Revisiting: When Pineapples Attack!

Hi Mom. Well, another quiz is underway.

How many years has it been now? 17? OMG!

I think I’ll do my usual announcements that no one cares about first.

Shana! Don’t say that! Everyone cares! (And by everyone, I mean Linda Santini.)

We had quite a death report last month.

Don’t remind me! Hank Aaron? Mary Wilson? Forget about it!

Think of this as a breather. Things are looking good in the world of streaming.

The world of what??????

Mom, I know you don’t know what I’m talking about, but explaining anything to you is a complete waste of time! “The Muppet Show”…

I knew it!!!!

…landed on Disney Plus last month. You seriously need to watch it with me.

Good grief! When does it end???? (What’s Disney Plus?)

The streaming service! Ugh. Never mind! Some of the guest stars are people we know, like Victor Borge…

Oh! Well why didn’t you say so????!!!!!! He is soooo funny, so clever and talented; making comedy out of classical music; no one else ever thought of that!

It’s no fun watching by myself.

OK, but then you have to watch the things I want to watch with me!!! What about all the classic movies you haven’t seen?

Mom, we’re getting to that, OK? I can’t wait to watch Elton John’s guest spot…

I should have known!

…which I’ve been waiting to see for a very long time. I’m currently on Season-1 and it’s a little weird to watch because apparently another Muppet performer was sharing Miss Piggy with Frank Oz…

I have no idea what that means!

She didn’t become his main character until later.

Who?

Miss Piggy!!!! Mom, please pay attention. And Fozzie also sounded different, like Bert from the first season of Sesame Street.

Shana, only you would know what Bert sounded like from the 1st season of Sesame Street!

I mean, Bert was also Frank Oz’s character but it was super weird to hear an early Fozzie Bear.

Yes, I’m sure! Weird; much like this conversation!!!!

I know the first season of any show is all about finding your footing and I guess that’s what was happening on the Muppet Show.

One can only assume. Can we possibly move this segment of The Quiz along? I’ve got a very intriguing case to do where Baby Roz tries to eat a pineapple with devastating results!

I know you always say I never grow up….

Really? Me? I say that? Why would I ever say that?

…but there’s going to be a reboot of “The Rugrats”.

Aaaaaah!!!!!!

The original cast (other than the ones who have passed away) will reprise their roles.

Well! If this isn’t front-page news….

There’s also been news of a “Frasier” revival floating around but no mention of Jane Leeves, David Hyde Pierce or Peri Gilpin.

Oh well, then, forget about it!

This month is also the 40th anniversary of James Taylor’s “Dad Loves His Work” album.

James Taylor again???? I should have known!!!!

This is an image of him from that era.

I’m sure the authenticity is appreciated by all. (And by “all”, I mean Linda Santini.)

A fact about this album I didn’t notice until now is that it was produced by his manager Peter Asher.

OK, Shana, again, no one knows who Peter Asher is, and, don’t look now… but no one cares!!!

He’s the “Peter” from “Peter and Gordon”!

Oh!!! Well now Everyone knows who he is!!!

He also produced “Sweet Baby James”

OK, so he did one good thing.

…followed by “Mud Slide Slim”

2 good things.

…which happens to turn 50 this year.

Shana, I’m giving you exactly 10 seconds to wrap this up!

Turns out, Peter Asher produced James Taylor a lot in the beginning of his career. Believe it or not, I don’t know the story behind this album but I imagine he was having trouble in his marriage to Carly Simon.

…5, 4, 3….

They got divorced two years later.

Time’s up!

It’s an OK album.

She’s still talking.

I know you keep saying he should stick to folk music…

Dear God, yes!!! That is an understatement!

…but I always seem to find something to like in his later works.

Grr……

This year is also the 30th anniversary of “New Moon Shine” which we had on cassette tape when I was younger.

I know, Shana! We had to listen to it every day on our way to school! Every freakin’ day!!!!

More about that during the appropriate month though.

No, there will be no appropriate month!

Oh, and true story…

Oh geez…

…when I saw James Taylor in 2015, he performed a song from this album. It was “I Will Follow” and Arnold McCuller performed the solo part on stage.

Dear God. Shana, try to hear me when I tell you this. No one knows who Arnold is, OK? And no one cares!!!!!

Unfortunately tours have been put on hold because of covid. He was scheduled to play with Jackson Browne which would’ve been awesome. The shows were rescheduled for this year but it doesn’t matter because covid is a mess and they aren’t near us anyway.

Is that your last gasp on James Taylor?

Yes. And now for this month’s Death Report!

And not a moment too soon!

Sadly we lost James Burke, one of The Five Stairsteps, at 70 of pneumonia.

They are best known for their top-10 hit, “O-o-h Child” in 1970.

His brother, Clarence Burke Jr., predeceased him in 2013. In fact, here is an amazing video of Clarence from 2010, doing the song he sang lead on, “Danger! She’s A Stranger”:

Rest in Peace, Clarence and James! Oh, and P.S., few people know that The Invisible Man’s Band, a disco group from the ’70’s who scored a #10 hit with “All Night Thing”, was actually The 5 Stairsteps.

And now… the moment you’ve all been waiting for, I give you …

When Pineapples Attack!

***

Hi Elaine,

“Roz” had pineapples last night and while she ate she started itching bad and her mouth area broke out in a small, bumpy type rash.

There was a good amount of rash and bumps on her neck as well. She was crying badly!

Dear God!!!!

I gave her __________30C. The reaction and itching died down. She resumed playing.

How long did it take? To resume playing?

About half an hour. I have never given her oranges and pineapple fearing it would make her stomach acidic.

Last week she was upset with me for not giving them to her so I gave her pineapple and she was fine with it.

But last week the fruit was very ripe, nice yellow and very sweet. Yesterday it wasn’t a great fruit.

Not a great fruit??? OMG!!!!

Not ripe or sweet, and pale.

(Gasp!!!!!)

She was in her high chair and it was our fruit time and we just had the one pineapple on the table.

I certainly hope you learned your lesson about not having great fruit in the house! Apparently she’s not allergic to pineapple, per se, but, yes to that particular (not great!) pineapple! Anyway, the important thing is, you knew to give ________30C. Good for you! I can see an incident like this getting quickly out of hand and ending up in a trip to the Emergency Room! Is the rash all gone now?

WIth one dose of _________30C she stopped crying and started playing in like half an hour 🙂

She was occasionally scratching for an hour or 2, but it didn’t seem to bother her. She was playing, laughing and fine before bed time.

The rash is drying out and not red or itchy.

Such great news! And also, a perfect description of Hering’s Law of Cure, namely, that healing takes place from the inside out. The first thing to improve were her mentals, with the itching and rash still there but Roz “not caring”, whereas before she was crying. Then itching stopped and lastly, the rash itself. A perfect demonstration of what healing looks like with homeopathy, showing that if you see the improvement on the mental plane after a remedy, DO NOT concern yourself with what’s happening on the physical plane, and don’t look for a second remedy for “rash” or “itching”; just wait!

Thanks, Elaine!

______________________

OK, everybody! What do you think the remedy was? Write to me at [email protected]
and let me know. The answer will be in next month’s ezine.

To play us out, I have a song from James Taylor’s “Dad Loves His Work”.

Oh crap!

While “Hard Times” was the “single”, that just seems like a depressing way to end the quiz. The single was apparently influenced by his imploding marriage to Carly Simon.

Wah!!!! You said this wouldn’t be depressing!

Mom, I think he’s over her now, it was 40 years ago! It’s a good one though.

What is?

The single! And very R&B influenced, which I suppose is thanks to Arnold McCuller and David Lasley.

But you’re not going to play it? So for a song that’s not being played, we’re sure learning a lot about it!

Votes:

Apis-2

Aconite

Nat-phos.

Antimonium crudum

Histaminum-2

Pineapple 6C

Rhus tox

Well! How did we do with the quiz this time? Who wants to be first?

Hi Elaine and Shana!

Hi Maria!

For this month, I vote for Apis.

You are correct!!!

It could be Urtica urens or Rhus tox also but my first choice would be Apis. If I am wrong, I will try again.

You’re not wrong so don’t try again!!!

🙂 Ciao for now!

Arrivederci!

Don’t look now, but, I think I see Dr. Abhishek Choudhary, riding in on his elephant….

Hi Elaine,

Hi, Dr. Choudhary

Given the sudden and violent nature of the complaint following the consumption of unripe fruit, my vote goes to Aconite. Tell me, am I right?

Uh……no. The crying: Roz is a baby. Babies cry about everything! I don’t know how much emphasis we can give to that. What we have here, basically, is an allergic reaction to food with a rash and itching. Note that the mother goes right to the remedy she needs without thinking or doing any research at all. What does this suggest? She’s making a “this-for-that” remedy selection. She knows that when there’s an allergic reaction, you give ________. That’s all she knows! Want to guess again?

Is it Histaminum?

Histaminum might have worked. But your average person doesn’t have it.

It’s a reasonable choice, though.

Hmm, a common medicine for allergy…..

is it Apis?

YES!!!!!

I think I see Wayne, all the way in Australia!

Hi Elaine,

Hi Wayne!

Robin Murphy has a section of the Repertory with the rubric “food poisoning”, then fruit, acid, sour, and in bold type Nat-phos. I will say Nat-phos, which is worse acids, citrus fruits. Without consulting the repertory, however, I would have selected Arsenicum.

Wayne, this is a classic case of Apis! Allergic reaction to food with resulting urticaria. Look no further than Apis! There’s no food poisoning here, per se.

Turning back to South Asia, I think I see Dr. Ketan Kumar Singh!

Hello Elaine,

Hello Dr. Singh!

My answer is “APIS”.

You’re right!!!!! Well, that was fast!

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

Hi Elaine. Hope things are well with you.

Not bad….

The COVID is spiking in India again….

I think it’s doing the same thing here.

and it’s so horrible this time. Virus does not give out any symptoms and it silently attacks the tracts.

The what?

How on earth can a homeopath cure such cases? Please throw some light on it..

Have you tried the covid nosode? Actually, I take it about once a week, right before I go out to go shopping. You can order it from Homeopathy Plus. Novus-CV 200C. Maybe Indian pharmacies have their own covid nosode? A friend in England bought one from Ainsworth’s.

Alright !! coming to the quiz…simple and sweet 🙂

The rash was sudden and violent.

Well, don’t get carried away, Vamsi; why would you say “violent”, because the baby cried? Babies cry about everything!

When etiology is unknown, we would go for ACONITE, but here the Etiology rules top of the chart.

Rash from pineapples. In general she is not allergic to fruits, but the kid is allergic to Acidic fruits in general.

All we know is, the pineapple wasn’t ripe. We don’t know why she was allergic to it because this never happened before. Was the pineapple sprayed with Round-Up or some other chemical? Was it inorganically grown? We just don’t know.

So the pineapple taken last week was sweet and she was fine, but this time the pineapple was not that great. It means the acids are still intact and not converted to glucose yet.

So the remedy for Acidic fruit allergy, I would go for

ANTIMONIUM CRUDUM

Do let me know your thoughts…

Vamsi, you’ve made this case much harder than it needed to be! Here is our case: Allergic reaction to food with hives and itching. What’s the remedy?

Did I make it harder?

Yes, you over-thought the whole thing!

Allergy reaction with hives and itching…what else but our APIS.

Elaine Is that the remedy???

Yes!!

Yeah!! I did think about Apis, but Allergy due to Pineapples (it was specific) and Acidic fruits allergy was what I was carried away by.

It’s sooo important that we read each line of the case and do not presume things.

She quoted it was Not a great Fruit, but never told it was acidic.

But I guess I need to overcome these assumptions of mine.

Need to Read the case as it is …..

Thanks Elaine, we get better day by day and try correcting our flaws…..

Small but a good quiz….

Vamsi, this is just one of those things in homeopathy that we have to know, the way we know that Arnica is for injuries, and Calendula is for cuts and scrapes, and Staphysagria is for ailments from humiliation, and Ignatia is for acute grief… and so, Apis is for allergic reactions with hives. That’s all there is to it! We should all just know that! Just like our patient’s mother went right for Apis, she didn’t look anything up in the Repertory–and in fact, she doesn’t even own a Repertory! But she knew that Apis is for allergic reactions with hives (also known as urticaria).

What else is Apis for? Allergic reactions with swelling! I’m sure you’ve heard stories about people eating something and their lip swells up? Or their face swells up? And even worse, their throat swells shut and now they can’t breathe? So, Apis can really be a life-saver! And it doesn’t always have to be something you ate. Maybe you put lipstick on and your lips swelled up. And when the brain swells up (encephalitis) resulting in a high-pitched scream, that’s Apis too!

So, swelling! Apis has a lot to do with swelling! Edema! (water retention) So common in kidney failure! The feet swell up, the ankles swell up, the legs swell up, the hands swell up! Think of Apis once again!

And what else? Bee stings, wasp stings, because what do bee stings cause? Swelling! Swelling is a big word in Apis, unless it’s swelling from an injury, in which case we would think of Arnica; but, still maybe Apis if the swelling present is water.

So, Apis is a very important remedy, something you should probably carry around with you, along with Arnica, just in case of insect stings or unexpected allergic reactions.

You know, we had another quiz case once called “Attacked By Almonds!” Do you remember that? Another allergic case — it had both hives and swelling! Click below:

Revisiting: Attacked By Almonds!

Common allergic foods–shellfish, strawberries, peanuts, eggs, wheat.

Wonderful explanation Elaine!!! Thanks as always!!

And looking forward for your next intriguing quiz.

Have a great day

Cheers

Vamsi

Oh look, it’s the gang from Slovakia!

Hello, Elaine and Shana,

Hello, Miroslav and Jitka!

here are our answers to the March quiz:

Miroslav answers Histaminum:

I’m guessing Histaminum, because according to the given indications I didn’t “rake out” anything else …

I think this is a routine cure for this type of allergic reaction.

Jitka answers Histaminum

The first remedy, I was thinking about in this case, was Histamine, because I think it’s a kind emergency remedy for allergies. I also think that because the child’s mother reacted immediately without much thought. But it is possible that the child has some constitutional remedy that the mother already knows. I also marginally thought about Antimonium crudum, because it seemed to me that the child has problems digesting acidic things, but her rash would probably be moist, so I´m stick to the first idea: Histaminum.

Well, Miroslav and Jitka, you’re right in the sense that Histaminum might have worked in this case, but your average person doesn’t have it. It’s not part of any standard remedy kit that I’m aware of. You have overlooked a very obvious remedy: Apis!

Allergic reaction with hives–Apis. Just like we know that Arnica is for blunt trauma, and Aconite is for ailments from cold, dry winds, so we should know that Apis is for allergic reactions with hives.

Warm regards,

Jitka

And finally, Linda Santini says we should make a remedy out of the pineapple. Not a bad idea, Linda! We should probably give a shout-out to our winners now.

Maria and Dr. Ketan Kumar Singh, come on down!

You’re the big winners of the March Quiz!