Out of breath and fear of falling after an accident

A. is a 70 year nice old man, slightly overweight, full of fun and frolic in spite of his age. His face is puffy and bluish. He suffers from chronic bronchitis, feels suffocated, and senses every little lack of oxygen in a room. In the morning, he feels as if he had drunk 2 litres of wine. He is easily out of breath, worse from ascending. His legs feel heavy. He is better in the afternoon.

All his problems started 8 months ago, after he fell from a ladder from a 2.5 m height. Initially, he took it smoothly and just checked to see if he had broken anything; he sat on a bench in his garden and had a beer. Since then, however, he is afraid of falling. He clings to the railing at the top of his staircase at home and goes down only with the help of the banister. He has stopped cycling because he imagines he could have a fall.

This is quite unusual for him because he was the daring type, never afraid of such things. He was a successful businessman at the head of a large family business, which he sold when he was getting old. He is now enjoying his pension. He likes to drink beer; up to 4 bottles in the evening. He snores heavily, so his wife has moved to another room. His blood pressure is high.

He could not cope with the antihypertensive treatment, which gave him vertigo. He dislikes doctors and usually takes care of his own health. He drinks mistletoe tea, which helps to keep his blood pressure normal. I counsel him to cut down his alcohol consumption, as I suspect sleep apnoea.

Analysis:

The whole story of “never well since a fall” with consecutive fears, his bluish appearance, and his snoring make me first think of Opium, with a second thought for the Carbons and Asteraceae. To confirm, I ask him about pain: “I’m completely insensitive to pain. I think they could cut open my belly without any anesthetic, but I can’t stand using varifocals, they give me intense headaches.”

He is color-blind but chooses blue 15D and yellow 1C without any difficulty.

This is enough confirmation for Opium (they like 2C, quite close to 1C).

Prescription: Opium 1M, 2 doses in 2 days.

He sleeps better and snores much less from the very first night. His wife says that he looks so different, so much better. After a few days, the puffy, bluish face, as well as his drunken feeling in the morning are gone. He would like to continue to take the remedy, so he uses it twice a week.

After 3 months, he continues to improve and is back to his old self again. His legs do not feel heavy, the snoring and the bronchitis have stopped, and he can go downstairs without using the railing. After 6 months, he still takes Opium 1M and feels well. He has cut down his alcohol consumption. He says that he is happy that his story is getting published!

Photo: Ulrich Welte