenient way of doing this is to put the Astragalus, or the Cimicifuga, in a dropper bottle separate from the main prescription.

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)

It has been my experience that some patients with CFS, fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), or multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS), are very sensitive to herbs or medicines. I found that some of these patients can be oversensitive to Panax ginseng, or even Schisandra, so that normal doses of Schisandra can aggravate or cause mental restlessness.

The answer, again, is to put these herbs in dropper bottles separate from the main prescription, so that the patient can find the number of drops of Panax or Schisandra that increase energy and mental performance, without increasing restlessness.

Menopausal hot flushes

Sometimes, herb combinations prescribed for hot flushes make the patient too cold.

Zanthoxylum, at normal doses, would aggravate hot flushes. But if prescribed in a separate dropper bottle, the right number of drops of Zanthoxylum, when added to each dose of the main prescription, will stop the main prescription making the patient too cold, without aggravating the hot flushes.

The patient finds the right number of drops by starting with one drop of Zanthoxylum, and the slowy increasing the number of drops.

Changing needs

Either or both Humulus and Valeriana can be prescribed for emotional stress, such as anger, fear, anxiety, or panic attacks. But for many patients, the stress levels may change according to what is happening in their work or home situation.

So they need to be able to vary the dose, or the number of drops, of Humulus and/or Valeriana, according to changing stress levels in their environment, and this is easy to do if these herbs are in a dropper bottle separate from the main prescription.

Caution

Too high a dose of Humulus and/or Valeriana may make the patient sleepy or mentally dull. This can be a problem in the daytime if the patient needs a clear mind to do their work, or if they are driving or operating machiners.

So the patient should initially experiment to find the number of drops that maximally helps the emotional stress without affecting their ability to work or drive.