Case:
K., 10-year-old child
Presenting complaint: ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)
Medications: Mediknet, which does improve his concentration at school but further worsens his sleep problems. He tried Concerta, which he did not tolerate; he had stomach pains, felt ill and developed a fever. He only took it for one day.
K.’s medical history: An eczema he suffered from as a baby was suppressed with steroid cream. He had frequent respiratory infections treated with antibiotics. He has had asthma since the age of 4, which occurs whenever the weather changes. Uses an inhaler. Hay fever in summer. Has had several bone fractures.
Pregnancy: His mother was ill throughout pregnancy with all three children. K. was born 3 weeks early; labour was induced. He could not breathe and went blue; his lungs were not fully developed. He crawled at 11 months and was climbing before he could walk. He walked at 14 months. Appetite: as a toddler he only ate things that tasted of banana. He likes spicy food and loves fizzy drinks, milk and pizza. He loathes Shepherd’s pie [1] and jacket potatoes.
Consultation: K. is a small wiry boy, dressed in yellow and black. He cannot keep still for a second. He slides along the floor on his bottom and arms, and bounces a ball between his legs. His mother says he has very good upper-body coordination. His mother says, “If you want to know where K. is, look up. He is always climbing. He is very strong, and has a lot of upper-body strength. He climbs lamp posts, garages and walls. He knows no fear.”
Behaviour: His mother says, “He goes up the wall (an expression used to describe hyperactivity). He wakes up, and sometimes it’s one of those days when he behaves like a little monster. He annoys people.”
He has perfected the art of sarcasm, makes witty, sarcastic remarks and gives cheeky replies. He is not shy at all and gives saucy answers: “I’m just clever. I know more than my mum, and I do more sport.”
He contradicts his mother and tells her to shut up. When his mother, for example, says he worries about her, he says, “I don’t worry about my mum, she doesn’t look after me.” (Spontaneous denial). One of his worries is that his mother could drown. At Legoland he fears the water could flood everything. If a bath is run while he is already in bed, he has to get up to check it isn’t overflowing. He gets up at night to empty the bowl placed under a dripping leak.
Concentration: He has a poor memory, except for things that interest him. He can tell you everything about the Great Fire of London. He can concentrate when drawing. K. draws me a picture of a hornet during the consultation. He is argumentative. His mother says: “He does what I tell him, but he argues first.”
He is very affectionate towards his mother and often tells her he loves her very much, but he behaves terribly towards his younger sister. Full of sibling rivalry, he shoves her aside and shows competitive behaviour over trivial things like “who brushes their teeth first”. They fight with each other and he hits her. He says: “I don’t have ADHD, I have ADHS, S stands for sister, and my sister is stupid.”
Sleep: He has difficulty falling asleep. He never sleeps in his bed; he sleeps on the floor or on top of a wardrobe.
Sport: He likes football, but does not want to play on a football team because he doesn’t like structure.
Nightmares: He has nightmares every night: “I went into a building with two boys. A zombie had babies. A boy went into the toilet and was killed. The zombie sat there on a chair. Dead quiet.”
He has a spider called Cyril as a pet – in the shed. He is mad about Spiderman. “I want to unleash what’s in there. I want to spin a web and hang you in a tree.”
Remedy: Aranea ixobola C30 – given daily for one month.
Analysis:
Spiders
Restless, fidgety, constantly moving, bouncing a ball.
He climbs the walls. He slides along the floor on his bottom and arms like a spider!
Climbing: “If you want to know where he is, look up.”
Cheeky, oppositional, always one step ahead (“I’m clever, I know more than Mum”).
Funny, sarcastic, makes fun of others: “He is a little monster who annoys people.”
Likes bananas and has a craving for spicy foods.
He is crazy about ‘Spiderman’ and has a spider as a pet. “I want to spin a web and hang you in a tree.”
The nightmare of a zombie, an undead creature who kills someone in the toilet, is the nightmarish version of some people’s phobia when they find a spider in the bathroom, and reflects the fact that in real life spider bites often occur when one has to go to the toilet outdoors.
But which spider?
Tarantula is the best-known spider – the key spider remedy – but in this case we do not find the characteristic inclination to music, dance and rhythm, nor the clever destructiveness. Tarantula is a ground-dwelling spider, but he jumps and throws himself down. This case indicates a spider that spins a web that hangs higher above the ground.
He has many typical ADHD symptoms, such as fidgeting, defiance, oppositional behaviour, concentration problems or inattention at school subjects that do not interest him, and many other characteristic spider-remedy symptoms such as restlessness, annoying and teasing others and, in the physical sphere, the theme of choking.
What are the characteristic aspects of this case?
Boasting, self-confidence, wanting always to be one step ahead, teasing, taunting people, climbing, worried about his family, fear of water
Aranea ixobola is the cross spider, a garden spider that spins a web. Its web is destroyed by rain, and we all know the fate of the Incy Wincy spider in the nursery rhyme, which climbs up the spout and is washed down the drain...
The remedy picture of Aranea ixobola shows more self-confidence than that of the smaller Aranea diadema, which can suffer from low self-esteem. The Ixobola remedy is cheeky, arrogant, sarcastic and annoys or teases others. It also enjoys movement, football, fitness, sports training, boxing. Aranea ixobola can also be a suitable remedy for repeated bone fractures, sports injuries, tendon and ligament tears. Sense of crisis!
Aranea spiders care for their young and in the remedy picture of Aranea ixobola there is a tendency to worry more about one’s own health and that of loved ones. Physical symptoms of Aranea ixobola include eczema and asthma.
Follow-up
K. sits down – for the first time – to play. His mother says she did not expect much from the remedy, but it certainly had an effect. “It has made him somewhat calmer. He doesn’t climb as much any more, he now plays computer games which calm him at times. He resists less and is less anxious. His concentration has improved.”
Eczema: K.’s eczema is usually worse in summer when it is hot and humid. Chlorine aggravates his rash, but this time it was not as bad. Normally he gets hay fever, his eyes are swollen and he has a runny nose all summer, but this time he did not get hay fever. His sister had hay fever and needed medication, but he did not have to take anything. His mother reported that she did not have to take him to the doctor.
Sleep: He was willing to go up to his bed and did not get up and come back down the stairs. He slept in his bed and no longer woke so often. He had no more nightmares.
Anxieties: He no longer worried at all about his mother, even though they were on holiday and it rained a lot, a situation in which his family would have expected him to show fear. He had a dream of a swimming pool where an artificial shark taught him how to survive a shark attack. He was the last to be eaten.
Sibling rivalry: When he fights with his sister, the two of them now notice when it is their fault; she hits him and he hits back. But he now often gives in a little, which he never used to do. One day they forgot to give him his remedies, and his sister noticed the change in his behaviour; when he doesn’t take the remedies, he starts to annoy people and becomes sarcastic.
Remedy: Continue Aranea ixobola C30
The treatment is continued, and Aranea ixobola suits him well (with Tuberculinum as a miasmatic intercurrent).
His sleeping habits have improved, his concentration has also improved, his allergies have receded. The allopathic medicines do not suit him because of their side effects, but he has his ADHD under control with the help of the homeopathic remedies.
Measurement results: His scores were measured over the course of a year as part of a larger series of ADHD cases. The results were measured using MYMOP (Measure Your Own Outcome Profile) [1] and the Conners parent questionnaire (a common ADHD test). [2]
The symptoms his mother chose when measuring with MYMOP (you select the two symptoms that bother you most) were the following: “concentration difficulties” and “sleep”. Over the course of that year his poor concentration score rose from 6 (most severe concentration deficit) to 2, and his sleep improved from 5 to 3.
[1] MYMOP is an outcome measure developed by Dr Charlotte Paterson, and captures nonspecific effects of CAM treatments such as homeopathy. http://www.bris.ac.uk/primaryhealthcare/resources/mymop/
[2] The Conners questionnaires are used by paediatricians to diagnose ADHD and to assess the course of the illness.
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This article was published on www.interhomeopathy.org
Photos: Spiderman passes Radio City Music Hall November 28 2013 New York City ©shutterstock.com - a katz
Cross spider - Narayana publishing - Katja
Category: Cases
Keywords: hyperactive, restless, climbing, sports injuries, asthma, eczema, annoying others, teasing others, spider
Remedy: Aranea ixobola
[1] Minced lamb baked with mashed potato (Shepherd’s pie)
