All the remedies prepared in the pharmacy are made by hand to your individual requirements. Our usual policy is for orders of 6 items or fewer to be dispatched the same working day as long as the order is received by 1pm for web orders and 3pm for phone/fax orders (GMT) (Monday to Friday). Larger orders take their place in the queue and usually take 3 to 5 working days to process. Very large orders can take longer.

Pill and tablet forms

We have four main types of solid dose form:

• Tablets: flat lactose/sucrose - 9/gm (approx) (diameter 6.5mm)
• Pills/ Pillules No 6: spherical sucrose - 25/gm (approx) (diameter 3.5mm)
• Pills/ Pillules No 3: spherical sucrose - 120/gm (approx) (diameter 2mm)
• Granules: sucrose 250/gm (approx) (diameter 1.5mm)
• Soft tabs: quick dissolving lactose - 15/gm (approx) (diameter 5mm)
• Large soft tabs: quick dissolving lactose - 5/gm (approx) (diameter 7mm)

The above are available in a range of sizes: 4g, 8g, 14g, 28g and 50g (all nominal sizes) Larger sizes are available on request

If an Oral liquid is needed we offer liquid potencies made up in 23% alcohol. These are available in 5ml, 10ml, 15ml, 30ml, 50ml,100ml, 200ml and 500ml

These are remedies made in 'high alcohol' (ie 90% ethanol). They are used by practitioners and other pharmacies to medicate tablets and pills etc.

The art of selecting the "right" remedy is dependent on many factors and is ideally done in consultation with a homoeopath. Our team of trained homeopaths are able to advise on self limiting 'acute' ailments. It is very rare that we can suggest a remedy for a specific long term or 'chronic' condition and we would advise you to contact a practitioner in your area. In the U.K. it is best to seek a medical doctor who is a homoeopath or a registered homoeopath. The Find a Homeopath website has all the qualified homeopaths in the UK including medical doctors. www.findahomeopath.co.uk

• Take the remedy away from food and drink or from having had something strong-smelling in the
mouth such as toothpaste or tobacco. Allow about 20 minutes either side of eating, drinking, or smoking etc.
• Put the dose directly under the tongue where absorption takes place. Don’t wash it down with water, unless directed to do so by a homoeopath. Allow it to remain in the mouth for up to 10 seconds, after which it may be swallowed, or crunched up.
• Pour or shake the dose required into the cap of the remedy bottle, and thence directly into the mouth; or onto the clean, dry, and neutral-smelling hand of the person receiving the remedy.
• Don’t risk cross-contamination by opening more than one remedy bottle at a time in case you put remedy A in with B or vice-versa; don’t ever store a remedy in a bottle in which a different medicine or homoeopathic remedy has been contained.
• Sometimes a remedy is taken in water using a spoon - especially if it is an LM or MLP (Medicated liquid remedy). Always clean the spoon and glass (if applicable) with very hot water after each use.
• It is generally recommended you avoid coffee and peppermint whilst taking a course of homeopathic remedies, since these substances are thought possibly to antidote remedies in some cases.

• It is important your prescriber makes it clear how many times a day and over what period of time your remedy should be taken.
• If too many doses of a remedy are taken for too long, symptoms that originally cleared up may recur.
• If you are in any doubt whatsoever about how much or for how long you should take a remedy, then consult your prescriber. If you cannot reach your prescriber, then don’t take any more of the remedy until you do.
• Never assume that you should finish a complete bottle unless this is an LM liquid format. LM’s have a different dosing method - being designed to be taken over a prolonged period of time for chronic or longstanding conditions.

Take the smallest number of doses to achieve the desired effect. This is likely to be within a short space of time. For acute self limiting conditions take one when needed always stopping on improvement. This can vary from one dose every 30 mins to three times a day depending on intensity. Do not take for longer than 3 days if there is no improvement and consult your healthcare practitioner.

For long term chronic treatment follow your prescribers instructions or contact them for advice.

An initial aggravation of existing symptoms followed by improvement is a good sign of healing. Don't take any more of the remedy if this occurs and wait for it to pass. If some symptoms persist resume dosing always stopping on improvement. Do not take a remedy for longer than 3 days if there is no improvement.

Store your remedies away from:

• Electronic equipment such as telephone base stations, mobile phones, TV’s, computers, microwaves.
• X-ray machines at airports are ideally avoided. Put your remedies in hold luggage. The consensus is that remedies survive these exposures as long as they are not too frequent. "The majority of respondents said X-rays do not affect remedies" (Summarised Research project published in Society of Hom. Newsletter - © J. Faulkner-Pulsford)
• For extra care you could protect your remedies from potential harm by X-rays or other powerful emissions by wrapping them in aluminium foilwrap or lead-lined photographic pouches.

Do not expose Remedies to:

• Strong light; extremes of heat or cold; damp or strong smells like garlic or un-stoppered Essential Oils; (kitchens or bathrooms are not good places). Ideally keep them somewhere reasonably dry with a fairly constant temperature below 30oC.
• Store remedies away from other medication such as aspirin, antibiotics, etc.

We are happy to send orders to temporary hotel addresses, however to ensure delivery please select a 'special delivery' or 'signed for' service in addition to the postage.
If these services are not selected we will hold your order whilst we contact you to arrange this extra service. This may cause a delay in the dispatch of your order.

As your order will be delivered by either Royal Mail or your Country's delivery system, we are unable to offer this service.

If you would like to collect your order from either our Tunbridge Wells Store or our Covent Garden Store, please do NOT place your on the website paying at checkout.
Please either complete the secure order form found under CONTACT US : https://www.helios.co.uk/contact/enquiry
OR
Please send in your order via email to order@helios.co.uk
Please note if you wish to collect within 24 hours , Monday to Friday, the order will need to be 6 items or less. Saturday pick-ups MUST be made by 1.00pm Friday.
Should you wish to place a larger order, please allow plenty of time and indicate when you would like to collect.
Some time implications- up to 10 items -please give us 3-4 days notice.
Over 20 and up to 40 items please allow at least 1 week.
Over 40 items please allow 1 month.
This is because all Helios remedies are made by hand to your specification by trained Homeopaths and we wish to ensure that we give you the best quality and attention when fulfilling your order.

It would be best if you emailed your order to us : order@helios.co.uk or place the order via the Secure Enquiry Form :https://www.helios.co.uk/contact/enquiry

Not everything we make is available on the website.
Please send us an email if you would like to enquire if we have something you cannot see on the website.
Please use pharmacy@helios.co.uk and we will endeavour to answer you as soon as possible.
We do receive a high volume of emails so please be patient with us, we WILL come back to you.

As long as the order is 6 items or less it will be dealt with in the same way as our other orders.
If the order is placed before 1.00 pm then we will send the order out the same day as long as the postman has not collected his orders early!
If the order is over 6 items , then even if you have selected 24 hour Courier service the order will go into the pharmacy queue and will be made as soon as possible. Once the order arrives in the packing department,the team will then send your order via your preferred service.
Courier 24 & 48 hour delivery normally arrives on a Parcelforce van and the delivery can arrive at any time in the day up 7 o'clock in the evening. It is a signed for service so unless someone is in a card will be left with re-delivery instructions.

Special Delivery is a different delivery system. Please see our entry on SDS for further information.

Special Delivery Service is an extra postal service which offers a tracked, signed delivery in the UK only.
The cost is £6.00 and the order needs to be placed by 1.00pm for next day delivery.
This charge is in addition to our postage and packing.
The order will then be delivered by Royal Mail and will arrive by 1.00 pm the next day.
This service is available Monday to Friday.
For Saturday delivery the charge is an additional £11.
There is also Special Delivery Elite service which will arrive by 9am. This charge for this is £17. Once again, this is in addition to our post and packing charges.

All of these services need someone to be available to receive the parcel. Royal Mail have advised us that they will leave a card if the door is not answered.

Air Mail (International Standard) and UK First Class mail DO NOT have a tracking number and so their progress CANNOT be tracked through the delivery services.

If you have selected any of the following services:

Special Delivery UK
Parcelforce 24 hour
Parcelforce 48 hour
Global Priority
Euro Priority
International Business Tracked
International Business Tracked and Signed
International Business Signed

All of these services have tracking numbers which will be sent to you via email when your order leaves us. The email information will also include the link to the delivery service you have selected and you will then be able to track your order with either Royal Mail or Parcelforce.

Selecting a tracking service does NOT guarantee same day dispatch (except for Special Delivery) the dispatch date of your order depends totally on the number of items within your parcel as 7 or more items take their place in the pharmacy queue.

This includes both Parcelforce 24 and 48 hour services as larger orders (up to 40 items) may take up to 3-5 days to prepare. Orders longer than 40 items may take up to 28 days regardless of tracking option selected.

If you cannot see your COUNTRY in our drop-down list then unfortunately this indicates there may be a problem.
You can email us on order@helios.co.uk to inquire.

Please note, we CANNOT send to Norway , Venezuela, UAE or African destinations.

Please ensure that you are using the most up to date browser. Our security connections have recently been updated . If you do not have an up to date browser you may experience problems navigating the website.

Please note that overseas orders sent by Standard Air Mail may take up to 2 weeks to arrive. Some countries may take longer for example India, Eastern Europe and Russia. If a faster delivery is required TRACKED or INTERNATIONAL SIGNED services should be selected. There are additional charges for this.

The office isn't open on weekends and so we sadly cannot process orders on a Saturday and Sunday. The final cut off for Saturday delivery is 1.00pm on Friday. Please note next day delivery is not guaranteed unless Special Delivery is selected from the options.

CHRISTMAS POSTING DATES
Last recommended Posting Dates
TRACKED & SIGNED SERVICES
Far East (including Japan), Eastern Europe (except Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia): Wednesday 7 December .

Caribbean, Central & South America : Thursday 8 December.
Greece, Australia, New Zealand : Friday 9 December.
Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland- Wednesday 14 December .
Canada, Finland, Sweden, USA: Thursday 15 December.
Austria, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland,Belgium, France, Ireland and Luxembourg: Friday 16 December.
GLOBAL COURIER: USA Friday 16th December,
EURO COURIER: MONDAY 12th December

UK
Wednesday 21 December 1st Class and PARCELFORCE 48.
Thursday 22 December Royal Mail SPECIAL DELIVERY GUARANTEED & PARCELFORCE 24.
Friday 23 December Special Delivery SATURDAY Guaranteed.

Helios does not make any additional charge for payment by credit card.

If your order has not arrived within 5 working days (UK) or 10 working days (overseas) of receipt of your dispatch notification please contact us by email.
Please ensure that you contact us within 30 days of receiving your dispatch notification.