online case SM/Feb.03

[Joy Lucas]

Deer All, as we have 3 cases this month I am sending this one out now from
Suzanne. Hope you can find the time to give it some thought. As always
please share your ideas with the group as a whole. Best wishes, Joy Lucas.
Case number 020776

Female
age 25 years
Non-smoker
very pale, blond with several face piercing.
Accompanied at the consultation by her father.
Last year diagnosed with chronic daily headaches.
I feel out of control, I can't cope anymore.
My partner has had to give up work to look after the children, we are now
receiving sickness benefit.

Headaches - constant pressure both sides of the head, occasionally down the
neck.
for starving myself for 2-3 days
will do it if I have to go out i.e. school parents evening.
No nausea or vomiting.
Tried elimination diets and have not found any triggers. I have been
advised to cut out chocolate, cheese and caffeine which I do but to no
benefit.
Pain is since stopped smoking 3 years ago. I take the ventolin daily as
I have read that Ibuprofen can make the asthma
GP does not know about self harm, he intimidates me makes me want to cry.

I hate being on my own in the bedroom. It feel like I am in a prison.
I feel as though I want to die - nothing makes me feel >
Have had thoughts of suicide but I haven't the bottle.
I don't want to die because when the pain is not there my life is perfect.

I have tried alcohol with the codeine to see if that would help. I don't
like the alcohol.
With all the medication I felt stoned all the time.

Body Temperature - I am cold all the time.
No sweat except the night sweats.

Watches TV to relax - but with the sound turned down very low.

Partner has left his job to look after the kids.
He doesn't like being at home I feel he resents me now. He is accepting of
the situation but I feel that I should be looking after the children and he
should be out working - he is doing my job.

Fears/anxieties - none apart from being paranoid that the kids will die.
Normal money worries especially now we are on sickness benefit.

Weather - not affected by it.
Like the sun

As a teenager picked on all the time at school it was horrible. Other
children were cruel.
Was underweight and pale.
Hated school, used to go feel could have done better at school.
Ok at college.
Only child, few close friends since school.
Socialised before the children and when first was a baby before the
headaches were daily.

Would not eat as a child age 3-4.

Strong willed.
When I can I run the house. Every thing is tidy and has its own place at
home.

When the headaches are not there I am 100% happy, at peace. I am suppose to
be there looking after the home and my kids.

Anti-depressants are for the headaches not depression - I have never been
depressed.

Family history - Fathers side: heart disease, cancer, TB, arthritis
Mums side
I am not sure that Nux vom is the right remedy and would just like anyones
ideas or thoughts on the case.

[Soroush Ebrahimi]

I think it would be correct to regard this as a 'one-sided' case. The head
pain in this woman's life is so dominating it is driving her to contemplate
suicide.

I have taken the following rubrics:
HEAD - PAIN - pressing - Sides
HEAD - PAIN - sitting - amel.
HEAD - PAIN - odors - strong - from
HEAD - PAIN - darkness - amel.
HEAD - PAIN - pressure, external - agg.
GENERALS - FOOD and DRINKS - eggs - aversion
STOMACH - APPETITE - increased - headache - with
STOMACH - APPETITE - ravenous
STOMACH - THIRSTLESS
MIND - COMPANY - desire for
MIND - SUICIDAL disposition - courage, but lacks
GENERALS - HEAT - lack of vital heat
MIND - FEAR - poverty, of
MIND - OBSTINATE, headstrong
MIND - SENSITIVE - noise, to
Sulphur is the prime remedy indicated (followed by Phos)
Bell is also number three and of course Bell is acute of Sulph!

I would prescribe Sulph LM01, one dose and wait.
Repeat only if there was no reaction, or there was improvement and then back
to headache.

10 succussions between each dose.

Good luck
Soroush
Good luck

[Joy Lucas]

Dear Suzanne, here are some notes re: your case.

On the surface it would seem that Nux Vomica covers much of this case, and
also it perhaps is a good idea, or at least one choice, of starting a case
that has so much allopathic drug use in it. Nux Vom, like Sulphur can be
used in this way to de-tox the liver and can allow another picture to emerge
- if there is one. COFFEA comes to mind and would be worth reading up.

Getting to the bones of the case:-

1) Would not eat as a child 3/4 years old

2) Headaches began at 9 years old

3) Nightmares

4) Endometriosis

5) Opiate addiction

6) Haemorrhages

7) Tendency to self harm and feelings of despair, collapse and suicide

8) Aged 25 she arrives for a consult with her father!!!

Now working backwards:-

When someone this age arrives with a parent I would immediately be alerted
to something, not knowing what at this stage. Why did she bring her father?
Whose idea was it. Of course it might be completely innocent but you must
speak with this client alone at some point if you want to have the full,
unhindered case. Having said that, once a parent is with a client you might
as well make use of the situation and find out some history that the client
cannot remember about - in this instance you need to know all you can about
the nightmares (when did they start, and why); why did the headaches start?
There has to be a reason. A 9 year old doesn't start having headaches
without a reason. Around that time was there any vaccinations, acute illness
such as chicken pox e.g., an injury to head or spine, extensive dentistry,
emotional trauma??? You really do have to know. Lastly why wouldn't she eat
as a child? The problems with eating run through this case and obviously go
back a long way. are they part of the self harm theme - starving herself
etc? You need to know.

Rubric:-

I started with just one that got me really thinking. In Kent, Head, pain,
constant, continued, fixed, lasts for weeks, months, even years with rare
intermission. One remedy = TEREBINTHINA.

According to Taylor children are very sensitive to its action. Illness
caused by sleeping in rooms newly painted. (Is this the case??? Can you find
out, or maybe her parents worked in the business of painting. Be as curious
as you can).

Irritation of the meninges, haemorraghes metritis metrorrhagia
Sensation as if a band around the head
Lots of digestive disturbances
Weary of life, suicidal tendencies
Headache with pressive pain and cloudiness of vision
Oscillates between great hunger and thirst and no hunger and thirst. I am
very curious about her eating habits apart from the fact that eating <<<
headache. She has been losing weight yet she says she eats all the time,
always hungry and eats large amounts - has she had her thyroid function
check out??

Constipation with distended abdomen - hard dry stools. Of course this could
be due to the medication.
Menorrhagia + uterine diseases. But do we know why her periods have stopped
now, again is it the medication she's been on?
Lethargy and agitated sleep. Nightmares and wakes frightened
Cold clammy sweats.

Of course there is far more to this remedy but I think it is worth reading
up.

I would like to know what emotional pain, apart from the head pain, is she
really trying to get rid of.

I would also like to know a bit more about her fears and anxieties re: the
her children. Why is the fear centred on them dying?

You say she is strong willed but she allowed herself to become addicted. A
bit more depth around this issue would be welcome. What were her ambitions
as a child and what was she like when she was 9 years old. There is TB in
the family, does she look like a Silicea type?

This is all I can say at the moment until you feel you could offer a bit
more if possible. At this stage I am offering COFFEA and TEREBINTH.

Thanks for sharing this interesting case with us.

Best wishes, Joy Lucas

[suzannemerritt]

Soroush

Why an LM and not a centesimal?

Suzanne
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[suzannemerritt]

Joy

I have asked that the father not be present at the next consultation which is
on Saturday 16th and he telephoned me to ask why? He said that there is
nothing that he does not know about his daughter, but like you I was
suspicious.

Thank you for your thoughts I will let you know what happens on Saturday.

Suzanne
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[Soroush Ebrahimi]

LM allows you have daily control on the patient's progress and there is
little chance of agg!

Also in case she is doing something to anti-dote, then the fact that she may
go on a daily (nightly) dose will give you sufficient confidence that the rx
selected will be given a chance to work.

I hope if this helps

Also I agree 100% that the father should be excluded from the consultation.
The daughter may want to say something not too complimentary to her dad! Is
she hanging on to her dad? Clinging?????

Soroush

[Sheila Parks]

dear suzanne, i strongly agree with what joy said about the father's
presence. it is a huge red flag for me. maybe he was there to silence her,
to make sure she does not tell the family secrets? will you ask her directly
why she came with her father the first time? i will read this case , i
hope, more carefully and write you about it. it interests me a great deal.
good luck. sheila
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[Dave Hartley]

The liquid posology method has been identified by many with the LM potency.
However, any remedy may be given in liquid posology, which could (if
necessary) be repeated daily -or weekly, or better yet -as needed based on
Sx which the homeopath identifies with client's assistance as leading
indicator of remedy effect beginning to cease.

I tend to use LM nearly exclusively, having found them to be (a very rough
approximation here) as gentle as 30c & as deep as 1M - acting more broadly
than centessimals.
-but when I do use centessimals, I nearly always use liquid posology.

A few different articles on liquid posology:
www.simillimum.com/Thelittlelibrary.html
(case management section)
Adjusting the Size of the Dose
Hahnemann's Sensitivity Scale (?281)
Solutions Large and Small (The Preparations of the Medicinal Solution)

If anyone has not yet read "Hahnemann's Advanced Methods" by David Little,
you will probably enjoy it- it has helped many "dry dose" homeopaths to
understand and utilize liquid posology (which was introduced in Organon 5th
edition.)
http://www.simillimum.com/Thelittlelibr ... s/HAM.html
regards,

Dave Hartley
http://www.localcomputermart.com
Santa Cruz, CA (831)423-4284

Tri-Cities Computer (TN) |Asheville Computer (NC)
423-952-0983 or 877-245-3362 |(828)285-0240
$9.95 internet http://www.federalisp.com/?page=ispsignup

[Joy Lucas]

Thanks Sheila for bringing FOLLICULINUM into discussion. Because this
woman's headaches started at such a young age and were preceeded by a
'refusal to eat at 3/4 years old' we are led to thinking that the aetiology
is even earlier.

It is possible that her mother was on the pill or worse also the 'morning
after pill' on frequent occasions, setting up a hormonal imbalance perhaps
within the pituitary gland deep in the brain - hence the headaches.

Briefly:-

. she feels controlled by another
. she is out or sorts with her rhythms
. she is living out someone else's expectations
. she feels she is being fed off emotionally
. she loses her will
. she is full of self denial
. she over estimates her energy reserves
. she becomes a rescuer, addicted to rescuing people
. she has become a doormat
. she has forgotten who she is
. she has no individuality
. she may lose herself in a relationship

You can see Sepia, Carcinosin + Aristolochia + Nat. Mur. + Thyroidinum

It comes up over and over again in abuse cases

There are eating disorders, menstrual disorders, panic attacks, depression,
allergies. All symptoms are fresh air.

There is a brilliant write up of the Rx by Melissa Assilem in The Homeopath,
Vol. 11, No. 1, 1991. I urge anyone interested to read this. It might be
readable on the SOH website - or I could send it as an attachment if
necessary!!! (and I know I am going to regret saying that!)

Regarding this case though we must hold out and see what the next follow up
brings and really hope that this woman is able to continue to choose
homeopathy and that the father doesn't interject and prevent her.

We look forward to it Suzanne.

Best wishes, Joy Lucas

[suzannemerritt]

Joy

Again thank you for your suggestions.

Another of my queries was she never once mentioned her mother throughout the
consultation, something that I did not realise until after she left! Is this
unusual?

Do you have any suggestions if her father insists on being at the next
consultation?

Suzanne
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