Another update on my daughter's HSP - LONG
Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 9:45 pm
Hi all,
It's been 3 months now since my daughter began her trial with HSP (henoch schonlein purpura) vasculitis and nephritis. When I last updated a month and a half or so ago, we were zigzagging our way to improvements while we awaited our appointment with the pediatric nephrologist. We had our apt and the nephrologist recommended a biopsy of the kidneys and then corticosteroid treatment. She estimated it would take 6 months to a year of steroids to stop the nephritis. The nephrologist could see we were not keen on this and said she would give me two weeks to "see if my medicine worked" and then schedule the biopsy. So basically, she gave me two weeks to do what she hoped to do in 6-12 months!
At this point, Delainey had experienced a slight flare up of the purpura fighting off a cold but no other symptoms except bleeding and protein loss in the urine (nephritis). Her acute illness was now chronic which I was trying to address with a good chronic remedy. She was doing OK on Stramonium for a few weeks but minimal change in the nephritis. I tried Calc-C but no results and actually backsliding.
Her protein/creatinine ratio had been at 3.2 at the worst of her HSP. At the appointment, her ratio was 1.8 - still well above the normal level of 0.2. However, she was doing quite well otherwise. Our main concern was preventing kidney damage which is why we consulted a nephrology specialist. Another mom on the HSP loop reported a similar case of her son (same age) and ratio of 1.7 and his nephrologist said they would wait and monitor for 6 months before doing the biopsy since he was continuing to improve (had been at 3.6).
Given all of this, we decided not to do the biopsy. We put our faith in homeopathy. I knew the homeopathy would work well before 6-12 months and without all the nasty side effects of the steroids.
I decided (with the help of Dr. Luc De Schepper's Achieving and Maintaining the Simillimum) a nosode was called for and chose to use the Streptococcinum nosode based on several factors:
- indicated remedy does not act
- tendency to relapse
- only partial improvement experienced
- strep infection or severe tonsillitis immediately preceded the chronic illness
- Streptococcinum appears indicated for acute nephritis and acute rheumatism
- HSP is often preceded by strep.
I gave just a few water doses of the nosode and waited. A week later she experienced a "Belladonna" like illness. However, Belladonna did not amel. She had a severe sore throat, fever, and terrible headache. Two other people in the family were experiencing the same flu at the same time and did well with Belladonna and Nux-V. It was difficult for me to tell if she was experiencing the same acute they were or something else. She continued to worsen and had swelling of the glabella and her brain felt swollen - the *exact* same symptoms of the illness she had preceding the HSP.
After studying her symptoms, I came to Phytolacca (which is a remedy I needed desperately after her birth but did not know about homeopathy at the time). It is also well indicated for nephritis. At 2:45 in the morning her headache and sore throat vanished completely within 5 minutes of her first dose of Phytolacca, 30c in water. She continued to improve dramatically over the next 24 hours and the protein in her urine dropped from a 2+ to trace. However, it did nothing after a few more days of daily (water) dosing and she then had a small outbreak of purpura (about 5 spots) which is not a symptom of Phytolacca so while the remedy was a good fit for her acute illness, it was not the simillimum. (With HSP, purpura will flare during or after an acute illness.)
I waited about 5 days before giving her anything and watched her symptoms. She became very fearful at night, did not want to sleep alone, afraid of the dark. This had started up again a few weeks after coming home from the hospital and is an old symptom for her. I suspected she needed something from the Solanaceae family but not sure which one. I was still considering Stramonium again, Belladonna, and Hyoscyamus. One of her previous homeopaths had believed Mandragora to be her simillimum but it did not have the desired effect when she had tried it a few years ago. (Two previous homeopaths had been unable to help her for several years which is why I took over her case.) She also had a disposition to hawk (how lovely) which was becoming worse. Her abdomen pain and distension returned. This was ameliorated by bending backwards. Her eye protrusion (exophthalmus) reappeared. I continued to wait.
Background: Despite her issues, Delainey is a very cheerful, happy child (when not being critical or complaining)! She has a previous history of ADD and memory issues (both addressed with homeopathy in the past with Nat Sulph). While very obstinate, she is also incredibly thoughtful. She is hyper sensitive and psychic. She has a very low pain threshold to the point brushing her hair is painful. She is extremely sensitive to reprimand and will cry if you even look at her wrong. She has a good and mature sense of humor. She is a very loving child.
She has facial memory problems meaning she has trouble remembering what people look like and often mistakes people for someone else. She bites her fingernails, often claps her hands slowly when excited or nervous, and sometimes laughs annoyingly when talking (nervous). She can be *very* loud. She is creative and loves music. Her symptoms seem changeable and Carcinosin seemed possible but that was her first remedy which ended in weekly stomach aches and vomiting at 4:00 a.m. Saturday mornings for months on end.
She had chronic ear infections as a baby until taken off dairy. As a toddler she began hitting herself in the face and hitting other children and adults. Eventually she learned to control this because she was taught it was unacceptable. Unfortunately, she began to suppress her anger completely lest she be reprimanded. And she very dutifully sat on the sidelines while her brother was recovered from autism and garnered the majority of the attention. She is a rule follower but can be sneaky.
Back to the case... out of the blue one day she said she does not like competition because losing makes her feel bad about herself. (She will often come out with these gems that help guide me.) Then shortly thereafter, one day she started hiccoughing and said every time she hiccoughed her ears hurt. This rubric (ear, pain, hiccough, from) has one remedy: Belladonna.
After studying *all* the symptoms, Belladonna covers the totality of the case (and her history) down to every last detail. Perhaps another homeopath would have chosen this well before, but it is not one I thought of for purpura and nephritis symptoms, yet it has both. And her "fear" symptoms had been long forgotten after her chronic treatment with Nat Sulph had done so well last year. (I believe the Nat Sulph helped because of the NWS of headtrauma from a posterior birth). Trying to prescribe on the acute purpura incident led me away from the chronic case.
I am very happy to report after less than one week on Belladonna, Delainey's urine measured ZERO protein!! And her blood has gone from 4+ to 2+. This is the first time the blood has come down and that her protein has been at zero. (The protein is more worrisome than the blood.)
Perhaps the illness prior to the HSP was suppressed with the remedy given then (Silicea) and the Phytolacca finally cleared it. Or the Phytolacca is a layer from her infancy. I do not know - can only speculate. I don't know why Belladonna did not work during that acute when it seemed indicated perhaps I gave up on it too soon or it wasn't a high enough potency.
She is really doing fantastic. She looks healthy and is back at school. She needs to take it easy but we are very happy. The Belladonna is really addressing all of her symptoms. She is a joy to be with.
If you have made it this far - thanks for reading! Hopefully others may learn from what I learned during this process.
And thank you to everyone for all your well wishes and thoughtfulness.
Truly,
Erica
It's been 3 months now since my daughter began her trial with HSP (henoch schonlein purpura) vasculitis and nephritis. When I last updated a month and a half or so ago, we were zigzagging our way to improvements while we awaited our appointment with the pediatric nephrologist. We had our apt and the nephrologist recommended a biopsy of the kidneys and then corticosteroid treatment. She estimated it would take 6 months to a year of steroids to stop the nephritis. The nephrologist could see we were not keen on this and said she would give me two weeks to "see if my medicine worked" and then schedule the biopsy. So basically, she gave me two weeks to do what she hoped to do in 6-12 months!
At this point, Delainey had experienced a slight flare up of the purpura fighting off a cold but no other symptoms except bleeding and protein loss in the urine (nephritis). Her acute illness was now chronic which I was trying to address with a good chronic remedy. She was doing OK on Stramonium for a few weeks but minimal change in the nephritis. I tried Calc-C but no results and actually backsliding.
Her protein/creatinine ratio had been at 3.2 at the worst of her HSP. At the appointment, her ratio was 1.8 - still well above the normal level of 0.2. However, she was doing quite well otherwise. Our main concern was preventing kidney damage which is why we consulted a nephrology specialist. Another mom on the HSP loop reported a similar case of her son (same age) and ratio of 1.7 and his nephrologist said they would wait and monitor for 6 months before doing the biopsy since he was continuing to improve (had been at 3.6).
Given all of this, we decided not to do the biopsy. We put our faith in homeopathy. I knew the homeopathy would work well before 6-12 months and without all the nasty side effects of the steroids.
I decided (with the help of Dr. Luc De Schepper's Achieving and Maintaining the Simillimum) a nosode was called for and chose to use the Streptococcinum nosode based on several factors:
- indicated remedy does not act
- tendency to relapse
- only partial improvement experienced
- strep infection or severe tonsillitis immediately preceded the chronic illness
- Streptococcinum appears indicated for acute nephritis and acute rheumatism
- HSP is often preceded by strep.
I gave just a few water doses of the nosode and waited. A week later she experienced a "Belladonna" like illness. However, Belladonna did not amel. She had a severe sore throat, fever, and terrible headache. Two other people in the family were experiencing the same flu at the same time and did well with Belladonna and Nux-V. It was difficult for me to tell if she was experiencing the same acute they were or something else. She continued to worsen and had swelling of the glabella and her brain felt swollen - the *exact* same symptoms of the illness she had preceding the HSP.
After studying her symptoms, I came to Phytolacca (which is a remedy I needed desperately after her birth but did not know about homeopathy at the time). It is also well indicated for nephritis. At 2:45 in the morning her headache and sore throat vanished completely within 5 minutes of her first dose of Phytolacca, 30c in water. She continued to improve dramatically over the next 24 hours and the protein in her urine dropped from a 2+ to trace. However, it did nothing after a few more days of daily (water) dosing and she then had a small outbreak of purpura (about 5 spots) which is not a symptom of Phytolacca so while the remedy was a good fit for her acute illness, it was not the simillimum. (With HSP, purpura will flare during or after an acute illness.)
I waited about 5 days before giving her anything and watched her symptoms. She became very fearful at night, did not want to sleep alone, afraid of the dark. This had started up again a few weeks after coming home from the hospital and is an old symptom for her. I suspected she needed something from the Solanaceae family but not sure which one. I was still considering Stramonium again, Belladonna, and Hyoscyamus. One of her previous homeopaths had believed Mandragora to be her simillimum but it did not have the desired effect when she had tried it a few years ago. (Two previous homeopaths had been unable to help her for several years which is why I took over her case.) She also had a disposition to hawk (how lovely) which was becoming worse. Her abdomen pain and distension returned. This was ameliorated by bending backwards. Her eye protrusion (exophthalmus) reappeared. I continued to wait.
Background: Despite her issues, Delainey is a very cheerful, happy child (when not being critical or complaining)! She has a previous history of ADD and memory issues (both addressed with homeopathy in the past with Nat Sulph). While very obstinate, she is also incredibly thoughtful. She is hyper sensitive and psychic. She has a very low pain threshold to the point brushing her hair is painful. She is extremely sensitive to reprimand and will cry if you even look at her wrong. She has a good and mature sense of humor. She is a very loving child.
She has facial memory problems meaning she has trouble remembering what people look like and often mistakes people for someone else. She bites her fingernails, often claps her hands slowly when excited or nervous, and sometimes laughs annoyingly when talking (nervous). She can be *very* loud. She is creative and loves music. Her symptoms seem changeable and Carcinosin seemed possible but that was her first remedy which ended in weekly stomach aches and vomiting at 4:00 a.m. Saturday mornings for months on end.
She had chronic ear infections as a baby until taken off dairy. As a toddler she began hitting herself in the face and hitting other children and adults. Eventually she learned to control this because she was taught it was unacceptable. Unfortunately, she began to suppress her anger completely lest she be reprimanded. And she very dutifully sat on the sidelines while her brother was recovered from autism and garnered the majority of the attention. She is a rule follower but can be sneaky.
Back to the case... out of the blue one day she said she does not like competition because losing makes her feel bad about herself. (She will often come out with these gems that help guide me.) Then shortly thereafter, one day she started hiccoughing and said every time she hiccoughed her ears hurt. This rubric (ear, pain, hiccough, from) has one remedy: Belladonna.
After studying *all* the symptoms, Belladonna covers the totality of the case (and her history) down to every last detail. Perhaps another homeopath would have chosen this well before, but it is not one I thought of for purpura and nephritis symptoms, yet it has both. And her "fear" symptoms had been long forgotten after her chronic treatment with Nat Sulph had done so well last year. (I believe the Nat Sulph helped because of the NWS of headtrauma from a posterior birth). Trying to prescribe on the acute purpura incident led me away from the chronic case.
I am very happy to report after less than one week on Belladonna, Delainey's urine measured ZERO protein!! And her blood has gone from 4+ to 2+. This is the first time the blood has come down and that her protein has been at zero. (The protein is more worrisome than the blood.)
Perhaps the illness prior to the HSP was suppressed with the remedy given then (Silicea) and the Phytolacca finally cleared it. Or the Phytolacca is a layer from her infancy. I do not know - can only speculate. I don't know why Belladonna did not work during that acute when it seemed indicated perhaps I gave up on it too soon or it wasn't a high enough potency.
She is really doing fantastic. She looks healthy and is back at school. She needs to take it easy but we are very happy. The Belladonna is really addressing all of her symptoms. She is a joy to be with.
If you have made it this far - thanks for reading! Hopefully others may learn from what I learned during this process.
And thank you to everyone for all your well wishes and thoughtfulness.
Truly,
Erica