A Lac Canis Latrans Case

This young man was nearing 15 years of age when first seen in December of 2007. He has Down syndrome, and his mother provided most of the initial history. Her main concerns included threatening and aggressive behavior, running away, staying up late at night and not going to school.

Mother: He’s always trying to be funny and tell jokes. He likes it when people compliment him. He likes to be the center of attention and the life of the party. He teases all the time.

(Observation: The patient was enjoying mimicking his mother as she was talking.)

He’s also kind of a loner, but it doesn’t bother him. He stays in his room alone. He doesn’t crave company. He loves ballroom dancing, but also wild dancing. He loves wild music and going crazy. He hoards and steals things. He notices everything, and is calculating and pre-meditated in his actions. He’s watching and waiting for his opportunities. He always acts strongly and forcefully. He’s so quick and incisive in his actions.

(Observation: The patient occasionally tilts his head back and howls while his mother talks.)

He’ll threaten people. He says things like ‘I hate Jody’s boyfriend–I want to kill him’, or ‘I had to choke Taylor–he wouldn’t move out of the way’. He’ll stay up all night, and then be too tired to go to school the next day. We’ve had to call the police to get him to go to school. A judge ordered him to do thirty hours of community service because of his school truancy. He loves to be helpful if it fits into this schedule, but doesn’t like to be told what to do. He used to run away all the time. He wants to be the alpha dog. He wants to be the fastest and jump the highest. He’s always arm-wrestling, wanting to beat people, to be the “macho-man”. He says he likes Alan because ‘he’s a strong man’.

Patient: I’m the fastest swimmer.

He loves girls and kisses them. He wants them all. He has a strong sex drive. Sometimes he’ll dance with me and tease his dad: ‘I have the girl and you don’t’.

He wants to save everyone. He loves little children and brings milk to them. He wants to protect people, to protect the little ones. But he’s also very good at figuring out the person who’s the vulnerable one–who he can target.

He’s scared of wolves, foxes, and coyotes. If he was outside alone at night, he’d be scared. He doesn’t like scary music.

Patient: Wolves have green eyes. I was scared when I was little. When I’m old, I won’t be afraid.

Mother: Sometimes he’ll play with his own poop. He’s warm-blooded. His diet is milk, bread, pizza and eggs. If he eats chocolate, he’ll vomit.

Note: At this point the mother left the room, and the patient began talking about coyotes:

Patient: Coyotes are afraid of us and we’re afraid of them. They hide in caves and give birth at night. They can come out at night because they’re safe then. They howl. I saw one a long time ago. They sleep during the day and come out at night. Coyotes get a mate–a female–and they give birth to cubs.

Assessment: A previous homeopath had prescribed hyoscyamus with no benefit, and yet hyoscyamus is found in many appropriate rubrics. However, while patient enjoys attention he doesn’t crave company and isn’t bothered by being alone. Besides the sexuality found in hyoscyamus, there are many other animal themes throughout the history, including competition, nurturing, and protection of others. I felt the patient’s strong attraction to coyotes was especially significant, and was also reminded of the coyote’s reputation as a “trickster” in Native American lore.

Plan: Lac canis latrans (coyote’s milk) 1M, single dose

This patient’s mother has used homeopathy for many years, so checked in regularly by phone. After the initial dose in December ’07, the IM potency was repeated in February ’08 and July ’08. The patient has not needed another dose since that time. The following is his mother’s summary of improvement to the present:

When we initially came in, we were at our wits’ end. There’s been so much improvement, it’s hard to remember the difficulties. Although he’ll still hoard things, all the negative stuff has faded away. He still jokes around and engages in his witty repartee, but it’s without the aggression or violence. He no longer targets vulnerable people. All the inappropriate sexual behavior is gone. He goes to bed early, gets up early and gets himself dressed and ready for school. His teachers have been amazed by all the changes. He’s so nice, wonderful, friendly, outgoing and social. The remedy truly changed his life–and ours.