A young girl, born in 1996. The first case history took place in 2002. Since birth she has suffered from a bad body odour that seems to come from her legs. She sweats profusely; the sweat smells very unpleasant, yet it does not eat into the fabric of her socks and it does not discolour the laundry. She is afraid of spiders; the fears are worst in the evening. She has an eczema on the palms of her hands.
September 2004: The girl is shy, does not want to answer and only smiles. Sometimes her laughter is inappropriate. The mother reports that her daughter is easily offended, disobedient and hyperactive. She reacts very sensitively to touch and to pain; with every small injury she screams unbearably loudly. She must touch everything. She has no sense of dangerous situations, e.g. when handling knives etc. She fears spiders and flies; the fears usually come in the evening. She cannot fall asleep because of this. She is afraid of being alone in the evening and demands that her grandparents be there to hold her. She says: "There are spiders in the corner." She insists that every corner be inspected; under the bed, at the windows and under the pillow must be checked. The fear is so great that her eyes are wide open and the fear is written on her face. She must then hold her grandmother's hand with one hand and her grandfather's hand with the other. "We are with her in bed from 8 pm to 11 pm – or longer. Then she is exhausted and shortly before midnight she falls asleep. The last time we were here at the clinic she had to go to the toilet. First we had to inspect all three cubicles to be sure there was no spider hiding anywhere. I have to slap her," the grandmother relates. "She often has to go to the toilet to pass a stool. We have the same problems with bathing: we have to check all corners and then she refuses to bathe because there might be a spider or fly in the drain."
The girl sweats heavily on the head during sleep. Despite all the agitation in the evening she sleeps deeply and soundly until morning. She does not dream. She sleeps on her side, whether left or right. She is very thirsty and usually asks for ice-cold drinks. She likes milk, savoury foods and could constantly nibble sweets.
She has an itch on the palms and fingers; the palmar surfaces are covered with pustules. The fingertips are like swollen; the little blisters line up in a row.
Analysis:
The girl shows the typical symptoms of Abelmoschus. In Synthesis 9 there are 68 rubrics and almost all the mental rubrics are covered. There is no rubric in the 'Skin' chapter and only a few rubrics in the 
'Extremities' chapter. The swellings on the hands do not fit entirely. The craving for ice-cold drinks is found in Murphy's Materia Medica.
The following mental rubrics are covered by the remedy:
MIND – FEAR – Spiders, of
MIND – DELUSIONS – Insects, sees
MIND – FEAR – Animals, of
MIND – FEAR – night
MIND – FEAR – Flies, of/only symptom
Follow-up:
Prescribed remedy: Abelmoschus C200; after ten days she improved, but was not completely well. The remedy was repeated two weeks later, but showed no effect.
In the following week: Abelmoschus 1M. She is completely well. All the fears have disappeared. She goes to bed at 8 pm – alone; she no longer needs accompaniment. She is still disobedient; her mother has to say everything ten times before she listens. Her hearing is normal. She is still afraid to go to the toilet at school or in other public places, e.g. when they have to go to the clinic because of the little brother. She is not jealous of her siblings. The eczema is almost completely gone; she only has slight scaling on the fingers. Her feet no longer smell so strongly.
Prescribed remedy: Abelmoschus 1M
Comment:
A deeper understanding of the case is revealed through the sensation of the mallow family (Malvaceae). The mental symptoms correspond with this. The skin symptoms should be compared with those of Gossypium, which belongs to the same family. Cotton pickers develop similar rashes and swellings during the harvest.
Attention should be paid to the girl's symptoms; she gives a slightly foolish impression. Previously she was afraid of spiders, especially when the first sibling was born. The mother is now pregnant again (September 2004) and the symptoms have become stronger again. A conversation with a psychiatrist had no effect.
How does she cope with this situation? She is very childish and demanding. That is normal for children. Her pattern of reaction is instinctive and panicky. But it is not only panic, because in her reaction she becomes very active; she has to exert herself in order to cope with the situation. The activity itself is not difficult: she looks into all corners and under the bed etc. She needs the support of others because she has doubts, because she does not know whether she would cope with the situation on her own. Thus aspects of the acute and the psoric miasm are present and this leads us to the typhoid miasm.
Her fears are expressed through sensitivities. It is not the fear of loss of structure, which is typical for the mineral kingdom. There is not only one problem but several. But it is also not the theme 'me against the other', as we find in the animal kingdom. She sees spiders and flies, yes, but she does not think about the consequences, e.g. about attack or injury. She is simply afraid. Fear is a sensation, a delusion.
On the one hand she must hold on to her grandmother's hand and on the other to her grandfather's hand. This is very important to finally confirm the remedy – we knew that she needed a remedy from the plant kingdom. We also knew that it had to belong to the typhoid miasm.
Here we can recognise her sensation: She wants to hold on to something.
Miasm; Remedy; Sensation
Acute shock, panic; as if detached
Typhoid; Abel; Desire to be held
Autor:
Pavol Tibensky
E-mail: tibus@stonline.sk
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Category: Cases
Keywords: Fear of spiders, eczema, smelly feet
Remedy: Abelmoschus
Original article: interhomeopathy.org
