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This is the case of an eight-year-old girl, a twin. She is quite different from her brother, who is robust, big and strong. G. is small, delicate and fragile. She suffers from asthma and probably allergies. She constantly sighs and struggles for breath. Her mother also gives a deep sigh as she describes her daughter. She reports the first attack of breathlessness which occurred after her father had laid her in the grass when she was very small.
She fell down – it was a minor incident, but she went limp, could not be roused, and her breathing was shallow. She gasped for air and was icy cold. It looked as if she had been stung by a bee, but there was no anaphylaxis. The doctors considered possible heart failure and detected a slight heart murmur. The parents “held their breath all the time”, fearing she might die. Heart medication was prescribed.
Examination of the girl revealed a small, almost translucent child who hardly moved; she seemed almost as though you could pass your hands through her. She had already been admitted to hospital three times after minor incidents, each time with shallow breathing and listlessness. Her mother noticed that each time it happened suddenly and unexpectedly: “I just turn my head, and she’s gone – she can be gone for up to 15 minutes.”
However she recovers quickly. She plays and then suddenly cannot breathe, as if she were choking. She collapses and falls to the floor as if she suddenly faints. She does not respond to anything, does not make a fuss and does not burst into tears, although she is sensitive. She does not scream like her much bigger brother.
"How was the pregnancy?"
G's mother gave a deep sigh. "I became pregnant out of the blue. We had only been together three weeks. I nearly died when I found out I was pregnant – it was a real shock. I just wanted to run away. I didn’t know whether to tell the father or not, we barely knew each other. I could hardly breathe. It upset all the plans I had made for my life. Our love was like a soap bubble. I wanted to escape my life as quickly as possible.
I fled to Costa Rica, but of course you cannot escape your life. I had so many plans, such high ideals. It would have been a huge shock for my mother. I thought of all the things I would have to give up. I was so afraid to tell her, it took my breath away. I felt blocked and tormented. I was hoping for a miscarriage and developed severe depression. I withdrew, as I always do when depressed. I felt so stupid – how could this have happened to me? How could I now achieve my goals, realise my ideas?
The intense anguish almost took my breath away. I developed sleep disturbances and dreamed a lot: I dreamed of standing high up on a frail scaffold where everything could collapse. I dreamed of losing my boyfriend if I told him I was pregnant. The next shock was the discovery that I was expecting twins!!! I collapsed and needed oxygen. It was as if everything pressed in on me, inward, heavy. Now I had to tell people, but how could I tell my mother?
"Why was it so hard to tell your mother?"
"She had become unexpectedly pregnant with me, and that had changed her whole life plan. I never knew my father. But she overcame her initial shock and always supported me. My partner was shocked, but he decided, albeit reluctantly, to stay with me and the children. Our daughter and her illness keeps us all together.
My mother died shortly before the twins were born; that was an unimaginable grief for me. She was still young and in good health, there was no warning. I was so devastated I could not breathe. She was the most important person in my life. A dreadful sadness permeates everything, even the beautiful moments with the children. When she was cremated I could hardly breathe. It was as if the walls were collapsing. I still see her glide into the flames. I felt a weight pulling me down, as if I myself had pressed the button and pushed her into the fire. I used to be very afraid of being pushed under water – "You cannot breathe, it is like a heavy weight."'
"How was the delivery?"
"I was devastated, sad over the loss of my mother, barely alive. I was certainly not in a good state to give birth to twins. My son was born healthy, and I was relieved that it was over. But I had to do it again! G. did not come for a long time; it felt so painful, as if I were being pricked with needles. I kept thinking of my mother and seeing her before me as she slid into the fire. I no longer had the strength to push G. out. The contractions stopped and I fainted. She was born tiny and blue and had to be resuscitated. We all held our breath." |
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Rubrics:
Collapse, cyanosis in infants, weakness, lack of response, gasping for air – lying improves, sighing, laboured breathing, heart complaints. Pregnancy: complaints due to the death of a parent. Abandonment. Sadness, impaired breathing. Dreams of fire, delusion: sees fire. Dreams of scaffolds. Pain: stabbing, shooting, pressing. Delusion: suffocating. Delivery: cyanosis in infants. Blue babies. Fainting from pain.
Prescription: Laurocerasus 1M
The sensation of the Rosaceae family is: pressure, pressing, being squeezed. The passive reaction to this situation is collapse. Laurocerasus belongs to the Lepra miasm of the Rosaceae family. Phatak writes: "prolonged fainting. Sequelae of shock. Asphyxia neonatorum."
A case is sometimes like a microcosm of a much larger picture. The favourite toy of this girl was Russian dolls – one doll inside another, like her, her mother and her grandmother.
Follow-up
After two months: no further emergencies.
Over the next four years G. made considerable progress. There were no more fainting attacks, and she no longer needed hospital treatment. She plays well, has started to eat more, is gaining weight and is engaging with the world (according to her mother). Her mother says that she has now truly settled into her body.
She shows no signs of asthma any more, although this autumn/winter she had bronchitis twice and nearly developed pneumonia. She responded very well to Laurocerasus 1M. She is now a happy, healthy little girl.
At school she can "hold her own", as her mother says, and can cope with the bumps and bruises of everyday life. Over four years she received four doses of Laurocerasus 1M.
Her mother also comes here for treatment and likewise received Laurocerasus – with good success. |
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Presented at the WISH Congress in Germany, October 2012.
This article was published on www.interhomeopathy.org.
Photo: Shutterstock.com
Laurocerasus © MaurizioR75
Young girl spreading hands with joy and inspiration facing the sun © Petar Paunchev
Category: Cases
Keywords: cyanosis, fainting attacks, shortness of breath, loss of a partner, weakness
Remedy: Laurocerasus
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