If the case has come to a standstill or if the first prescription has caused changes in the symptomatology that remain, that do not vary greatly for some little time, it is time to go over the case again with the second prescription in mind. While these changes are going on, no orderly symptoms can be gathered and no rational observations made. If we have given time for the proper reaction and the fuller development of the case, having allowed the natural period of rest, the time has come to make a minute observation upon the return of the original symptoms, which should be our first consideration. They may not return as strong or marked as they appeared before the first prescription, but we must look carefully for the return of the original symptoms. Without symptoms we cannot prescribe intelligently.
Symptoms are the only guide to the remedy.
In chronic conditions we may be quite sure that the symptoms will return, for it is very rarely that we can cure a case with one prescription. When the symptoms they return, they return in a less intense form and sometimes they are increased in intensity. The fact that the original symptoms return is a very good omen. It shows that the first prescription was correct. In this case there is very little that we need in the way of information beyond this, because we know that the remedy was right and the patient can be cured.