Homeopathy Papers

Repertory Round-Up, Part-9

Written by Elaine Lewis

Picking rubrics out of a case of non-stop bleeding

Mom, what happened to Tidbits?

Remember, I was in it last month with the horrifying tick bite?  How did I do?

You did great, Shana!  But we haven’t done “Repertory Round-Up” in ages!

Whose case are you going to do this time?

Remember Toni Tortellini?

Didn’t she have a headache from yelling and cheering?

Yes, it was terrible!  Well, now it’s her daughter, Rotini.

Rotini Tortellini?

Yes!

What happened to her, another headache?

No, menses.  Non-stop!

Yikes!  Even a week of that is enough!

We’re going to practice picking rubrics out of a case.  First I’m going to post the whole case so that people can try to solve it themselves.  Then I’ll jump in with my commentary.

It sounds almost very interesting.  I’ll be in the kitchen, gazing at the oven, waiting for my pizza to beep.

Well, as long as you’re keeping busy….  OK, so, I received the following email from Toni Tortellini:

Hi Elaine,

Happy New Year to you.  Let’s hope 2023 brings good things!

Let me know if I should start a case for this.

Rotini is 15 and has been having periods for a few years.  They haven’t been the most regular, but they have been pretty light until recently.  Most recently, she has been bleeding for about three weeks.  We’ve filled out the questionnaire.

Thank you!

Toni Tortellini

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

Acute Case Questionnaire

Name:  Rotini Tortellini

Age: 15

Male or Female: Female

Weight:130 lbs

Height: 5’4”

Date: 1/2/2023

Email Address: [email protected]

  1. Describe the complaint.

Frequent/Prolonged Menstrual Bleeding.  Rotini had her first period when she was 12 years old.  In January 2022 (age 14) Rotini told me she thought she was having a period every two weeks.  

Her last period, she started menstruating 12/3 or 12/4 with light to medium flow.  She thought it was slowing down on 12/14 and thought it would be done by 12/16 which was the first day of two days of dance performances.  But, it picked back up again to a medium flow through 12/25, then got heavier, so that by 12/26 she was very tired from all this and from not sleeping well (she had gone to her older sister—Rigatoni’s—house, 5 hours from home on 12/18 and wasn’t sleeping well there).

The rest of us traveled to Rigatoni’s on 12/23 and stayed until 12/27.  When she was so tired on 12/26, and I realized she had been bleeding for so long and hadn’t had much red meat because we had been eating mostly ham, turkey, and pork sausage, I had my husband go buy her a cheeseburger, made her a smoothie, and gave her some Brazil nuts and Almonds.  She said she felt better after that.  She also had a cheeseburger on 12/27.

  1. Etiology–this means the CAUSE of the complaint.

Rotini is homeschooled and started her freshman year in late Aug 2022.  She is part of a program that offers an advisor and the option of having learning support classes (i.e. a zoom classroom once a week). 

When Rotini was 12 (I think) we discovered that she had amblyopia in her right eye and could barely see out of it, which explained her difficulty in learning to read and trouble focusing in school, which got her a little “behind”, thus being 15 and only a freshman.  This caused her some uneasiness when she learned that she would not graduate high school the same time as other kids her age, and that she would have to wait a year to dance her “senior spotlight” dance.  I think she eventually came to terms with that.

Up until this year, Rotini has been difficult to homeschool, mostly because she would not do her school work.  She would sleep in, take her time with morning routine, get distracted from starting a subject, get distracted during a subject.  So I signed her up for a cohort where she would be part of a group of students who would have the same teacher for all four of her core subjects all year long. This would give her some accountability other than to mom.  The catch was that the online zoom class starts at 6:30am Monday through Thursdays. 

Rotini is NOT a morning person, and we were all worried about that.  She did great for the first week, out of excitement I think.  The second week, she overslept a time or two, but then settled into a routine.  Although, she really struggles with the early morning class, she is doing it, and she is doing better at keeping up with those classes.  Math, however, that is just with Mom, she rarely does.  She is good at it, but she is behind.

So, all that to say, school has been quite stressful for her this year.  She is smart, but takes a little longer to process and think about things, but once she gets it, she’s got it.

December was also busy month with extra dance activities and performances, especially the  12/16 and 12/17 weekend of three shows.  And the traveling during Christmas break.

  1. Sensation–describe the pain, the sensation you have.

She’s not having pain.

  1. Appearance–

She might be more pale.  Looks tired and sad.

  1. Location–where on the body is your complaint located?

n/a

  1. Modalities– This is a fancy word that simply means, “What makes your complaint better or worse”?

This question is a little harder to answer in this case.  She likes to sleep more, but I wouldn’t say it makes it “better”.  Does “better” mean stopping of blood flow?  Maybe eating the red meat helped it slow down, but not stop.  Not sure here…..

  1. Concomitants (symptoms that accompany the complaint–“along for the ride”, so to speak)–

Mostly fatigue.  She did get a strange rash (red dots on torso, not itching) mid-December.  It is still there, but very faint.  Interestingly, my granddaughter (Rigatoni’s daughter) got a similar rash after we left her house, so maybe it was a contagious virus that Rotini picked up from the dance studio or something.

  1. Discharges–

Usually bright red menstrual bleeding

  1. Generals–

Weak, tired, craving chocolate, sad.

  1. The mentals: Is the complaint changing you mentally and emotionally?

Self-pity, crying and more emotional, effected by things more strongly than normal

  1. What have you been saying?

She didn’t have an answer here, and I can’t think of anything specific.  There are five of us in the house, plus more when Rigatoni and her family come to visit, so there are many people talking all the time!  Haha!  Hard to remember who is saying what!

  1. What are you doing?

At night, tossing and turning, taking a long time to go to sleep.  More arguing (usually about her writing assignments), but that might be part of being 15.  Sleeping more (also was up late 12/30 and 12/31 (New Year’s).

  1. Describe your thirst and appetite–

Thirsty, prefers cold drinks, iced tea, lemon/baobab, kefir smoothies, just sips (except kefir smoothies are gulped), frequently.  Not many foods sound good.  Hungry, but never satisfied.  Must have kefir everyday.

  1. Fever?

No fever

  1. Sweating?

No sweating

  1. Odors?

No odors.

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

I think we covered that in number-1.

  1. Is there a diagnosis?

No

  1. Describe your energy–

Always needing to lay down.  Feels like legs are going to give out.  This has just been in the last week or so.

  1. What does your tongue look like?

Pointy tongue, pink around the outside, white-ish in the middle.

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

No cough.

  1. If you haven’t already said if you’re hotter or colder than usual, say it now.

No change in body temperature.

  1. This question only applies to complaints of a more chronic nature: I need to know what you eat, drink and “take”.

For breakfast, she normally has a kefir smoothie (kefir, unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla, erythritol/stevia, coconut oil, pinch of sea salt) or a bagel with cream cheese or butter.  For lunch, she might have leftovers that mom has cooked.  She is not remembering what else here.  Dinner is whatever mom cooks (soup, beef/veggies, chicken/veggies, pasta).  She likes to snack more than eat meals.  Brazil nuts, apples, cheezits, and lately her GHIRARDELLI chocolate she got for Christmas.

  1. Tell me what drugs you’re taking, prescription or over-the-counter.

None.

________________

Toni, you filled out the wrong questionnaire.  This isn’t an acute case, it’s a constitutional case.  I’m afraid all I’ve learned from this is that your daughter likes cold drinks and chocolate.

Oops!  Sorry, Elaine.  Should I start over?  I’m very tired and need to go to bed right now.

_____________________________

Adolescent Questionnaire

  1. What is the chief complaint?

See acute case questionnaire above.

  1. When did the problem/s start if not already mentioned?

See acute case questionnaire above.

  1. What aggravates your complaint/s?

Not sure what makes the bleeding worse, maybe stress.  But what makes her worse is stress and lack of sleep.  She hates to get up in the mornings.  Doesn’t like to have her hair wet, just getting out of the shower, or in the rain.  She would rather keep a towel on her head until it’s dry.  She doesn’t like it when people are loud, but she gets loud and doesn’t like to be told to be quiet.

  1. And now the opposite of #3: what makes the complaint, or you, better?

Maybe eating the red meat helped the bleeding to slow down, but not stop.  She is better in general when she can set her own schedule, not be told what to do.  She likes an Epson salt bath when her muscles are sore from dancing.  She loves a cold drink (sweet tea, lemon/baobab, chocolate kefir over ice, etc.).  She loves soft worship music.  She loves to talk with anyone who will listen and talk with her.

  1. What is the worst time of day for you?

n/a

  1. What symptoms accompany the chief complaint?

n/a

  1. (This question is for Mom and Dad, and all questions up to and including # 11, though Mom and Dad, other family members and your best friends, etc. are certainly welcome to add their “2 cents” to any of the other questions too with your permission.)  What was the pregnancy and birth like?

Her pregnancy was healthy with no complications.  I had the usual nausea and fatigue in the first trimester, then very tired in the third trimester.  I never liked being pregnant, but nothing seriously wrong.  She was posterior in the third trimester, but midwife had me do pelvic tilts and she flipped around in time. 

I had a midwife come to my home, which made the prenatal checkups fun and special, involving my two older daughters.  Rotini was my first of two home births, and all went smoothly.  Labor started slowly early on a Sunday morning with mild contractions, and continued at church, and progressed throughout the day at home.

She was born at home at 6:30pm with reasonable pushing time (3 or 4 pushes if I remember right).  It got intense, of course.  I felt all the contractions!  And my notes say that I got loud.  But, she was my “best” birth out of the four.  I didn’t need any interventions or drugs.  Midwife gave me Arnica after the birth. 

My husband was an active alcoholic during this time, so there was strife in the marriage during this pregnancy.

  1. Father’s health at time of conception:

Good health.  He was an active alcoholic, hot head, rude at times, combative, capable of being helpful when he had to. 

  1. The child’s milestones:

Crawled backwards first at 8 months, 5 days later crawled forward.  First tooth at 10 months. Walked at 12 months.  Talked with one word at 12 months, full sentences at 2 years.  Sassy right off the bat.  I told her the night of her second birthday, we were “all done nursing”.  She protested a little, but used her pacifier instead.  She started toilet training at 2 years 9 months.  At 3 years, she was pretty good about going on toilet, but had to be reminded and didn’t want to stop playing to go.    

  1. Was the child vaccinated?

3 doses of DTAP, 3 doses of Polio IPV, 2 doses of Hepatitis B, 2 doses of Hib, 3 doses of Pneumococcal Conjugate.  Looks like she had some coughing and sneezing the morning of her appointment on 2/27/2008 for her round of 4 shots.  Then she got more sick, hot, lethargic, fussy one day later.  Various symptoms lasted for 2 weeks.  I knew a naturopath doc by then, and we tried various remedies including Thuja, pulsatilla, dulcamara, an herbal tincture, and Hepar Sulph.  Last shots were on 4/28/2008.  Gave Thuja before shots.  She still got sick with stuffy nose, cough, then later more mucous and more cough.

  1. How did the child react to the birth of a younger sibling?

She was welcoming to her little brother, Calzone, when she was 3, but she called him “Charlie Gracie” for some reason!  Even though that’s NOT his name! 

She was energetic, loved everything glittery and beautiful – dresses, necklaces, crowns, hats, dress up.  She was mischievous, had big smiles, big emotion, and dramatic.  Felt left out as the girls got a little older, the two older girls although 6 years apart, were close. 

Little Rotini often bothered them.  They tried to include her, but it wasn’t always possible.

  1. How do you react to school, what issues/problems do you have with it?

School is fine, but it stresses me out when I have a lot of work to do.

  1. How do you feel about spending the night away from home?

I like to, but it doesn’t happen very often.

  1. How do you feel about traveling?

I don’t like long drives.  It’s not comfortable because I can’t sleep in the car.  I don’t like heights, but aside from that, airplane travel is a fun experience.

  1. Give an idea of how much prescription drug treatment you’ve had over the years, and for what?  Have these drugs caused you any problems?

None.

  1. Any skin conditions treated with cortisone-type cream?

No.

  1. Did you have an especially severe childhood illness?  Explain.

 No.  Just the usual colds and flu.

  1. When you’re ill or upset, to what extent do you want sympathy?

If I’m sick, it goes both ways.  I like to be quiet by myself, but I don’t want to be alone all day.  If I’m upset, it depends on the day and what I’m upset about.

  1. What are your well-meaning friends and relatives always trying to change about you?

Not to be so loud.  My mom always used to tell me to modulate my voice.  My sister tells me not to jump to conclusions on what other people think. 

  1. What feed-back do you get from teachers, school counselors, camp counselors, coaches, etc.?

Her dance teacher told her to give herself credit when she does something well.  Her writing lab teacher tells her “You don’t have to stress about it.”

  1. How do you feel about and treat animals?

I like animals – cats, certain types of dogs.  I like labs and golden retrievers.  I don’t like bull dogs or corgies.  I like guinea pigs and hamsters too.  I don’t like bugs and spiders.  I strongly, strongly, don’t like snakes.

  1. What foods and drinks do you love? (She got excited to answer this).  I love cheeseburgers and pizza.  Milkshakes are fun.  I like Bai drinks.  I like smoothies too.
  1. What foods and drinks do you have an aversion to?

I don’t understand how people can drink 5 cups of coffee a day.  I have a hard time with seafood, especially shrimp and crab.  I can eat tuna, but I have to put seasonings in it and cheese on top, like a tuna melt, in order to eat it.  I like Mexican food, but it has given me a stomach ache and made me vomit in the past.

  1. Do you desire ice or ice-cold drinks?

I don’t desire ice alone, but I like ice-cold drinks.

  1. Describe the kind of eater you are.

Not a lot at one time.  A grazer.

  1. What fears do you have?

Afraid of heights, snakes, going further than waste high in the ocean or even a lake – doesn’t want a fish to touch her.

  1. Do you tend to be chilly or hot?

More on the chilly side.

  1. When are you most likely to perspire and where on your body?

I perspire when I am dancing or working out.  Under my breasts.

  1. How affectionate are you?

Not super.  I like hugs, but it can be awkward.  I wasn’t raised with lots of affection.

  1. How sympathetic are you? (affected by the suffering of others)

I feel bad for people who are crying and sad.  But if someone is whining or complaining, I don’t have much sympathy.

  1. How affected are you by music?
    I love music. It touches me in a certain way, makes me emotional, especially worship music.
  1. What emotion tends to predominate in you?

She had a hard time answering this one, but together we determined she is usually happy on the outside, but sometimes there can be Sadness or Anxiousness underneath.

  1. How neat or messy are you?

I like things to be organized.  I wish my room was more perfect.  I like things to be simple and cozy but still well-designed.

  1. How sensitive are you to criticism or reprimand?
    In the dance studio she welcomes criticism because it helps her get better, but she gets mad at herself for not doing it perfect.  In family life, she doesn’t like being told what to do even if she knows that she is in the wrong.  Answering this question is making her tired and agitated.
  1. Do you have any digestive complaints?

No.

  1. Any complaints with sleep?

She feels like she never gets enough sleep, even if she has had 10 hours or more.

  1. Any skin issues–warts, moles, rashes, acne, etc.?

She has had warts in the past on her feet (one on toe, one on heal), but she doesn’t have any now. She just had a red spotty rash on her torso for about a couple weeks, but it went away on its own.  It did not itch.  It didn’t really cause her any problems.  Not sure why she got it.  She gets mild acne on her forehead because she can’t do a good job washing her forehead because she is worried about getting soap in her eyes.

  1. What is most striking, defining or characteristic about you?

Many people tell her that anytime she comes into a room, she lights it up.

  1. How cooperative are you?

Mom: very willing to cooperate, but can be combative.

  1. What’s standing in your way of moving ahead, making progress, reaching your goals?

For school, having to sit down and think about a paper I need to write, even if it’s easy, stresses me out.  I procrastinate even though I know I need to get it done.  For dance, goal wise, I have a hard time going upside down, a hand stand, a back walkover, it’s going to be tricky because I don’t have faith that my arms are going to be strong enough to hold me up.  I worry.  I don’t trust that it will be fine.

  1. How often do you get sick?

I get sick at least once or twice a year, the kind that might put me in bed.  Sometimes I get little short colds that don’t stop me from doing anything.  Do you tend toward certain ailments?  Usually starts with a sore throat, then head will hurt, pounding, eyes heavy, sometimes nausea.

            42. Ask your mom what illnesses run in the family.

We don’t have any.

            43. What do you really love to do?

I love to dance, going places, especially Florida with palm trees and sunshine.  I really enjoy coloring with nice music in the background.  I like being home alone.  It’s quiet.  I can take a bath.  I like watching movies and reading.

            44. Time-line

-She broke her arm on our trampoline when she was 6 years old.  She liked the attention she got when people wanted to sign her cast.  She doesn’t think it affected her much.

-In the fall of 2021, when Rotini was 14 and about to start 8th grade and dance for the school year, she had not finished her 7th grade school work.  I (mom) told her that she had to wait until she was done with her 7th grade school work before she could start dance classes.  Instead of starting dance classes in mid-September, she started the first of December.  She said that was worse than having her baby blanket taken away and she has never been more upset.  It was like someone had died.  She was angry and cried quite a bit.  But then she got her school finished.

  1. Are you on any drugs or supplements?

No, just vitamin supplements when needed, or homeopathy.

  1. Do you throw the covers off at night or stick your feet out of the covers?

I stick my feet out of the covers.  Can’t be all the way out of the covers, don’t feel protected.  Likes it when it’s cold to be able to curl up in the cozy bed, but if it’s hot will stick one foot out.

           47. Please give me an idea of what you eat/drink in a day.

Yesterday: Cereal for breakfast (10am), cheezits for snack (12:30pm), kefir smoothie for lunch (1:30pm), left overs and an apple (9pm after dance).  

This is what I had put in the other questionnaire: For breakfast, she normally has a kefir smoothie (kefir, unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla, erythritol/stevia, coconut oil, pinch of sea salt) or a bagel with cream cheese or butter.  For lunch, she might have leftovers that mom has cooked.  Today she had a cheese quesadilla.  Dinner is whatever mom cooks (soup, beef/veggies, chicken/veggies, pasta).  She likes to snack more than eat meals.  Brazil nuts, apples, cheezits, and lately her GHIRARDELLI chocolate she got for Christmas.

  1. Who’s a difficult person or persons in your life and why?

I love my family, but they get on my nerves.  I dislike a girl at the dance studio who silently thinks she is better than everyone else.

  1. Describe your nature:  She is lively, fun, talkative (to one person at a time), likes things neat and tidy but pretty.  Creative, artistic, detailed.  Big Sister, Rigatoni, helped with these questions.
  1. What do you want to change about yourself:  Wishes she didn’t rant.  She wants what she says to be meaningful and funny.  When she tries to be sarcastic it comes out rude.  Wishes she could be funny without coming across as rude.
  1. What happens to you over and over again (the “story of my life”, as they say)?

Whenever she would have plans they always got canceled, so she doesn’t like to get her hopes up about upcoming events.  When there’s a group of people, she doesn’t feel she fits in anywhere.

  1. What are you most proud of?

How much she’s improved in dance.

  1. What makes you cry?  Beautiful instrumental music, worship music.  Thinking about past good times with family and friends.  When she falls into self-pity.  Cried when she was told to put on her mask by her dance teacher, and she felt bad for the people who thought that was the best thing.  (Cries when she feels bad for people.)
  1. What makes you angry?  What do you do when you get angry?

She gets angry with herself when she can’t understand what is being shown/taught to her (projects, assignments in school).  She gets angry when nobody points out a good chore she’s done, or it doesn’t get noticed.  Then she feels that she needs to do more.  Gets angry when she’s told to be quiet.  When she gets angry she finds it harder to be nice, so she’ll turn on music, and/or go to her room.

  1. What bothers you most in other people, how do you respond to it?

When somebody older treats her like a little kid instead of an equal.  People who feel the need to be front and center.  When people agree with something just to please the other person and to be liked. When people are on their phones.  She might call somebody out if she knows what their agreeing to is false.  She will think about what the other person did and then ignore it.

  1. Describe your thirst/drinking habits.

When she wants water she will get some, frequent sips throughout the day.

           57. Sleeping: Any issues here, anything you’d like changed?  What position do you sleep in?

Used to be able to sleep deep throughout the night, but ever since she slept through one of her 6:45am classes, she sleeps more lightly and wakes up throughout the night to make sure she doesn’t miss class.  Still slept light over school break.  She sleeps on either side with her hand under her pillow to support her head, and has one leg crossed over the other in scissor position, or will sleep on her belly with her arms over her head.  No matter what position she will have one leg bent.

            58. What are you sensitive to? 

If I am sick, I do not like noise or a lot going on.  Clutter stresses me out.  I like things to be in order and everything to have a home, not just sitting out. I try not to watch sad movies because I have to watch something happy afterwards.  Music has a strong effect on me, such as ABBA makes me really happy and I tend to jump around but I also tear up listening to sad music.  I love being out in the sun.  People always ask me how I get so tan.  The cold makes me stuffy and tired.

  1. Anything note-worthy about your appearance or your voice?

In the morning I have a very soft and quiet voice and it is very hard for me to talk loud enough so that my family can hear me.  However, at night I get very loud and cannot laugh quietly if my parents or my niece is sleeping.  I am working on not interrupting if I have a thought in my head and I don’t want to lose it.

  1. What really gets on your nerves?

Already covered this?

  1. What’s your ambition?

No idea.

  1. Describe your energy (for example, are you slow, sluggish, hyper-active, peppy, enthusiastic, nervous, jittery, etc.?)

I move slowly but I also have a lot of energy.

____________________________

Dear Toni,

It’s Shana.  Mom will write back to you as soon as she finishes the dishes.  I’m afraid I’ve kept her busy with PMS.  Anyway, she knows your daughter’s remedy and will write to you very soon.

Sincerely,

Shana

________________________________

(So listen, everybody, in the Comments section below, tell me what you think the remedy is and how you approached this case before I blurt out the answer, which I’m getting ready to do right now!!!)

__________________________________

Hi Toni, I’m sorry I kept you waiting.  Well, don’t look now but, Rotini’s constitutional remedy is….(drum roll, please….cymbal crash!) ….

Lachesis!!!!! 

By the way, Toni, this is Charlie Gracie–yes, he is a real person!!!!!!  Your daughter is apparently psychic, and your son, it would seem, is the reincarnation of Charlie Gracie who had a Number-1 hit in 1957 with “Butterfly”!

Elaine, We are ALL surprised! 

As well you should be!

We got a kick out of the Charlie Gracie video.  I didn’t know of him, but my son, Calzone, is actually in his room right now playing the electric guitar!  

Whoa! …  I rest my case! 

So, coming back to Rotini…. I’m going to suggest Lachesis 30C three times a day with five succussions before each dose; but remember, a striking improvement means stop the remedy or at least give it less and less often and ultimately, only as needed.  If she gets worse in any way, stop dosing.  If you’re confused about what to do, just ask me.  Don’t be surprised if the potency has to be raised along the way because potencies give out, it doesn’t mean you’ve got the wrong remedy or that homeopathy doesn’t work.

Good Evening Elaine!

Rotini got two doses in on Friday, 3 doses on Saturday, and 1 today.  It was 2pm before she remembered to take her first dose on Saturday.  She didn’t remember to take a dose until 5:30pm today, despite my reminding her.  She is usually grazing on something.  Then while she is waiting her 20 minutes, she forgets.  I suggested a timer. 

She said her bleeding is light to medium, which is not a change.  I noticed an improved mood on Saturday – more smiling and light- heartedness. 

So, I would not say there is a striking improvement yet, but since I did notice a slight improvement, and she didn’t take her remedy on time, I will have her stick to the 3 doses/day.

Toni

Toni, believe it or not, “more smiling and light-heartedness” is more important to us than a change in the chief complaint—prolonged menses.  Did you ever see my article “What To Expect After Taking A Remedy”?

What To Expect After Taking A Remedy

Always remember, the mentals come first, the mentals are going to improve first.

 

Hi Elaine,

I just talked to Rotini.  (She is at home. I am at Rigatoni’s.)  Rotini still has an improved mood.  Her blood flow is still medium to light.

That’s OK, we’re OK with that.

Hi again, Elaine,

Here’s what I got from Rotini:

Light flow.  Good amount of school work done so far. In a fine mood.  Her sister confirms that she seems happy and more focused at studying.

Light flow instead of light-to-medium?  I’ll take that as a good sign!

Hi, Elaine, I am home now (about 6 hours of driving today!)

Finally got some time to look at Rotini’s school work.  She is more caught up with her school work than she has ever been!  She is not completely caught up, but she worked very hard all week.

Her flow today was *super light* (just spotting).

Oh wow!  This is Fabulous!  And by the way, did you know that “Fabulous” is another one of Charlie Gracie’s songs?

__________________________________

OK, everybody, let’s talk about the case now.  What I loved about this case, it was a very straight-forward constitutional case, not complicated by a lot of suppressive medical treatment and multiple etiologies, no layers to go back through, etc. and in that context, this was a very easy case and the right remedy worked extremely fast, right away, actually.  And we saw Hering’s Law at work too, did we not?  Healing Takes Place From the Inside Out?  First the mentals clear up, and the physicals come last.  It’s really important to know this, because if you were expecting the bleeding to stop right away?  You’d have been very disappointed and maybe even given up or changed remedies, and how often does that happen?  It happens a lot!!!

So, how did we pick Lachesis out of this case.  First we have to reacquaint ourselves with “Repertory Round-Up, Part 4” wherein we talked about Characteristic Symptoms and the Hierarchy of Symptoms.  What Is the Hierarchy of Symptoms again?

The Hierarchy Of Symptoms

  1. Etiology

Ailments From/Never-Well-Since a certain occurrence or illness.  When the etiology is clear (“I’ve been dizzy since a concussion”) then look no further!  The remedy is Arnica, and a possible second choice would be Nat-sulph.

  1. Diagnosis

What’s wrong with you?  We have to know what disease or condition you have so we can go to that rubric and see which of the remedies there match the characteristic symptoms in your case.  Measles?  Heart disease?  PMS?  Arthritis?  Gallstones?  Kidney stones?  Ovarian cyst?  Stomach virus?

Some of you are going to say, “But isn’t that allopathy?”

If I don’t know what you have, I could be giving you a measles remedy for poison ivy just because both diseases have a rash!  You know, that’s the thing about symptoms, they cover a lot of diseases, they’re ubiquitous; and you can’t seriously think that you get the same remedy regardless of what’s wrong with you!  Think about that!  Take a symptom like diarrhea, so many illnesses have it!  Food poisoning, Crohns Disease, Stage fright…do they all need Arsenicum?  The food poisoning might, but the stage fright victim might need Gelsemium; so, knowing the symptom isn’t enough, we have to know what’s wrong.

  1. Sudden Onset

A sudden onset might trump everything in the case and lead to an immediate consideration of Aconite or Belladonna.  Here’s a typical sudden-onset case.  You go out in the cold/dry winds of a day in March and you forget your hat.  Half an hour later you have an earache.  That would be Aconite.

  1. Delusions, Strange/Rare/ Peculiar/ and Most Recent Symptom.  Why?  Because healing takes place in reverse order (Hering’s Law).  Your remedy will have to cover the most recent thing that happened.
  1. Mentals
  1. Emotionals
  1. Physical Generals–symptoms that start with the word “I”
  1. Local symptoms–symptoms that start with the word “My”

____________

So, looking down this list, we have no Etiology, so what’s next?  Diagnosis!  What does she have?  What’s the rubric?  “Female: bleeding, uterus, metrorrhagia”.  That means bleeding between periods.  It’s not unusual for the diagnostic rubric to be quite large so how do we choose out of more than maybe 100 remedies?  We look for a remedy in the diagnosis rubric that matches the characteristic symptoms in the case.

What are “characteristic” symptoms?  It’s what Hahnemann said in the Organon, Aphorism 153: the most striking, strange, rare and peculiar….  What are those symptoms in this case, what stood out for you?

Well, here we go:

  1. Talk, she likes to talk, she likes to talk so much that if you tell her to stop talking she gets really mad.
  2. Interrupt.  She interrupts.  She said she would like to stop doing that.
  3. She talks loud, she said it several times.
  4. She doesn’t like to be told what to do.  We would say she hates restrictions.  She can be “combative”, her mother said.  There’s a rubric, “Mind: contrary”.  Which remedy famously hates restrictions?  They don’t even like “restrictive” clothing–belts, turtlenecks, ties.  Yes, it’s Lachesis!
  5. She hates snakes!  Oh my goodness, does she ever hate snakes, she made quite a point of that!
  6. She’s rude and sarcastic.
  7. She argues.  (Mind: quarrelsome)

These are ALL keynotes of Lachesis! 

So you start the case by saying, “I need a bleeding remedy that….”  Fill in the blank: I need a bleeding remedy that talks loud and has a fear of snakes.  I need a bleeding remedy that’s…. rude and sarcastic.  I need a bleeding remedy that….has excessive loquacity and is quarrelsome.  Any of those would bring you to Lachesis!  Do you have to concern yourself with every single symptom in the case?  No!  She doesn’t like to get up in the morning, she likes pizza, she’s got a “pointy” tongue….  You are NOT going to repertorize every single thing she says!!!! 

Why?  One reason is because the Repertory is imperfect and every remedy that deserves to be in a rubric is not necessarily there!  So, the more non-essential rubrics you pile up,  the more likely you are to “lose” your remedy! 

See “Repertory Round-Up part 4” again for a recap of what a characteristic symptom is and how to use the Hierarchy of Symptoms.

Tidbits 50–Repertory Round-Up, Part-4

All the snake remedies have bleeding/hemorrhaging, that’s because when you’re bitten by a snake, the venom causes you to bleed to death.  Lachesis is the Bushmaster Snake and when you hear the word “hemorrhaging”, you should probably be thinking of Lachesis right away.  (We could also be thinking of Phosphorus, another hemorrhagic remedy.)

If our case had an etiology?  Such as Menstrual Bleeding After a Fright? (Female: bleeding, fright, after), then Lachesis would go away, because we’re looking at Ailments From Fright now!  There are five remedies listed for that: Aconite, Belladonna, Calc-carb, Opium, Nux vomica.  But we have no etiology here, so, we move down to #2 in our Hierarchy of Symptoms: Diagnosis. 

Now we’ve got a large rubric to deal with: “Female: bleeding, uterus, metrorrhagia”.  There are over 200 remedies there, so, we have to go down to the next step in the Hierarchy (striking, strange/rare and peculiar—characteristic—symptoms):  Which bleeding remedy has the following characteristic symptoms:  Loquacity, aversion to restriction, loud speech, combativeness, sarcasm, rudeness, fear of snakes….  It easily comes out to Lachesis!  I hope you found it easy too.  In fact, it was nothing short of FABULOUS!

Here’s (the real) Charlie Gracie again with “Fabulous”!

 

Bye, see you in February!

_________________________

Elaine Lewis, DHom, CHom

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

Visit her website: www.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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