Chronic Knee Pain in a Woman of 38

A 38-year-old maid came to me ten years ago for pain and swelling in both knees which was troubling her for two years. She was working as a maid for six families. She started with the following history:

“I don’t have a house. My mother in law threw me and my two kids out of the house after my husband died. I live in a rented hut. I need to work more as I have to pay my daughter’s college fees. If I become a cripple who will earn? I am not afraid of hard work. “

One of her employers told me, she never takes a holiday from work. She is very neat, clean, punctual and responsible.

She said her own mother doesn’t support her. Her mother works and gives money to her two sons (patient’s brothers) who are not bothered about her. Even then, this patient makes sure that her mother eats dinner with her daily, as she doesn’t trust that her brothers will feed their mother.

The patient is thinking about money all the time. She wants to pay off her debts soon. Once her son stole Rs 100 from her. She beat him and took him to the police to teach him a lesson. She thought she had spent so much money on her son for his education, clothes and food, so how could he lie to her, steal from her?

If anyone falls sick, she gets very scared, as her husband died suddenly. She is scared of any injury. What if I fall, who will look after my kids? She is worried about her daughter’s wedding expenses. Even if her leg is paining, she finishes her work fast. She gets very anxious if her daughter comes home late. She has great fear that someone will poison her son, or that the son will leave her and go to stay with her mother in law. She feels all her relatives are not good as no one helps her. She told her daughter to work as well as study. Then she started fearing that after her daughter gets married, she may not come to visit her, as she has told her to work.

She is very superstitious. She fears that if she changes her house, something will happen to her kids. She helps others with money, as she fears they might harm her daughter if she refuses. She is very abusive at home but can’t retaliate outside.

She has lot of self-esteem and determination. She says I will do all for my kids. She had decided that she will have her own house in one year and that she will educate both her kids, come what may. She tries and fulfils all her children’s desires but still she feels she hasn’t done enough. She had decided that she will have one separate house for herself in her village later on. She worried what if her future daughter in law is not good and what if she doesn’t feed her?

Appetite: Normal

Craving: Spicy

Thirst: ++

Patient is chilly.

Urine, stool, sweat, menses- nothing significant.

I gave her Arsenic album, Kali carb, Sticta, Rhus tox etc with partial relief. Later I analysed her on the basis of Dr Sankaran’s book on structure.

The patient’s whole focus was on money, food, house, health and family. She needed a remedy from the 4th row of the periodic table. There are two aspects in the case:

Kali—Duty

Family

Dependence

Arsenic—Neat, clean

Punctual

Mistrustful

Anxiety about money

Fear of being poisoned

Craves spicy

I decided to give her Kali Ars. Quoting from the book on structure which states:

“The main feeling of Kali arsenicosum is that they cannot trust the people on whom they depend and whose support they seek. The same people around whom their life revolves can even rob them. Like all Kali remedies, they seek the support of their family and without them they feel weak and dependent. Yet there is a doubt as to whether this same family is trustworthy.

Anxiety about family, health and business.

Fear of starving.

These are 2 important features of this remedy.

Rubrics in the case supporting Kali Ars are:

1. Anxiety about health.
2. Fear, happen something will.
3. Fear of people.
5. Sadness with jealousy.
6. Suspicious, mistrustful.
8. Inflammation of joints.
9. Swelling of joints.
10. Warm ameliorates.

I gave her Kali ars 200 single dose. Slowly she improved. I was surprised, two months after the remedy, the patient’s daughter came to meet me. She had a peculiar request. She told me to stop giving medicine to her mother, as she had taken up two more jobs!

After that the patient would come to me once in a while. I would see her walking very fast on the road as she worked near my clinic. Seeing her breezing past me would give me immense satisfaction and faith in our healing art.

Two years back she came to me for intense itching all over the body. She took treatment from a dermatologist but got no relief with his treatment. He had treated her for scabies. She had severe itching in the night and would feel better after a warm bath. I inquired about her family. She said she gave Rs 80,000 to her daughter, who is now not talking to her. She said I got her married, paid for her son’s birth, then paid for her son’s naming ceremony. In spite of doing so much, she still favours her mother in law over me. She said my daughter talks to me sweetly and takes money from me. Now she has removed her daughter’s name from her new house, also she closed the joint account in the bank which she shared with her. She said I don’t trust my daughter, she lies to me. She said my son is nice, he gives his salary to me.

With lot of confidence I gave her Kali ars 200 single dose. And sure enough, she was all right in one week.