dosing herbs

Drops are not a unit of dose

Families switch brands mid-protocol, keep the same drop count, and wonder why everything changed. Here is how to actually compare.

Why the number on the bottle lies

Tinctures are made at different extract ratios — 1:2, 1:3, 1:5 — and in different alcohol concentrations. A 1:2 extract is roughly two and a half times more concentrated per drop than a 1:5.

Twelve drops of one brand can be a therapeutic dose and twelve of another can be nearly nothing. Same number, different medicine.

Work in milligrams

The only unit that survives a brand change is milligrams of herb per day. Most reputable makers publish either mg per serving or mg per drop. Convert once, write it down, and use that.

Example: at 100 mg per 10 drops, a child taking 12 drops three times a day is getting 360 mg/day — a number you can compare against any label, from any company.

Scaling for children

Pediatric herbal dosing is usually scaled from the adult dose by weight, not age — which matters enormously for a child who is small for their age. Many makers publish their own pediatric chart; use theirs when it exists.

A common reference point: an adult dose is calculated for roughly 130 lb
A 55 lb child is therefore around 42% of the adult dose
A 65 lb child, around 50%
Weigh the child. Do not assume from age.

Two practical checks

Count the drops in one squeeze of your actual dropper. "A dropperful" ranges from about 15 to 30 drops depending on the bulb. Every calculation downstream depends on this.
Ask whether the dose is even therapeutic. A very low "tolerance dose" is a legitimate starting point for a fragile child — but a tolerance dose held for months is a holding pattern, not a treatment. Know which one you are on.

Want this answered for your own child? A Plan B synthesis reads every lab and note you have — together — and tells you what is driving the picture, what has never been checked, and what to ask for next.

The first one is free, and you keep the list either way. Phone photos of labs are fine.

Start a free synthesis

Keep reading

Open the exit before you increase the kill

Why starting antimicrobials in a constipated, under-hydrated child backfires — and the order that actually works: water, bowels, binders, then herbs.

Is this die-off, or is this bad?

What a Herxheimer reaction looks like in a PANS child, how to tell it from a treatment failure, and exactly what to do when it happens.

The Bartonella signature

The behavioral fingerprint that points toward Bartonella in a PANS child, why standard testing misses it, and what treatment realistically looks like.

Plan B for PANS is written by a parent, not a physician. Nothing here is medical advice or a substitute for your child's clinicians — it is meant to make you the best-informed person in the room when you talk to them.