This recently divorced 39 year old female was first seen February 2, 2007 after having been referred by her closest friend. It became apparent during the course of the interview there were many complaints but only a few themes.
Patient:
I have problems with my menstrual periods—everything goes haywire. They’re very heavy. I want to withdraw from everybody. Then it’s hard for me to come back to them.
Everything turned upside down last year. I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. I was dealing with a lot of stuff from my marriage. I was prescribed Zoloft, but then it felt like I couldn’t think for myself.
The anxiety is nerve-wracking—there’s constant worry. At times I’ll spend the entire weekend in my house. I’ll think, “Why does anyone want to spend any time with me?” Or, “What have I done to deserve this?” There are things I worry about too much; I worry about everything.
I’m worried and frustrated about school. I worry about being alone. I worry about meeting someone and getting hurt. I’m lonely. I think, “Am I going to meet someone?” I stay at home; I don’t do a lot of things. It’s better when my son is around.
During my divorce, my daughter and I would get into arguments. She moved into her dad’s place. He turned her against me. I got upset; I was downright pissed. “Why’d you turn my daughter against me?” I worry about when my son is going to move out.
It’s not good to hold the anger in. My son and his friend will try to get me to laugh. I felt like an unfit parent—like my ex-husband was keeping tabs on me. They had to call him to “check in” when they were staying at my place.
My daughter’s voice was all upbeat talking to her dad. He made it out to be all my fault. I took the whole blame—his opinion was always right. I couldn’t stand the sight of him. I didn’t want to talk to him. It took me a year to realize it wasn’t all my fault.
He wants to control. I always took the blame—I didn’t want to deal with the conflict. I kept quiet a lot. “It was all my fault.”
I was leaning too much on a friend—I was questioning the friendship. There were times when I wanted to close everyone out. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I’d go into hiding; I’d sit there and cry. I’d want to go somewhere and just be alone–maybe a cave, where I wouldn’t have to deal with anyone. I’d want to cut myself off from everyone.
I don’t have to talk about something I don’t want to talk about. Then sometimes I do want to talk about something, but I don’t have anyone to talk to.
Practitioner:
Do you experience any fears or phobias?
(Note: I asked this question because I was a bit confused–yet before the words were completely out of my mouth, the patient’s eyes became large and frightened).
Patient:
I’m TERRIFIED of frogs—I can’t even look at them on television. One time my cousin threw a frog into our tent—I pushed the others out of the way and got out as fast as I could. I ran away as fast as I could.
Practitioner:
Any strong dreams or recurrent dreams?
Patient:
One time, I had a dream where I died in a fire.
Practitioner:
What were things like growing up?
Patient:
Growing up, I was a tomboy. I climbed trees, played in ditches. I never wore dresses, didn’t wear make-up. I’d wear jeans and sneakers—guy jeans.
I hope you don’t get mad at me.
Analysis:
Throughout the history I was trying to discern a thread to her symptoms. There were heavy menstrual periods, symptoms of anxiety and quarrelsomeness, a strong fear of frogs, and a sense of “neediness” with her friends and son. (The patient’s closest friend had confided it was often emotionally draining to be around her). The patient also experienced a sense of being blamed–and she worried that somehow even I would “get mad” at her!
By the end of the history I felt this was either a remedy I’d never used, or that I didn’t have a full case. My focus started with the fear of frogs, but there were few remedies matching this symptom. She also experienced heavy menstrual periods—her friend again confided the periods were “gushing”. I couldn’t recall any hemorrhagic remedies which have a fear of frogs, nor did I know of any frogs with hemorrhagic properties. Nevertheless, I finally came upon a remedy matching both symptoms—fear of frogs and hemorrhage (menorrhagia) (Homeopathy for Menorrhagia)–as well as the rest of the history.
Some corresponding rubrics:
Mind: Anxiety
Mind: Quarrelsome, scolding
Female: Menses, profuse
Plan: Culex 1M.
Follow-up 3 months later—4-27-07
Patient:
Things were going really well, but then last week with my menstrual period, everything went “boom”. It was like the bottom dropped out. I started feeling like I was moving back to what I was before I came to see you. I thought, “I don’t want to feel like that person.”
Talking with people seemed easier. I was able tell them what was on my mind. I didn’t feel like I was trapped.
It was a whole new world. It was a whole new me, but it was ME. It was like a cloud had lifted up. I still had my downs, but they weren’t as bad. It’s been great. When problems come up, I deal with them more easily.
I still have some difficulties during my menstrual period. I need to take ibuprofen (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory). But compared to the past the flow is still lighter the first couple days. After that the flow is heavier, but still manageable.
My energy and sleep have been pretty good. My three good friends have noticed a difference. They say I’m smiling a lot more, talking a lot more. I’m able to say when something’s bothering me. It feels really good to be talking when I’m feeling down.
This (homeopathy) is the best thing I ever did!
Plan: Repeat Culex 1M
The client continued to experience improvements in terms of her menstrual complaints and self-esteem, and ultimately finished her college degree. Her friend described the remedy as life-transforming. At her friend’s urging, the client also agreed to buy a new set of (feminine) clothes, and after a slight return of physical symptoms, she called for a refill in late January of ’08. She’s needed no further remedy since that time.
Kent’s first statement about Culex reads: “When this remedy is needed your patient will present to you a picture of something on fire,” and indeed the patient recalled a dream of dying in a fire. Although there’s somewhat limited information about the rest of the mental/emotional picture, it does include quarreling and anxiety. The physicals include profuse menses, suggesting an association with the anticoagulant found in mosquitos. In retrospect, there are many parallels between this person’s history and the place of mosquitos in our world, including the fact that its main predators include frogs. Based on the patient’s positive response, it suggests “fear of frogs” may be considered in the overall picture.
