Fruit? No way!

Name: M. K.

Boy 5 years old. Has an older brother

Chief Complaint: dry and repetitive cough

Past history: bronchiolitis and otitis. He had taken antibiotics, corticosteroids and had the full vaccination program.

Family history:

Mother has asthma and had a stroke at the age of 30 before his conception. She took a pill of Clopidogrel every day.

Father has allergic rhinitis

Physical generals:

Appetite – normal; Thirst – plenty of water, room temperature; Food – he eats everything and well, the mother reported. He had a careful and natural diet with veggies, fruit, more fish than meat, and no fries.

Stools – twice a day, but with tendency to diarrhoea.

He is a chilly person, likes to be very warm. He likes the summer weather, with very high temperatures, very sensitive to cold weather, easily takes a cold.

Sleeps well, all night, sometimes he has nightmares from the cartoons he sees.

Emotional:

Shy and very nervous, always near mammy in a strange environment. After a while he feels more at ease and he adapts to the people and other children in the room.

Doesn’t like noisy environments.

The mother is a very pragmatic woman. She repeats my questions to the boy, and answers at the same time and doesn’t let the child answer by himself. But all this is with tenderness, laughing and joking.

Fears: terror of clowns and people with lots of make-up

Physical examination:

Auscultation – ok. Throat – ok. Right ear – little sign of infection. Nose – hypertrophy of the adenoids, specially the right one.

First prescription:

09.12.2008 – Arsenicum album 30CH, once a day, for 1 week

Follow-up 1

16.12.2008 – Better with no cough, sleeps well all night, more social, no remedy

Follow-up 2

26.06.2009 – he ate pork, sweets, coca-cola at a birthday party and developed lots of abdominal pains – Nux vomica 30CH one dose

Follow-up 3

08.09. 2009 – Dry, irritative cough and his mother gave him Arsenicum album 30CH as in the first consultation, but this time he didn’t feel better.

During this consultation, I repeated some questions in order to understand the reasons behind this new episode. I knew that he had changed school for the first time, and that it was very difficult for him, but he hadn’t spoken about it.

When I asked about food preferences or aggravations he stated that he was averse to fruit and it aggravated. I questioned his mother, and she confirmed that since he was a little baby, he vomited fruit, any fruit. She had forgotten to mention that particular detail, because the whole family loves fruit.

Prescription – Ignatia 200CH, one dose

Follow-up 4

18.11.2009 – He is better in school with lots of friends, more talkative, no more cough

Prescription – Ignatia M, one dose

Conclusion:

I gave the boy Ignatia, because Ignatia patients don’t like fruit, and normally they have aversion to it. This little boy vomited fruit since he was a little baby. Also, he smiled a lot but didn’t talk much, and his cough was dry, nervous and in spells. The mother was a very nice lady but very stressed. She didn’t let the child feel free enough and at ease to answer naturally to my questions. That kind of behaviour influenced my analysis. During the first consultation, I should been more careful to hear the answers of the boy himself, and not let the mother answer for him.