cases

[Joy Lucas]

Dear All, for those of you interested in doing some case work here is a
cured case (with the Rx omitted) which you may feel free to comment on and
guess the remedy (supported by rubrics, repertorisation and Materia Medica
work if you can). Hope you find this interesting. Best wishes, Joy Lucas
RSHom.
Male, 49, presented with typical symptoms of M.E. + a host of other physical
symptoms
Appearance and observations = tall, thin, slightly greying hair, extremely
quietly spoken, smart casual dressed.

Everything started 6 months previous

Spoke first about his sinus problems - dull ache, not eating meat, bowels generally normal.

Also prostatitis which began in 1989, some burning, sharp pain sometimes,
had UTI in 1975 with a lot of itching around genitals, no discharge, H/O
a/b, DX with enlarged prostate.

Memory is bad all the time, feels confused and numb, so tired
NBWS shingles after death of father 5 years earlier, there was a lot of
grief (he wept at this point), then his mother died, he caught everything
going - minor things but a slow decline.

On careful questioning the problems actually started much earlier. As a
child he was always "thumped", became frightened of people, very timid and
had no confidence, felt physically weak even then.

Tried to hide all his Sx, frightened about what people might think "they
mustn't find out".

Hasn't worked for a long time, got too tired to cope with it all, <<< stress
of any kind, weak on all levels, he was in a no win situation and told he
was no good at his job, "I was kicked from behind and squashed from above",
realised he just couldn't do the job, felt lonely, can't make decisions
"assume I will be wrong", can't take responsibility, feels lost, drinks to
keep going (could be addictive)

Calls himself a perfectionist, fussy over things "things have to be right,
look right". "I don't allow myself to make mistakes"

Gets tired with too much information, can't process - short span, never
coped well with pressure. "I have no social graces, I am shy and really
introverted", behaves to suit others.

Has no temper??? fears it could get out of hand, father had a violent
temper.

At this point I let the conversation rest and while I was writing some notes
I looked to find he had his head in his hands and was looking at me from
behind his fingers - this happened twice more throughout the case taking.

Appetite not good, no real desires or aversions, + coffee, cheese, salt.
Used to be a heavy smoker, has now given up.

Sleeps a lot because he is always tired but it is not quality sleep, can't
remember dreams.

H/O warts, many years ago mainly on fingers
gets cysts on ear lobes which sometimes get infected with yellow discharge.
Rx.....................

One week later he phones to tell me about a skin eruption, left armpit, he
has had this before, it appears to be travelling down his arm. After taking
the Rx he slept for 2 days, "felt dreadful, wasn't sure if I was ever going
to wake up" His wife told him he had been talking a lot in his sleep.

Another week and he phones to say the eruption is now round his ankles,
prickly and very itchy but he can tolerate it. Still very tired but has
taken to reading a lot while he is resting. Since the remedy he wakes early
in the morning 5 am. Feels on edge and nervy because the numbness has gone.
"I feel as if I have been taken apart and not quite put back properly."

Action?.................

He had promised to phone me in 2 weeks (or before if necessary) but it was 2
months later when he phoned for an appointment. He had been on holiday and
had a good time but had a badly infected throat, lived on liquids for 3
days. There was no holding on head in hands and he was speaking with much
more confidence and louder. The skin eruption had disappeared without
trouble. The only current Sx was a discharge from the nose in the morning,
thick and yellow. He had also applied for a job and was awaiting interview
date.

Action?..................

He now phones occasionally to let me know how he is getting on.

Hope you find this useful and I look forward to your thoughts.
Best wishes, Joy Lucas RSHom

[Rosemary Hyde]

Thanks, Joy.

My repertorizations kept coming up very strongly with calc, nat-m, sil.
Definitely a mineral. I checked on the various acids, because of his
overwhelming lassitude and weariness. Neither phos-ac nor pic-ac fit the
case especially well outside of the lassitude. Ars might correspond to his
chilliness and fatigue, but not to his shyness. With the timidity from
childhood I thought of Bar-carb. Again, not a really good fit, although
there are some resonances, more from the carb than the baryta. I thought
also of con (but not likely since his troubles dated from childhood), or
nat-s (with the yellow thick discharge, the hydrognoid aggravation of
symptoms, sinusitis, sycotic symptoms). However, it wasn't a really tight
fit. I looked at nat-carb as well, but he doesn't have the mental symptoms
of nat-c. Silica really resonated, but still it wasn't a total fit. I
needed to find a remedy that is hydrogenoid, sycotic, extremely timid,
fearful, exhausted. So then I read up on nat-sil and calc-sil. Calc-sil
fits really closely to this case. Here are some rubrics:
MIND - FEAR - work; of
MIND - TIMIDITY
MIND - WILL - loss of will power
MIND - YIELDING disposition
NOSE - PAIN - Root
MOUTH - TASTE - metallic
MOUTH - ULCERS - inflamed
MOUTH - APHTHAE
ABDOMEN - HARD
PROSTATE GLAND - PAIN - soreness
MALE GENITALIA/SEX - ITCHING - Scrotum
EXTREMITIES - WARTS - Hand
GENERALS - SWELLING - Glands; of
GENERALS - WEARINESS
MIND - FRIGHTENED easily
MIND - IRRITABILITY - trifles, from
MIND - AILMENTS FROM - reproaches
MIND - PROSTRATION of mind
SLEEP - UNREFRESHING

about the discharges generally being thick and yellow-green, about the focus
on catarrhs, the swelling and hardening of glands, the symptoms being worse
after eating and in cold-damp weather. He also says:

"Wants many things and soon tires of them; desires the unobtainable; nothing
suits and he is very critical.
- Inability to concentrate the mind on what he is reading or listening to.
- He has lost all confidence in himself.
- Confusion of mind in the morning on waking and in the evening, after
eating, after mental exertion and while sitting"

This seems to me to describe one of this person's most salient traits, his
total lack of confidence in his ability to do anything right, his confusion,
his phobia about making mistakes, and his self-criticality. Kent also
mentions that the calc-sil patient fears work and is "utterly ambitionless."

Scholten discusses the Calc-sil patient's sensitivity to what others think.
Also that the patient feels observed and fears criticism. In addition, the
calc-sil patient,a ccording to Scholten, bases his whole self-image on his
family, which would explain the huge impact that the deaths of the mother
and father had had on this patient. In "Homeopathy and the Elements,
Scholten says:

"They are very unsure about their image, afraid of appearing too weak. They
feel vulnerable and are afraid that the people in the village will harm them
with their criticism. They tend to adapt their behaviour to that of the
current values. They are afraid that people will think that they can't
handle their own business, that they are not in control or that they do
things that are considered improper. " He lists both loss of parents and
criticism as causes for Calc-sil ailments.

I don't know if this was the curative remedy, but it seems to me a good
candidate to consider, in any case, with an essence that corresponds closely
to the essential nature of this patient, and a close correspondence of
symptoms between the remedy and the patient in terms of location,
modalities, sensations, and concomitants.

Rosemary C. Hyde, Ph.D.

[Joy Lucas]

Dear Rosemary, Unfortunately this is not the right remedy but what great
work and presentation of the remedy Calc.sil. You are coming close and I
will email you privately to let you know the Rx used. Thanks for your
contribution. Best wishes, Joy
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[Joy Lucas]

Dear Rosemary and Sue and anyone interested in the cases, here is the
analysis of the cured case I presented.

The remedy was BARYTA CARB.

As I was taking this person's case I began thinking about Lyc. Tall, thin,
early grey hair, intelligent, very timid (cowardly, couldn't stand up for
himself), conscientious, hernia etc. But the moment I saw him with his head
in his hands and was peeping at me behind his fingers the remedy fell into
place.

With this peeping and the theme of being "kicked from behind and from above"
and being thumped comes the idea of being, what the materica medicas call,
'dwarfed' - not my word but it serves the purpose of being 'reduced' until
there is no self worth left. We know very well that Baryta Carb has a marked
influence on the GROWTH of children.

Anyway, the picture of Baryta Carb:- Dull and apathetic, enlarged glands
especially tonsils, cervical and prostate. There is extreme weariness and a
constant inclination to sit down. Sense of stiffness and numbness. Always
getting colds with swollen tonsils.

There is a sensation of being forced through a narrow space (birth canal?)
or, in this case, this person was being forced through a workplace and job
he was told he couldn't do - no space to expand or grow.

They are very timid and cowardly ( a child will often refuse to speak at
all). They have bad memories, become mistrustful of people because they
believe they are making fun of them and laughing at them behind their backs.
"Hides behind furniture and keeps the hands over the face, peeping out
through the fingers" (Phatak).

Glands around the ears painful, eruptions on lobes of ears. Discharge of
thick yellow mucous from nose (had this after taking the Rx). Vesicles and
ulcers in mouth especially inside of cheek and on tip of the tongue - even
the mouth feels numb. Hungry but refuses food, emaciates, sore spots in
stomach, dyspepsia, averse to sweet things and fruit. Abdomen hard and tense
(he thought he had a hernia).

Lots of feelings of numbness - no feelings? part of the reduction?

Warts on the skin. Talks in sleep (interesting that he did this after taking
the remedy).

> when alone.

This is a brief picture pertaining to the case, there are obviously many
other aspects to this remedy.

I hope you found this interesting and if there is anyone else who would like
to present a cured case, please do so.

Best wishes, Joy Lucas RSHom

[Rosemary Hyde]

Thanks, Joy. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. I hadn't ever read
Phatak on Bar-c, so the peeking between fingers was a new one for me. It's
certainly a strong iimage.

Rosemary C. Hyde, Ph.D.

[Donna Earnest]

Joy,
I just want to thank you for putting the cases out there. Although I do
not respond to them I do follow them. I am currently so swamped with other
studies I can only follow them at this point. Thank you for your time you
put into this.
Donna