Corpus luteum
Quick Facts
- What it is: A homeopathic single remedy made from ovarian corpus luteum tissue and diluted until essentially none of the source remains.
- Main uses: Painful periods, Irregular cycles, Premenstrual symptoms, Menopausal hot flushes
- Best for: People already working with a homeopath who want a traditional remedy alongside, not instead of, medical care
- Active ingredients: None measurable at 30C, Carriers only: lactose and sucrose in pellets, or water and alcohol in drops, Possible traces of animal gland tissue in low decimal strengths such as 1X or 3X
- Forms: Sugar pellets, Tablets, Alcohol-based liquid drops, Single-dose tubes
- Time to effect: No reliable time frame; no measured effect has been shown.
- Side effects: Direct effects are rare and mild; the main risk is delaying a proper diagnosis.
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What is Corpus luteum?
What is Corpus luteum?
Corpus luteum is a homeopathic single remedy. It is made from the corpus luteum, the small yellow body that forms in an ovary after an egg is released.
Its Latin name is Corpus luteum ovarii. It is also called the yellow body of the ovary.
In homeopathy, a remedy made from healthy animal tissue is called a sarcode. This one is sold mainly for period pain, irregular cycles and menopause complaints. The tissue it starts from usually comes from cattle or pigs.
Like all homeopathic products, it is serially diluted. That means it is watered down over and over, with hard shaking at each step. At the common 30C strength, almost none of the first tissue is left in the pill.
Trials do not tell this remedy apart from a placebo (a dummy pill). And long use inside a tradition is not proof that something works.
How does Corpus luteum work?
How is it said to work?
There is no known way this remedy could act on your hormones. At 30C, none of the source tissue is left to act.
Homeopathy teaches that a substance which can cause a symptom in a healthy person will calm that same symptom in a very small dose. Users of the method add that the shaking at each step leaves some kind of imprint of the source in the liquid.
Chemistry and physics give no support for that idea.
Any benefit people notice is best explained by three things: the placebo effect, the normal ups and downs of a monthly cycle, and the time and attention of a long consultation.
Low decimal strengths, such as 1X or 3X, are a separate case. They are barely diluted. They may still hold traces of animal gland tissue.
What forms does Corpus luteum come in?
What forms can you buy?
The usual home form is small sugar pellets. You let them melt under your tongue.
Other forms are tablets, liquid drops in an alcohol base, and single-dose paper tubes or vials. Common strengths are 6C, 30C and 200C. Some brands also sell low decimal strengths, such as 1X or 3X.
Check the strength on the label before you buy. A low decimal strength of an animal gland product is not the same as a 30C dilution. It may still hold traces of the first tissue.
Where it comes from:
Where does this remedy come from?
Sarcodes are remedies made from healthy animal glands and tissue. They came into homeopathic practice in the late 1800s, through American and British prescribers.
Corpus luteum shows up in materia medica texts (the old remedy handbooks) of that time. It was listed there for painful periods, ovary pain and hot flushes at menopause.
Hahnemann, who founded homeopathy, never proved or used it. It sits at the edge of the repertory (the index of remedies), not at its heart. That is why its standing in the tradition is modest.
Who should avoid Corpus luteum?
- Do not use if you are pregnant and are relying on it for bleeding, cramping or a threatened miscarriage; those need urgent medical assessment the same day.
- Do not use if you have vaginal bleeding that a doctor has not checked, including bleeding between periods or any bleeding after the menopause.
- Do not use if you are being treated for a hormone-sensitive cancer (a cancer that hormones can feed), such as some breast or womb cancers, unless your cancer team agrees.
- Do not use if you are taking tamoxifen or an aromatase inhibitor (hormone-blocking cancer medicines), especially low decimal strengths such as 1X or 3X.
- Do not use if you are in fertility treatment and might swap it for the progesterone support your clinic prescribed.
- Do not use if you would be stopping or cutting down a prescribed medicine to make room for it.
- Do not use if you must avoid animal products for religious, ethical or allergy reasons, because the source tissue comes from cattle or pigs.
- Do not use if you have galactosaemia (a rare inherited inability to handle milk sugar), because the pellets are made of milk sugar.
- Do not use if you take disulfiram or metronidazole (medicines that react badly with alcohol) and the product is an alcohol-based liquid.
- Do not use if you are giving it to a baby or a young child without a doctor's advice.
When should you see a doctor?
See a doctor rather than reaching for this remedy if your periods suddenly become much heavier, if you bleed between periods, or if you bleed at all after the menopause. Book an appointment for period pain that stops you working or sleeping, for periods that stop for three months or more when you are not pregnant, and for any new pelvic lump or swelling.
Get same-day help for sudden severe pelvic pain, for a fever with pelvic pain, or for feeling faint with heavy bleeding. Go straight to emergency care for bleeding or belly pain in pregnancy.
Stop using it and speak to a pharmacist if you get a rash, itching or swelling after taking it.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
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