Terebinthiniae Oleum - 'cured' case

[Dave Hartley]

Hi All,

Here is a case I had mentioned some time ago backchannel to Joy Lucas, which
I have finally gotten written up. There are a few more rubrics included
here than I originally had used- my notes were lost, and I had to recreate
the rubrics from memory.
Your comments are welcome, and it would be especially nice to hear from
anyone else who's used ter. to good effect in a case.
I would love to hear of any M/E symptoms, either like or unlike the few in
this case; it seems there is a paucity of M/E symptoms with this remedy..
and considering all aspects of this "cured" case, it seems possible that
there could be some very deep-reaching M/E cure with this remedy.

===========================

Terebinthiniae Oleum - ‘cured’ case Dave Hartley, in Asheville NC,
1998

Maria was referred to me by an old friend, an acupuncturist, who had been
treating her to no avail. She has been under treatment at county transient
medical clinic care for two years; Lasix (diuretic) in largest dose allowed
has begun to have little effect; clinic doctor offers dialysis as only hope.

Single Hispanic female, 42yrs old, one daughter, 18 living with her.
Works in hotel banquets as food server.

Visually – Neat, clean, pale-looking, bloating, whites of eyes
dirty-yellowish & a little bloodshot & glassy. Phlegmatic, signs of sycotic
miasm include moles.

dysuria with near constant urging, passes only very small amounts of urine,
which is dark brownish & strong smelling.

aching in lower back, sharpest over kidneys, worse lifting and carrying (at
work) better resting, but never completely gone.

sharp pain in kidney, along ureter, and bladder on occasion, accompanied by
urging.

bloating apparent over-all, edema evident in eyelids; flesh of forearm
retains impression of thumb after moderate pressure.

appetite suppressed (partially m/e issue related to vanity vs bloating)
thirst normal, but suppressed due to above as well as discomfort with
bladder urging.
I was not able to elicit any distinctive food likes/dislikes.

itching and petechiae, a large number of tiny pinprick blood-red spots (not
raised or vesicular) on legs

Mentals
fretful over appearance (bloating)
sadness – could not remember (or would not) details of lingering sadness
from childhood .. gathered that she did not feel particularly wanted or
cared-for. Evident loneliness, spoke of sexual relationship with
“inappropriate” partner which I understood to mean “casual.”
distrust of and dislike of doctors – had one ovary removed without consent
or knowledge somewhere about 20yrs ago in Mexico.
The striking / unusual M/E symptom I got in this case is that this woman is
rapidly approaching medical “kidney failure” and life of dialysis… and is
more concerned with bloating (personal appearance) than the “gravity” of
her health challenge.
Chronic diathesis
Seems like strong probability of congenital venereal miasm; no details of
parents available.
Sycotic miasm appears confirmed in terms of physiognomy.

Rubrics
MIND - SADNESS
EYE - DISCOLORATION - red - Veins
EYE - ITCHING - Lids
EYE - SWELLING - Lids
EYE - SWELLING - Lids - edematous
STOMACH - APPETITE - diminished
BLADDER - RETENTION of urine
BLADDER - FULLNESS, sensation of
BLADDER - URGING to urinate - frequent
BLADDER - URINATION – dribbling
BLADDER - URINATION - dysuria
KIDNEYS - PAIN - aching
KIDNEYS - PAIN - burning - extending to - Bladder, to
KIDNEYS - PAIN - burning - Ureters
KIDNEYS - PAIN - sore, bruised
KIDNEYS - PAIN - sore, bruised - Region of
KIDNEYS - PAIN - stitching - extending to - Ureters; down
URINE - COLOR – dark
URINE - ODOR - offensive
URINE - ODOR - strong
BACK - PAIN - aching
GENERALS - DROPSY - external dropsy
GENERALS - SWELLING - puffy, edematous
GENERALS - SYCOSIS
GENERALS - UREMIA
EXTREMITIES - ITCHING - Leg
Remedy: Tereb.
Tereb. is a small (or is it tiny?) remedy. Lacking volumes of confirmatory
MM, it was a difficult decision for an inexperienced homeopath (3rd or 4th
year since beginning of study at that point) –but it seemed to fit the
important points of the case quite well.
Other remedies considered- berb., canth., bell, apis
Posology , potency LM 1, aqueous medicinal solution, 4oz water in 8oz
bottle, to be succussed 5 times prior to dose.

Case follow-ups
Initially there was no striking amelioration, we agreed on her redosing
every 10 days, and calling me if any changes.

About 6 weeks later, little change, but considering that she was taking less
of the Lasix, and not dead yet ( ! I was much more concerned about her
kidney failure than she appeared to be..) and in fact appeared very
slightly improved, I was thinking (at her urging –no pun intended) about the
possibility of changing remedies, when I discovered that according to what
she’d been told by parent, she’d been poisoned by drinking some paint
thinner/remover as a toddler. This was a fascinating confirmation of Ter.,
in terms of an etiological link. It was also interesting that this
information came at a time when I was not entirely certain if Ter. was going
to be curative, and assisted me in the decision to stay with the remedy for
a while longer.

Regular phone calls confirmed no deterioration of Maria’s condition (which I
was worried about)

Over the next 6 months, I saw Maria a few times, and confirmed that bloating
and pain were slightly less (though she still complained and was peevish
about her appearance) .. by the and of approximately a year, she was
taking Ter. still approximately every week to 10 days, (now up to LM 3)

The “miracle”
At just a little over one year after the beginning of treatment, while Maria
’s kidney failure had originally “stabilized” .. then slowly improved along
with all other observable aspects of her life, I saw her one day about town-
she looked positively radiant and well, and I commented on it- she told me
that she’d had an epiphany, a sudden profound realization while gazing at an
artistic representation of “Saint Germain” .. that she did not need to be
ill any longer, and so was completely well.

Long term Followup:

I saw Maria several times around town over the next two years; she always
looked happy and well, and had no complaints. She also was seen repeatedly
in the company of the same man, whom she apparently had a nice relationship
with.

In retrospect:

I am certain I could have “sped the cure” in this case by more aggressive
dosing; still it is remarkable that Maria went from medically incurable,
slated for dialysis.. to a vibrantly healthy woman in about 1yr. My best
guess at this point is that the cure could’ve taken place over 4 – 6
months.. but obviously I’ll never know! Besides, it is perhaps presumptuous
to consider hurrying a miracle..
Dave Hartley
www.localcomputermart.com/dave
Santa Cruz, CA (831)423-4284