Mom, it’s time for the April quiz to start. March ended on a kind of sour note with us suddenly getting the flu. What happened? Was there a bug going around?
I tried to find out, Shana; but, it was tedious, so I gave up.
We’re back to ‘norman’ though, right?
Yes, except for some coughing here and there….on my part….
Anyway I guess this is a good time for me to start my important announcements. Announcement the first: I know that you like Fleetwood Mac and they are going on tour again with Christine McVie who has rejoined them.
Shana, I would like to go but the seats–even the worst seats in the house (where we usually sit) cost $150!
Weren’t you the one who said Fleetwood Mac sounds like they’re folk singers? I wonder why they’re called “classic rock”?
I don’t even know what “classic rock” is, Shana, to tell you the truth! It appears to simply mean “white”, as they assiduously avoid playing anything by black artists! Don’t get me started!
One of these days we will have to ask Andre Gardner what “classic rock” means.
I’d like to hear him explain it–good luck is all I can say!
October 15th they will be in Philly.
Then I suggest we start saving our money now!
I don’t know if you remember Christine or not.
Yes, I remember Christine McVie.
Anyway announcement the second: I just found the best cover ever by the Scorpions (who I really wish I could see in concert.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmo0epzZxvM
Oh no!!!!!! Can we possibly have just one quiz without the Scorpions and lead vocalist Klaus Meine?????
I’ll work on it for next time. And I guess I should report on that fancy luncheon sponsored by the Broadcast Pioneers that our cousin Mike Stein took us to.
If you can, please do!
Here’s a picture of cousin Mike (on right).
Do you know who he’s with? That’s Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody!
Mom, need I point out that no one under 60 knows who Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody are! I guess the high point of the afternoon was Billy Carlucci singing “Maybe You’ll Be There”.
You got that right, Shana! One of my most favorite songs of all time, it definitely made the trip worthwhile–even though it’s probably how we picked up the flu! And here they are now, from 1962, Billy and the Essentials with “Maybe You’ll Be There”:
P.S. When Klaus Meine can write like that, call me!
Mom, you have much to learn, young grasshopper! Oh, here we are with Eddie Collins, who supposedly was the musical director for The Drifters–I think. Anyway, he’s holding up our Silhouettes CD.
Thanks for pointing that out! (Anyone who wants to buy it should email me.)
Oh, and we finally got to see “Muppets Most Wanted”! It was the best sequel ever and you know how I feel about sequels!
Still? I found it scary.
I guess that’s all my announcements other than the fact that this month I will be 22.
You don’t look a day over 21! Congratulations, your age is a palindrome! Oh, and P.S., in case you have forgotten, your present is the Barry Gibb concert at the Wells Fargo Center in May! And now it’s time for the moment we’ve all been waiting for:
The Hpathy Quiz!!!!
Who is it this time?
I guess we need a fictitious name, right? How about “Maus Kleine”?
Ha-ha! Very funny, Mom!
OK, so, I got the following email from Maus Kleine’s husband a week ago:
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Dear Elaine,
I filled out the acute case questionnaire for my wife, “Maus Kleine”. It is primarily vertigo. Attached is the questionnaire. Thanks!
Question: Describe the complaint or complaints in your own words:
Vertigo (dizziness, room spinning) and nausea. When sitting up from lying down or even when lying down with eyes closed, the room is spinning around. Better when looking down or at same level. No vertigo when looking around.
Burping/gas is also present, even after keeping stomach light throughout the day.
nausea – feels like liquid running up & down.
Question: Etiology–this means the CAUSE of the complaint:
Two possibilities
1. Exposure to sun (bright & hot day – temp in 80) while playing Holi – festival of colors/spring with fine powder (vegetable dyes)
2. Eating bad food while there (deep fried food that might have gone stale) and drinking lassi (yogurt drink)
Question: Sensation–describe the pain or other sensation you have:
Spinning around feeling and loss of balance (especially feels like falling backwards)
Question: Appearance– anything remarkable? Red skin, droopy eyes, etc.?
Nothing obvious
Question: Location–where on the body is your complaint located?
Only head.
Question: Modalities– What makes your complaint better or worse?
Lying down or moving head backwards aggravates. Lying down to sitting aggravates. Once sitting (after few min), she’s fine.
Question: Concomitants (other symptoms that came with the complaint, are “along for the ride”):
Nausea is there throughout the day. Hemorrhoids as “Maus Kleine” tried to go early in the morning thinking nausea would feel better. Didnt help
Question: Discharges–color, odor, consistency and sensation.
n/a
Question: Generals–these are all the symptoms that begin with the word “I”:
I feel scared to walk, I felt better in company.
Question: The mentals: Is the complaint changing you mentally and emotionally?
n/a
Question: What have you been saying?
n/a
Question: What are you doing?
Sitting down most of the time watching TV. Drove to kids school, enjoyed company of others (normal).
Question: Describe your thirst and appetite:
Thirtless (inspite of relatively warm day). No appetite (nausea).
Question: Odors? Any identifiable odors–like sulphur, onions, fish, etc.?
n/a
Question: What is most striking, peculiar or identifying about your condition?
n/a
Question: Is there a diagnosis?
n/a
Question: Describe your energy–
Nervous, scared, a bit sleepy (took nap in afternoon)
Question: What does your tongue look like? (color/coating/pattern, crack/s, shape, etc.)
n/a
Mr. Kleine, try ______________________30C and tell me what happens.
10 minutes later:
Elaine, I think ______________________ did something good. She’s almost asleep, and opening her eyes didnt cause a spinning feeling. Also when she turned over on her side, dizziness didnt come. So, I’ll wait before trying anything else. Thanks!
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OK, everybody, what do you think the remedy is? Write to me at [email protected] and let me know; the answer will be in next month’s ezine!
And now for this month’s “Funny Thing”! As you know, our newest feature is a funny thing Shana said as a baby. Here is Funny Thing number-2 from 1996:
Shana, did you get water all over the bathroom floor?
No. Will you clean it up?
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OK, that’s it! Talk to you again next time, bye-bye!
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Votes
Arsenicum alb.
Pulsatilla-4
Nux v.-3
Phosphorus
Belladonna
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Times up, everybody! Put your pencils down and pass your papers forward. Who wants to go first?
Hi Elaine,
I think the answer is Arsenicum.
Is that soooooo……
I used the following rubrics:
Belching, eructations
Lying; while, agg.
Sitting; while, ameliorates
Anxiety; diseases, about
Nausea, general
Thirstless, general
Appetite, general, diminished, appetite
There were 2 strong contenders – Arsenicum and Pulsatilla. Looking at the etiologies, I think the one of importance is “eating bad food, etc.”
Other confirming characteristics from the Materia Medica are – fear of diseases, fear of being left alone, food poisoning – ill effects of.
–Wayne
Wayne, you are very close! Actually, there’s only one strong contender, and that’s Pulsatilla! Do you know why? The essential rubric is: “Vertigo, turning, circle, as if turning in a” (translation: vertigo as if turning in a circle). Arsenicum’s not there, Pulsatilla is a 3! Then, what else goes for Pulsatilla? Both etiologies! Ailments from the sun and ailments from fat; not ailments from “bad food”, but fat; Pulsatilla is our main remedy for that. We don’t even know if the food was bad, that was a guess on the husband’s part.
Now, here’s another mistake: anxiety about disease? She doesn’t have anxiety about disease. She’s scared because she is genuinely dizzy and is afraid to walk for good reason–she might fall! If a symptom is “normal” or expected under the circumstances, it’s not a “symptom” in the context of homeopathy. It’s like “loss of appetite”, which you also chose. It’s not a symptom; it’s what we would expect during nausea. If she were hungry during nausea? That would be a really good symptom! It’s so peculiar, we would surely expect the remedy to be there.
What else? Thirstless? That’s a confirmation for Pulsatilla, our famous thirstless remedy; not Arsenicum, which actually is thirsty and does ask for water. They don’t drink a lot at one time but they do drink often.
What else? Nausea? The rubric “Stomach, nausea” has so many remedies in it–almost 500–it is virtually useless! You’re in the wrong chapter. You need to go to “Vertigo, nausea, with”. That’s more specific. Arsenicum is only a 1 in that rubric, Pulsatilla is a 2.
What else? The rubric “Stomach, belching” contains almost 350 remedies, making it also virtually useless to us. Again, you’re in the wrong chapter. Go to the Vertigo chapter. The rubric “Vertigo, belching, during” contains only 5 remedies! Can you imagine? Only 5? And the main one is Pulsatilla!
What else? “Better in company” again goes for Pulsatilla which is always better with company. In fact, the Pulsatilla flower is never alone, they’re always in a bunch. Here they are now (so adorable…)
Arsenicum isn’t so much “better” in company as they are “worse” alone!
Even in company, Arsenicum is still moaning and moving about and tossing and turning.
Here is what Hahnemann says about Pulsatilla vertigo in his Materia Medica Pura:
“Vertigo like that which occurs on turning round for a long time in a circle, combined with nausea.”
Wow! Isn’t that what we have here? I’m sure everyone can remember being a kid and turning round and around in a circle, just for the dubious pleasure of becoming dizzy and falling down!
So, for the future, when you hear that a possible cause for a complaint is fatty food, think of Pulsatilla right away, and you can include among “fatty food” such things as butter, ice cream, yogurt, cheese, cream sauces, fat of meat, etc. And then you will look to see what confirmatories you have for Pulsatilla. In this case they were:
1. Thirstlessness
2. Ailments from the sun
3. Better in company
4. Vertigo with nausea
5. Vertigo as if turning/spinning around
6. Vertigo with belching
And there it is, the whole case is Pulsatilla!
Who wants to go next????
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Hello Elaine,
For the April quiz, My prescription would be “Pulsatilla”, even though spinning and nausea are covered by many remedies.
The indigestion due to fried food (possibility), desire for company and thirstlessness make me choose the remedy.
Thanks for your acknowledgement!
Regards,
Anurag
Anurag, you are right, again; the way God, is right!
Who’s next in line?
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Hi Elaine,
For the case given in April’s edition of Hpathy quiz entitled ‘Help! The Room Is Spinning!’, I found Theridion to be the closest match for the given case as it is an indicated remedy in Vertigo, with nausea and vomiting on least motion, particularly when closing eyes.
However, it was also mentioned that the patient had the complaints (i.e. vertigo with nausea) after eating some stale food which suggests Nux Vomica as a remedy since it covers vertigo of gastric origin, especially when lying down and when rising from bed or chair etc. (Boericke). Nux is also similar to the given mental symptoms (i.e. nervousness). “Brain feels turning in a circle” is also an indication of Nux Vomica. Further, Nux is also indicated in other stomach complaints such as constipation etc.
All this combined with a positive patient response in just about ten minutes after taking the medicine presents a clue that she must have had the medicine with her at home already. It is likely to have been some polychrest medicine which people usually keep handy with them. Therefore, all the above mentioned reasons and consequent inferences persuade me to conclude that the medicine administered must have been a single dose of Nux Vomica 30.
Arti Mehta, BHMS
Hi Arti! First of all, the ‘stale food’ hypothesis was only a guess, plus which, there’s no way to look up ‘stale food’ or ‘bad food’ in the repertory. What we do know about the food was that it was fatty and creamy. So, ‘ailments from fat’ would be my thought. In Murphy’s Repertory, you would go to “Food: fat, ailments from”. Nux vomica tolerates fat well; but, what remedy famously does not tolerate fat, does not tolerate the sun well either, is thirstless and better for company?
Thank you so much for your guidance and reply.
Given the clues, that “remedy famously does not tolerate fats, does not tolerate the sun, is thirst-less and is better in company’’ suggests Pulsatilla to me as the similimum for this case.
Yes, Pulsatilla is the one!!!
Warm regards and thanks.
Arti.
Does anybody else want to try?
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Hi Elaine! Miroslav and Jitka here again and we would like to respond to the April Quiz, “Help! The room is spinning.”
Miroslav thinks Maus Kleine needed Pullsatila.
Jitka thinks Pulsatilla is the one.
We both have considered similar symptoms: aggravation from heat, bad food, thirtless and enjoyed company.
Yes, I agree with you! Was there aggravation from heat? I don’t remember that, I’ll have to look at the case again–unless you mean heat of the sun, in which case, yes, I agree with you. And “bad food”? No, fatty food, ailments from fat, which Pulsatilla definitely has trouble with; but yes, thirstless even though it was a hot day, and better for company was what I noticed too. Thanks for participating!
Oh look who’s next! It’s our Career Day Contest winner, the one and only, VAMSI SUDHA!
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Hi Elaine,
Yeah!! I am back to answer this month’s quiz…
I am see-sawing between the physicals and mentals.
Actually, one remedy covers them both.
If I have to look for the physicals, I would then go for Conium. But I always remembered your statement:
“Etiology over-rules symptomatology”.
So, going over the etiology of the problem, the deep fried/stale food and the other concomitants–nausea, hemorroids, burping and gas, I would go for Nux Vomica.
OK. First, let’s be careful in that I doubt that the hemorrhoids are concomitant to the vertigo case. They’re probably a chronic and should most likely be prescribed for after the acute is over. Secondly, Nux vomica tolerates fat very well; so, that would lead us away from Nux vomica. She’s better in company. Is Nux vomica better in company? I don’t think so. They usually want everybody to be quiet! Everything and everybody gets on Nux vomica’s nerves! We need a remedy that doesn’t tolerate fat, is better in company, and is thirstless despite it being a hot day. What do you think now?
Elaine….
Could it be the most often used female remedy……PULSATILLA?????
Yes, it’s Pulsatilla!
They are aggravated with fatty food, are thirstless, better in company, hemorrhoids… She had severe nausea…
It may not have been severe, we don’t know.
…but she drove the kids to school and enjoyed the company of others….plus, a Pulsatilla person is better in open air.
I completely missed that! Thank you! Yes, “better in open air” is perhaps the reason she was able to drive the kids to school!
She also complains…of “Burping/gas”, even after keeping stomach light throughout the day.
As also stated by Kent….”A striking feature of the Pulsatilla patient is that he never wants water. Dryness of the mouth, but seldom thirsty.
Many pains in the stomach when empty or when full. But the bloating, gas and the sour stomach are the striking feature.”
I’m sure most people don’t think of Pulsatilla when they think of gas and bloating. “Vertigo, belching during” only has 5 remedies and Pulsatilla is the main one!
Thanks,
Vamsi.
Any other volunteers?
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Hi Elaine!
Hi Maria!
My vote for this quiz is Pulsatilla.
It is present in most vertigo rubrics but most important for me is the fact that it is the only 2-graded remedy under “burping during vertigo”.
Yes! Yes!! Good for you! You saw it! You are absolutely right! Brilliant! It’s the only “2” and it’s a small rubric, only 5 remedies!
The patient is also thirstless though it was a warm day.
Right again! You are right on target this month, Maria!
If I am wrong I will try again 🙂
No need to try again, take the weekend off!
Who’s turn is it next?
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My dear friends Elaine and Shana,
Hi Vicki!
I’m sending you both my warmest regards and my love from Skiathos GREECE and I’m so glad to communicate with you again. Well I’m here for the quiz and I am still not sure about the remedy. According to my repertory the remedy is Phosphorus for the following reasons.
Mind; company; amel.: Phos 4
Vertigo; nausea; with Phos 4
Vertigo; rising; agg.; lying, from Phos 4
Stomach eructations Phos 3
Vertigo lying down Phos 3
Stomach thirstless Phosphorus 1
You know what Vicki? You’d have done yourself a favor if instead of going to Stomach: eructations, you had gone to Vertigo: belching, because what we have here is vertigo with belching, we don’t have just random belching caused by the stomach or for no reason at all. I’m pretty sure the “Stomach, belching” rubric is HUGE! But the Vertigo, belching rubric only has 5 remedies in it! Now, the other mistake? Phosphorus is our most thirsty remedy in the materia medica! But our patient is thirstless! Phosphorus is very poorly represented in the “thirstless” rubric. Now, what about the type of vertigo? It’s as if spinning around, right? “Vertigo, turning in a circle, as if” is the rubric. What’s our other “better for company” remedy? Pulsatilla! Seeing “thirstlessness” should make us think of Pulsatilla right away!
In addition Phosphorus is easily angered from which he suffers.
Was our patient angry? I don’t think so…..Maybe you’re thinking of Beethoven! Thanks for voting, Vicki!
We have time for one more volunteer.
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Hi Elaine, my remedy is Nux vomica. It covers vertigo and nausea, < moving head backwards, < lying down, loss of balance, nervous, no appetite, gas, hemorrhoids, sedentary life-style….
Hi Shweta, here’s the problem. The first thing you should look for in a case is the cause of the complaint (etiology), sometimes that will explain everything. When you see a remedy that covers that, attempt to confirm it using the rest of the symptoms. Now, in this case, two possibilities were suggested to us as etiologies: too much sun and too much fried food. When I hear “ailments from fried food”, which means FAT, I think of Pulsatilla right away. Then I looked up Generals: sun agg, and Pulsatilla was there too–in bold! (what we call a “3”; bold/underlined would be a 4, and it doesn’t get any higher than that.) Then I looked at the rest of the symptoms and, did they confirm Pulsatilla? Definitely–especially thirstlessness and “better in company”. Ultimately you come to realize that all the symptoms in the case are Pulsatilla, especially the peculiar, “vertigo: belching, with”.
That’s all the time we have for today, folks. Let’s congratulate our winners, and they are…….
Maria, Jitka, Miroslav and Anurag!
Will they be back in the winner’s circle again next time? Tune in and find out!
See you back here in June, everybody!
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Elaine Lewis, D.Hom., C.Hom.
Elaine takes online cases! Write to her at [email protected]
Visit her website: elaineLewis.hpathy.com
