Clinical Cases

Revisiting: Bathtub Blues

Shanas th birthday different pose
Written by Elaine Lewis

Elaine gives the answer to last month’s quiz.

Does anybody remember the case from last month? Here it is again with the answer to follow:

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Mom, “Bathtub Blues”…is that the best title you can come up with?

Shana's 18th birthday different pose

Can you come up with anything better?

Um………………………….no.

Well this is great!  Where is Kelly?

Kelly’s gone AWOL again.

You know what?  I am surrounded by idiots!  Where is my agent?  I need a professional staff.  Where is Dr. B?

Mom,  they’re signaling us in the control room!  They’re saying… something.  “Sounds like”…. OK. Sounds like…start the car!  No.  Start the cake!  Start eating the cake!   

Shana!!!!!  They’re saying,  Start the CASE!  Dear God!  OK, this case is by Shobi.

Yay!!! Is Satchel sick again?

I’m afraid so, Shana….. Shobi filled out the questionnaire, here it is:

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ACUTE CASE QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Onset and Chief Complaint

It came on suddenly, after a warm bath – the complaint is a raging fever.

2. Etiology

A few days prior he had an allergic reaction to seafood and sesame, broke out in hives, swelling. The day of the first fever, seems like it could have been food poisoning. Everyone else suffered from diarrhea that night, but not Satchel, just the high fever for him.

3. Sensation

He doesn’t mention a pain, but, when the fever does come, which now we have two days of it coming on, raging after a hot/warm bath, he does say he is tired and wants to sleep.

4. Appearance

The skin seems to have blotches of urticaria throughout the day, always around the time he eats something, especially if it has preservatives or artificial coloring.

5. Location

Fever — torso and head seem to be the most hot. It’s a burning heat. Dry.

6. Modalities

Fever worse warm/hot bath

skin eruptions worse eating

7. Concomitants

Fever with eruptions and itching, the latter two come and go.

8. Discharges

Diarrhea once a day, very soft stool. The stool prior to the warm bath that precipitated the fever was firm and green.

9. Generals

“I want ice cream!” It was all he wanted today.

10. Mentals

The same as usual–a pain in the neck!

11. What does the person say?

“I feel better.”

12. Thirst/Food

Only wants sips of water and a few bites of food…the only thing he ate much of was the ice cream (sorbet).

13. Fever

Yes, after the hot bath it comes on at 104 degrees F. The rest of the time it’s hovering at 102.

14. Sweating?

No.

15. Odors?

No

16. What is most striking about the case?

No answer.

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So Mom, what happened?

I recommended _____________________.  Here’s what Shobi said the next day, “A few sips of _____________30C and we are all better!  Incredible! So we are now off to New York, thanks to you :)”

___________________________________

How did we do this time? Here’s the vote count:

Apis-14

Pulsatilla-4

Phosphorus-3`

Arsenicum-2

Belladonna-1

Eupatorium perf.-1

Total: 25

And so, as you might expect, the winner clearly is…………….Pulsatilla!

Oh yes, I know, I hear all the groans of incredulity out there!  How can it possibly be Pulsatilla?!  Well, I think alert reader, Roxann, explained it eloquently when she said:

The ice cream clue was a flag – and the worse from heat thing….

Hey, my sentiments exactly! That’s just what I said, I saw the ice cream–it was all he would eat, for God’s sake!  And then the “Generals: bathing, hot bathing agg.” confirmed it, and then if you want that three-legged stool Hering was so fond of, you can go with “thirstless with fever” or “ailments from fish“; but, sure, Phosphorus loves ice cream too, but Phosphorus isn’t worse hot bathing; Apis is worse hot bathing but doesn’t crave or even desire ice cream, so what can you do? The ice cream was a big red flag. You know about the importance of the striking and peculiar symptom in a case, right? The remedy has to match that. Please check paragraph 153 of The Organon, I get tired of typing it everywhere I go. You know the one–The most striking, strange, rare and peculiar symptom in the case, above all else, if you can find a remedy to match that, you are more likely to cure the case even if it matches nothing else–go look! I don’t want to hear that you don’t have The Organon. You know, maybe we’ve got it backwards, Dr. B, maybe the losers need the 30% discount at the Hpathy Book Store so they can buy a nice modern translation of The Organon–Kunzli or O’Reilly.

And now, let’s congratulate our winners:

Pirjo Suomi, Brooks, Roxann Roe, Gerald Field

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This month’s winners will get a special 30% discount on one order of books from Hpathy Mall.

Click Here for Prize Guidelines

About the author

Elaine Lewis

Elaine Lewis, D.Hom., C.Hom.
Elaine is a passionate homeopath, helping people offline as well as online. Contact her at [email protected]
Elaine is a graduate of Robin Murphy's Hahnemann Academy of North America and author of many articles on homeopathy including her monthly feature in the Hpathy ezine, "The Quiz". Visit her website at:
https://elainelewis.hpathy.com/ and TheSilhouettes.org

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