Homeopathy Papers

Tidbits 89: COVID Case Ends In Kidney Failure?

Written by Elaine Lewis

Is “Long COVID” really just another name for side-effects of drugs?

I was shocked to see what I thought was a cured case of COVID 19 lapse into kidney failure!  What, pray tell, is this, I wondered!  The mother brought me her 13 year old son who had tested positive, and the case itself was unusual enough because the remedy was something nobody would have guessed; in fact, the case actually needed 2 remedies.  I’ll let the mother (“Carmelita Caliente”) take it from here:

***

Hi Elaine,

Hi, Carmelita!

Thank you for considering taking my son’s case.

Of course!

He is 13 years old and tested positive for covid.

He hasn’t taken the covid vaccination.

Good!

Please find attached the acute case questionnaire.

It is already Saturday here, and this is day-4 since the symptoms showed up.

His chief complaints now are:

– a fever of 104°F that will be brought down only after 1.5 hours of giving Ibuprofen.

Suppressing a fever, Carmelita, not such a great idea.

– a cough that sounds deep from chest.  He holds his chest while coughing. very little to no expectoration.

– steam inhalation brings out a little phlegm, which is white in color.

– feels like phlegm is stuck in throat.

– throat feels very dry and sometimes he complains of burning in throat.

– pain when swallowing food or even with empty swallowing.

– pain in the throat pit.

– the coughing causes a headache.

– he is anxious that he will miss school on Monday.

– he is constipated from Day-1 of showing the symptoms.

– he wants to be covered up, though the body is dry/hot.

– he is thirsty for warm water and drinks in a single gulp.

 Questionnaire

Name:  “Carmine”

Age: 13

Male or Female: M

Weight: 57 kg

Height: 152 cm

Date: 25-FEB-2022

Email Address: [email protected]

  1. Describe the complaint.

Very high fever.  Sore throat.  Cough with much difficulty to expectorate.  Cough is sounding deep from chest.  Occasionaly when expectorating, it is white phlegm.

Fever started on 22-FEB-2022.  There is headache across the forehead when the temperature rises.  The fever spikes to 104 – 105 °F and stays there for 2-3 hours.

There is dizziness when the temperature rises above 103 °F.

The whole body becomes weak when the temperature rises.

Ibuprofen is being given when the temperature touches 103°F.

  1. Etiology–

Tested covid positive

  1. Sensation–

Throat pain even when empty swallowing.

  1. Appearance–

Face is flushed. Eyes are droopy.

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

fever affecting the whole body.

  1. Modalities–

warm towel over the body makes feel better. warm drinks and warm food is better,

  1. Concomitants (symptoms that accompany the complaint)

burning sensation in throat.

throat is very dry.

thirst for warm liquids.

feels hungry when the temperature is close to normal.

  1. Discharges–.

phlegm is yellow-colored in the morning and white-colored during the rest of the day. very difficult to expectorate. feels like phlegm is stuck in throat.

  1. Generals:

feels chilly at one time and feels heat all over the body later. this could be because ibuprofen is beng given when the temperature rises above 102 °F. very tired.

  1. The mentals:

He is sad that he might miss school from Monday onwards (it was holiday here for last 2 weeks and on Monday the Spring semester is starting).

he is anxious that it will become difficult to cover up the missing lessons.

  1. What have you been saying?

dont want the lights to be on .

always wants the covers on.

  1. What are you doing?

tossing and turning in bed till he falls asleep.

  1. Describe your thirst and appetite–

(no answer)

  1. Fever? Can you describe it?

(no answer)

  1. Sweating?

head sweats a lot normally, but now head and whole body is dry and very hot.

  1. Odors?

no

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

Everyday the fever starts after 3:00 PM and goes away at 8:00 AM the next day, only to return again at 3:00 PM.

  1. Is there a diagnosis?

covid positive.

  1. Describe your energy–

very low energy from 3 PM till 10 AM.

  1. What does your tongue look like?

white coated

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

The cough is coming right from the chest.  Very loud , he has to hold the chest when he coughs.

Very little expectoration, though the cough sounds like chest is full of phlegm.

The little expectoration that usually happens in the morning is of whitish-yellow color.

It feels like the cough is stuck in the throat.

  1. If you haven’t already said if you’re hotter or colder than usual…

Much hotter than usual.

__________________

OK, now, I know there are some people out there who do not like it when us folks here at Hpathy.com blurt out the remedy without so much as a moment’s notice!  They want to be able to solve the case for themselves!  So, I say to those people, hurry up and find the remedy before the Jeopardy Theme ends:

Alright, I hope everybody’s ready.  And I can hear you all now:  “Well, Elaine, obviously the remedy is Antimonium tart!  The questionnaire is very clear that the patient has a loose cough but can’t expectorate, so, this case is a no-brainer!  Too easy!”  To which I reply: Oh really!

You know, Robin Murphy always used to say, “Don’t go against the modalities!”  Well, what are the modalities here?  Better heat, better hot drinks, better covers.  And what about Antimonium tart?  Are they better heat?  Nooooooo!!!!!!  They are worse heat!  Better cold.  Better cold drinks, better cold air.  What else about Antimonium tart?  They’re sweaty, especially their face.  Cold and sweaty and pale, almost blue.  Our patient is dry, hot and flushed.  So, even though it looks like a perfect Antimonium tart case?  I think we have to vote No on that.

Now, what does the client say is the most strange, rare and peculiar part of the case?  She says the fever starts every day at a certain time and stops at a certain time, like clockwork, and I have come to know this to be a trait of ARNICA!  Yes, Arnica!

In Murphy’s Repertory, if you go to the “Time” chapter, scroll down to “Periodicity”.  Arnica is there as a 2.  Personally, I think it should be raised to a 3.

There’s something else that suggests Arnica.  The patient is restless in bed until he falls asleep at night.  I said, “Carmelita, is Carmine restless in bed at night because he can’t get comfortable?”  She didn’t know; but, that’s Arnica.  “Bed feels too hard”.

On February 26th, I told Carmelita to give Arnica 200C.

***

February 26th:

Many thanks Elaine.

It is Saturday morning here and my son slept through last night without the fever spiking (his temperature was less than 99°F).

But, I am afraid it is due to Ibuprofen.

– Should I wait for the fever to relapse to give Arnica 200C ?

Yes, and then stop giving Ibuprofen!

 

Hi Elaine,

Carmine was given Arnica 200C when the fever reached 102 F. and there is no fever after that.  It is 11:30 PM here now and his current issue is the cough.

What symptoms did Arnica get rid of?

The below symptoms are gone:

Fever

Headache

Joint pain

Constipation

Hunger & thirst is back to normal

Stomach pain

Vomiting

Geez, I didn’t even know about that last one.

What remains is the cough.

Could you please suggest a remedy?  He is not taking any medicine at the moment.

 

March 1, 2022

Does he still have a cough right now?  If so, you can give Ferrum phos. 6X every 15 minutes for 2 hours (or less, if the cough stops) and see if it will work.  Let me know.

 

March 3rd

Hi Elaine ,

Ferrum Phos looks like it’s working for Carmine.  Cough frequency and intensity has reduced considerably.

I am giving Ferrum Phos 6x every 4 hours.  Gave 6 doses so far from yesterday till now.

So, is he all better now?

Yes, mostly fine.  He just had only 2-3 bouts of cough today.  So I would say he is recovering well.  Should we continue Ferrum Phos till the cough fully goes away?

Yes, I think giving Ferrum phos 6X four times a day is good idea.

 

March 4th

Hi Elaine,

Carmine coughed only once today, in the morning.  No more coughing after that.  I asked him about the bed feeling too hard during the sickness, but he says he cannot recollect that now.  I am tapering down Ferrum Phos to twice daily tomorrow.  Then maybe give once more on Sunday and stop.  He is looking forward to going to school again on Monday.

OK, but, go back to 4 times a day if the cough comes back.

 

An Unexpected Turn Of Events

 

March 5th

Hi Elaine,

Carmine has a new problem.

His urine is very, very frothy.  Yellow to light brown in color.  He says it started on Thursday.  He has to flush the toilet twice to get all the froth to go down.  Also, his feet (right leg) is swollen, especially the ankle.  There is pain in the ankle when he walks after sitting or lying down.  This ankle pain is there for 2 days now.  Also, he has pain in his knees, but that is a long standing problem.  Not sure if all the Ibuprofen (given 8 times) prescribed by the Peadiatrician is creating any issue.  She had mentioned that Paracetamol (Tylenol) is hard on liver, so she prefers to give Ibuprofen as it leaves the system via the kidneys.

Could you please help?  He says he is feeling tired.  Prefers to lie down, which he usually never does during the day.

 

Carmelita, frothy urine is a sign of protein in the urine, which is an indication of “nephrotic syndrome”.  Here’s what I found on this by googling:

______________

Overview

Nephrotic syndrome is a kidney disorder that causes your body to pass too much protein in your urine.

Nephrotic syndrome is usually caused by damage to the clusters of small blood vessels in your kidneys that filter waste and excess water from your blood. The condition causes swelling, particularly in your feet and ankles, and increases the risk of other health problems.

_______________

Ibuprofen causes nephrotic syndrome as one of its many side effects.  You can read about it by going to www.drugs.com and doing a search for “Ibuprofen side-effects”. 

Normally I would want to give Apis for a presentation like this; but, when it seems apparent that Ibuprofen is the cause, I would like you to make a 6C remedy out of Ibuprofen.  Please see my article “How To Make Your Own Remedy”, for directions; click below:

How To Make Your Own Remedy

 

Give a dose just once, wait 24 hours, and let me know what happened.

 

March 6th

Thanks Elaine.

One dose of potentized Ibuprofen 6C was given yesterday night and today there was no froth in the urine… not at all… urine color slowly changed from yellow to almost clear now.  It is not 24 hours yet.  The swelling in the ankle is reduced by half of what it was yesterday.

OMG!  Amazing!!!!!  OK, if the case stalls or starts to relapse, succuss the bottle 5 times and repeat the remedy.  I wasn’t sure if one dose of 6C would be enough.  What about his tiredness, wanting to lie down all the time?  Is that better as well?  And his cough, how is that?

If the remedy worked, Carmelita, you know what that means.  It means Ibuprofen is responsible for this whole thing!  In fact, you know what?  You should call his pediatrician and say, “My son now has frothy urine and swollen ankles.”  I want to hear if she says, “Oh, it sounds like ‘Long COVID’, you should take him to a nephrologist.”  Because I am now beginning to wonder if what they’re calling “Long COVID” is really just side effects of fever-suppressing drugs!

 

March 7th

Hi Elaine,

Carmine doesn’t have a cough now.  The tired feeling is there.  Like sleep wasn’t enough.  Last night he slept for 8 hours.  The urine in the morning is yellowish.  During the day, after drinking water, it is clear.  No froth now.  Today morning he said the pain in the ankles, on a scale of 1-10, is a 4.  But swelling seems to be less than yesterday.  I had to send him to school today as he already missed 1 week of school.

Maybe we should give Ibuprofen 6C 3 times a day for the tiredness, which doesn’t seem to be budging.

 

March 8th

Hi Elaine,

Today Carmine didn’t have pain in the ankles, not at all.  No cough.  The tiredness is still there though.  The swelling of the ankle is not completely gone; but no pains.  Urine remains normal and clear.

How many doses of the remedy have we had so far?

Carmine has taken 4 doses of Ibuprofen 6C so far.

The swelling has gone down to  2/10, assuming we started the remedy at 10/10.  The Paediatrician sees this as a small swelling, because she didn’t see how bad it was when it started.

Yesterday (Tuesday) he didn’t have school and I observed that he was not lying down during the day, so, the energy levels are coming back.  He is back to school today.

I think he should continue with twice a day until he feels strikingly better, then he can go to once a day.

 

March 13th

Hi Elaine,

Carmine is all good now.

The swelling, pain, tiredness – all gone.

The prepared med was reduced to 1 time daily on Friday and Saturday.

Thanks again for your support.

Carmelita, we really dodged a bullet here!  Think about it: Kidney Failure, of all things?  They’d have called it “Long COVID” for sure and heaven only knows what would have happened to Carmine, how his life would have changed!  Meanwhile, it was “just” Ibuprofen, but, look at all the damage it did, and how does one undo it?  That is the question!  It’s like Robin Murphy always said, “We have to learn to become ‘antidoters’!”  This case is a perfect example of that!

***

Read my article linked to above, “How To Make Your Own Remedy”, it could save your life.

_______________________________

Elaine Lewis, DHom, CHom

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

Visit her website: https://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

5 Comments

  • Thanks again Elaine for another instructional case. If the allopaths had gotten hold of this, they would have made a mess, instead of a simple cure, as you managed. This is also a reminder to homeopaths to consider tautopathy when the situation warrants it.

  • I know, Alan. It seems like he would have been a candidate for dialysis, which is a very debilitating experience that frequently ends in fainting from low blood pressure. And they would surely have called it “Long COVID”.

  • Also, I find
    ‘People who take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (other than aspirin) such as ibuprofen may have a higher risk of having a heart attack or a stroke than people who do not take these medications. These events may happen without warning and may cause death….’

  • Amazing! Loved it. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge Elaine. I truly appreciate all your articles!

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