Tidbits 74: Blatta…An Under-Used Remedy in Asthma (COVID Too?)

So, here’s how Blatta Orientalis was discovered.  First of all, I hate that I’m even writing about this because Blatta is the Indian cockroach (one of my least favorite things in the whole world, and in my opinion, they should all just drop dead—though there is very little chance of that since they’ve been around for millions of years and seem to be going nowhere!)  OK, I think I’m getting a little too emotional about this.  Ahem!  Collect yourself, Elaine….breathe!  Now where was I?

Oh right, how Blatta was discovered.  OK, so, apparently there was once an elderly man in India who had been suffering with asthma for over 20 years.  One afternoon, he noticed that he felt immeasurably better after drinking his usual afternoon tea.  The oppression of his chest was gone!  He had no choice but to attribute this change to the tea even though it had never helped him before; so, he sent for the servant and said, “Bring me the teapot.”  In the teapot he found a dead roach.  Ew!!!!!  BUT, it turns out these idiots may actually have some use after all!  Within a few days, this man’s asthma was gone! 

He and a friend began gathering up cockroaches (ugh!) and dropped them into boiling water (which is just what they deserve!) strained them off, added wine and created a mother tincture and the dose was a drop, 3 or 4 times a day, and more frequently during attacks for every asthma case they ran across.  Within a short time, there were so many cures, people with asthma began flocking to this guy from all over the country!  (This account is from Anshutz’s New Old and Forgotten Remedies.)

So now, here is what you might want to look for in a Blatta case; confirmatory symptoms, if you will:

1. The etiology could be mold, dampness, cold/damp or, according to Robin Murphy, breathing in dust.
2. There is great accumulation of mucus resulting in inability to breathe and a feeling of suffocation.
3. Worse lying down. The patient must sit up and lean forward, like Kali carb.
4. Shortness of breath.
5. Worse in rainy weather. (Interestingly, cockroaches seek habitats that are in damp areas, low to the ground.)
6. Oppression of the chest, fears suffocation
7. Trouble breathing
8. You will find the patient stooped over, leaning on elbows.
9. Worse at night. (Interestingly, the cockroach is nocturnal, active at night.)
10. Better open air, desire to be fanned.
11. Better cold bath.
12. Chilly, but, suffocated by covers. You might see the Mercury characteristics of wanting to throw off the covers, but then quickly gets cold and wants them back on. Then wants them off again.
13. You might see the same thing with the fan–wants the fan on, then wants it off, then wants it on…..
14. Stomach feels swollen and heavy. Other parts may feel swollen and heavy as well.
15. Exhaustion, chronic fatigue.
16. Worse talking (breathlessness)
17. Sensation that lungs will not expand enough.
18. Dry, hacking, exhausting cough.
19. Raising mucus difficult.
20. Chest feels tight. Oppression of the chest, as if a heavy weight, can’t finish his sentence.
21. Flu-like symptoms, body aches, weakness, exhaustion.
22. Arsenicum was tried but but wasn’t sufficient.
23. Mucus: Pus-like, yellow, tough, viscid.
24. Expectoration ameliorates
25. When they’re not having an attack, they may seem normal.
26. Diagnoses: Asthma, Bronchitis, Tuberculosis, (COVID-19?)

I think you can see in this list a lot of the COVID-19 symptoms:  Trouble breathing, coughing, suffocation, lungs won’t expand, flu-like symptoms, chronic fatigue and so on; you might want to add it to your list of possible COVID remedies, especially if you see some of the above confirmations.

So, here is my only Blatta case, and probably because I don’t get a lot of asthma cases, most of these people are on inhalers and steroids.  But here it is, and I want you to pick out the Blatta symptoms as you find them along the way:

***

It was 2005.  My husband, Rick, was in dialysis.  Sharing the waiting room with him was Mr. K, who was apparently quite talkative!  Rick says to me, “Mr. K told me he has asthma.  I told him you could fix it.”

“What????”  I said.  “Oh my God!!!”  But then I remembered, no one ever took advice to see a homeopath seriously!  So I promptly forgot about it.

The next time we were in dialysis, I was on my way out the door when Mr. K stopped me, saying, “Didn’t your husband tell you about me?  I have asthma!”

“Oh,” I said, a little shaken.  “He might have mentioned that.”

“I suffer terribly from it!” he said.

“Suffer?” I said.  “Oh.  I don’t think he mentioned ‘suffering’.”  I am now resigning myself to taking his case.  I inched closer with my tiny note pad and pen.  “How long have you had it?”

“15 years.”

“Would you happen to know what caused it?”

“Yes, I know exactly what caused it!”  I was now feeling hopeful.  An etiology!!!!!

He continued:  “I was working at Children’s Hospital on Erie Ave. as a security guard.  I had to open and close the gate and let cars and trucks in everyday; there was this powder on the ground, every time you walked, a big plume of it would rise.  I breathed it in every day.”

“You breathed in dust?”

“Yes.”

“Ohhhh!!!!  OK, now tell me, do you have attacks?”

“Oh yes.”

“When do you have them?”

“In the middle of the night.”

“What, around 2 or 3 a.m.?”

“Yes.”

“What are they like?  What do you do?”

“It feels like I’m suffocating.  I sit up and lean forward like this.”

“Oh, with your elbows on your knees?”

“Yes, exactly like that.”

“What else?”

“I cough up mucus.  There’s a lot of mucus in my lungs.”

“What color is it?”

“White.”

“What does it look like?”

“Long and stringy.”

“Does coughing up this mucus help in any way?”

“Yes, it makes me feel better.”

“Anything else?”

“I feel bloated which makes me nauseous.”

“Are there any factors that make this condition worse?  For example, weather….”

“Rainy weather!”

“What helps?”

“Walking in cold air with a strong wind in my face, that’s the best.”

“Does anything else aggravate you?”

“Perfume, smoke, being angry, milk, ice cream…”

____________________________

The next time I saw him, I was back with a small spring water bottle containing 2 pellets of Blatta 6C.  I told him to take it 3 times a day and as-needed during attacks.  And to succuss the bottle 5 times before each dose.  (I demonstrated succussion for him.)

When I saw him again, he was all smiles!  Grinning, even!  “I like your medicine,” he said, “You’ve got good medicine!”  He said he was all better!  Then he said, “Can I give it to my wife?  She’s got asthma too.”  I said yes, but, I never saw Mr. K again after that for some reason.  Maybe his wife’s dialysis days were switched.

What were the confirmatory symptoms in his case?

1. Etiology–dust!  That’s the most important clue!  Everything else was just confirmation.
2. Worse rainy weather.
3. Must sit up and lean forward.
4. Great accumulation of tough mucus.
5. Night time aggravation.
6. Sensation of suffocation.
7. “I feel bloated” is very similar to “stomach feels swollen”.
8. “Better from a cold wind in my face” is very similar to, “better fresh air, better being fanned and better cold bathing”.
9.  Better expectoration.

So, there you have it, people; order your Blatta now!

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Elaine Lewis, DHom, CHom

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

Visit her website: https://ElaineLewis.hpathy.com