Clinical Cases

A Case of Ulcerative Colitis

Written by Peter Prociuk

A difficult case of ulcerative colitis in a 3yr old girl fails to yield to well chosen remedies including the usual nosodes. Dr. Peter Prociuk solves the mystery.

Kelly was first seen in November, 2007 just before her 3rd birthday. She had been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis the previous month by colonoscopy and her parents were determined to resolve the problem homeopathically from the onset.

She was a shy, quiet child who stayed very close to her mother during the entire visit. Her face was pale and for much of the time she remained quietly curled in her mom’s lap. Her stools were no longer formed, came with great urgency 6-8 times a day and mostly contained bright red blood. The consistency and color were often variable. Painful urgency awakened her often during the night at different times and there was always an early morning stool around 5 AM. She was generally very tolerant of cold weather but never insisted on being barefoot and kept her covers on at night. Her mother had to coax her to drink ‘enough’ water. Her diet was being changed at the time but historically she liked rich creamy foods, chocolate, salt, sweets, seasoning and mild spice, fruits especially oranges and orange juice and would occasionally ask for a lemon wedge to suck on.

Kelly had been prescribed antibiotics once or twice for otitis media and had rare URI’s. In the months prior to her diagnosis she had an episode of aphthous ulcers and transient back discomfort of undetermined origin that resolved spontaneously. These conditions occurred independently. Her stool started to get loose in the summer prior to diagnosis.

Within the previous 2-3 months Kelly had developed a marked fear of strangers for unclear reasons. She would cry easily with any criticism or reproach and always responded immediately to loving reassurance.

Her family history was remarkable for coronary heart disease in the paternal grandfather in his 30’s and breast cancer in the maternal grandmother. Parenthetically her mother was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer in September, 2013.

She had been fully vaccinated through October, 2006 when she received DTaP. There were no complications observed with any vaccination.

The initial prescription was Pulsatilla 200C which produced a miraculous improvement in every aspect of her health for 4 days. There was no exposure to an antidote and a complete relapse happened within a day. Repeat doses of Pulsatilla in higher potencies were ineffective.

Over the next 3 months I tried a number of remedies which had the same general effect. There would be some improvement for a few days and then a relapse. My previous experience with ulcerative colitis unaltered by allopathic prescribing was always a strong and definitive response to the correct remedy. This was not happening and every day an increasingly desperate mother called me to report more bloody stools. She was equally insistent about continuing with homeopathy in spite of suggestions to consider cooling down the inflammation with first tier conventional medicines that did not include steroids. Dietary changes and herbal supplements were also ineffective. I felt very pressured by the severity of this child’s illness and her mother’s understandable desperation and went through a number of remedies including Sulphur, Natrum sulphuricum, Arsenicum, Lycopodium, Mercurius sol. and Mercurius corr. It was clear that a miasm was blocking the case but neither Medorrhinum nor Carcinosin worked.

At my insistence, Kelly was seen by another widely respected, very experienced homeopath in April 2008. Magnesium carbonica produced remission for 2 weeks but then failed to act. Syphilinum and Phosphorous had no effect.

In June I looked at the case again from the beginning, feeling very concerned to say the least. Kelly had suffered an outbreak of aphthous ulcers followed 2 months later by transient back pain, followed 2-3 months later by the onset of progressive loose and then bloody stools. This sequence was preceded by DTaP vaccination in October 2006, over one year before I first saw her. Only then did I perceive the entire case to be the consequence of slow, insidious vaccine injury, a vaccine miasm caused by DTaP. I prescribed a single dose of DTaP vaccine nosode 200C.

Initially she became very agitated and had nightmares for 2 nights. By day 4 her stools became normal and remained so for one week. A repeat dose of the nosode had no effect but a clear Sulphur picture emerged with early morning urgency, an aversion to eggs and increased heat. Sulphur 200C produced a month long remission and a repeat dose had a longer effect. A relapse in January 2009 did not respond to Sulphur, requiring Medorrhinum which remained her main remedy until now. Aside from the transient relapses just mentioned her bowel function has been completely normal and her general health has been excellent to the present time.

In my experience miasms caused by powerful suppressive allopathic drugs and vaccines can be extremely difficult to perceive and treat effectively. The long term effects of these substances can be subtle and insidious as this case illustrates and can be stubbornly resistant to conventional remedies. In these situations I have found a useful role in using the offending agent in homeopathic potency to ‘crack’ the miasm, an approach I first encountered many years ago in an early edition of George Vithoulkas’ The Science of Homeopathy. These prescriptions are not based on provings or any conventional principle but have opened a number of very difficult, complicated cases. Other examples of success in using this isopathic approach are the birth control pill in potency for infertility in patients who have an appropriate history, thimerosal in potency in autism, and other vaccine nosodes including Hepatitis B, HPV and MMR. It is something to consider where there is an appropriate history and little or no progress in spite of careful, conscientious conventional prescribing.

 

About the author

Peter Prociuk

Dr. Peter Prociuk received his medical degree from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada in 1981. His internship and residency in internal medicine were completed in 1985 in Philadelphia, PA when he became board certified in internal medicine. He transitioned to homeopathic practice in 1992 and now practices in West Chester, PA. www.drpeterprociuk.com

5 Comments

  • Thank you very much for this very instructive case!!

    To the colleagues: Helios.co.uk and Ainsworths offer many nosodes.

  • Thank you very much for such a clear presentation of a difficult case. It is very encouraging to see how you persisted in spite of baffling failure. It teaches the rewards of persistence and careful study. And what courage on the part of you and the parents. Congratulations.

  • Thank you for this very interesting case. It reminds me of a case of CFS, where months of careful prescribing brought very little result. Less important parameters changed slightly but the mental fatigue and confusion did not move much. Finally, based on the experience of Tinus Smits treating vaccine injured youngsters, I gave the potentised antidepressants, which had been taken years before presentation of the case. The effect was immense and produced, similar as in this case, a clear picture of nat-s followed later by sulph.
    Isopathy is frowned upon by many homeopaths, however, I believe that it is a valuable tool in our kit, as and when needed.

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