How to solve a homeopathic case
This is for you again, Maria! Another example of how to pick rubrics out of a homeopathic case. OK, I want everyone to read this case all the way through, then we’ll meet back here and see what we picked up along the way.
These are “Felicia’s” answers to my questionnaire:
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Adolescent’s name: “Felicia”
Date: 1/10/17
Gender: Female
Weight: 120 pounds
Height: 5.5 feet
Date of Birth: 3/18/99
Body type: medium height, thin
Age: 17
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My chief complaint is anemia (fatigue, headaches, low energy, brain fog), probably due to prolonged menstrual bleeding which started in October 2014, but we think anemia began late that summer.
I’m worse from stress about people around me, school, dance, relationships and future; a lot of anxiety, and if I don’t eat, I feel it later. Also, worse heat.
I’m better being happy and feeling successful about accomplishments that day. When I have enough iron and water too, that really helps my energy and attitude.
I love music and having plans with friends. I may or may not want a hug when I’m upset. I often have little patience with my three younger siblings (ages 11, 9, and 6). I often have trouble controlling emotions and my tongue when someone (parents especially) says something I don’t like.
I often have headaches along with dizziness, nausea, and neck pain.
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Felicia’s mother says: Her childhood was as an only child and center of our attention for 6 years and she was very challenging to parent. We didn’t know how to parent well and she has a strong personality. When she was having fun, she was really having fun. When she was upset, she was loud and screaming. Life was full and active until her siblings started arriving and then her life slowed down a bit. Her second sister arrived when she was 8 and her brother arrived when she was 11. Those were challenging years as a family in many ways.
OK, so I am sitting here with Felicia to get back at this. (She is coloring so she can sit still.)
Is sitting still a problem?
Yes. She has to be moving a part of her body, or doing something (playing music on phone, texting, etc.).
Does this make studying a problem if she has to keep moving?
No, not if she is reading. Math is a little more of a problem, but after she sits down and settles in, she can usually do it.
And she moves fast I think you told me, does she talk fast too?
When she is awake (an hour or so after she gets up), she moves fast and talks fast.
Does she interrupt you when you’re talking?
[Why am I asking this? Because I’m suspecting a certain remedy after hearing that she talks fast.]
Yes, it’s a family trait inherited from my husband. She would say that she does not interrupt. It might be more that she changes topics quickly and I can’t keep up.
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Felica continues: My best friend tells me I should be nicer and be positive but then I’ll tell her the same thing. My parents tell me to be patient and keep my tone of voice “modulated”.
[So, she talks loud.]
About animals: They’re all adorable and should be loved.
About food: Pasta is yummy and coffee is great. Anything that’s going to make me fat, and most things that would keep me thin.
Only food aversion is beans. Any beans.
I like my drinks Ice-cold.
I like eating, but if it’s not something I can just grab sometimes I forget to eat.
Regarding fears: Fear of falling, deep ocean is a little freaky and I’m pretty claustrophobic.
I tend to be hot.
How affectionate am I? Weeeeeell….. it depends on who it is and my attitude. I’m not the most affectionate person, but I won’t refuse a hug.
Am I sympathetic, concerned about the suffering of others? Unless it’s someone really close to me and it’s serious, I don’t really care….
My primary emotions are: Depression. Giving up. Negativity.
How messy am I? Well I want everything on the outside to look neat. The clothes in my dresser though are never folded.
How sensitive am I to criticism or reprimand? It doesn’t bother me, unless I have no idea what they are talking about.
What is most striking about me? Well, I’m pretty sarcastic.
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Her mother says: She is very pretty and very animated.
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How cooperative am I? Not very…
Who’s a difficult person or persons in my life? My parents sometimes… I don’t like being told what to do. There’s a few teenage girls I know that beg for attention and that really bugs me.
My nature: Resourceful, fun, impatient, loud, restless
What happens to me over and over again (the “story of my life”, as it were)? Never keeping up with life. Being late. Running out of money.
What makes me angry? The stupid things that people do. I try to “let it go” and “chill”, but, let’s be real, I yell.
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Her mother says: When she has energy, she moves fast and talks fast and as mentioned before is very animated. She has long naturally wavy dark brown hair that she gets complimented on all the time, but it took her years to figure out how to take care of it to her liking. I don’t think she knows how to whisper. She likes to talk loud or yell if “necessary”.
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We’re back!!! OK, so what do we have here? First and foremost, we have a case of uterine hemorrhaging. The rubric in Murphy’s Repertory is “Female: bleeding”. So what does that tell us right away? We need one of our uterine hemorrhage remedies, like Phosphorus, Sepia or Lachesis, etc. We might be checking our case along the way to see if we can confirm one of these famous bleeding remedies.
To that end, we have to ask ourselves, what is STRIKING about this patient? What is characteristic? Keep in mind, we don’t care about every single symptom in this case. We care about the chief complaint–the diagnosis (uterine hemorrhaging)–and the characteristic mental/emotionals, the generals (worse heat, desires ice, etc.) and anything that’s peculiar. If there had been a compelling etiology, we would care about that too. For example, uterine bleeding after an accident might be Arnica.
What did you find striking? What I found striking was all the information we got about her speech— hasty, loud, yelling, interrupting. What does this make you think of? Lachesis, of course! Go to “Speech, loud”–Lachesis is the only remedy in BOLD. Her loud speech was mentioned over and over again by both her mother and herself! She says her mother is constantly reminding her not to talk so loud; so, this is a great confirmatory for Lachesis!
She’s unsympathetic, which is very unusual in a person, don’t you think? She says she really doesn’t care about the suffering of others. Can that be Phosphorus? No way! So we cross Phosphorus off the list along with other bleeding remedies like Calc-carb and Pulsatilla.
Lachesis is definitely worse for heat. Lachesis has an issue with choking; so, anything that restricts air/oxygen, like heat and narrow spaces (she said she’s claustrophobic) is going to aggravate Lachesis.
Jumping from topic to topic and interrupting people who are talking are two famous Lachesis keynotes. Did you know that? She yells. Lachesis does a lot of yelling. Lachesis is sarcastic. Felicia says that sarcasm is the most striking feature about her! She says she doesn’t like being told what to do. This is Lachesis’ famous aversion to “restrictions”–just like they don’t like tight clothing and tight collars, they don’t like anything that “restricts” their free will either! So, this case has Lachesis written all over it!
I wrote to Felicia’s mother recently to see how she was doing. I said, “I don’t know if you remember me…..” And she replied:
“Hi Elaine!
Yes, of course I remember you! ‘Felicia’ would still be hemorrhaging if it wasn’t for you! She is still doing great in that department. I am pretty sure she is having normal cycles. She is also having normal ‘growing pains’ since she finished high school and is working a couple part time jobs, living at home, and trying to discern her path in life.”
_____OK. Bye! See ya next time!_______
Elaine Lewis, DHom, CHom
Elaine takes online cases. Write to her at [email protected]
Visit her website: https://ElaineLewis.hpathy.com
Interesting! Your articles are so helpful, Elaine!
So, the Lachesis was correct for her uterine bleeding. Did Lachesis also impact her other striking characteristics, like loud talking or lack of sympathy, at all? Or, is she going to stay that way forever because that is the way she is?
Good question, Alicia! You know, you’d have to assume so, especially if any of it was over-the-top; the truth is, this case is roughly four years old and I no longer remember, but, if you’re hemorrhaging, that’s what has to be cured because that’s very serious. It appears I had to write to her mother to find out how she was and the answer was what you see above; she told me the hemorrhaging had stopped and that was all she said. I later had the mother’s case, a very bad migraine, and all the siblings were there–“Felicia” too. I think by then “Felicia” had gotten married, so, that’s a good sign. Let me see if I can find the case:
https://hpathy.com/clinical-cases/170303/