Four main remedies for hay fever, outlined, with cases
Wyethia, Sabadilla, Euphrasia and Histaminum muriaticum from the article Homeopathy and Hay Fever by Ulrich Welte
Wyethia
Wyethia helenoides, Wyethia angustifolia. Grey mule's ear. Asteraceae, Heliantheae. Stage 7, Scholten plant code 666.44.07
Grows on the US West Coast, reaches about 50 cm in height.
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They want to do something particularly well and fail because of their own standards. They take on tasks that are too difficult for them but cannot ask for support. |
Clinical: Excellent for hay fever with itching on the palate. Sinusitis with itchy eustachian catarrh. Coeliac disease.
Themes: Wyethia shares the general characteristics of the Asteraceae: headstrong, self-determined, rejection of medical intervention, tendency to sudden high fevers above 39 °C, etc. It also has the traits of the subfamily Heliantheae (ambro, arn, echi, heli-a, parth, sieg), who need to represent something and appear dominant and assertive, often overstepping others' boundaries and acting invasively. This invasive trait is somewhat tempered in Wyethia by the cooperative Stage 7, but it is still evident in Case 1.
WP[1] 666.44.07: They want to stay together with their friends. This, however, can conflict with their own path. They fear that by being too independent they would become something special; then they would have to stand up for themselves and would no longer be accepted. Mostly friendly and gentle people, they seem open but are very reserved and closed. They hide their vulnerability. They are afraid of no longer belonging if they behave differently or change their personality too much. For this reason they tend to conform and may under certain circumstances deny their true personality.
Case 1: A robust, intelligent rogue with hay fever. As the firstborn of a patriarch, he used to kick his younger siblings as a boy when something displeased him. As a small child he often had otitis media with high fever. He was always very aggressive then and lashed out. He repeatedly dreamed of tight labyrinths and had a fear of heights. His first writing sample at the age of 13 he composed defiantly in Latin. It deals with the labyrinth that the architect Daedalus built for the monster Minotaur as a prison. Minotaur was the son of King Minos, whose wife gave birth to this monster because of her arrogance. A later writing sample he produced at 19 deals with Hesse's Steppenwolf (Lanthanide themes 666). If someone tries to give him orders, he resists fully (Phase 4, Subphase 4). He reads a lot and enjoys it. Already at 11 he read Focus and other political magazines (Gold series). Wyethia has helped him immediately for 14 years whenever he has hay fever that itches on the palate. His former arrogance, which those around him complained about, improved greatly with Platinum 1000. But for hay fever Wyethia alone is repeatedly sovereign. Even today Wye D6 helps him promptly with upper respiratory infections and sinusitis. He is now a real manly figure, an imposing presence, tall, strong and assertive. His colour has been consistently 17B for many years.
Sometimes she could just throw the children against the wall. She is a resolute, sturdy and well-built mother of two difficult children, vaguely resembling Angela Merkel. The son is autistic, physically a well-built young man from an early age, very strong but hardly manageable intellectually; the daughter is his mirror image in stubbornness, also strong, well-built and headstrong. This inevitably leads to friction. The son bellows and throws his sister into a corner, who, however, knows how to defend herself and often provokes him into a fight. The mother manages the situation surprisingly well; she has them under control, only "sometimes I have to hold myself back so that I do not become violent." Once, out of anger at the defiant daughter, she slammed a chair down so hard that it broke into pieces. When there is trouble at home with the children, she repeatedly says that she would prefer to shake them or even throw them against the wall. She would also like to grab and shake the father, who drinks heavily. Her whole maternal family was a single problem of dominance over generations; everyone wanted to call the shots, nobody gave in. Worst of all is that others insult her because of the children; she will not tolerate that. With Rhus-t she reacts more calmly to the accusations of others. It relaxes her greatly, and she has happily taken it for years. Wyethia is, however, the only remedy that always helps her promptly with hay fever and febrile infections. When the palate begins to itch and the itch then spreads to the ears and throat, she takes Wye D6 and feels the soothing effect as the globules dissolve on the tongue. Spastic breathing also normalises with it. She once tried Wye 1000 experimentally, but it took 30 minutes for the effect to start. She likes 17B and 17C.
[1] Wonderful Plants, Jan Scholten, Narayana Verlag 2015, page 781
Sabadilla
Sabadilla, Schoenocaulon officinale. Louse seed. Liliales, Melanthiaceae. Scholten plant code 633.65.13
Other Melanthiaceae: veratrum, helonias, trillium pendulum, xerophyllum
Theme WP: A strange combination of adulthood and childish behaviour.
They give the impression of being very competent and seeming to meet all demands. Yet they give their power to a spiritual leader. They want to be kept as good, great and pure and nevertheless fear being unreliable and repulsive. They may obsess unduly in a spiritual direction, far longer than is good for them. They fear being bad or guilty if they leave the group. And even if they do leave, they keep brooding over the past. Giving something up only halfway is Stage 13.
Young women in sects. Complaints due to haste.
Cases from Jan Scholten
1. Unmarried and pregnant (illicit intercourse made visible to all by the large belly) – expelled from the spiritual group
2. Hard, tenacious type, the best pupil of a medicine man; he was brought down by a woman’s story and lost his spiritual path; fear of complete surrender: nephritis, proteinuria, high fever.
Two own cases, both children held their head tilted to the right, face avoiding the gaze, turning the head to the right and looking up to the left counter-directionally; as if questioning, skeptical, having gone through something heavy; both had developed, delicate faces:
1. Intermittent febrile attacks with erythema nodosum: A girl, for 5 months without thirst during febrile attacks (sabad), periodic every 7 days (sabad), up to 40 °C. Brief improvement after appendectomy, then relapse. Feels as if the arm does not belong to her (sabad) during fever. Geographic tongue, erythema nodosum in front of both knees.
Clear, pale blue eyes. Self-confident, rather full of herself, but hides insecurity behind her toy elephant. She watches the correction of a copying mistake in the index card and criticises. Two days after Sabad almost black stool (otherwise never), within a few days the erythema disappeared, geographic tongue healed from back to front. After 5 weeks everything was fine; she had become more daring, grabbed my repertory, had learned to swim, no longer afraid of deep water (sabad); she got new teeth and brought a rose quartz as a gift and a card with "Thank you, K.", the "Thank you" half crossed out, as if she wanted to take it back halfway (Stage 13). Colour 11C.
2. Boy with anxieties, of being abandoned or left alone (his father dislikes family closeness, repeated separations). Fear of holding his head under water. Cannot look at injuries on his own body. He is sensitive with a protective shell, can fight hard. Alert, open, intelligent, puts on airs, balks, must present something special, wants to be in the centre. Rather self-assured, but this can collapse quickly. Dream: parents dead; tiger eats him; robbers and police.
He had often had high fevers. Clubbed toenails (grow in layers, curved).
After Sabadilla: copes better with a "no", is better led with a firm hand, even accepts a rebuke. Same effect when the remedy is repeated. No more anxieties. Colour 11C
Euphrasia
Euphrasia, eyebright, Orobanchaceae, Stage 7. Code 665.57.07
Clinical: Eye disorders of all kinds, from conjunctivitis through keratitis to cataract, with photophobia; allergies, hay fever; irritative eye states with caustic discharge, gritty sensation in the eye, but mild watery nasal discharge (opposite of all-c); frequent yawning outdoors; eye complaints with prostatitis; with amenorrhoea. Reiter's syndrome, ankylosing spondylitis, especially with eye involvement.
> outdoors, < wind, < light, < sunlight
Theme WP: They believe they must help their family members under all circumstances. They do this gladly and strive to make things comfortable for everyone. They want to solve all family problems. They would prefer to remove the problems from the world because they fear others might discover the difficulties. They are afraid others will find out they have not helped their family and will blame them. They must care for the family, even if others behave dictatorially, constantly complain and never thank them for the help. Would like to say directly what they want rather than being nice and eloquent and beating around the bush.
Noblesse oblige
In Case 1 Euphrasia was given only for conjunctivitis with burning tears, but in this case it acted more deeply. Two hours after taking D6 the patient became restless. After 6 weeks she was seen again and appeared changed, friendlier and more relaxed. The connection with the remedy was not understood, however. People thought it had only fixed her eyes. After three years the eyes watered again, and Euphr D6 was given again. After a month her chronic headaches were also gone. In the first days after the remedy she had become depressed and felt she was no good. Unfortunately the connection was still not understood. Only when Scholten formulated the theme of the Scrophulariaceae did the concordance become apparent. These plants are about loyalty to the family or one's own group in the sense that dirty things must not be exposed. Otherwise one would be a defamer of the nest. This patient had once told that she came from a noble family and was constantly reproached by her mother for having gone downhill and not keeping up the required form. The husband also did not meet the required standard. The mother herself was far from a shining example, however. She smoked and drank heavily. In protest against this hypocrisy the patient refused the "von" in her name.
In another case of Euphrasia the remedy helped an elderly lady with a foreign body sensation in the eye, which is not surprising as she too was of old nobility, if only by name, and likewise a "von".
The stench of 40 cats is hard to hide
In Case 2 Euphrasia cured an ankylosing spondylitis (HLA-B27 positive). Here a concomitant severe uveitis with eye pain in dusk and candlelight (euphr1) led to the remedy. In this case the onset of illness was temporally linked to a tenant the patient, as a landlord, could not get rid of although she was ruining the lovingly renovated flat he particularly cared for by keeping an ever-growing number of cats. He had to watch his house, in which he also lived, fall into disrepair and could do nothing about it. Neighbours complained about the dirt and smell. The tenant made promises but nothing happened. The number of cats grew over years to about 40, all roaming the neighbourhood at night. Initially, in his forbearance, he tried to play the matter down and settle amicably, but it did not help. She was an official in an animal welfare association and knew all the tricks. In him, by nature mild, a powerless anger slowly built up, "like a volcano that could erupt." After the remedy he suddenly saw the matter very differently and began to defend himself legally. His physical sight returned and the back pain stopped. An eviction suit ultimately achieved the desired external result. All inflammatory parameters returned to normal values, though the genetically relevant HLA value remained positive as expected. Remarkable was Euphrasia's rapid effect. Already on leaving the practice he noticed an energetic tingling everywhere, and when he took the remedy in LM potency he felt like in a fountain of youth, energy like at twenty. After three years he obtained a responsible position he had not previously dared to envisage.
Histaminum
Histaminum muriaticum. Histamine.
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Allergic skin rashes with urticaria and itching; asthma; chronic nausea; excited impatience while waiting in a queue, could explode or fly off the handle; runs away excitedly when she has to wait; describes her complaints drastically or exaggerates them and wants to be pitied. |
The high nitrogen content of the imidazole ring and the amino group gives us the clue to a characteristic of histamine: impatient and tense to the point of bursting, drastic or exaggerated presentation of complaints, could fly off the handle.
Clinically in allergies; itching; urticaria; oedemas; bee sting; arrhythmia; salpingitis and leucorrhoea, the discharge smells like burnt blood; sleep disturbances.
Histamine is a nitrogenous hormone released in increased amounts during allergic reactions. The nettle's stinging cells also contain histamine. It triggers inflammation, itching and increased vigilance. Histamine is also involved in regulating gastric juices, controlling the sleep–wake rhythm and appetite control. It releases adrenaline (awakening effect), constricts larger and dilates smaller arteries and makes them more permeable (urticaria, skin redness, hypertension, palpitations, extrasystoles, arteritis) and constricts the bronchi (asthma, breathlessness). Gastric and pancreatic secretion and gastric motility are stimulated (nausea, vomiting, gastritis).
With these indications (especially allergic skin rashes with urticaria and itching, also in asthma and chronic nausea) Histaminum muriaticum can be used when the patient is simultaneously impatient and demands attention with their complaints. The histamine-specific impatience shows itself in that they cannot, for example, wait in a queue. A histamine patient stood at a bus stop for a few minutes but became so impatient that she could hardly bear it and took the wrong bus without noticing, simply because it came earlier than hers. She did not even look at the bus number; the annoying waiting just had to end.
Another patient said he stood in line at the ticket office and became so impatient that he could have flown off the handle; just before it was his turn he ran away, missed the tram and walked home. The muriaticum component also contributes to the specific picture (wants to be cared for, complains pitifully about his complaints).
Modalities: > brisk walking, < heat
Clinical: allergic reactions, hay fever, angioedema, urticaria, itching. Fidgety restlessness, paces back and forth, impatient, cannot wait. Goes mad if forced to queue, paces up and down, starts quarrels or runs away.
DD Apis, carb-ac
Cases: Girl 16 yrs, hay fever. She follows her mother, wants to be a journalist. Hist-m helped promptly and reliably in a single dose for several years with hay fever until it disappeared completely. She is now 25 and about to take her German studies exams. For anxiety with sweating attacks during her studies stront-c helped.
Boy 12 yrs, hay fever, mother problem (mur)
Woman, 60 yrs. fidgety, overexcited, cannot wait, itchy rash, can only fall asleep at about 2 am (hist). Everything << since news of a son's illness.
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