Revisiting: It Takes Two!

Mom, it’s time for the quiz!

Not again!  Didn’t we just have a quiz a month ago?

I’m sure you’re wondering what is 20 years old this year.

I am?  Oh yes!  Of course!  That’s exactly what I’m wondering!  What is 20 years old in 2017?  Well, wait, don’t tell me, don’t tell me.  I’m usually very good at this.  Twenty years old…what could it be, what could it be…. Um….rattle snakes?

Mom!!!!  You’re way off!  On July 15th, Cartoon Network’s “Johnny Bravo” turned 20.

It did?  He did?  “Johnny Bravo”????  No one knows who he is!!!!

Mom, he’s on our bathroom door!  It was a cartoon based on a character resembling Elvis Presley!

Oh.  So that’s who’s on our bathroom door.  Can we start the quiz now?

Seth MacFarlane, the guy who is today known as the creator of “Family Guy”, used to write for “Johnny Bravo” and “Dexter’s Laboratory”.

Unfortunately, Shana….. no one cares!

Also the guy who created “Johnny Bravo” was roommates in college with Craig McCracken (creator of “The Powerpuff Girls”), Genndy Tartakovsky (creator of “Dexter’s Laboratory”), and Paul Rudish who worked on both “The Powerpuff Girls” and “Dexter’s Lab”.

What a small world; and by the way, what kind of name is “Genndy”, pray tell?  What parents in their right mind could only come up with “Genndy” when naming their child?  (“Darling, what are we going to name the baby?  Something special, I hope!  Something that will make him really popular!  How about … ‘Genndy’!  What do you think?”  “Whatever you say, dear.”)

Mom, I’m only going to say this once, so pay attention and then stop being so complain-y!  His real name is Gennady Borisovich Tartakovsky…

Oh!  Well that’s different.  Never mind!

What can I say, I guess Russians have weird names like…”Vladimir Putin”.

Not to be confused with any other “Vladimir Putin” who might be floating around… and possibly listening in on our conversation!

Also I’ve seen people speculating on the internet over what kind of accent Dexter has and I find it interesting that it was suggested in an interview by Genndy that Dexter’s accent is probably Russian which would make sense since Genndy is Russian.

Have you noticed how we keep saying “Genndy”?

Also I would like to point out that Genndy….

See what I mean????

…also worked on “The Powerpuff Girls”.  So, this man…

Genndy?

… is basically my whole childhood.

Dear God!  I had no idea your childhood was so impoverished!  Who were your parents?

Anyway, next, my favorite movie, “Good Burger”, turns 20 on July 25th.

“Good Burger” is your favorite movie?  OMG.

You may recall that this movie stars comedy team Kenan and Kel as fast-food employees who are competing against a bigger and flashier burger chain.

Oh!  Well why didn’t you say so?  Now it’s everyone’s favorite movie!

Here is a video of funny moments from the movie.  It’s a teensy bit long…

Oh great!

…but trust me, it’s hilarious.

It better be, Shana!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8mLJs-lMTw

Well, Shana, you were right.  It was long!!!

Before I get to my next announcement, I would like to advise our ezine readers that if at all possible, they should get a hold of “Good Burger” because it really is hilarious!

So noted.

If you have Netflix, you can find it on there.  If, like me, you still have a VCR, you can look for the VHS or if you’re a DVD household…

Shana!!!!!!  Is this going anywhere????

Next I would like to announce that my favorite show, “The Originals” got renewed for season 5.

Is that your last announcement?

Yes.

Thank God!  OK, ladies and gentlemen, it is now SHOW TIME!  Get ready for the often-imitated, but never duplicated…the one and only…

Hpathy…Quiz!!!!!

So, let’s everybody quiet down, OK?  So this was a constitutional case until it started to look like this patient was coming down with the flu!  I had to switch gears and find a remedy for whatever was happening to her acutely.  Consequently, there are 2 remedies here, Remedy-X and Remedy-Y, you have to find both of them.  I give you now….”Roxanne”:

Shouldn’t we call her Roxy instead?

Are you still here, Shana?  Fine, “Roxy”.  Yeesh!

****

In a message dated 7/2/2017 3:19:07 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:

This morning I’ve been tearful, irritable, and angry.  I lost my temper at the cat for being noisy and started throwing pillows.  I finally sat down on the floor and got really upset, crying and angry at the same time.

Sounds like [Remedy-X.]

I went for a walk and in the middle of it decided I was too tired to continue.  I did not feel better being outside, which is unusual for me.  I went home and started feeling really cold.  I couldn’t stand to be talked to and was snappish with my husband.  I finally went to bed, because that seemed to be the only way to get warm and be alone.  I felt better mood-wise just getting under the covers.  I just got up to eat lunch and feel as though I have a tight band around my head and a tight neck.  I was drooling while I was in bed too, and have been feeling a lot of tension between my shoulder blades.  It had been foggy all week but it’s sunny today.

I’d been feeling mildly achy for a couple of days.  I’m unusually thirsty today too.

Take a dose of [Remedy-Y] 30C in water and let me know if it works.

Ok, I took Remedy-Y, took a hot bath, and went back to bed.  My mood is much better; I’m still feeling cold and tired, but less so.

Next day:

Feeling better today—still a bit tired and achy but no longer cold or irritable.

In a message dated 7/6/2017 8:21:36 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:

Wow, I’ve felt sane most of today thanks to the Remedy X.  My emotional and mental state goes beyond calm and centered.  I have had to plus the bottle and reduce the time between doses, but this remedy really seems to be helping at a deep level.  Fingers crossed that it continues to do so.

Roxy

 

In a message dated 7/9/2017 11:22:00 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:

I woke up feeling even better this morning!

_________________

So what do you think?  We’ve got a constitutional case interrupted by a flu-like virus which had to be treated first, then she took the initial remedy that I blurted out, so, try to separate out the two, the acute case from the chronic case, and let me know what the two remedies were.  Send your answers to me at [email protected].  And oh, by the way, Shana?  You know what Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston said in 1966?

It Takes Two?

Me and you!

________________________________________

 

Votes:

Remedy X    Remedy Y

Pulsatilla                   Nux vomica

Chamomilla              Rhus tox

Sulphur                     Gelsemium

Ignatia-2                    Mercury-2

 

Alright, who wants to be first?  Oh look, Sarah Q from Jordan is here!

Could everyone please stop screaming for Sarah Q and sit down?  Thank you!  Sheesh!

Hi Elaine!

I can’t believe I am so late this month!

You’re not late!  In fact, you’re the first one here!

This was an interesting case!  Right off, I thought of Pulsatilla as her chronic (constitutional) remedy!  It wasn’t just her tearful mood, but the fact she went out for a walk expecting to feel better and it didn’t help; meaning that it usually does help!

It’s true that Pulsatilla is better for fresh air and slow walking, but Pulsatilla is a “mild” remedy.  If you go to “Mind: mild disposition”, Pulsatilla is a 4, meaning you can scarcely contemplate Pulsatilla without picturing “mildness”!  But Roxanne here is anything but mild!  Her emotions are extreme, they’re all over the place!  She’s crying, she’s mad, she’s throwing things, she’s losing her temper!  She’s an emotional mess!  When Pulsatilla cries, you have sympathy for her and want to help.  When Roxanne cries, you just wanna bolt for the door!  “Let me outta here, this is a crazy house!”

Wait, I’m not finished.  She also mentioned she was thirsty implying that usually she’s not, which also goes for Pulsatilla.  So I used the rubrics:

Crying

Thristless

Motion amel.

and came up with Pulsatilla in the #1 position.

As for her achy virus, she was irritable, throwing pillows…

No, no, wait; you just identified that as being her constitutional state!

…drooling, thirsty, chilly, tense, sensitive to noise, averse to company, and she had a hoop sensation headache; so, I took the rubrics:

Tension, physical, externally

Irritability

Salivation

Company, aversion to

Band sensation around head

Thirst

Sensitive to noise

So… I am feeling like it’s a Nux vomica case–the throwing-pillows-at-your-cat level of anger and irritability, and the intense chilliness.

The only rubric that didn’t come up for Nux vomica was the band around the head headache but I did find this rubric in kent’s rep:

“Generalities, constriction, band, sensation of a” which has Nux v level one intensity.
I hope, hope, hope I get at least one of them right this time.

Um…well…gee, I wish I could say yes… but I think you’ve mixed up the constitutional symptoms with the symptoms of the virus.  I’ll try to walk you through my thinking.  Here is the case in red:

This morning I’ve been tearful, irritable, and angry.  I lost my temper at the cat for being noisy and started throwing pillows.  I finally sat down on the floor and got really upset, crying and angry at the same time.

Here’s where I blurted out a remedy before I realized she had a virus.  (Remedy-X).

I went for a walk and in the middle of it decided I was too tired to continue.  I did not feel better being outside, which is unusual for me.  I went home and started feeling really cold.

OK, now I know she’s got a virus–because that happened to me once too–feeling really cold right before realizing I was sick!  Take the rubric “Generals: cold, low vital heat”.

I couldn’t stand to be talked to and was snappish with my husband.

Use the rubric, “Mind: company, aversion to”

I finally went to bed, because that seemed to be the only way to get warm and be alone.  I felt better mood-wise just getting under the covers.

The rubric– “Generals: covers, amel.”

I just got up to eat lunch and feel as though I have a tight band around my head and a tight neck.

So the key word here is “constriction”, the Repertory doesn’t use the word “tight”.  So, “Generals: constriction sensation” is your rubric.

I was drooling while I was in bed,

The closest I could come to this symptom was, “Mouth: salivation, sleep, during”

and have been feeling a lot of tension between my shoulder blades.

Another reference to “constriction”.

It had been foggy all week

Bingo!  There it is, the big enchilada!  We’ve struck gold!  It’s the etiology!  Ailments from foggy weather!  “Generals: foggy weather agg.”  And look what remedy comes up on top–Rhus tox.  It’s in bold for “foggy weather aggravates”:

I’d been feeling mildly achy for a couple of days.  I’m unusually thirsty today too.

Notice I added “Thirst” to the repertorization and Rhus tox is a 3 for that.  Now, I have to confess.  The truth is, I didn’t repertorize any of that–at least at the time.  As soon as I heard “It’s been foggy all week”, that was it for me, I knew the answer!  I didn’t need to know anything else!  You know that “etiology over-rules the totality of symptoms”, right?  Did you know that?  So, I was pretty sure I was gonna find Rhus tox in the “foggy” rubric, and then I remembered all the references to “tightness”, and “better hot bath”, all of which go for Rhus tox, and that was it, case-closed!  You can’t think of anything BUT Rhus tox in this case!

So, after she recovered from the virus, which happened very quickly, Roxanne took, on her own, the remedy I blurted out before I knew she had a virus, and that remedy was the one you thought was Pulsatilla, because she was crying, and better for walking–usually–and fresh air when she’s not sick.  But here’s the thing, Pulsatilla has a very mild disposition as I may have mentioned; in fact, it’s a 4 in that rubric!  Roxanne’s behavior was anything but mild!  She was losing her temper, throwing things, crying, and yelling at the cat!  Basically, she was out of control!  Look up “Mind: control, lack of emotional”, and there are only 2 remedies in bold, Anacardium and Ignatia; so, of the two, I prefer IGNATIA, as it’s more of a female remedy; in fact, see Allen’s Keynotes:

“Especially suited to nervous temperament; women of a sensitive, easily excited nature…”

So to me, the loss of emotional control suggested Ignatia, and I was about to go with that until I realized there was something else wrong with her.  Then I had to drop the Ignatia idea as I began seeing more and more that she had something like the flu.

I have here an Ignatia quiz for you to compare with this one, it goes into more detail about Ignatia:

Revisiting: Who’s That Lady?

Also, to learn more about Rhus tox, click here:

Today’s The Day, Elaine Turns 100!

So that’s it, acute case–Rhus tox

Constitutional case–Ignatia

Your big mistake, Sarah?  First, you mixed up the acute and constitutional symptoms and secondly, you missed the etiology!  Foggy weather agg. “It’s been foggy here for a week!”  That’s what made it not Nux vomica.  Nux v. is actually better for cloudy, foggy weather; worse for clear sunny weather.  So it couldn’t be Nux vomica, even though she had a bad temper, was yelling at everyone, worse noise, very cold, all looking good for Nux vomica, until you get to “It’s been foggy here for a week.”  That changed everything; the all-important etiology.  So, thanks for voting Sarah, and be sure to try again with this month’s quiz!

Is anybody else here?  I’m sensing the presence of Dr. Mukesh Patel!

 

Hi mam,

Hello Dr. Mukesh Patel.

this is for recent quiz,

i’m trying my luck….

Good!

first one was Chamomilla

i found a rubric WEEPING WITH ANGER

It’s true that Chamomilla does weep with anger, but usually the etiology is PAIN, they are hypersensitive to pain.  Think of teething, earaches, colic … it’s especially useful in infancy and childhood.  Chamomilla children are inconsolable, they are screaming, you can’t calm them down, the parents are at their wit’s end, the only thing that helps is brisk carrying; but, how long can a parent keep doing that without collapsing?  It’s a very extreme situation.  Too extreme, I think, for the mentals in this case.  I think the optimal rubric for this case is “Lack of Emotional Control” (Mind: control, lack of emotional).  Chamomilla is there, but only as a 1.  I picked one of the 3’s–Ignatia.

Second remedy, i think, is rhus-t

Yes, you are right, it was Rhus tox!  Very good!

chilly

hot bath amel

follow well to Chamomilla….

im not sure im right or not…..

You got the acute remedy right!  Yes, hot bath amel.  Good clue!  Glad you picked up on that!

Oh look, it’s Wayne from Australia!

 

Hi Elaine,

We have two quizzes in one.

Yes, I guess we do!

The case of the flu type I was not able to exactly narrow down.  I took as one of the main symptoms, the band type headache around the head.  Only two remedies were likely, Gelsemium and Mercury.

In favour of mercury she was drooling in bed, but there was no sweating and other symptoms didn’t seem to fit.

After reviewing the headaches of the likely flu remedies, I determined that Gelsemium was the best choice.  It is a main remedy in viral infections and had many of the symptoms suffered by the patient, like worse in foggy weather…

That was actually the key to the case for me!  When I saw “foggy for a week”…and yes, Gelsemium is there, but, what remedy is in BOLD?

…wanting to be alone, much aching etc.

And you know aching is a common virus symptom, so we don’t make much of that.

So I would have given her Gelsemium.

Gelsemium has a very clear, unmistakable image that we’re not seeing here.  Gelsemium is thirstless and our patient is very thirsty.  Gelsemium doesn’t snap at people and throw things at them; in fact, they’re very dull.  Remember the five D’s?  Droopy, drowsy, dopey, dizzy and dull?  They don’t talk, they don’t complain… they’re very apathetic and have a besotted look about them.

As for the constitutional case she weeps with anger, and has anger, vexation, irritability, fretfulness.  This would seem to be Sulphur.

She throws things, but I guess if you are angry this would come with this.

The rubric “weeps with anger” seems to indicate a Sulphur constitution.

No.  First of all, remember, it’s a female.  I looked at this as a female having an emotional melt-down.  I picked the rubric “Control, lack of emotional” and there were just 2 remedies in bold and it was easy to choose one over the other; namely, Ignatia.

With the acute case, I determined that foggy weather was the etiology.

She used the word “tight” twice, and then “tension” (between shoulder blades) which to me was just another way of saying “tight”.  “Tight” is a word Rhus tox patients use.  It’s in the Repertory as “constriction sensation” in “Generals”.

So, between ailments from foggy weather and three uses of the word “tight/tension”, I went with Rhus tox without hesitation.  However, you can actually repertorize the case and still get Rhus tox: Chilly, desires covers, aversion to company, salivation, thirst and so on.

I’ll wait for the verdict.

Thanks for voting, Wayne!!!

Oh look, it’s the gang from Slovakia!

 

Hello, Elaine and Shana,

Hello Jitka!

I´m sending you a reply to your July quiz, but this time only from one member of our gang.

(Gasp!!!!)   No way!  What good is Miroslav without Jitka?  It’s like coffee without cream, Lennon without McCartney, Rocky without Bullwinkle!

I didn’t catch solving the quiz because of moving.

You’re not voting because you moved?

I think this time I agree with my colleague in both remedies.  But because this solution is from his head, I can´t participate on his glory…:)

Oh, don’t be silly, of course you can!

Miroslav says:

Remedy X – throwing pillows firstly evoked Staphysagria, but the cause of throwing things in Staphysagria is humiliation, in accumulation of anger, and she throws it on those who humiliated her.  In this case, I do not see anything like this, but there is some kind of nervous congestion, irritability, provocation by noise …

Right, and we wouldn’t say that Staphysagria throws things on account of noise; good point.

… It seems to me as a reaction of Nux-v.

Right, and we did get a vote for Nux vomica.

But since the subject of the case is a woman, I would choose a female variant of a strychnine and that’s Ignatia.

You’re right, Miroslav, Ignatia it is!!!

Rubrics: Mind, sensitive, noise, to

Mind, crying, lamenting, anger, with

Remedy Y – Influenza, salivation, feeling of a band around the head are pointing to Mercurius

I knew that someone would see the salivation and vote for Mercurius!  But, you have over-looked the all-important etiology!  “It’s been foggy for a week!”  Ailments from foggy weather–Rhus tox; and then, to confirm it, she says she feels a tightness sensation–on her head, between her shoulder blades, her neck… and then, she’s better after a hot bath; all confirm Rhus tox!  Am I right?  So….the remedies were: Ignatia and Rhus tox. 

This is probably a good time for me to make a point about weather!  You should always ask about the weather!  It’s not irrelevant!  Very often, the weather or the temperature is at the center of what’s wrong!  A lot of our remedies have something to do with exposure to a certain kind of weather or temperature.  For example, Nat-sulph has ailments from sleeping in damp basements, Aconite has ailments from cold/dry windy weather, Rhus tox has ailments from damp, cold and rainy weather and worse before a storm; Carcinosin and Sepia are actually better during a storm!  Belladonna has ailments from the sun, sunstroke; Gelsemium has ailments from the sun but with humidity; so, ailments from very oppressive hot sunny weather.  So, again, when you hear a patient say, “It’s been foggy here for a week!”  Or, “The weather just changed from hot to cold,” or, “I got my feet wet”, or “I got my hair wet”, or, “It was very hot today, so I jumped into a cold swimming pool…” that’s Rhus tox, by the way; or, “I sat right next to the air conditioner” (Aconite)… pay attention to that!  Those weather/temperature-related things, they could solve the case for you!

And now let’s congratulate our winner.  Actually, we have 3 half-winners; so, if we put all 3 together, we get… Dr. Miroslav Jitka Patel!  Congratulations!

See you all again next time!

________________________________________

Elaine Lewis, D.Hom., C.Hom.

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

Visit her website: elaineLewis.hpathy.com