Sharing two cases of diarrhoea where patient was fearing admission to hospital for intravenous fluids due to extreme exhaustion and weakness owing to dehydration. Homeopathy provided prompt relief.
Case 1:
A female aged 24 years came to my clinic in the evening hours with complaint of diarrhea, abdominal pain, extreme weakness and exhaustion. She was already taking allopathic medicines but with no relief in the last 36 hrs. She arrived with her sister.
The patient looked exhausted owing to dehydration. She reported that stools were every 1-2 hours, mostly watery. No appetite, pain in abdomen < after stools, thirst was normal.
She said “ I have to meet a friend tomorrow who is leaving for the U.S. day after tomorrow. I would be really sad if I won’t be able to make it.
After taking the acute totality and degree of prostration, Veratrum album 30 was prescribed every hour for 3 doses. I asked her to continue it further 4 hourly if diarrhea continued.
Next noon the patient called and said ‘Doctor I’m fine today and feeling absolutely normal. Passed stools once in morning which was normal. Shall I go to meet my friend?’ She said that she took the remedy only till night and was fine this morning. I told her she could go but watch what she eats.
Case 2:
A girl aged 3 years presented with vomiting and nausea for the last day. No fever. Hadn’t eaten anything. Urine output reduced reported parents. No thirst. Patient mentally dull.
Father reported that almost 6 months ago she had a similar episode and was hospitalized for 2 days.
| Date:23/11/2019 | Has vomiting / nausea since last evening.
Stools- normal. Urine- reduced Appetite- reduced. Sleep- somewhat more sleepy. o/e- abdomen non tender. Patient has painless enlarged tonsils which causes mouth breathing |
Rx:
Ipecac 30/ qid/2 days.
|
| 24/11/2019
(morning) |
Patient not better
Stool –watery, sudden, gunshot- like. Vomiting after everything. Very weak. Is only sleeping. No energy et all |
Stop previous medicine.
Rx: Veratrum alb 30/ every half hr for 2 hours. Croton tig 30/every half n hr for 2 hrs |
| 24/11/2019
Evening |
patient is better. |
At first Ipecec 30 was prescribed as there was a lot of nausea and vomiting with clean tongue and no other striking symptom that I could find. It failed to help and the complaint progressed to diarrhoea as well. Considering the presenting complaints, Croton Tigrinum 30 was selected on the basis of keynote symptom ‘Gunshot diarrhea”, i.e sudden evacuation of stools. The rest of the symptoms like vomiting with diarrhea, watery diarrhea, extreme weakness due to dehydration were not covered. Veratrum Album was given based on keynote ‘violent vomiting with profuse diarrhea, great prostration’.
In this case, podophyllum could also have been thought of, but the extent of weakness/ prostration lead to Veratrum album.
Patient was fine the next day. Appetite gradually increased over the next 3 days.
Currently this patient is under treatment for tonsillar hypertrophy.
