Uncontrolled Eructations in a Woman of 77

“I can smell my grandchildren’s hands”; “I can smell my husband”

We sometimes see little miracles in homeopathy that cover not only the patient’s main concern, but also symptoms not discussed in the initial consultation.  When this happens, it inspires us to be the best we can be as homeopaths and continue our quest to help humanity, one person at a time. Here is such a case.

Initial consultation August 25, 2019.

AB, 77 F.

AB asked for help with digestive issues. Her main concerns were uncontrolled eructations and uncontrolled gas particularly in social settings when she felt uptight. She has eructations soon after eating as well. This for her was highly embarrassing.

Over the years, AB had done a tremendous amount of work on herself through the study of many healing modalities. She is a facilitator, a practitioner who cares and loves helping people. She would rather console others than be consoled.

She is very responsible and fastidious, always on the move. She wants to appear perfect. She has always been an overachiever. AB desires to be loved and seen. She is very empathic. She takes things personally, feeling hurt and unappreciated, and has a “low amount of self-worth”.

She has trouble letting go of past hurts, particularly when she has been betrayed.  She is a very independent woman, has been so her entire life and loves problem solving. Dancing makes her happy. She is stubborn, with a streak of impatience. She also bruises easily.

During the course of the consultation, she revealed that she suffered intense grief after her first marriage breakdown at age 47. She later suffered the loss of her brother, and said that at the time she felt:  “I don’t want to be on this planet if he isn’t on the planet”. She has since remarried, and is now the main caregiver to her very ailing husband.

Since childhood, she suffered chronic constipation for which her mother gave her enemas. Now, “I tense up and hold everything in” when people come for an extended visit.

Sleep has been a challenge over the years. She has a very active brain at night, and talks a lot in her sleep. When overstimulated she snores, and has been told that she sounds “like farm animals”. She has a rattling cough as soon as she lies down but not when she is relaxed. She sometimes wakes up with dry mouth. She has many vivid dreams.

She still suffers menopausal symptoms, with heat flushes over her upper body. She says that she sweats. “In lathers”.  Her feet and ankles freeze. Her feet are achy in humid and cold temperatures.

She lost her sense of smell, however she “can smell obvious smells like coffee”. She attributes this to nasal polyps.

She craves sugar/salt and just “loves food “and is not overly thirsty.

She is not on medications.

Assessment:

I chose rubrics that were current, reliable and consistent. They reflected the totality of symptoms. This is also a chronic case.  Repertorization using MacRepertory 2018.

Natrum Muriaticum patients are emotionally very sensitive. Their primary concern in life is not to hurt and not to be hurt. They tend to be self contained, desiring to solve problems. They have a high degree of impartiality and awareness, with a strong sense of duty. They enjoy receiving affection from others. Nat Mur is apt to be excited, hasty, and impatient.  They also have eructations after eating.

AB is highly sensitive to emotional injury, holding on to old grudges. The symptom of betrayal was very strong in AB, and she held a lot of energy! Her desire for dance and her vivid dreams confirmed Nat M. as well as her desire for salty and sweet.

One of the clinical applications are gastro-intestinal disorders and constipation. Nat Mur has an affinity with the alimentary tract, skin, mind etc. Sodium Chloride stimulates digestion, acts on the stomach and favours the secretion of gastric juice.

Prescription given:  Nat-Mur 30C daily, 3 drops, liquid dose, 5 succussions for one month.

Follow up 1 (6 weeks later) 11/11/2019

Her initial reaction to the remedy was that she could not get out of bed, nor did she want to get out of bed, and on day 2, she caught a cold.

Her digestion improved by 70%, no burping, no bellyache and her rattling cough was no longer an issue.  She reports, “This is the best I have felt in 45 years”.  There were improvements with hot flashes, inner tension, flatus and some improvement with skin dryness.

She noticed that her feet seemed less icy, but would be able to confirm once the winter months set in.  The interesting thing is that she was now able to smell garlic, and ginger.  Dry mouth symptom showed improvement, sleep improved. H1C at 6.4-6.9

Prescription Nat Mur 200C, liquid dose, every other day 5 succussions.

I checked in with AB 7 days later, and she said that her digestion was a little burpier, and her sleep was not as good.  I told her to take the Nat Mur 200C every day.

Follow up 2 – 28/01/2020 (approx. 8 weeks later)

AB was so excited:   “Now I can smell my husband”; “I can smell my grandchildren’s hands, and I know if they have washed their hands”. “I haven’t been able to smell like this in the last 20 years”. “Now there is also an 80% improvement in the quality of my taste”!

This amelioration helped in the cooking department, because she is now able to decipher needed ingredients. The dryness in AB’s mouth is gone. Thermals do not fluctuate, “now only very mild”.  Her feet have been less cold during the winter: “Best they have ever been”.  The arthritis in her feet improved. Bruising is now a non-issue.

“I’m growing my hair at 77! I was losing hair before”.  Dryness around her calves 100% gone.

There were some slight setbacks due to stresses of daily happenings: Christmas roof leak, getting house ready for sale, workers, insurance etc. AB reported that her set back was about 5-10%, with sleep and constipation did get bad for about 5 weeks. At the time of the second follow up this issue totally resolved. AB also reported that despite what had been happening vis a vis stress, her emotions improved.

Recommendations àcontinue Nat Mur 200C dose every other day, and then dose 3x per week.

At the end of February I received a very brief email saying:  “I continue to feel awesome!!”Our next follow up is a few days away.

Conclusion

AB held onto grudges, constricting emotionally, not able to let go and the role this plays in constipation. Yet, her desire to free dance and letting go was the opposite. The yin, the passive female principle of the universe, wanting to express, but holding on to the active male principle of the universe, the yang.

Holding on to betrayals, yet has a desire to be held, wanting to be seen. The more I looked at the case, the more it fascinated me about how all these principles come together. Yet this leads me perhaps into speculation and theorizing. Therefore, though it was fun to spin and keep spinning, this is a far cry from what Hahnemann wants us to do in aphorism 6 – NO SPECULATION.

I slapped my hand, spoke to myself and came back to the basic principles so beautifully set out for us in the 6^th edition of the Organon! Look at the totality, the presentation, peculiars etc. This case showed me how easy it is to deviate, and how disciplined homeopaths must be in order to truly attain healing in our clients.

Kent tells us that Natrum Muriaticum is a deep acting remedy. Seeing this in all of its aspects for me was so exciting!  Sticking to the facts showed me how well Nat Mur worked with this particular client, simply by taking a case, being an objective observer without speculation, repertorizing and reading Materia Medica and Provings!  It showed me that homeopathy not only addresses the main symptoms the client comes to us for, but also symptoms the Vital Force also wishes to address. It affects every facet, from the mind to the miniscule physicality of the cell. This is homeopathy!