Case Quizes Clinical Cases

Revisiting: Praying For Poop!

Written by Elaine Lewis

This baby hasn’t pooped in a week!  What remedy did you come up with?  Scroll down for the answer.

Hi Mom!  And welcome everybody to the Hpathy Quiz!!!!

Hello Shana!  (And everyone!)

So, don’t look now, Mom, but, next month is my birthday again.

What??????  You just had a birthday, not 5 minutes ago!  This has to stop!

Mom, technically my birthday was last year.  And besides, I’m just giving you a heads-up for all the shopping you have to do.

Aaaaah!!!!!!

And now for my announcements!  Unfortunately, The Death Report keeps getting longer and longer!

I’m almost afraid to ask!  Who was it this time?

We lost Burt Bacharach.

Oh no!  Say it isn’t so!

Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick

Sadly, last month, Burt Bacharach passed away at 94, reportedly of natural causes.  Turns out his writing partner, Hal David, pre-deceased him in 2012 at 91 and sadly from what I’ve read, he suffered  a stroke.

More trivia that no one wanted to hear!

Mom!  For your information, Hal David was Burt Bacharach’s lyricist!

Hal David; seated, Burt Bacharach

He wrote the lyrics to all these great songs:

Do You Know The Way To San Jose

I Say A Little Prayer

What the World Needs Now is Love

Walk On By

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

theme from “Alfie”

The Look of Love

I’ll Never Fall In Love Again

Don’t Make Me Over

Promises Promises

Only Love Can Break a Heart

Shana, excuse me, but, you’ll never get to the bottom, so don’t even try.  I don’t think we could ever, in a million years, convey the sheer volume of songs written and composed by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, because the list, indeed, is interminable!  But what is most near and dear to everyone’s heart, I’m sure, is the string of hits they wrote for Dionne Warwick, starting with “Don’t Make Me Over” in 1963.

Mom, I was just about to say that!  Bacharach and David are best known for their songs performed by Dionne Warwick, but I’m actually just now finding out that before that,  he partnered with a different writer to create “Please Stay” by the Drifters and funnily enough, apparently Dionne’s sister Dee Dee Warwick sings background with Doris Troy on that record.

On what record?

“Please Stay” by the Drifters!

Clockwise-Doc Green, Rudy Lewis,  Tommy Evans, Charlie Thomas

 

Mom, aren’t you paying attention at all????  Burt and his writing partner at the time, Bob Hilliard, had also written “Mexican Divorce” (B-side of “When My Little Girl Is Smiling”, also by The Drifters).  It’s a great song that never gets played.  There’s also, apparently, a whole Charlie Thomas vs. Rudy Lewis debate over who sang lead on “When My Little Girl Is Smiling”, with Charlie Thomas taking credit for it, but, not gonna get into that now.  (My mother will if you let her….)

Well excuse me, but, Rudy Lewis was the lead singer!  The idea that they would give a back-ground singer the lead on the A-side of a record, and put the lead singer on the B-side, is preposterous!

Are you finished, Mom?  

No!  Charlie Thomas doesn’t even know the words to the songs he supposedly sang lead on!

Mom, no one knows what you’re talking about!  I realize that this is one of your many pet peeves (Charlie Thomas getting credit for singing lead on 2 Drifters songs when, according to you, he can’t sing at all) but believe me, no one cares!  And P.S., Charlie Thomas just died!  He was the last surviving member of The Drifters; so, you might want to try being nice to him.

Charlie Thomas 

Now, I believe we were talking about Burt Bacharach!  Another early hit before the partnership with Hal David was “Any Day Now” by Chuck Jackson…

Now you’re talkin’!  And I didn’t realize Burt Bacharach wrote that without Hal David!

Don’t get too excited Mom, because Chuck Jackson just died.

What???!!!!!  Are you kidding me???!!!  This is insane!

They died a week apart!  Here we see below Burt Bacharach introducing Chuck Jackson and we even get to see Burt playing that iconic introduction to “Any Day Now” on the organ:

Unbelievable, just unbelievable, the way time and time again, the directors on these shows never make any effort to adjust the lighting so that black people can be seen!  I’d have fired the director on the spot!

Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing my mother and her long list of grievances!  Remember how we saw Chuck Jackson at one of Jerry Blavat’s Kimmel Center shows a couple of years ago?  Well, don’t look now, but, Jerry Blavat just died.

What???  OMG!

Didn’t I mention that?  

Jerry + daughter, Deserie

Yes, Philadelphia’s own Jerry Blavat, who kept our music alive on the radio for 60 years!  Dionne Warwick gave the eulogy at his funeral.

Jerry, Dionne Warwick

The funeral, by the way, drew thousands and was held at the Bascillica of Saints Peter and Paul.

Mom, if you could possibly pay attention for just 2 seconds, I could explain all this to you.  Jerry died right before another one of his shows was scheduled for the Kimmel Center, which we would probably have gone to.  Jerry not only kept our music alive but there are songs that we pretty much only know because of him, like this one by

The Charts:

Here’s how the Philadelphia Inquirer announced his death:

“Jerry Blavat, the fast-talking Philadelphia DJ and impresario known as The Geator with the Heater, has died at 82.  His tireless promotion of the pioneering Black artists of the 1950s and 1960s shaped the pop music culture of the city where he maintained an iconic presence for seven decades.”

And, if you’ll remember, we saw Chuck Jackson at the Kimmel Center 7 years ago, we wrote about it here:

Revisiting: What Remedy Is Frasier Crane?

It would have made Chuck Jackson 78 at the time.

Well, back to Burt Bacharach and Hal David, as you can probably tell, the songs Burt and Hal have written could fill a book.  Turns out Burt’s the writer of “(They Long to Be) Close To You”  by The Carpenters.  It was Homer and Marge’s song on “The Simpsons”.

OMG.  Shana, you’re not going to start talking about The Simpsons, are you?

Are you sure no one wants to hear about how Homer and Marge met?

No!  I mean, Yes!  I mean NO! 

Did you know Burt Bacharach was married to Carole Bayer Sager at one point?

Yes, I knew that.

Maybe you remember “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” by Christopher Cross?

I always thought it was called, “When You Get Caught Between The Moon and New York City”.

No, Mom!  It’s “Arthur’s Theme”, it was a great song and Christopher Cross had a great voice.  In fact on “King of the Hill”….

Oh geez, more cartoons …

…there’s an episode where Bobby Hill is singing “Arthur’s Theme” to try to put a crying baby to sleep.

Anyway, that was written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager.

But I can’t fail to mention Burt Bacharach’s “That’s What Friends Are For”, Dionne Warwick’s AIDS Charity single with Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder.  It raised over $3 million and won a Grammy.

Pictured above, top row: Gladys Knight, Carole Bayer Sager, Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick. seated: Elton John, Stevie Wonder.

I knew Elton John would somehow find his way into this article, I just wasn’t sure how long it would take!

Another thing that people may or may not know is Bacharach and David wrote “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” by Gene Pitney.

And James Taylor…

How is it that James Taylor winds up in every issue of the Hpathy Ezine????

…covered that song on his 1985 “That’s Why I’m Here” album.

Shana, I seriously doubt that anyone cares.

Oh and speaking of Gene Pitney, apparently Bacharach and David are also responsible for “Only Love Can Break A Heart”.

I wish we could play all of them!  Gene Pitney had such a great voice. 

There’s no doubt about it, Bacharach and David were everywhere!  Let’s not forget “Baby It’s You” by the Shirelles, one of my all-time favorites.  Even The Beatles covered it.  Here’s a very old live performance of this song, and probably the only one.  We’re lucky to have it at all:

And remember last month I tried to explain who Doris Day and Rock Hudson were?  Burt and Hal wrote the theme song to “Send Me No Flowers”.

“Send Me No Flowers”, one of our favorite movies that we watch over and over again, it’s about Judy and George Kimball; Rock Hudson plays George Kimball, the hypochondriac husband who thinks he’s going to die because of chest pains which are actually gas pains.

In the beginning of the movie the gossipy milkman….

Shana, we don’t have time for an exposition of “Send Me No Flowers” from the beginning, all we can hope to do is convince people to rent it!

Oh by the way, turns out the director of this movie, Norman Jewison, is still alive at 96.  Famously, Burt Bacharach also appeared in one of my favorite TV shows, “The Nanny”.

The sitcom is about broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield …

Shana, we don’t have time to explain “The Nanny”; except to say that Fran Dresher made a point of bringing back deserving entertainers as guest stars, such as Burt Bacharach as shown above, but also Marvin Hamlisch, Ray Charles, and dare I say it…Elton John!!!!!   But we have to start the Quiz, we’re late again!  And we’re going to have to save the rest of our deaths for next month!

Well geez, Mom, how else are the people from India and Pakistan going to know what we’re talking about?

The people from India and Pakistan left hours ago!  If we’re lucky, Linda Santini might still be here but don’t count on it!

Who’s in The Quiz this month?

Oh geez, I suppose I have to come up with a fictitious name….

How about a salute to Chinese cuisine with “Lady Lo Mein” and her baby son, “Won Ton”?

Oy vey!  I can’t think, it’s past my bedtime!  OK, so I now present, the one and only….

Lady Lo Mein!!!!!

March 8, 2023

 Hello Elaine!

 Hello!!!!

 Baby Won Ton still isn’t pooping right … still since my mastitis stint.  I took him to a muscle tester lady and it seems he has “bacteria 4” stuck in him.

 I never liked Bacteria 4….

 I just must not have the right remedy or the right potency because this is just ridiculous.

He doesn’t even seem bothered by it – I am because I know not pooping is an issue and plus when he does, it’s super gross and not normal.

What I have noticed…

Been going on well over a month now.

Poop is green, slimy, thick when he does go.

Farts a lot and it STINKS

Gets a snotty nose at like 5am.  All day long he’s fine and then in those wee hours, it’s stringy clear mucus that needs to be sucked out.

He is sleeping at night very well.  Naps are ehh because well he has two older brothers that wake him up.  He will sleep best on me during the day.

His head was warm a bit ago and I gave him Pulsatilla 200 and Lycopodium 30 and his head seems less warm.  Seemed hottest on the sides of his head.

Very drooly (teething?)

He nurses every 3 hours normally.  At night he will have a longer stint.

I don’t think his stomach feels hard.

He’s super smiley and happy!

I can’t think of anything else!  His last poop was last Thursday!! 😩

I’ve never prayed for so much poop before in my life! 😂

 OK, Lady Lo Mein, I am suggesting for Baby Won Ton the following remedy: _____________ 1M, one dose in water.

 March 9th

I gave it 10 minutes ago.

 You might have to wait a day before you notice anything.

 March 10th

24 hours later. 

Just gave him another dose.  I plussed it 3 times according to muscle-testing.  He got unhappy and let out a huge cry so something seemed off.

 After the remedy?

 No, before.

 And after the remedy, did he calm down?

 Yes.

 March 11th, morning

He just pooped!!!!!!  Not as sticky and not green anymore, more like yellow.

 Going from green to yellow is an improvement.

 March 12th

He slept huge today.  He hasn’t had a good daytime nap like that in awhile!!

 We do expect the right remedy to put a baby to sleep.

 March 13th, morning

He just pooped again!  This time it was definitely more normal.  And a lot… it went up his back and resulted in another bath — lol.  Definitely smells more normal too.

 Bad odors are a sign of bacteria; so, hasta la vista, Bacteria #4!

 Hopefully we’re back on track now!! 😍😍

Elaine – what will I do when you are no longer with us?!

 Huh?  Where am I going?

 I might have to take classes!  🙂

 The only place I’m going is Whole Foods!  (I should have gone there there yesterday!)  Don’t you worry.  Elaine Lewis is going nowhere!

__________________________________

 OK, everybody, what was the remedy?  Write to me at [email protected] and let me know, the answer will be in the April ezine.  And now, I can’t resist playing one more Bacharach and David song, this time by Jerry Butler, one of my favorites, “Make It Easy On Yourself”:

Breaking up, is so, very hard to do……

  Jerry Butler

 Votes

Calc-carb-6

Collinsonia

Chamomilla

Mercurius

Nux vomica

Sulphur

Pulsatilla

Opium

________________

 How did we do this time?  Looks like nearly half the answers are right!

 Hello Elaine!

It’s Dr. Nishana from the UAE!

The remedy is Calcarea carbonica.

You’re right!!!!

Indications

1. feels better in every way when constipated (he was a happy and smiley kid)

Exactly!  That was all I needed to hear!

2. complaints during dentition

3. sour odour of the stool

4. takes cold easily

Thanks for voting!

Regards

Dr. Nishana

 

Hi Elaine.

I have been reading your Tidbits articles and Quizzes on Hpathy.com for quite a long time now.

Really?

Love reading them.

Wow!  Thanks!!!

I graduated two years ago from NY School of Homeopathy.

Congratulations!

I am bravely venturing into solving your Quiz.

Good for you!

For the purpose of this activity I would like to go by the name “Kalyanee” – meaning One Who Wants to Help Others.

In the rubrics,

RECTUM, Inactivity of

STOOL, Green

NOSE, Discharge, viscid tough

Chamomilla is indicated strongly.

Then he is drooling and you gave the teething hint.

Birgit, our school Acutes teacher, taught Chamomilla was a famous teething remedy.

Yes, it is, but why?  Because the personality of the teething child tends to match the personality of Chamomilla; and what is the personality of the teething child—more often than not?  Inconsolable crying and screaming due to pain!  As it says in Allen’s Keynotes under Chamomilla:

“Pain: seems unendurable, drives to despair.”

Is our Quiz patient in pain?  Nooooooo!!!!!!  Just the opposite!  No pain at all!  So, Lady Lo Mein states, “Drooling (teething?)”  She’s asking, she doesn’t know!  So, if she doesn’t know (and babies do drool) we should just forget about it and move on.

Though typical presentation was diarrhea with green slimy stools, I am guessing remedy works on Rectum and stools.

Keeping my fingers crossed until April.

Thanks for these quizzes….

OK, OK, so, I can see that we have to address a big misconception in case-solving first of all.  I was sure everyone would know the answer right away; but, it did occur to me: “They’re gonna be looking for green poop remedies, you just wait!” and wow!  I guess I was right!  Did you read “Repertory Round-Up, Part 4”?

Tidbits 50–Repertory Round-Up, Part-4

Read it now.  This article talks about The Hierarchy Of Symptoms.  At the top of the hierarchy is Etiology.  You’ve heard the expression “Etiology Over-Rules Symptomatology”, haven’t you?  That’s the basis of all our “Ailments From” remedies:

Ailments from blunt trauma–Arnica

Ailments from acute grief–Ignatia

Ailments from injury to parts rich in nerves–Hypericum

And so on.  When we have a case with a clear etiology, we breathe a sigh of relief!  Why?  Because we don’t have to know anything else!
We don’t have to do anything else!  The case is over!

Now, let’s say the case has no etiology.  What’s the next item on our Hierarchy of Symptoms?  Diagnosis!  Usually our diagnostic rubrics are too big to be helpful.  But sometimes, a particular diagnosis is known for just 1 or 2 remedies!  For instance, “Night Terrors” are what?  Stramonium!  Do we need to know anything more?  No!

In the quiz case, the diagnosis is Constipation.  Too many remedies in that rubric.

So, what’s next in the Hierarchy of Symptoms?  “Sudden Onset”!  For example, “I was out walking on a bright, sunny day and I suddenly got a headache!”  What’s that?  Belladonna!

Our 2 “sudden onset” remedies are: Aconite and Belladonna.  From 3,000 remedies, we’re down to 2, just by knowing that the complaint came on suddenly.  Do I need to know anything else?  No.  Of the 2, Belladonna scores higher under “Headaches from sun exposure”.

What’s next in the Hierarchy of Symptoms?  “Delusions, Striking, Strange, Rare and Peculiar”.

OK, here we go!  Now we’re finally down to something that will help us solve our quiz!  No delusions in this case, but, what is striking, strange, rare and peculiar about it?  The patient is “cheerful” with constipation!  That’s a keynote of a remedy!  Do we know what remedy that is?  Yes!  It’s Calc-carb!

But here’s the important thing:  Do we need to know anything else??????  NO!  Do we need to care that the stool is green and smells bad or is slimy?  NO!  Why?  Because those symptoms are “Particulars”, they are at the bottom of the Hierarchy of Symptoms!  The top over-rules the bottom!

You know, listen to this: What’s the point of a “hierarchy”, if everything is going to be equal?  If you’re going to put all the symptoms into one basket and add them all up, then there’s no hierarchy at all!  That’s not a hierarchy!  Hierarchy has no meaning unless you’re going to say the top over-rules the bottom!

I remember reading Breslow’s Homeopathic Medicine In The Home and recalling Breslow saying, “If a modality is a repeating modality, meaning it’s the same for every symptom in the case, you can elevate that modality to a “General”.  And I was, like, So what?  So it’s now a General, big deal, what difference does it make what you call it?

What I didn’t understand was: Generals over-rule particulars!  So, let’s say the only General in a case was a modality: “Hot Applications/hot bathing amel.”  (“Amel.” is an abbreviation for “ameliorates”; meaning, “better hot applications/hot bathing”.)  What remedy is that?  It’s Rhus tox!  Does it matter now what any of the particulars were?  NO!  That’s why it mattered so much that we had a “General”!

Now, what was your mistake?  You came in at the BOTTOM!  You prescribed on the Particulars!  Those are the “My” symptoms: My arm hurts, my eye is running, my nose is running, my poop is green, etc.”

The Generals are the “I” symptoms; for example, “I want ice, I want company, I want quiet, I want water….”  The I’s over-rule the My’s, just like the mentals over-rule the physicals, and the Peculiars and delusions over-rule the mentals, and the Etiology over-rules all of them!  The salient point here being, when you try to solve a case, don’t start at the bottom!  OK?  UNLESS, something at the bottom is a keynote of a remedy!

But I thought that teething was the Etiology.

The mother thought that teething MIGHT be the cause of the drooling, not the constipation (but babies drool anyway, making this theory even more suspect).  The cause of the constipation, she determined, was “Bacteria 4” (that’s what the lady who did Muscle-Testing told her, and bad odors do indicate an overgrowth of bacteria).  The only problem is, we can’t do anything with a statement like that!  Etiology—bad bacteria—is not in the Repertory! 

“Cheerful with constipation” is a keynote of Calc-carb; and Calc-carb is a typical children’s remedy, especially in infancy.  You can even find it in the Repertory, go to:

“Mind: cheerful, constipated, when”.

Thanks for voting!

 

Dale Moss writes:

Hi, Elaine

Here’s my repertorization:

The only thing that makes me hesitate about Merc. is that its stools are normally diarrheic.  Yes, it can have constipation, but the quality of the stool tends to be different.  And nothing was said about straining (although that may have been the case just before the baby got the remedy).

Still, Mercury gets my vote.  

Peace,

Dale

 

Hi Dale, I would just refer you to my answer to Kalyanee above: she prescribed on the Particulars too.  (Also, “smiling” is not a “symptom” as babies smile a lot and are often very happy, and babies drool a lot too).  Anything that’s normal or common, we can just ignore.

I think Wayne just sailed in from Australia!

 

Hi Elaine,

Got caught up with Xmas and the New year.

I think the answer to this month’s quiz is Nux Vomica.

Children : Constipation

Stools : Green

Stools : Mucus slimy

Flatus : Offensive

Nose: obstruction nursing infants

Well… I had a feeling everyone would go for the green stool remedies.  Here we have yet another example of a keynote of a remedy being missed.  Did you know that there’s a rubric, “Mind: cheerful, constipated, when”?  It’s a keynote of Calc-carb.  Calc-carb children are famously constipated but they don’t care, they’re fine with it; it doesn’t bother them!  Nux vomica has the “wants to but can’t” thing going on.  It’s called “tenesmus” (ineffectual straining).  Calc-carb doesn’t have that, doesn’t even want to go!  And then, on top of that, Calc-carb is a typical remedy for babies anyway.  So, yes, the remedy was Calc-carb.

I knew the habits of a Calc-carb baby, but I expected the stools would be light in colour.

Wayne, the color of the stool didn’t matter.  Why?  It’s a “particular”, a “My” symptom (“My” stool is green).  The “particulars” are over-ruled by anything that’s “characteristic”, and by that I mean:

Striking, strange, rare or peculiar.  What’s more striking or peculiar than being cheerful with constipation?  See my “Repertory Round-Up, part 4” again:

Tidbits 50–Repertory Round-Up, Part-4

What an excellent article!  It makes things very much clearer.

Thanks for your explanation of the remedy being Calc-carb as well.

I’m glad you liked it.

Best wishes, Wayne

 

You’ll be happy to know that Pam is here!

Hi Elaine,

Hello, Pam!

I tried to work on this over the weekend.  I feel conflicted over my answer, but am settling on ….CALC CARB.

You’re right again!!!!

1.First, I thought of Chamomilla, but the baby is HAPPY, so I nixed that.

 

Good point!  No happy baby ever got Chamomilla!

  1. Then, I thought of LYC due to the stinky gas, but I could not find Lyc mentioned prominently in the Rep for constipation, so I decided against this remedy.

The Rectum: constipation rubric is too large to help us anyway, but, even so, Calc-carb is in Bold for Constipation.

3.Nux Vomica came up for constipation, but again THIS baby is HAPPY, so I did not think Nux v. fit…

It doesn’t fit.  Nux vomica has “Wants to but can’t”.  It wants to poop, it tries to poop, but nothing comes out.  Our patient doesn’t have this.

BUT CALC was also listed AND it had the keynote of “baby acts indifferent despite being constipated.”  (not an exact quote)

There ya go!  “Cheerful feelings with constipation”.  Yes, a keynote of Calc-carb, you can’t beat it!

4.Then I looked back at your “Kitchen Sink” article and tried to figure out the etiology, but got confused.  Is NEVER well since mastitis the etiology?

No, you’re not gonna find that in the Repertory anywhere, and besides, we have no idea what the cause is, other than the dreaded

“Bacteria 4”!!!!!!

Screaming, hate, rage. Crying emotional angry woman screaming 17156493 Stock Photo at Vecteezy

 

I could not find any remedy under mastitis in the Repertory that seemed to fit the constipation issue.  I did find BAPTISIA listed for INFECTION, but is she 100% sure the baby does have an infection just because of muscle testing result?  ALL baby poop stinks….infection or not, IMHO.  AND GREEN baby poop could be due to a FOOD INTOLERANCE.  CALC CARB was also listed for INTOLERANCE TO MILK.

  1. I finally decided to stick with CALC CARB because of the possible intolerance to milk + I find that a baby seeming HAPPY and SMILEY, despite being constipated and gassy….is very Peculiar, and you said if you see a keynote, give the remedy.

Absolutely, you got it!  If you see a keynote of a remedy, give the remedy!  (Thank you, Robin Murphy!)

Did I get it right??

I’d say so!  Meanwhile, I think Neil from the UK is here:

Hi Elaine.

Hi, Neil…

This months quiz i think could be Sulphur.  It appears in constipation in children, green stools and offensive flatus.

I have disregarded the runny nose as didn’t think important.  I found it tricky to pinpoint what info to leave out as other remedies appeared if I included loud flatus, for example.

He didn’t have loud flatus, he had frequent flatus.  But, indeed, this is an issue.  I always try to point out to people: if you give EVERYTHING in a case equal weight, a multitude of remedies begin to pop up, leading to confusion as to what the right remedy could possibly be.

I did consider Alumina, Podophylum and Calc-carb but decided Sulphur appeared more often.

It was Calc-carb, Neil.  Why?  A keynote and a mental: “Mind: Cheerful feelings with constipation”.  Only 2 remedies listed: Psorinum and Calc-carb.

Given that Calc-carb is a very common remedy in infancy while Psorinum is rarely used, Psorinum would not be my first choice.

From Allen’s Keynotes:

 PSORINUM

A Product Of Psora, A Nosode.

Especially adapted to the psoric constitution.

Children are pale, delicate, sickly. Sick babies will not sleep day or night but worry, fret, cry; child is good, plays all day; restless, troublesome, screaming all night.

_________

Yikes!  This doesn’t match our patient at all; so, Calc-carb makes a lot more sense.  It also scores higher in the Constipation rubric.  So, “Cheerful with constipation” was basically all we needed to know!  Why?  Because “striking, strange, rare and peculiar” over-rules “particulars” (like color of stool, consistency of stool, bad odor of stool, frequent flatus, etc.)  Keep the “Hierarchy of Symptoms” in mind.  (Maybe you should read “Repertory Round-Up part 4” again.)

https://hpathy.com/homeopathy-papers/tidbits-50-repertory-round-part-4/

Here is something I would really like people to appreciate once and for all:  Your job is not to add up all the symptoms in a case, repertorize them, and the remedy on top is the one that wins.

Most of us are starting cases at the bottom of the Hierarchy (the local or particular symptoms) and trying to match a remedy to them.  “Green stool!” was the first thing almost everybody thought of in this case.

We should be, rather, coming in at the TOP and starting from there; specifically, at Etiology, and seeing if the case has one.  If not, what’s next?  The Diagnosis.  Does that help us?  Well, kind of but the rubric is kind of large.  What’s after that, Sudden Onset!  No sudden onset.  What’s next?  “Striking, Strange, Rare and Peculiar”, do we have one of those?  Yes!!!!  Cheerful with constipation!  What remedy is that?  Calc-carb!  Is Calc-carb in the Constipation rubric?  Yes, it’s in bold!  OK, we’re done!  Yes, we’re done! 

“What about green stool?  Thick and slimy?”  No, sorry, doesn’t matter.  What’s at the Top over-rules what’s at the Bottom!  That’s why homeopaths are always trying to find the mentals in a case, have you noticed that?  Because they know the mentals over-rule the particulars!

So, in Baby Won-Ton’s case, look what we have: we’ve got a mental, a keynote and a striking/strange/rare and peculiar–you can’t beat that!  You just cannot beat that.

So, yeah, it was Calc-carb.

Elaine, in the case, mentals are included in Striking, Strange, Rare and Peculiar.

I don’t know what you mean.  Do you mean that “mentals”, by definition, ARE striking, strange rare and peculiar?

If you will refer to “Repertory Round-Up, part 4”, you will see that in the Hierarchy of Symptoms, “Striking, strange, rare and peculiar” (“characteristic symptoms”, as Hahnemann calls them) are ranked higher than the “mentals”, not equal to, or part of.

In “Repertory Round-Up part 4”, I talk about what a characteristic symptom is.  One of the things that a characteristic symptom is, is a “keynote of a remedy”.  So, a “keynote of a remedy” trumps a “mental”.  Robin Murphy used to say, “If you see a keynote of a remedy, give the remedy.”

“Cheerful with Constipation” is a keynote of Calc-carb.  If you don’t know your keynotes, then you’re going to think that the most striking part of this case is the odd color of the stool.  You’re going to zero in on that.

Is that because you’d expect the baby to be miserable?

Another definition of a “characteristic symptom” is that the symptom is “peculiar for the disease”, meaning that most people with this diagnosis are a certain way, and if your patient is the opposite way, then that is “characteristic”.  So, in most people, constipation causes headaches, sluggishness, abdominal discomfort, etc.  But in Calc-carb, no such trouble!  They’re just fine—as Lady Lo Mein said, “He’s fine with it.”

So, if the baby was miserable, for want of a better word, would you start from there seeing as mentals are higher in hierarchy?

Good question!  No.  If the baby had been “miserable” with constipation, that would be considered “normal” and, as such, not a symptom.  For a mental symptom to “count”, it has to be “peculiar”.  If it’s a normal part of the disease, it’s not characteristic, and therefore, we can’t use it.  What do we call that, a Pathognomonic symptom?  Pathognomonic means:

“characteristic for a particular disease”.

What homeopaths are after in a case are symptoms that are characteristic for the Person!  If a symptom is normal in the disease, it won’t help us, even if it is a MENTAL!

If we had no keynotes of a remedy here and no mentals that were characteristic, we would have to jump to our Particulars–the stool color, the thickness, texture, etc., as this would be all we would have!

I thought mentals were only considered useful when extreme, like rage, jealousy, fear, etc., so, a happy baby would not be strong enough a symptom to me.  Maybe others thought the same way?

I guess if you’re not familiar with the keynotes of Calc-carb, then yes, you’re going to completely miss this remedy because you’re going to  think, “Hmm….a happy baby…sounds completely normal; nothing to see here!”

Finally, you do know that “Cheerful” is a rubric in the Mind chapter, right?  And why might it be there?  Because sometimes it’s not always appropriate to be cheerful.  Who is cheerful at a funeral?  Ignatia.  Who is cheerful when contemplating suicide?  Aurum.  Who is cheerful in an electrical storm?  Sepia and Carcinosin.  Instead of saying, “Mentals have to be extreme”, maybe say, “Mentals have to be ‘characteristic’.”

Brilliant  explanation  Elaine!

Oh, thank you!

Thank you for your time.

Regards,

UK Neil

 

Hi Elaine and Shana,

Hi Maria!

For this month I am between Alumina and Calcarea Carbonica.

Alumina is famous for constipation in infants but Calcarea feels best when constipated, and I noticed that the child is Super Happy!

We would expect the belly to be hard if it needed calc-carb though.

We would?

If it was fed by a bottle I would vote for alumina, but I think she said that the baby is nursing every 3 hours.  I will go for Calc, because it is also a dentition remedy and if the kid is drooling maybe it is coming from the teeth.  If I am wrong I will try again.

You’re not wrong so don’t try again!

Hey everybody, Vamsi’s in the house!!!!

 

Dear Elaine,

Praying for Poop – What a name for the quiz 🙂

Well, it’s a direct quote from Lady Lo Mein.

Elaine, Not sure if I am on the right track, but will surely give it a try. My analysis is as follows.  Going by your Chest of Drawers Rule…

1.Etiology

Nothing

 

  1. Diagnosis
  2. Bacteria 4

Vamsi, the diagnosis is Constipation.  “Bacteria 4” means nothing!  I’ll tell you what it means, it means the practitioner who did the muscle-testing put certain vials on the baby’s chest and then muscle-tested the mother who was holding the baby’s hand.  One of the vials, apparently, was labeled “Bacteria 4”.  For people who want to understand “muscle-testing”, click here:

Homeopathy and Muscle Testing

3.Sudden onset

NO

4.Striking, Strange, Rare and Peculiar.

Poop is green, slimy, thick

Here is where you made your mistake, Vamsi.  What is peculiar?  Happy with constipation!  Normally, people who are constipated are NOT happy; they’re “out of sorts”.  So, “being fine” with constipation is very peculiar.

Was MERC SOL Administered?  Green Slimy Poop reminds me of Merc Sol.

But do have a doubt that there is “Never done feeling” in Merc and the baby was happily playing after that.  So have double minds if it’s MERC Sol?

Gassiness and it STINKS is very general, if the stools are not evacuated this is very common.  And is not taken under the Striking symptom.

Please let me know your views.  Waiting for your response.

I think we know that Mercury is a very sick remedy.  Only better lying down.  You would have to know that “cheerful with constipation” is a keynote of a remedy.  Which one is it?

Yes, I was not sure of the remedy as being happy even after severe constipation was very peculiar…

I am travelling and don’t have access to repertory

So trying out elimination:

  1. It cannot be Bryonia, as baby was happy and playing
  2. It cannot be Antimonium crud. as there was no bloating and stomach ache. Stomach doesn’t feels hard.
  3. It cannot be Nux vomica as there is no bloating and other symptoms of nux
  4. I feel it should be Pulsatilla (not sure though)

Pls let me know, as this is a peculiar symptom and nothing strikes me now.

Vamsi, “cheerful with constipation” is a keynote of Calc-carb.

I knew Calcarea carb was known for constipation, but *being happy* with it was news to me.

Thanks a bunch Elaine for that wonderful quiz…Lots of love 🙂

Cheers

Vamsi.

 

Hello Elaine and Shana,

Hello Miroslav an Jitka!

Here are our answers to your March quiz.

Miroslav votes: Calcarea carbonica

I think that the child got Calc-c., the following rubrics fit to him:

– stool bulky, green, rectum, constipation in children, during teeth growth …

Actually, we have no idea if he’s teething.  Infants drool, it’s just what they do.

I was also impressed that the child was calm, obviously not suffering (it lay sweetly on the mother’s belly), Phatak in MM writes about  Calc. carb: It feels best when constipated.  The child’s mother was clearly suffering.

Differentiation: Chamomilla, because of milk teeth growth ,

Again, there’s no proof that the child is teething.  Mother is guessing.

green stool, bad smell… but Chamomiilla would certainly make itself known with its unmistakable presence of temperament…

Right.  We could never give Chamomilla to a happy child.

Jitka votes: Calcarea Carbonica

For me this was your easiest case that you ever presented to us.

I totally agree, it was very easy.

When I read that the child felt comfortable during constipation + bulky stool, I immediately thought of Calcarea carb.

As well you should!  You are both right!

Thanks for your instructive quizzes. Best regards    Jitka

 

We have time for one more contestant:

Calcarea carb 1m

You’re right!

Thanks

Regards

Dr Shazia Khan

BHMS 

Time to congratulate our big winners: Dr. Nishana, Pam, Maria, Miroslav, Jitka, Dr. Shazia Khan…come on down!  You’ve just won the Gold Star in the Hpathy Quiz!

See you again next time!

 

_____________________________________________

Elaine Lewis, DHom, CHom

Elaine takes online cases.  Write to her at [email protected]

Visit her website: https://ElaineLewis.hpathy.com

 

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

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