Clinical Cases Case Quizes

Revisiting: “Wonder Boy” Sneezes 100 Times, Uses Up 100 Tissues!

boy sneezing
Written by Elaine Lewis

Did you guess the right remedy? The answer is at the bottom.

Mom, it’s time for the Quiz!  I know I promised to talk about seeing The Beatles documentary at the Prince Music Theater; but first, the Death Report!

Should I be sitting down for this?

John McLaughlin of “The McLaughlin Group” died at 89.  The show was a Sunday morning commentary on the news of the week.  John McLaughlin was famous for running the show like a dictator, shouting, insulting the guests and mispronouncing their names, cutting them off mid-sentence, and poor Eleanor Clift, the only woman on the show, never got called on, she always had to scream to be heard.  Naturally, “The McLaughlin Group” became the butt of many jokes on “Saturday Night Live”.

I read that he missed a show for the first time in 34 years because of illness.  I had no idea the show was on the air for that long!  Anyway, apparently he had prostate cancer.  Here is comedian Dana Carvey playing John McLaughlin on “Saturday Night Live”.

Meanwhile, where is our soul brother, Peter Dunseith from Wales?

Good question, Shana, he’s been absent for some time!

I have an announcement to make about soul music that I think he would want to hear.  I read that songwriter and Heatwave keyboardist, Rod Temperton, died of cancer.

Never heard of him.

Mom!  He’s written some very famous songs!  For Heatwave he wrote “Always and Forever”, “Grooveline”, “Boogie Nights”, and “Jitterbuggin”.

This is Heatwave, Rod is second from the left:

Rod wrote “Stomp” for the Brothers Johnson.  (I love that song).

Me too!

He wrote “Give Me The Night” by George Benson, “Thriller”, “Rock with You”, and “Off the Wall” for Michael Jackson and two other songs on the “Thriller” album….

Get out!!!!  He wrote “Thriller”?  No way!!!!  All those songs were monster hits!  What an achievement!  Thriller’s the biggest-selling record of the 20th century!  I thought Michael Jackson wrote that!  I had no idea it was some member of Heatwave!  Yeesh!  Holy cow!  So in other words, he wrote just about every hit song from the ’70’s, nobody’s ever heard of him, and now he’s dead.  Well great.  That’s just great!  Here’s Heatwave with a song I understand is played at every wedding–

“Always And Forever”.

 

I guess we can talk about the Beatles movie, “Eight Days a Week”, now.  It was a great movie!  We had to wait in line for awhile but it wasn’t too bad.  This is me waiting in line:

Which one are you?

I’m in the pink shirt!

Your pants are too long.  Anyway, waiting in line wasn’t as bad as trying to leave the parking garage!  Do you remember that?  We couldn’t find the exit!  The elevator kept taking us to the wrong floor, it was like an episode of “The Twilight Zone”!

The elevator did not take us to the wrong floor, Mom!  You kept getting off at the wrong floor!

Oh, is that what happened?  We also couldn’t figure out how to leave the garage once the concert was over!  Those stupid automated pay machines are made somewhere in hell; don’t get me started!  Remind me not to park in the Liberty Place Parking Garage ever again!  I hope we have better luck at the Borgata when we go to see Frankie Valli in 2 days!

And remember, Mom, we get off at the Brigantine exit, not the Atlantic City exit!

OK, OK, I got it!  Now get back to your Beatles report!

Andre Gardner, the DJ from WMGK hosted the screening, here we are together again:

Which one are you?

I’m in the pink shirt!

And here are the Beatles at Shea Stadium,1964:

Here are Paul and John:

The movie ended with the full Shea Stadium concert followed by a Q&A with reporter Larry Kane.

Which I can’t believe we stayed for.  But I will tell you this, Shana; the Beatles’ live performance sounded exactly like their records, which I find amazing, especially since they couldn’t hear each other over the constant screaming from the gallery!  (“Rose and Valerie, screaming from the gallery, say he must go free [Maxwell must go free]; the judge does not agree and he tells them so–uh-oh-oh…”)

Mom!  No one knows what you’re doing!–except for me, of course.

“Bang! Bang! Maxwell’s silver hammer came down on her head….”

Happy Halloween, ezine readers!

Shana, wait, aren’t we forgetting something?

What?

THE QUIZ!!!!!

Oh! Ha-ha!  Who’s in the quiz this time?

It’s “Wonder Woman’s” kid–“Wonder Boy”.

You mean Wonder Woman from this month’s “Tidbits”?

Yes, that Wonder Woman!  Here she is now:

————————

Good morning doc,

“Wonder Boy” woke up with very bad cold…he is sneezing a lot, has stuffy nose, sore throat, says he is feeling feverish and doesn’t want to go to school. He usually never says that. Please help doc with the remedy. Also, do you think he should have hot shower to clear his throat?

I did not give him any allopathy medicine. Please let me know the remedy, he has sneezed 100 times since this morning and used up at least 100 tissues… Cold seems to be getting worse. He took steam but it didn’t help much.

You’ll have to fill out my acute case questionnaire which is on my website. 

I filled it out, Doc, here it is:

Acute Case Questionnaire

Name: “Wonder Boy”

Age: 11

Male or Female: Male

Weight: 90 lbs

Height: 140cm

Date: 10/3/2016

Email Address: ****@gmail.com

 

  1. Describe the complaint or complaints in your own words.

My son has severe cold, sneezing and stuffy nose today.  He is also running fever now with a temperature of 101 F.  He has started coughing for about 30 minutes now.  Cough is loose and he’s trying to bring the phlegm out.  He has a stuffy nose with white mucous.

He has had episodes of cold and severe sneezing since he was few months old.  In India, when he was a baby, he was given antibiotics, cold medicines by his pediatrician very frequently (almost once every 2-3 months).  This continued till he was 5.  Most often, the cold would turn into severe chest congestion and wheezing after he turned 3 until almost 6-7.  The doctors in India gave him nebulization many times (Asthalin based) and/or an Asthalin-based oral spray to prevent wheezing.  He must have taken at least 20 courses of antibiotics while we were in India (each course lasted 3-5 days) and nebulization at least 10 times.

He was also given all the vaccines till age 10 as per vaccine chart (most of them in India) and Flu shot every year for the past 3 years since we moved to US.

We always thought he was allergic to dust because there’s lot of dust in India.  But, only recently I feel it can be milk because he was on formula since 2 months old (though I had plenty of breastmilk, he just did not latch on.  I expressed milk for 2 months with a manual breast pump but then it was so painful and I eventually gave up and he was completely on formula milk).  He always liked milk since a baby and we used to give him milk 2-3 times a day.  Also, after he turned 1.5-2, he became a very fussy eater.  He would rather starve than eat.  So the pediatrician suggested us to give him Pediasure with milk twice a day since that’s filing and nutritious.  My son had that since he was 2 till almost 6. Only after talking to you recently, I have stopped giving him milk.  I did not switch to raw milk yet but gave him almond milk smoothie/fresh orange juice/ raw milk cheese instead.  Yesterday he went for sleepover and there he had 1 full glass of milk when he woke up.  His cold aggravated a lot after that.  I am thinking it can be due to the milk.

  1. Etiology–

Already answered.

  1. Sensation–

He is complaining of sore throat, having difficulty to talk/eat, sneezing a lot, stuffy nose, red nostrils, clear/ white mucous.

He is also having some red marks/pimples on his upper thigh and around his naval.  They look like mosquito bites but I am not sure.  They seem to be there since last Thursday when he got stung by bees on his cheeks and ear.  He says those are not itching though.

  1. Appearance–

Red nostrils and very tired/droopy

  1. Location–

Nose, throat

Navel, upper thigh- red spots/pimples kinds looks like mosquito bites

  1. Modalities–

He is asleep now, so unable to ask him.  But he feels tired and wants to rest/sleep.  So guess that gives him relief.  He also asked me for warm drinks.  I gave him licorice tea/Apple cider vinegar with warm water and honey/warm water.  He also did salt water gargling.

  1. Concomitants

Heaviness in head, drowsy, very tired, sneezing, stuffy nose.

  1. Discharges

He doesn’t have runny nose but has stuffy nose instead.  However, since he is sneezing a lot, every time he sneezes mucus is coming out and to give an idea of intensity of problem he has used at least 100+ tissues.

  1. Generals–

He is arguing with me that he has fever because he is feeling so sick.  I told him he has a bad cold but he feels feverish and is very irritated.

  1. The mentals:

Yes, he is dull and irritated, kind of blabbering a lot, keeps making whining sounds.

  1. What have you been saying?

He keeps saying “I want to rest, I don’t want to go to school/study” (which he never says). Also, he has repeated many times “I feel unwell and have a fever.”

  1. What are you doing?

He is moaning and groaning a lot since morning.  He kept tossing and turning for long but finally fell asleep now after trying for 30 minutes.

  1. Describe your thirst and appetite

He is feeling thirsty but is taking few sips and stopping.  Usually he asks for cold water, but today he kept asking for warm water.  Asked me for hot chocolate in morning but I did not give him.  Instead I made a warm drink made with GHEE (clarified butter), brown sugar, powdered walnuts, chickpeas flour and water for him when he woke up.  We usually give this when someone has cold but it didn’t really help him though he liked the taste.

  1. Fever?

He feels slightly warm but doesn’t really have a fever.

  1. Sweating?

He usually sweats when he plays around his arm pit/ back.  But overall he doesn’t sweat much.  No odor/stain.

  1. Odors?

No

  1. What is most striking, peculiar or identifying about your condition?

Bad cold

  1. Is there a diagnosis?

Just cold as far as I know.

  1. Describe your energy

Restless, sleepy, dull, exhausted, irritated

  1. What does your tongue look like?

Looks fine, white coating on it

  1. If you have a cough, please tell what it sounds like

He has started coughing for the past half hour, I would describe the cough as “It’s loose and rattling and yet, raising phlegm is very difficult.”

  1. If you haven’t already said if you’re hotter or colder than usual, or if there’s an issue with your body temperature, like hot feet or cold feet, cold hands, shivering, etc., say it now.

He is feeling bit cold and has worn sweatshirt in the morning and sleeping wrapped in comforter.

________________________________________

 

“Wonder Woman”, give “Wonder Boy” ________________30C and let me know what happens.

Good morning doc,

Thanks for all your help last night. “Wonder Boy” slept through the night. In fact, is still sleeping. Temperature is about 99.5 now, he says he still has sore throat and feels pain when he swallows, cold, sneezing and cough seem better, he is sniffing but much, much better than last night. Shall I continue with ______________ once he wakes up?

Yes, if the case has stopped moving forward; otherwise, you can just wait.

Doc he said no sore throat or fever in morning. First time without allopathy.  All thanks to you!

********************************

OK, folks, now it’s your turn!  What remedy did Wonder Boy get?  Write to me at [email protected] and let me know!  The answer will be in the November ezine.

————————-

Votes:

Arsenicum-9

Rhus tox-2

Nux vomica

Sabadilla

___________

Hi everybody!  It seems like a landslide for Arsenicum!  Does anybody think it’s NOT Arsenicum?  OK, here comes somebody now.

Hi Elaine!  This is a great case.

It is?  Hey, everybody, welcome Jan Clare to The Quiz!

Thanks, Elaine!  What an unexpected surprise!  Well, I think the remedy is Nux vomica.  Here are the rubrics I took that contain Nux v.:

Mind; dullness; coryza; during

Wait a minute, that rubric contains Nux vomica?  I don’t see it!  It’s not in Murphy’s….  Hold on, let me check the Complete Repertory.  Oh yeah, there it is, in bold, it’s an addition by somebody, I don’t know who.  Jan, I have to tell you, I have a problem with the Complete Repertory.  In fact, have a big problem with it, actually!  There are too many additions and they’re all in bold!

Let me give you an example.  Take a rubric like “Alternating States”.  Murphy’s Repertory shows 40 remedies.  The very same rubric in the Complete?  504 remedies!  That’s right, you heard me.  Five Hundred Four remedies!  From 40 remedies in Murphy’s to 504 in the Complete Repertory!  Does that make any sense?  According to this rubric, almost any remedy you can name covers this symptom!  And you can go to almost any rubric in the Complete and see the same thing!  Here’s a rubric I picked at random: “Dreams of Water”–Murphy’s Repertory shows 50 remedies, the Complete? 191.  You see what I mean?

Meanwhile, regarding this case?  I have a suggestion for you: I think Dullness During FEVER would be a better rubric than dullness during coryza, because it’s not so much a “cold” that “Wonder Boy” has, it’s more of a flu; a flu-like virus.  I think “dullness with fever” is a closer match–but Nux v. isn’t in that rubric either.

Mind; restlessness, nervousness; coryza, during

Again, I wouldn’t call this a case of coryza, it’s much worse than that.  “Nose: coryza” is our rubric for the common cold.  Again, I believe that this is more of a flu.  And I don’t remember him being “nervous” per se.

Mind; whimpering

Head; heaviness; coryza, with

I wouldn’t bother with a symptom like this.  He has a fever and it’s very common to have a headache during a fever.  Headaches and body aches are both very common with a virus, common symptoms generally do not help us to find a homeopathic remedy.

Nose; coryza; cough; with

Again, too general, not going to help us.  There are only 6 remedies listed in Murphy’s for this rubric, all in plain type, meaning it’s not a keynote of any remedy; and the remedies themselves–just take a look at them, no one has these remedies: Justicia, Squilla, Badiaga, Psorinum… Belladonna is the only one most of us have. Do you think this is a Belladonna case?  If not, no point in taking this rubric.

Nose; sneezing; frequent; coryza, in

Nose; discharge; mucous

I don’t see that rubric.  Generally, under “Nose: discharge”, are the different kinds of discharges: bloody, foamy, grey, gluey and so on.  I would pick “Nose: discharge, copious”.  A discharge IS mucus.  The question is, what kind of discharge?  What’s characteristic about it?  Is it copious?  Scanty?  Yellow or white or thick or watery?  Is it burning or bland?

Nose; obstruction, stopped sensation; coryza; with

Mouth; white; tongue; fever, during

Stomach; thirst; coryza, during

He’s thirsty for frequent sips.  Again, “during coryza”, I think, is the wrong orientation.  We should switch to “during fever”.

Sleep; sleepiness; coryza, during

Chill; internal; coryza, during

I didn’t repertorise the red spots

As well as these symptoms, other ones pointing to Nux v. are: he’s irritable, cold, has had a LOT of drugs in the past.  And…he was at a sleepover the night before and probably didn’t get as much sleep – and we know that Nux really suffers if sleep-deprived.

Gelsemium was a thought – sleepiness and dullness made me think of it.  It also has the red nostrils, obstructed nose and frequent sneezing.

Right, I thought of Gelsemium too.  But here was the trouble I had: I saw a lot of remedies I thought were possible–but they all came with a “But”!  It looks like Gelsemium BUT, he’s thirsty.  It looks like Arsenicum BUT, he doesn’t want company.  It looks like Nux vomica, BUT, he doesn’t have a dry cough, he has a loose cough!  I was despairing over ever finding a remedy.

Arsenicum came up too – he’s chilly, restless and is sipping warm drinks and the red nostrils are a clue (but then they would be red if you’ve used 100 tissues!) but he didn’t seem to need company.

Yes, exactly, didn’t need company, and wasn’t anxiety-ridden; also, no diarrhea, which usually attends an Arsenicum flu/virus.

Well, Jan, like I said, I was in despair over this case until I got to the bottom of the questionnaire and saw a keynote of a remedy!  Finding a keynote of a remedy in a case is usually a cause for celebration!  You know, when you see something “big” like this, you start from there and work your way back: does this remedy have dullness and drowsiness?  Does it have a white tongue?  Does it have irritability?  Chilliness?  Sneezing?  Moaning?  Desire for sleep?  Thirst for sips?  Yes, yes, yes, yes!  

Lesson: it is more important to find a keynote of a remedy in a case than to just make an exhaustive list of symptoms and add them all up and pick the remedy that comes out on top.  Why?  Because the Repertory is not complete — pardon the pun!  If it was, you could do that!  You could write down every symptom: chilly with fever, head feels heavy, fever with thirst for sips, etc. and the right remedy would always come up on top!  But our repertory is not “Complete”!  So if you find a peculiar symptom, a keynote of a remedy, an etiology…this is so much more valuable than making an exhaustive list of symptoms and repertorizing!

Anyway, what remedy do you think it is now?

Thanks for a second chance Elaine!

Don’t mention it!

I see what you mean about the Complete Repertory.  I might have to get Murphy’s – have never used that one.

It’s alphabetical, so much easier to use!

Well… I think the remedy is Antimonium tart

Yes, that’s it!  Good for you!!!!!

I realised that I didn’t know this remedy very well,

Oh, then it’s good we did this quiz, because this is a very important remedy that I couldn’t do without!  Did you ever “swallow wrong”?  Do you know what I mean by that?  Where water goes down the wrong pipe?  Very painful experience; well, Antimonium tart. is the remedy for that.  It’s our drowning remedy.  Also, when you keep clearing your throat and clearing your throat, over and over again, and the phlegm just keeps on coming and it never stops and you always feel like there’s more to get out, that’s Antimonium tart too.  It’s for any unwanted fluid in the lungs.

I think I would recognise the picture now.

In Hering I found, under Ant tart: great rattling of mucus….originates in upper bronchi…neither cough nor vomiting brought up phlegm and ‘irresistible inclination to sleep with nearly all affections’

I’m glad you found that!  Yes, that was a tell-tale sign along with inability to raise mucus despite having a loose cough!  “He just wants to sleep.”  You’ll be thinking it’s Gelsemium but the patient is thirsty!   

I re-did the case focusing more on fever than coryza and Ant-t is in these rubrics:

Stomach; thirst; small quantities, for; fever, during

Right; exactly!  Look how you can mistake that for Arsenicum!   

Sleep; sleepiness; heat; during

Right, and he so clearly had that.

But it’s missing or only Grade 1 in some of the other ones that I thought were so important, such as

Mind; delirium; fever; during; heat (I missed this the first time – is this the babbling?)

That was a tough one, how to interpret the “babbling”; but, it does sound like delirium. Ant-t. is a 1 under “Mind: delirium”.

Mind; restlessness, nervousness; fever; during

He did have that initial restlessness, another reason a lot of people picked Arsenicum.

Also, to corroborate the mum’s observation, I found in Farokh Master’s book that Ant tart has ‘worse for milk’ in respiratory tract disorders.

Yes, I saw it in “milk agg.” too.

He has also observed that ‘secretions fill the bronchial tubes, but the child lacks the power to expectorate and, ‘either completely thirstless, or drinks little and often’

Right, just like Arsenicum!  Look at what Murphy has for Ant-t. under “Mind” (I’ll underline the parts that match our case). It’s quite a stunning match-up:

<MIND>

Great despondency.  Fear of being alone.  Fretfulness, whining and crying, before the attack of sickness.  Bad mood.  Frightened, at every trifle.  Muttering, delirium and stupor.  Stupid on awakening.

Apathy or easily annoyed, wants to be let alone.  Peevish, whining and moaning. Despairs of his recovery.  Clings to attendants.  Consciousness wanes on closing eyes.  Melancholic, complains of numerous suffering.

Thanks again, this has been such useful learning.

Yes, very useful!

Jan

_________________________________

Now, it is hard to ignore the fact that just about everyone voted for Arsenicum!  I know why you did, you saw that “Wonder Boy” was restless and thirsty for sips at a time.  “Aha!” you said, “It must be Arsenicum!”.  But people, the Arsenicum mentals in a flu case are unmistakable!  First of all, usually it’s a gastro-intestinal flu–meaning nausea and diarrhea are present, there’s prostration along with tossing and turning and thirst for just one sip at a time; and the mentals!  Well, the Arsenicum mentals are one of a kind! 

The patient is absolutely convinced he will die if you don’t stay with him and hold his or her hand!  I did have a video for you to watch but youtube took it down. 

In the video, Muriel Stubbs has an Arsenicum flu!  This is an episode of “The PJ’s”.

the-pjs

 It’s a satire on African-American life in the big cities of America–which boils down to poverty, discrimination and neglect: lack of food markets, playgrounds for kids to play, lack of repairs to streets and buildings…  Anyway, we won’t get into that now, the main thing is that Muriel has an Arsenicum flu and her husband, Thurgood Orenthal Stubbs, tries desperately to take care of her but the needs of an Arsenicum patient are insurmountable and never-ending, and Thurgood fails dramatically as a care-giver–the problem being that men are not suited for this job anyway, as their inclination is to do the bare minimum and then leave as soon as possible while the Arsenicum patient cannot bear to be left alone, and in fact, at one point, Muriel actually screams “Don’t Leave Me!” with her arms out-stretched! 

She’s been given a horn to toot if she needs anything and she’s tooting it every five minutes!  Thurgood at one point says, “If you need me, I’m just an ear-splitting blast away.”

I want to thank everyone who voted: Margaret Warden, Teodora, Riva, Maria, Salma, Miroslav and Jitka, Dr. Kausar, Elisabeth, Dr. Sayeda, Vamsi, Jayne Evans and Jan Clare.

See you back here in December!

————————————–

Elaine Lewis, D.Hom., C.Hom.

Elaine takes online cases! Write to her at [email protected]

Visit her website: elaineLewis.hpathy.com

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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