Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Colibacillinum is a homeopathic remedy. It is made from Escherichia coli, the colon bacillus, a germ that lives in the human gut. Homeopaths give it for long-running bowel and bladder complaints and for tiredness.
It is a single drug in homeopathy, and a type called a nosode. A nosode starts from germs or from diseased tissue. That starting material is then diluted again and again.
Here is the plain verdict. At 30C the dilution is so great that no molecule of the germ is likely to be left. No human trial shows this remedy beats a dummy pill (placebo), and long traditional use is not proof that a remedy works.
Homeopaths say a germ, in tiny amounts, can treat the problems it causes. They call this idea "like cures like". It is a rule of the tradition, not a proven fact of biology.
The maker mixes germ material with water or alcohol, then dilutes it step by step. Each step is shaken hard. Homeopaths believe this shaking leaves an "imprint" in the liquid.
Chemists have never found such an imprint. At 30C nothing of the starting germ is likely to remain. So there is no known way for the remedy to act on your body.
Most often you will see small white pills or pellets that melt under the tongue.
Liquid drops and single-dose tubes are also sold. Common strengths are 9C, 12C, 30C and 200C. The bigger the number, the more times the maker diluted it.
Low strengths such as 4C or 6C are rare for nosodes. Do not use a product that does not print its strength on the label.
Theodor Escherich first described the colon bacillus in 1885. Soon after, homeopaths began making remedies from germs and called them nosodes.
Colibacillinum entered French and British homeopathic practice in the early 1900s. It sits beside the bowel nosodes worked out by Edward Bach and John Paterson in the 1920s and 1930s. Its use rests on case notes and teaching, not on trials.
See a doctor the same day if you have a fever, chills, or pain in your side or lower back. Get urgent care for blood in your urine, vomiting, or sudden confusion in an older person, as these can mean a kidney infection. Book an appointment if bladder or bowel symptoms last more than two days, keep coming back, or come with weight loss or blood in your stool.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
Reviewed by the HealisticMD editorial team How we grade evidence →
The published evidence for Colibacillinum is weak or absent. That usually means no controlled trial has tested it, not that a trial found it ineffective — the two are different, and we grade only what has been published.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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