Odd reaction!

[Shannon Nelson]

I would love to hear thoughts about what this means:

The pt had been using nat-ars 6x, with good effect on a couple of
specific symptoms (itch of unknown cause, sore muscles, and chronic
insomnia), but I wanted a deeper action and (maybe rashly) decided to
have him try a different remedy, rather than first raising the potency.
So he started with merc 6c. The results were puzzling!

First, the itch, which had disappeared months before, suddenly returned
with a vengeance. I told him to be patient with that, because
*sometimes* moving to a deeper acting remedy will cause insufficiently
resolved old sxs to resurface again briefly. So he agreed to be
patient with that, but a few days later he realized that his sleep
during that past week had been worse than it had ever been, or at least
in a very long time; he said that for about the past week he had had no
more than 3-4 hours sleep for most nights! And on a couple of nights
never did get to sleep at all. I didn't see how *that* could be any
sort of healing response, so at that point I agreed it seemed best to
stop the remedy.

He went back to the prior rx for the itching, for which it was again
effective, and his sleep settled back to a more normal level of
not-great-but-bearable.

Why would the merc have brought back the itching, and worsened the
insomnia--any thoughts??
Thanks,
Shannon

[Joy Lucas]

Dear Shannon, you don't say which Merc but either it is naturally
incompatible to the Natrum ars (the arsenicum part especially) or your
client was very sensitive to the Merc and was doing a mini proving or
the introduction of ANY new and different rx just interrupted what
could be a healing process. Best wishes, Joy

http://www.homeopathicmateriamedica.com
http://www.homeopathicmateriamedica.blogspot.com
http://homepage.mac.com/joylucas/
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[Luise Kunkle]

Hi Shannon,

a homeopathic aggrevation?

Regards

Luise
--
One thought to all who, free from doubt,
So definitely know what's true:
2 and 2 is 22 -
and 2 times 2 is 2:-)
==========> ICQ yinyang 96391801 <==========

[Shannon Nelson]

Thanks Joy, it was merc vivus. I don't find that information about it
being incompatible--where do you find it? I don't think that
"interruption" was the issue, as it had been quite some time since his
last dose of nat-ars, and things appeared to be very much plateaued...
Thanks,
Shannon
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[Rosemary C. Hyde, Ph.D.]

Hi, Shannon. Did you have strong reasons to prescribe Merc -- things that
made you quite sure this was the correct remedy? The disturbance in sleep,
particularly, but the unbearable return of itching also -- the way it
returned -- makes me think that Merc might have been close enough to the
Simillimum for the patient to respond to it, but not right on in a way that
harmonizes the vital force. A return of old symptoms as part of a healing
process would more likely have been accompanied with a deep sense of better
energy with the right remedy.

Since he was responding well to the Nat-ar, would it make sense to try a
higher potency? 6x really is not a potency at which you would expect
durable or deep results.

Otherwise, it would make sense to look carefully at the remedies that work
well following Nat-ar. There's not a lot of information, but Rehmen
suggests Sep, Stann, Apis, Ars (2), Arum-t, Hydr, Kali-bi, Kali-c, Lyc,
Nat-c, and Nat-m(2) as related remedies. Merc is an antidote to Ars, as Joy
implies... kind of makes Ars stand out in that list of possibilities.

Good luck! Rosemary

[Joy Lucas]

Not specifically incompatible, just a thought - the arsenicum component
is very likened to many of the mercs and that is why I thought about
that

the fact that you say a plateau had occurred then even more so an
introduction of another rx can provide a result that is disconcerting
but acts as a way of bringing you back to baseline, as if to say merc
viv isn't the rx but it stirred things up due to a sensitivity that
isn't a curing one

plateaus are tantalising and are a fine line between becoming impatient
and yet also waiting too long. best wishes, Joy

http://www.homeopathicmateriamedica.com
http://www.homeopathicmateriamedica.blogspot.com
http://homepage.mac.com/joylucas/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/provings

[Shannon Nelson]

I guess, since the disruption went beyond merely canceling out the good
effects of the prior remedy; after merc the sleep was even *worse* than
it had been before. So I guess I'd have to call it a proving. But why
would he start proving from his first dose of 6c? Was it "too low" and
higher might act better, or ?? He's had various remedies over a
period of quite a few years, and has never proved anything before.
Shannon
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[Joy Lucas]

"why would he start proving after his first dose of 6c" - some of the
best provers in the world start having sx after a single dose of 6c or
??? (send him to me I could do more provers like that )

but a true homeopathic aggravation, i.e. the work of the simillimum is
so different from a proving that brings no cures - it is possible that
the Merc touched a response with a potential syphilitic miasmatic
influence and natrum ars will have that influence (borderline
tubercular). best wishes, Joy

http://www.homeopathicmateriamedica.com
http://www.homeopathicmateriamedica.blogspot.com
http://homepage.mac.com/joylucas/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/provings

[Shannon Nelson]

Well--we're giving nat-ars another run, so we'll see!
Thanks for the thoughts,
Shannon
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