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2011 July August
Editorial: summer fireworks
by Deborah Collins
For the past year, we have
presented one theme per issue, largely dependent upon the articles that have been
submitted. The downside of this approach is that some articles have ended up
languishing in our 'reserve box', waiting for similar articles to appear on our desk; a fate
none of them deserves. For this issue, we are opening our 'treasure trove', offering you
a firework of articles, each one more interesting than the other.
In order to publish articles more quickly, we are creating a new rubric, which will appear
in each issue, titled: 'extra reading'. If and when one of these articles fit a certain
theme, they will be republished in that context. In other words, they will get double
exposure.
As of October 2011, we will be welcoming guest editors. Urvi Chauhan, Pat Deacon, Iain
Marrs, and Sally Williams will be joining our editorial team, thus broadening the base
from which articles are drawn, and will share with us the pleasure to create interesting
and enriching issues.
We wish you much reading pleasure and for those of you living in the Northern
hemisphere; have a great summer!
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
New Year firework in Concepcion, Chile: parapente1
Categories: Editorials
Keywords: editorial
Remedies:
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2011 July August
A case of chronic osteomyelitis with
Brodie's abscess
by Jean-Pierre Jansen
The patient is a boy in early puberty. His complaints
started 3 years ago in a foot; later a dissemination (Brodie's abscess) occurred to the
pelvic bones. There were several exacerbations per year, which were treated with long
courses of antibiotics. He improved with each course of antibiotics but the
inflammation-free intervals became shorter and shorter. The last relapse started one
week after the end of a course of antibiotics of a few months duration. The situation
became almost intractable because of the pain and the general well-being of the patient.
The surgeon planned a removal of a part of the pelvis, a very mutilating operation,
should another exacerbation follow.
We could not find a clear causation for his complaints. He is worse if his immune
system is down during busy times at school.
Physical complaints:
- Swelling of the feet and tibia, worse during warm weather.
- Aggravation of pain and swelling, with fever during the evening and night.
- Stitching pains aggravated from exertion of the limb. He cannot find a pain-free
resting position, so he wakes from pain, and the resulting lack of sleep worsens his
condition.
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- Difficulty in falling asleep. He does not feel sleepy and his parents describe him as a
night person.
- He is generally better from massage.
Psychological:
He is a dreamy type of person, always having fantasies of what he would do after
school-time. He loves reading scientific books and dictionaries and he is very interested
in airplanes and aviation. Sports are important to him but he cannot participate in them
anymore. He cannot stand horror movies and has a fear of high places. He has an
aversion to tight clothing and must loosen his trousers. He prefers company.
Food:
Aversion to warm food, bread, and vegetables. Desires strawberries. His desire for
tomato soup, to the exclusion of all other food, when he is unwell is particularly worth
noticing.
Analysis:
The strange and peculiar symptom is his desire for tomato soup. Although this is not
noted as such in the repertory, Calcarea arsenicosa is in capitals in the rubric 'Desire
soup' in my repertory: the Complete Dynamics v3.1. The other remedies in that rubric
did not make sense in this case, and I considered the necrosis of the bones as a
confirmation for both components of the salt Calcarea arsenicosa. Interestingly, the
remedy has also the symptom 'fear of birds', which could in a paradoxical way confirm
his interest in aviation. I noted Stillingia as a second choice.
Prescription: Calcarea arsenicosa 200K
Follow-ups:
After taking one globule, he had a lot of pain in his foot for one week. A week later, his
sedimentation rate had normalised; he still had a lot of pain but generally felt better.
After 5 months, the X-rays showed no sign of the previous damage.
I instructed him to repeat the remedy as soon as he felt an aggravation somewhere in his
bones. He gradually improved and was declared healthy after 15 months and 13
repetitions of the 200K. He mentioned that he felt relief within a few hours after each
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dose. This encouraged us to continue. A year later, he played football, as if nothing had
happened.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons
Tomato soup; Eksimaru
Osteomyelitis of the tibia of a young child showing numerous abscesses in the bone as
radiolucency; Sarindam7
Categories: Cases
Keywords: chronic osteomyelitis, Brodie's abscess, desire tomato soup, sleeping
difficulties
Remedies: Calcarea arsenicosa
2011 July August
Dissimilar diseases - Hahnemann's approach to
psychiatric patients
by Manish Panchal
During my resident posting, in 1993, at the government homeopathic hospital in
Mumbai, India, I saw a man in his late forties who had been disowned by his family
because of his frequent hospitalisations; his family was tired of him and his illness, so
most of the time he would get admitted to our hospital, where he stayed for months at
a time. He received several remedies over the years by different resident house
physicians. Therefore, as soon as I joined the hospital the first thing I did was to study
his case and to prepare myself for any crisis which might arise.
He had three main complaints:
1) Bronchiectasis: severe cough with breathlessness.
2) Epileptic fits.
3) Mental illness: violent mania with increased strength, whereby he hit others and
talked senselessly.
These three complaints never occurred at the same time. After a severe attack of
bronchiectasis had run its course, an epileptic fit would come, followed by violent
mania.
Here was a case of three dissimilar diseases, where each one occupied a particular
locality suited to it. After existing over a period of time, they joined together to form a
“double complex disease”. Since they are dissimilar diseases, they cannot remove or
cure each other (Ref: Organon 6th edition, aphorisms 36, 38 and 40).
An episode of violent mania:
Once, after we had finished seeing all our patients of the day, I received a call that this
man had turned violent, hitting an old patient on the bed next to him. The old man
suffered from heart failure and he and his relatives were obviously very frightened by
the attack. My patient was talking continuously, at times very loudly, and I could hardly
make out what he was trying to say. His case record noted that at such times he was
usually prescribed Stramonium, which seemed a logical option. He would, however, not
allow anyone to approach him in order to give him the remedy; even with the help of
the nursing staff, we could not overpower his physical strength to give him the remedy
and we had to abandon our efforts. Since his constant talking and his violent behaviour
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was disturbing other patients in the ward, I started arguing with him, even scolding and
reproaching him a bit. I tried to tell him that he should understand and allow us to give
him the remedy. How foolish of me! I should understand rather than expecting him to
understand. During this moment of despair, I suddenly remembered the Auxiliary
regimen described by Hahnemann on how to behave with such patients (aphorism 22).
Here are some of his insightful advices related to this case:
1) Physician and carer must always behave as if
believing the patient to be possessed of reason.
2) No corporal punishments, no reproaching patients for acts of destruction and injury
of surrounding objects, but merely trying to prevent it by removing such objects.
3) In response to senseless chattering: silence, but not wholly inattentive.
4) In response to disgusting, abominable conduct and conversation: total inattention.
After reading this, I decided to follow it with a ray of hope. I took steps for the benefit
of this patient, as well as others in the ward:
a) I immediately stopped arguing and reproaching him for disturbing and hitting the
patient on the next bed.
b) I shifted all the patients to another ward, thereby preventing any act of destruction
or injury to them and hence the need to reproach the patient.
c) I instructed the hospital staff to ignore his senseless talking and behaviour. I kept,
nevertheless, watch from a distance.
Under the circumstances, this was the best I could do for this patient. Soon, he settled
down into a more sober mood and manner. After a few hours, the other patients were
shifted back to the ward.
Unfortunately, we could not find a correct remedy for him to break his cycle of diseases.
Nonetheless, this experience is worth sharing to emphasise the need to pay close
attention to Hahnemann‟s advice.
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Categories: Cases
Keywords: dissimilar diseases, bronchiectasis, epilepsy, mental illness
Remedies: Stramonium
2011 July August
Christchurch earthquakes; Gelsemium to the rescue
by David Quinn
Christchurch was struck by an earthquake
on the 4th September last year (2010) and by a second one on the 22nd of February,
plus thousands of aftershocks. Many people in Christchurch have reached a state where
each significant after-shock is very distressing and upsetting.
Approximately five weeks ago, on the 19th of May, I began to feels pains in my lower
back and I was noticeably restricted in my movements. The next day I could hardly
move; when I tried to move there was tightness, shooting pains and spasms. The
problem seemed to be mostly muscular with a bit of trouble to the nerves, but not in the
spine. I suspected a viral or bacterial infection even though I have not experienced
muscular pain like this before; when I am unwell it is always a „flu-like condition, a
headache and soreness all over. I also began to realise that I had been experiencing a
very low level of discomfort and slight restriction in movement in my lower back for
months. The next night I had a memorable dream: my nephew had found a crocodile and
somehow I was assigned the job of looking after it. I spent the whole night dealing with
one shocking and frightening event after the next. The next morning my back was still as
painful, if not worse, than the day before. The dream made me think of Gelsemium;
because of the characteristic effect on the muscles in my lower back I took a dose of
Gelsemium 1M. Over the next few days the pain in my back steadily improved. After two
days I took another dose of the same potency. As my back continued to improve, the
sense of unwellness became a typical „flu-like illness; I felt weak and sick and had a mild,
non-descript headache. I took another dose of Gelsemium, and every morning I felt
better. Within the space of a week I was feeling well and my back pain had cleared up
completely. It seemed that quite a severe illness, which may have become protracted,
had turned into something far more simple, for which I hardly had to go to bed.
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On reflection, I remember having had a
feeling of tightness and restriction in my back for months. It may also be significant that
two days before the onset of the severe pains I was driving home and saw that the River
Avon (which runs through Christchurch) was very high and was spilling over onto the
roads. This was happening because of extra high lunar tides combined with the fact that
parts of Christchurch had undergone extensive damage and had sunk. The river Avon
spilling over onto the streets is a very frightening thing and driving past, it looked so high
and vast, like the sea.
A few days later a friend said that she felt she was getting the „flu: her eyes felt heavy
and her mouth felt dry. She said that everything felt heavy, especially her legs. From
these symptoms I thought of Gelsemium. The next day she was getting bad pains in her
left side, pains she had experienced since the first Earthquake in September. After she
described the pains I suspected that they were muscular and I recommended a dose of
Gelsemium 1M. Like me, she steadily improved over the next few days. She said that her
pains “surprisingly” seemed to disappear while some „flu-like symptoms of weakness and
sickness remained for a few days. I repeated the dose after two days, and after feeling
very tired and sleeping deeply, she steadily began to improve. She said that in the past
few months since the earthquakes she had been developing a number of worrying
afflictions. Her doctor was worried about the pain in her left side and suspected a blood
clot in her lungs, but tests showed nothing but a slight infection. At this stage he
suspected pleurisy. In addition to this, an ankle which has suffered from several twists in
the past became very painful, making walking difficult. After taking the remedy the pain
in her side disappeared and the pain in her ankle reduced dramatically. Since taking the
remedy she had been dreaming about things related to the earthquakes. She had
flashbacks and frightening feelings about the first quake, which had violently woken
everyone in the early hours while they were sleeping. Whenever she gets the „flu, she
always experiences chest complications afterwards, but after taking the remedy she
experienced no complications at all. For the past few months she had been experiencing a
strange kind of sighing as she exhaled and this completely disappeared as well. This
„sighing respiration‟ is a characteristic symptom of Gelsemium. Another two powerful
earthquakes stuck Christchurch on Monday 13th of this month. The pains in her left side
returned during the night and were so bad she could hardly move. I repeated Gelsemium
1M and she also took a painkiller. Her symptoms again disappeared in the course of the
next day.
Gelsemium is a remedy which belongs to the Loganiaceae family of plants. It is a well
known remedy for flu-like illnesses with symptoms of heaviness, paralysis, spasms. It has
a specific affinity for the muscles. It has the characteristic sensation of a dry mouth,
though the mouth is in fact not as dry as it feels. The central feeling of this family of
remedies is that of having undergone something shocking and upsetting. Gelsemium is
specifically for the feeling of a „fearful‟ (Gelsemium) shock (Loganiaceae). In this instance
Gelsemium seems to have alleviated some quite severe symptoms of pain and discomfort
in an effective and gentle way.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons
Aftermath of September 4th Earthquake in Christchurch, NZ; Marin Luff
The Medway Bridge as seen from the true left of the Avon River; Schewde66
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Categories: Cases
Keywords: Christchurch earthquakes, fearful shock,
Remedies: Gelsemium sempervirens
Tell-a-Friend
Comments:
David Quinn
Posts: 4
Re:
Reply #4 on : Mon July 04, 2011, 12:25:50
Yes i agree. Earthquakes are a shocking suprising fearful thing and this is consistent with
Gelsemium. I just saw yesterday that Gelsemium is the only remedy and is marked as a
three in the symptom "Shivering from fear" in the Synthetic Repertory.
Anita Maden
Posts: 4
Christchurch earthquakes
Reply #3 on : Sat July 02, 2011, 22:32:39
Interesting read,
Vermeullen writes " Anticipation, paralyzed and heavy from fear and fright, lack of will
power and muscles refuse to obey the will" with Gel. conditions come on slowly and
patient becomes weaker and weaker...a good earthquake prescription for ones stress due
to the many aftershocks. Thanks for this article
David Quinn
Posts: 4
Re:
Reply #2 on : Fri July 01, 2011, 09:24:28
Thanks, I'm glad you found it interesting. Yes, the woman who was helped with
Gelsemium here also had episodes of dizziness, which I did not mention, as she put it
down to the ground moving.
david
Sunny Goddard
Posts: 4
Re:
Reply #1 on : Fri July 01, 2011, 06:36:51
Interesting to read about this. Thanks for describing the fearful shock of Gelsemium. I
haven't used it in this context before, only fear or anxiety with the lethargy & aches (&
sometimes dizziness) so I'm glad to read these cases.
Write a comment
2011 July August
Three cases of Radium bromatum
by Resie Moonen
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CASE ONE
Mrs E., born in 1939, comes in
2005, because of vulvar lichen sclerosus, which was diagnosed by a dermatologist in
2003. She has a lot of symptoms, especially burning and itching of a white eruption on
her labiae. The burning is very intense, worse in bed, worse during the night, worse
during heat. She has had several corticosteroid ointments but none of them helped her;
the complaint has worsened after two years of this treatment.
Her gynaecologic anamneses shows that it was difficult for her to fall pregnant; she had
many strictures around her ovaries. She had one spontaneous pregnancy and is happy
with her daughter.
She is menopausal since she was 55 years. When she was 58, she once had a bleed;
she had a curettage but the gynaecologist could not find a cause for the bleed.
She is a warm-blooded, hard working woman. She has always had a lot of energy. She
worked together with her husband in their own store; long workdays but always full of
energy. Now, she still has a desire for sports but she finds it difficult, especially cycling
which is impossible because of the painful eruption. She wants to be on the move and
to do sport every day.
In 2003, her husband had a treatment for prostate gland carcinoma: the internal
radiation „seed‟ therapy. They shared the same bed during all the months of treatment
and it is during that period that the eruption started; first some itching, then intense
burning and itching with white discoloration and some stiffness of the labiae. On
examination, I observed the white, hard induration on the labiae and on the orifice of
the vagina.
Prescription: because of the causation of the eruption, the eruption itself, with the
burning and itching, and her energy, I decided to give her Radium bromatum 200K,
once a month.
Follow-up: after the remedy, the eruption was more active with more burning, but
then the symptoms diminished very quickly. After 2 months, the itching was gone and
the eruption reduced. After 5 months, the itching had stopped and the white spots were
almost gone.
After 10 months, the lichen sclerosis was cured: she has no more white spots, no
itching and burning, and she can ride her bicycle again, without complaints.
CASE TWO:
Mr. B., born in 1958, comes for consultation in 2006 for lichen sclerosus et atroficus of
his penis. He has white indurated spots, which are painful with itching, burning and
cracked skin. He has the impression that the skin is becoming smaller and shrunken; it
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is very painful after coition. He has the feeling his skin is being eaten up from the
inside.
He has had this problem for the past 3 years. It started after a series of medical for
abdominal pain. He had X-rays and several CT scans of the lower abdomen; the only
diagnosis given was irritable bowel syndrome. He has periods of severe cramping pains,
with rumbling and distension of the abdomen.
Mr. B is a hard working man; he has his own furniture shop and according his wife, he is
working night and day. He his a rather shy and timid person, and he feels guilty if he
takes free time for himself!
Prescription: because of the possible causation and the sclerotic eruption, I gave him
Radium Bromatum 12 K, once a day, 2 granules.
Follow-up: the itching and the eruption diminishes within 2 months. After 8 months,
there is no more problem and he rarely takes Radium bromatum 12K, only if there is
any itching. The abdominal problems are much better; there are no painful cramping
periods anymore. Since 2006, the lichen sclerosus has never returned.
CASE THREE:
Mss. M, born in 1958, consulted in 2008, because of Morfea - localised sclerodermia. It
started in 2005, first on her lower abdomen and later spread to her arms and legs. First,
she had a treatment with Metrotrexate for 3 months, but during that period the eruption
got worse. She then got corticosteroid ointments, without effect.
The eruption starts with a spot of red/ blue discoloration of the skin, which then grows:
the whole leg and arm becomes bluish-red. The eruption is painful and burning; it gives
the sensation of someone prickling with a needle and it feels glowing hot.The skin then
becomes indurated and hard, the hairs are falling out, and when the eruption remains
for some month,s it has a shining, hard, indurated appearance. More spots are still
appearing on her body, especially on the abdomen.
M. is a hard working woman, the mother of 3 children, who works as a nurse in a home
for elderly people. She is shy and timid, especially in big groups of people. When she
was younger, she even had a fear of being with strangers. She is very active: she bikes
to work and after her work she walks her dogs.
A year before the eruption started she had a lot of X-rays and CT scans for an ovarian
cyst. She also had a radio-active isotope examination.
Prescription: Radium bromatum 200K, once in 2 weeks.
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Follow-up: after 2 months, the skin has already improved; less stiff and indurated. The
stitching in the skin of her legs is gone, as well as the itching and burning. There is no
new spots developing. After 5 months, the existing spots are getting smaller and the
skin is getting smooth again, without itching and burning. No stitching pain anymore.
Now, after 2 years of treatment (last year, she took Radium bromatum MK once a
month), the spots are almost gone, as is the pain and the itching. The colour of the skin
is almost normal and the hair has started to regrow! The dermatologist told her the hair
would never grow again! Her energy is still good and her self esteem is much better.
Photos
Wikipedia: Lichen sclerosus
Dermis.net: Lichen sclerosus and atrophicus
Categories: Cases
Keywords: lichen sclerosus, hard-working, radiation therapy, X-rays, CT scans
Remedies: Radium bromatum
2011 July August
Prescribing combination mineral remedies; a case of
Natrum iodatum
by Mary Ellen Coulter
It is not unusual, even for experienced homeopaths, to have difficulty deciding between
several substances, when choosing a mineral remedy. Besides understanding the
individual elements, it is helpful to recognize the remedies that are a combination of 2,
or even, 3 elements. In addition to the properties of the individual elements, the
combination remedy will exhibit its own unique qualities. It is desirable to see several
symptoms that can identify the remedy as its own substance, separate from individual
components. A fairly common example is the remedy, Calcerea Phosphoricum, which
contains well-known aspects of Calcerea Carbonicum (desire for security and protection,
structural issues of bones, joints, and teeth, focus on work and responsibility) and
Phosphorous (desire for company and communication, fear of the dark and being alone,
respiratory symptoms, tendency to anxiety, sympathetic to others, desire for cold
drinks, excessive bleeding). While different aspects of each remedy may be present in
an individual, there are characteristics that are unique to the combination remedy,
Calcerea Phosphoricum (discontent, desire to travel, crave smoked meats, worse when
snow is melting, growing pains, headaches and stomachaches). The following case
demonstrates an instance where a combination remedy was more successful than one
made from a single mineral substance.
FK is a 28 year old female with multiple sclerosis. She is a slim, dark haired young
woman, who wears thick glasses and walks into the office with a noticeable limp. She
initially appears self-conscious as she describes her struggle with multiple sclerosis and
anxiety. FK relaxes slowly as she relates that she is an art teacher who loves to paint
abstract pictures. Recently, she moved to teach art at a local community college. This
triggered an anxiety disorder that originally began at age 15, when her mother died of
breast cancer. Her parents had already been divorced for several years. Her father, who
had remarried, told FK that her stepmother did not wish for her to stay with them and
FK went to live with her grandparents.
She felt abandoned, very alone, and consoled herself by painting. Expressing a desire to
be loved, she started doing drugs and drinking alcohol to overcome her social anxiety
and meet people. In her senior year in high school, FK was sent to a treatment program
for drug abuse. She mentions that before she received help, she was as close to death
as any living person could come. FK began having dizzy spells, blurred vision, and
increased anxiety. In addition, there was trouble with her balance, she felt hot, even
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though her symptoms were worse in the heat, and she desired being outside in fresh
air. With the anxiety, there was obsessive thinking, which she could not erase,
especially at night. Mostly these thoughts revolved around issues of security, the future,
and whether she could trust her new boyfriend. Her fear of abandonment was
tremendous and created insecurity that interfered with her ability to trust that anyone
would love her. She also had fear that she could not provide for herself. Despite being
very thin, FK reported a huge appetite and particularly craved sugar, which she would
eat right out of the bowl. She would dream that her boyfriend left her or cheated on
her. She also had dreams of floating through the air.
Key points of the case:
- grief from death of mother and abandonment by father
- insecurity in relationship and fear of being alone in life; dreamt boyfriend cheated on
her
- fear of providing for self,
- anxiety and insomnia with obsessive thinking
- Multiple Sclerosis; balance and vertigo as main symptoms
- HOT with a ravenous appetite, despite being very thin
- history of relatives surviving the Holocaust
Repertorization:
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1- MIND, Ailments from death of parent or friend- combined with
2- MIND, Fear of being alone
3- MIND, Delusion/Dream, floating in air
4- GENERALS, Heat, sensation of
5- GENERALS, sclerosis, multiple
6- STOMACH, Appetite, Ravenous, with emaciation
7- EXTREMITIES, Awkwardness- combined with
8- EXTREMITIES, dragging legs while walking
9- GENERALS, weakness, heat or heated, becoming.
10- EYE, Inflammation, optic nerve
I added a new rubric in the Complete 2009 Repertory: MIND, Fear alone, of solitude
Remedies considered from the analysis are Natrum Muriaticum, Phosphorous,
Causticum, and Argentum Nitricum. FK had taken Natrum Muriaticum in the past,
before she moved, which was initially helpful, but stopped acting. I wanted to choose a
remedy that included how hot she is, the ravenous appetite despite being so thin, and
obsessive thinking. The remedy Iodatum covers these features and according to Jan
Scolten, Natrum Iodatum has the feeling that they are alone in their fight for existence
and struggle for life.
Prescription: one dose of Natrium Iodatum 200c, followed by 6c daily, until symptoms
improved.
The remedy created a dramatic improvement in FK‟s mental and emotional symptoms;
the anxiety was much better, she was able to sleep without obsessive thoughts. She
and her boyfriend developed a wonderful relationship; they became engaged. She
developed the confidence to apply for a job teaching art at a larger university, with
tenure. Physically, the ocular symptoms, limp, and balance improved. There was a
relapse of all of the symptoms six months later, when she was applying for the new job,
which required making herself vulnerable in the application process and moving to a
new city. The remedy was repeated two more times in the 200c dose during this time,
at one-month intervals. She was accepted at the school of her choice and symptoms
once again improved. The last time I heard from her, six months after the move, she
was getting married and doing well in her new location.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Human Experiences, depression/loss of loved one; Baker131313
Categories: Cases
Keywords: Multiple sclerosis, grief from death of mother, anxiety, loneliness, insomnia,
obsessive thinking, HOT, ravenous appetite
Remedies: Natrium iodatum
2011 July August
Backtracking to go in a new direction; a case of
Amphisbaena vermicularis
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by Doug Brown
A young woman, B., who I had been treating with partial success since she was 13
years old, for dysmenorrhea, allergic rhinitis, and social anxiety, returned to me at the
age of 18 in March 2008. She was now married and 36 weeks pregnant. She told me
that she was upset, congested, and not happy about anything. Fortunately, this visit
provided me with the opportunity to perceive her state more deeply. These are her
words:
“I have a bad attitude. I‟m not happy about making myself beautiful, getting dressed in
the morning. I‟m angry at everything and I don‟t know why. I asked M. (my husband)
to stir the oatmeal, and he didn‟t use the spoon I had in mind. I‟m used to my routine
and am not willing to allow any variation. Something is off, wrong. It‟s not going like
normal.
“I find something wrong in everything, in little details that don‟t matter. I act superior,
as if I have a better method. I don‟t state my expectations and then I blame others,
even though it‟s my fault. I have to change in the middle, and figure out how to deal
with a different situation. I have difficulty dealing with change. I put so much into
planning; I always have to have a plan, otherwise I feel unprepared and then I don‟t
know what to do. It‟s a mental thing, getting my mind around an idea. I‟m not ready to
go in that direction. It‟s a struggle…how to let go of what I had in mind. I can‟t SWITCH
from one idea to another. There‟s a step-by-step thing I have to follow.
“I have to backtrack to go in a new direction. I have to go back and get rid of what I
had in mind. Then I can go in a new direction. It‟s a complex process. If I don‟t get rid
of what I had in mind…I‟m trying to keep….it‟s just not compatible. I feel stubborn. I
just don‟t want to let go. Switching is like a regrouping. There‟s a stop in the middle.
There‟s no smooth transition.
“I dreamt I was in charge of a woman who was working for me. I explained something
for her to do, and she didn‟t quite get it. It took a long time and I had to redo
everything she did. She was happy and positive but never managed to get things done
right. I was incredulous! How does she stay happy? She never gets it right!
“All my energy comes from everywhere, and goes to my abdomen. That makes me feel
weak. There‟s no energy anywhere else. I can‟t lift my hands, get up, and walk. The
energy is all in one spot.
“Some days, I‟m absolutely miserable, on other days I‟m fine. I go Back and Forth
(HG). It‟s like there‟s a choice, to go from one experience to the other.”
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Themes from
Previous Consultations:
Fear of outsiders coming in (wolves), fear of spiders
Wrong vs. right
Alone, left out
Successful, Superior vs. Insecurity
Not acting civilized
Singled out, persecuted
Analysis:
Although her rigidity and difficulty with change had previously led me to remedies from
the Mineral kingdom, I now understood that B. was experiencing a deep division within
herself, an inner conflict, which is an aspect of the Animal Kingdom. Also, the rigidity
she identifies is not an expression of a need for structure; rather, she says, it is the
byproduct of a “complex process”. She lives in a universe where success is equivalent to
having one‟s way in the trifling details of life, being part of the in-group and not being
excluded, being either the good, right person or alternatively being the one who is bad
and blamed. Her dream reflects the aspect of dominance vs. submission: she is in
charge of another person. But the division within is reflected in these two archetypes:
one who is ineffective but happy, the other who is dominant and effective, but
perpetually miserable.
The key to this case is her description of the “complex process” of changing direction. It
is as if these two archetypes are like two Beings, two sides of herself, who wish to go in
opposite directions. She cannot drop one idea for the other, because to drop an idea is
to submit one Being to the other.
A group of Animal remedies which includes themes of Right v. Wrong and In-group vs.
Excluded is the lizard family. The theme of persecution also is present in the snake
remedies. The Worm Lizards, Family Amphisbaenidae, look like huge earthworms, and
their way of moving, either backward or forward, suggests the action of one. Amphis,
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from the Greek, means on or both sides. Baino means „step go‟. Thus Amphisbaena
means going at both ends by steps. The Liddell and Scott Lexicon translates
Amphisbaino as a “kind of serpent that can go both ways.” Indeed, they have been seen
to travel in both directions in their subterranean tunnels, moving both forwards and
backwards. Locally, they are often called “two-headed snakes” (From Natural History of
Animals, in Reference Works, KHA). The best-known rubric for this remedy, “Delusions:
body, feet, brain, are in, with headache”, beautifully reflects this confusion of which part
of the body leads the way: which is up, or which is down?
Prescription: Amphisbaena 200C, with a daily dose of Sac lac.
Follow-ups:
Four months later, in April 2008, she told me that her labor had lasted only 3 hours,
and that her recovery exceeded all expectations. “I was never in pain, or too upset or
concerned. I was able to stay really relaxed. I‟ve been happy, never angry or upset. Not
having a routine doesn‟t bother me at all. I feel productive and happy. Although I‟m
mostly alone (with my baby), I‟m happy and doing my own thing. I can‟t believe that
I‟m ME, the way I‟ve dealt with the past few weeks. It seems like there‟s nothing
wrong” (said incredulously).
B. has continued to stay in touch and to do well since then. In Feb. 2010 a 200C was
repeated because of a recurrence of some allergy symptoms. In June of that year, I
gave her a 1M when she experienced a partial relapse during her second pregnancy,
with excellent response.
Conclusion:
Lizard remedies are not so well known and easily missed. This, perhaps, is a reflection
of their propensity for camouflage and hiding in our natural world. It took me five years
and many remedies to find this patient‟s simillimum but the results since then have
been unequivocally positive. The key to uncovering the remedy was, as usual, an
attentiveness to the process and experience behind the facts, the story, and the
emotions. Only when we simultaneously grasp both the Whole and the Center can we
open the doorway for healing consciousness in our patients.
How do any of us choose our direction? How do we decide whether to attune ourselves
to one thought, goal, or impulse, versus competing ideas? The sphere of consciousness
of Amphisbeana seems to encompass one way in which this process can become mired
in a dualistic struggle reminiscent of Hegel‟s Thesis vs. Antithesis, but from which no
Synthesis can arise. Prior to receiving the curative remedy, B.‟s life was essentially a
living expression of this question. Once the simillimum was correctly perceived, she was
free to live out a satisfying answer to this question.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons
Image of two Iberian worm lizards (Blanus cinereus) in a garden near Seville, Spain;
Richard Avery
Wall lizard in the Donnersbergerbrücke Station in Munich; Np Holmes
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Categories: Cases
Keywords: going back and forth at once, right versus wrong, in-group versus excluded,
dominance versus submission
Remedies: Amphisbaena vermicularis
Tell-a-Friend
Comments:
Sonam Kushner
Posts: 3
Re:
Reply #3 on : Tue July 12, 2011, 20:27:41
Great case, Doug- beautifully perceived, and written.
Alzie Timmerman
Posts: 3
lizards
Reply #2 on : Fri July 01, 2011, 09:35:08
Dear Doug,
I can totally confirm the picture of the lizard.
It is well written, and well communicated.
Thank you from La Croix Valmer France, where they are nice lizards living
close by....
Alize
Last Edit: July 01, 2011, 21:19:08 by mache
Dr.Urvi Chauhan
Posts: 3
after reading your case
Reply #1 on : Fri July 01, 2011, 08:07:57
Hi Doug,
It was a pleasure to read your case. What touched me specifically was the
openness to be in perceiving mode and offer your 100% as a physician to
your patient every time she approached you. The faith in our
homoeopathic system which is so wide, deep and vast like an ocean was
perceivable. I have also experienced with my many cases where the
perfect simillimum surfaced sometimes after months and sometimes after
years - but patient's faith in me and homoeopathy and my faith in the
system and determination to help my patient heal has been of great help
so far.
Today is Doctor's day and I wish you the same for being a good healer for
your patients.
2011 July August
The disturbing stone; the hidden pain of sexual abuse
by Derek Hennessy
Imagine a still blue lake on a calm day; a light breeze is blowing and the birds are
merrily chirping away in the nearby trees. It‟s an ordinary day in the lifetime of this
lake, with the slight ebb and flow of water on its shore; nature is just taking its course.
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After a while, someone is noticed standing nearby on the shore. He has been on the
shore before, quietly and unobtrusively walking along. This time is different though; he
picks up a stone and throws it into the lake. It lands in the middle of the lake, sinking
fast into the waters. It has all happened so fast that all that is noticed are the ripples on
the water‟s surface. Soon the water will be calm again - to someone who wasn‟t there
when that stone was thrown, it might have never happened. It will look like that stone
never entered the surface of that lake, but underneath, the stone will be there for a
long, long time. Whenever there is a storm, it will be moved along the bed of the lake,
stirring things up.
Now imagine a child, boy or girl, it doesn‟t matter, going about their business, as
children do, maybe playing make-believe shop or scoring the winning goal for „their
team‟ in the Champions League Final. They have no idea how long they have been out
playing, but it can‟t be long because Mummy always calls them in if they are out too
long. They notice someone standing nearby, watching them, they have seen him before
but don‟t know his name. Daddy knows his name though, they went to see a football
match with him one day, and on the way home he bought the child a packet of sweets,
and Daddy said he was a nice man for being so kind. The man comes over to the child
and chats for a while. He gives the child a reason for the child to go with him and the
child does so. The child has been told not to go with strangers, but this man isn‟t a
stranger, he knows Daddy. What happens next is going to impact that child‟s life
forever; the man sexually abuses the child.
The child is the lake, the paedophile is the stranger on the shore and the abuse is the
stone sitting on the lake bed, or in this case, is sitting in the child‟s soul, forever. Every
so often as the child grows, he/she will realise that something is wrong. He may or may
not remember what happened that afternoon. It may be years later when he has a
flashback to what happened that day. It may have only happened once, or it may have
gone on for years. The paedophile may have convinced the child to keep what happened
a secret, or the child may have gone home and told his parents straight away.
No matter what, that stone now lies at the bottom of that child‟s soul and it‟s going to
cause some very difficult days ahead for them. As the child grows older and matures,
the effects of the abuse will come to the surface. Every survivor of sexual abuse will be
affected differently, but there is a usually anger, hate, denial, suppression, shock, grief
and secrecy. The emotions that the victim goes through vary from one survivor to
another but numbness, disbelief, anxiety, humiliation, embarrassment and shame are
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just some that will feature in a survivor‟s healing. Each of these emotions is one ripple
that was on the surface of the lake when the stone entered the water.
There are Rape Crisis Centres all over the world. At the centre in Sligo, North-West
Ireland, it is stated “the pain of being sexually abused can be carried into adulthood in
different ways. It can affect self-esteem, self-confidence and the ability to trust others.
Often survivors feel they do not deserve to be loved or to be happy. Feelings of
„badness‟ or „self-blame‟ may lead to abusive relationships or over-reliance on
substances such as alcohol or drugs, to dull the pain. Often adults who have been
abused have nightmares, or memories in the form of flashbacks. Many just want to get
on with their lives and put the past behind them. Often life events such as a new
relationship, having a baby, the death of a loved one or reports of sexual abuse in the
media may trigger painful emotions and memories of past abuse”.
Rape Crisis Networks are groups that all homeopaths should be aware of and be
prepared to refer their clients to the counsellors there, who have specific training in the
area of abuse and can be a major benefit to survivors.
Lack of trust can be a major hurdle for a survivor to overcome, impacting on many
areas of their life, especially their relationships. Who can they tell? How do they tell
them? Will they be believed? Will that person tell someone else? Finding that one
person who they can tell and trust is a huge undertaking for the survivor, because they
have no idea how that person will react.
The loss of trust in intimate relationships can be lost, which can be very painful. The
experience can cause promiscuity or prevent the person from becoming close to
anyone. The memories & confusion of the abuse can be so painful that avoiding any
intimacy can feel easier than attempting to deal with memories resurfacing from their
past. These feelings can lead to the breakdown of relationships, causing the survivor to
question why they have intimacy problems and can‟t stay in a relationship; they may
even question their sexuality.
It is a vicious circle for survivors, who really struggle with the vast number of ways that
the abuse has affected their lives. The „lucky‟ ones are those who have realised that the
abuse has happened and that it is affecting them. The struggle for the survivor who
hasn‟t realised that yet, is difficult. They are like that lake of water that is choppy and
uncomfortable, grey in colour, uninviting to others, with a disturbing stone sitting in its
depths stirring up unwanted silt and dirt.
As homoeopaths, we are privileged to know that one of these survivors may at any time
pick up the phone and ring us for an appointment. They may or may not know what the
issue is with their health, but during the case taking process, they may divulge a secret
that has been laying in their soul for a long time, perhaps for years, and the
homoeopath may become the first person, apart from the paedophile, who knows of the
abuse. This is a privileged position for the homoeopath to be in as they have the case-
taking skills, the time, and most of all the remedies at their disposal to be able to start
the healing process for the client.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Typical rocky shores of Lake Saimaa, Finland; Petritap
Categories: General
Keywords: sexual abuse, homeopathy,
Remedies:
Comments:
Monika Gruehn
Posts: 3
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The Trauma of Sexual Abuse
Reply #2 on : Sun July 03, 2011, 07:53:12
Thank you very much, Derek, for approaching this “taboo theme“. Even
among us homeopaths it is not as much considered as should be and many
patients would not tell about a former sexual abuse in a usual first
interview or in follow ups. As a rule, it takes them quite a while to find
enough confidence to a homeopath, psychotherapist or whoever, to be
able to tell about it. Also, there are persons who would tell that only to a
therapist of the same sex. So we do not even know of many of the cases
of sexual abuse. However, to my experience at a rehab centre for
psychosomatic disorders, it is much more common than is expected, and is
often done by close relatives, and sometimes over years, and it seems to
occur in every culture. – As to rape, the number of those suffering from
Post traumatic stress disorder is very high. A professional trauma therapy
is then indicated.
In homeopathy, we may be successful with the remedies listed in the
rubric “ailments from sexual abuse”, but there are certainly more remedies
that may be helpful. Not only would I put the nightshades (Belladonna,
Hyoscyamus, Stramonium) in the third grade, but I think that also
Cantharis and others would be useful. Also, the very experienced
homeopath Peter Chappell developed remedies for various kinds of trauma
(see the website of the Amma Resonance Healing Foundation
www.ARHF.nl), and I have already seen some lovely results with them,
even in a case of extreme trauma.
May your article open up the field for further discussion.
2011 July August
Hospital will be the end of me; a case of Staphylotoxinum
by Katharina Riedener
A. a 53 year old woman came in September
2009, presenting with a large fist-sized ganglion in her left hip. Her color preference is
white C20/21: “I love white, the colour of spring and new growth.”
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A: “I don‟t want to go anywhere near surgery, that would be the end of me. I had a
tonsillectomy when I was 12 and I almost died; I haemorrhaged and I also had a
staphylococcus infection (osteomyelitis) of the left femur which killed the bone marrow.
I had extremely high fever for 3-4 weeks, 106 degrees Farenheit. I was in and out of
consciousness; they told my parents that if I survived I would be a vegetable, but I
surprised them. None of the medications were working; I heard them say that they
wanted to do a bone marrow transplant and I told them that I wasn‟t going to let them
do it: that night my fever broke. I could never donate blood because I was on such
strong antibiotics.
“I feel that if I have to have another surgery I will not survive it. When I had my babies
I didn‟t want to go to the hospital because I was afraid I wouldn‟t come out alive.
Chemical narcotics don‟t work for me: I woke up during the tonsillectomy, I was walking
off the table. When I have dental work done they have to over-anaesthetize me
because my metabolism works too fast. I was on strong morphine for a long time and it
would only last 20 minutes! I don‟t like being out of control, I am a control freak. I am
pig-headed and I have an A type personality.
“If I would die I would go to heaven. When I was 12 I had an out-of-body experience: I
walked with Jesus and I asked him why I was still here, since I had tried to die three
times. His answer was that it was not my time yet.”
Medical history:
“I had encephalitis about 25 years ago, out of the blue with no prior illness. I was
sleeping on a cot and I suppose it could have been from an insect bite. I had high fever
and couldn‟t move my neck. I was given another heavy load of antibiotics and
recovered fully.
“I had another brain infection in 1997; the nerves in my face and head were not
working well, I couldn‟t see, and I had unbearable pain so I was in and out of hospital.
It turned out that it was an infection of the trigeminal nerve originating from a tooth
infection. I was given Demerol and Morphine but the effects would only last 20 minutes;
they used to give me injections into the left cheek, hitting the trigeminal nerve. I also
lost the feeling in my right arm. The doctors were going to do surgery to sever the
major nerves of my face.
“I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis at 18 and was put on a strong medication that
burned a hole in my stomach; that‟s when I started to search for natural therapies. I
also have restlesss leg syndrome. I have calcium deposits on my bones and teeth, and
some of my vertebrae are fused (L7 and L8) so I can‟t bend my back easily.”
Fears:
“I have a fear of dying in hospital. I have some claustrophobia, which is extreme in tight
spaces where one has no control: I want to be in control of myself.”
Food:
“I love fish and chicken and occasionally I will have red meat. I have stopped eating
sugar, and I don‟t usually have white flour. I have always watched what I ate and I‟ve
never been a big drinker. I have never been drunk in my life, that will never happen;
it‟s control thing, I would feel sick if I was drunk.”
Pain:
“Stabbing pain goes from my lumbar area all the way down the leg, first the right leg,
then the left. The pain goes to the side of the weakness. I have pain my my left groin
where the muscles are attached to the bone. Lateral movement is terribly painful and
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rotating movements are not good. At first I thought I had a vein problem or an inguinal
hernia. My femur muscles are trying to pull the muscles off my knee cap for two years
now. It reminds me of when I had Osteomyelitis. Before that I was asymptomatic! I
want to be able to walk and run, it is killing me to not be able to do my usual activity.
My hip is becoming progressively worse. I get some relief from a chiropractor, who says
that the problem is the muscles these days and not the bones – he says that my
muscles are tighter than a ball.”
Sleep and dreams:
“If I am in a lot of pain I cannot sleep. The only dream that I remember is of falling
from something, but I never land.”
Temperature:
“I have always been cold from the inside out, like an ice cube. I just can‟t handle being
cold. My whole body becomes so cold that I freeze my husband out of bed. I love the
sun, I am a sun worshipper.”
Initial Prescription: Opium LM 5
Follow-ups:
April 2010: Color preference: 21C, 17C
“Last night, I was in excruciating pain from my hip down the left side after spending so
much time in an airplane. The altitude bothers me if I am flying in a smaller plane. I
have shin splints above my ankle, and I needed to put my feet up to get the blood
circulating.
These growths continue to increase; they are growing into my abdomen now. They have
been diagnosed as ganglions, 2 anterior, 1 posterior. I need to keep moving, but that is
contraindicated if you have growths. There is more restriction, so movements cause
pain.
The feelings remind me of when I was 12 years old and I had what was supposed to be
a simple tonsillectomy but I had a haemorrhage and encephalitis. I wasn‟t supposed to
live after that, and I was supposed to be a mental vegetable. The nurses had given up
on me and my brother came in to give me baths. I had a high fever for three weeks and
most of my hair fell out. Even the antibiotics and the morphine shots didn‟t work, that‟s
why I don‟t take drugs since they just mask your symptoms.”
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At this point, it was clear to me that
the growths had to do with the Stapylococcus aureus infection after her tonsillectomy
(encephalitis). I looked up Vermeulen‟s „Monera‟ which lead me to the remedy
Staphylotoxinum, which has the symptom: “Haemorrhage, blood non-coagulable”.
Staphylococcus aureus produces an alpha toxin with haemolytic properties and necrosis
of the skin.
Prescription: Staphylotoxinum 12 CH daily
June 2010:
“I have been taking the remedy for about one week now and I feel so much better,
stronger and happier! I have less pain and I think the tumours are shrinking.”
July 2010:
“I continue to feel better. The masses have become more solid but they are smaller
now; before that I could feel them growing. I have been sleeping better and have not
needed to take any pain medication. I can walk my dog again, whereas I couldn‟t
because of the pain in the past. I have days where I feel wired and jittery from having
too much coffee, and from my menstrual cycle, but my restless legs are pretty good. My
energy is good and I‟m not dragging myself around anymore. This is the best treatment
I‟ve had so far.”
September 2010:
“I am so impressed – the lumps have shrunk more than 75% - I might even get my
legs back!”
November 2010:
Improvement continues and there is no more pain in her hip. She has not had another
dose of the remedy since October 201
March 2011:
A. is back to doing normal activities including yoga with no pain or discomfort other
than the feeling that one hip is not as strong as the other. No further doses of the
remedy have been given.
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Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Blossoming trees at Commonwealth Place, Canberra; dion gillard
Staphylococcus aureus; CDC / Provider: Don Stalons