you would say, "It helped/helps me a lot"

English learner: When do you use the expressions "It helps me a lot" and "It helped me a lot"?

Response for "It helps me a lot" :

English teacher: It can be used in many situations. For example, if you were taking some medicine that helped you, you would say, "It helps me a lot".

Response for "It helped me a lot":

English teacher: It can be used in many situations. For example, if you took some medicine that helped you, you would say, "It helped me a lot".

My question: I discussed the grammar of the two responses above with a couple of native speakers, in other places and they confirmed that they are grammatically correct. But I still have a question. As can be seen, the two responses are both hypothetical, second conditionals. The "if-clauses" in them look exactly the same except for the first verb. My question is how can the tense of the verb "help" (in bold) be different in the result clauses of the two responses when it's the same past tense verb "helped" (in bold) in the conditional clauses? In other words, how are the "help" verbs in the result clauses related to those in the conditional clauses?

This is all about context. The key issue is the point or period in time that the speaker is referring to. The choice of tenses will follow naturally.

Suppose I have been sick. Four days ago I started taking medicine. Two days ago I was aware of a definite improvement. Today I feel better, but the doctor told me that for maximum benefits I should keep taking the medicine for 14 days.

Given that context, all of these sentences are possible:

1. It helped me a lot. (Referring back to the start of the treatment or the first day I became aware of the benefits.)

2. It is helping me a lot. (Referring to the progress I've made so far, or the daily progress I am making.)

3. It helps me a lot. (Similar to 2 above.)

4. It will help me a lot. (Simple future tense, looking forward to the future time when I am completely better.)

5. It will have helped me a lot. (Future perfect tense, looking back over the whole treatment period from a future date.)

Now in the context of the conditional sentences in the question, all of these examples are possible. This is because the condition is referring back to a past conversation, but the speaker's words will be whatever he intended to say then.