Case Quizes Clinical Cases

Revisiting: Elaine’s Left-sided Headache

Written by Elaine Lewis

Elaine gives the answer to last month’s quiz. Revisiting: Elaine’s Left-sided Headache

Well, Shana, it’s time to revisit last month’s quiz and give the answer!  Here we go!

*********************************

It seems all we do lately is start the quiz off with The Death Report!

Who died this time?

Donna Summer (the Queen of Disco) and Robin Gibb of The Bee Gees! Shana, get pictures!

Check!

Donna Summer

Robin Gibb

They both died of cancer in their early ’60’s.  When I heard that Robin Gibb died, I was walking down the hallway, mid-stride, and here comes this horrific news, it was like a knife in my chest, I fell over backwards!  Luckily there was a closet door behind me!  Shana, pick out a Bee Gees song.

Check!

These two acts put Disco on the map; seriously, there would be no Disco music without Donna Summer and the Bee Gees!

Here Mom.  “How Deep Is Your Love” by the Bee Gees:

 

In my opinion, the most beautiful song ever written!

And here’s “Heaven Knows” by Donna Summer:

 

It’s been a bad month, I don’t need anymore months like this, let me tell you; and last month it was Dick Clark.  You know, here’s the problem, there’s no one to take their place!  The age of Quality is over!

Well, Mom, thanks to us, they’ll be remembered forever!  Who is our patient today?

Moi!

You again???  What?  Another toothache?

Bite your tongue!  God forbid!  Don’t give my teeth any ideas!

Well, what happened this time?

It’s very rare for me to get a left-sided headache, Shana, but I got one today!  Here’s what happened.

Is this going to take long?  Because, as you can see, I’m leaving the room.

Shana!!!!  Well fine!  I’ll just tell our viewers myself then.  Yeesh!  OK, so as I was saying, it’s very rare for me to get a left-sided headache, and when I do, it’s normally not that bad, unlike my right-sided headaches!  Usually, I can just brush off a left-sided headache and go on with my day; but, not this time.  I was sitting here at my computer, it was very hot today, and even though I had the blinds mostly drawn, enough sun was getting in and was starting to stress me out.  Gradually, I could see that I was getting a headache.  I decided to get up and go out to buy food for dinner.  Oh!  This would be a good time for me to talk about food!  Here are some pictures you might like!  I made this for breakfast today–whole wheat pancakes lined with strawberries:

And, below I was going to paste a picture of a Krabby Patty I made but I can’t get it to stick!  Oh, yes, you can eat a hamburger, but you have to make it yourself with grass-fed beef!  (“Farming” practices have gotten insane and no longer resemble, even remotely, anything you and I ever thought of as pertaining to a “farm”!)  Farm animals are now warehoused!  They’re not allowed to graze, which means they’re not eating grass, their natural food!  They’re being fed corn!  Oh, not just any corn, genetically modified corn, corn that makes its own insecticide!  Oh, who wouldn’t want to eat that?  It sounds delicious!  That’s right; every time you eat supermarket meat, you’re getting insecticide because the animals ate it–along with the antibiotics and the female hormones!  Also, every packaged food and drink that contains high fructose CORN syrup also contains insecticide!  Since high fructose corn syrup is added to just about everything, do you see why I eat at home and make everything from scratch?  Do you see why I don’t shop at the supermarket and why I don’t eat out?

Right before our eyes, we let farms be taken over by corporations!  Do you know what we used to call organically-grown food when I was growing up? Food!  Oh, and when I was growing up, a farm was a place that was completely out-of-doors; it had animals grazing in vast pastures, chickens roaming free eating worms, seeds and insects, all over-seen by people called farmers who lived there!  Those were the good old days.

Shop for your food at a farmer’s market or a health food store as they are the last vestiges of “the family farm”.  If you’re shopping for food at a supermarket, here’s what you’re getting: food laced with antibiotics, female hormones, genetically modified organisms, MSG, every variety of sugar known to man, something the meat industry calls “pink slime” and other crap!  Forget about shopping there unless all you want is aluminum foil and paper towels.  Maybe things are better in Europe and Asia; but, they’re not OK here!

Anyway, back to my left-sided headache.  It was hot and humid today.  The sun was clearly bothering me, even in the house.  I got up to go to Whole Foods to buy dinner.  Shaaaaaa…naaaaaa…?????

What iiiis iiiiit??????

I need a picture of Whole Foods!

Check!

So, there I am, in Whole Foods, not feeling any better!  Shana, get me a picture of the inside of Whole Foods.

Check!

I remember thinking it was ridiculously hot out and oppressive, like I was suddenly in Florida or Puerto Rico!  And by the time I got home, I wondered how I was going to cook dinner for two! (Literally dinner for two, because I had to make one thing for Shana, and something entirely different for myself!  Why?  Because Shana is rigid and won’t eat what everybody else is eating!

Shana in spongebob shirt

Oh sure, she looks somewhat normal, but don’t let that fool you!

So, I was feeling very dragged-down, droopy, sluggish, drained, worn-out, heavy; my face looked haggard, pale, I felt weak and weary and wasted.  What was my remedy?

I took a dose of _______ 200C and, I have to tell you, I never sat down!  I went from unloading my bags in the kitchen and feeling awful to preparing dinner and all of a sudden, I realized that my headache was gone!  My energy was back and I was feeling perfectly normal again; this all happened within approximately 15 minutes!  Write to me at [email protected] and tell me what remedy I took. 

****************************************************

Votes

Gelsemium-4

Sepia-3

Lachesis

Nat-mur.

Carbo veg.

Kali ars.

Belladonna

Phosphorus

 

So……how did we do?  Is the caller there?

Hi Elaine!  I vote for Gelsemium!  Hope it is correct!  Sun and warm/hot aggravates, droopy, weak, heavy etc. fit I think.  If it is wrong I can come up with another wrong answer! : P

P.S Loved the pancakes with strawberries!

Maria

As usual, Maria is right–and has excellent taste in food!  Do we have another caller?

 

Hi Elaine.  The remedy for the left sided headache is Gelsemium.  Though it has no specific left sidedness, the other symptoms dragged down, droopy, weak, weary and sun exposure leads me to Gelsemium.
Am I correct?????????  If not tell me, I will try again.
Thanks
Sujatha

 

Sujatha is totally correct!  Here is the Gelsemium “look”:

When you see this look–also called a “besotted look”–coupled with ailments from the heat of the sun, and then you throw in weakenss, sluggishness, heaviness, weariness, and an inclination to lie down and go to sleep, you can be reasonably sure it’s our friend Gelsemium.  Notice the fallen eyelids.

Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman has a very helpful approach in her book, Homeopathic Self-Care.  It’s called “Listen” (to what they say). The Gelsemium person with a headache says, “I feel wasted,” which was exactly the word I used (among other Gelsemium words, like “droopy”).  Doesn’t “droopy” describe this patient pictured above?  So, there you have it, everybody, Gelsemium!

Why can’t it be Sepia, as many of you thought?  Because Sepia is missing from probably the most important rubric in the case, the ETIOLOGY–Ailments From The Sun!  It’s not under “Generals: sun agg.”, it’s not under “Generals: sun, headache from exposure”, it’s not under “Generals: sun, heat of sun agg.”, nothing!  If you’ve got a clear etiology, your remedy has to cover it!  It’s not enough that Sepia is dragged down and wiped out!

Etiology over-rules symptomatology, always remember that! 

So, it’s time now to announce our lovely June 2012 winners!  And they are:

Maria, Sujatha, Diderik Finne and Prateek Sehgal!

Congratulations!  And don’t forget to join us again next time for another exciting and nail-biting… Hpathy Quiz!  Bye-bye!

 

About the author

Elaine Lewis

Elaine Lewis, D.Hom., C.Hom.
Elaine is a passionate homeopath, helping people offline as well as online. Contact her at [email protected]
Elaine is a graduate of Robin Murphy's Hahnemann Academy of North America and author of many articles on homeopathy including her monthly feature in the Hpathy ezine, "The Quiz". Visit her website at:
https://elainelewis.hpathy.com/ and TheSilhouettes.org

1 Comment

  • Dear Elaine,

    We thank u so much for the knowlegde we gain every month through the hpathy Quiz. It’s an advanced school for all new homeopaths. We encourage you to go on.
    Warm regards
    Vasiliki (Vicky) Zora
    Skiathos Greece

Leave a Comment