| |
| |
|
| |
The patient is a 15-year-old boy with severe dermatitis.
Consultation in June 2011
His mother leads the conversation: „His complaints began six years ago in the elbow creases and the backs of the knees. He has very dry skin; he hardly sweats, and his sweat smells of eggs. He suffers from severe itching and the skin often bleeds after scratching - at night the wounds secrete a thick, honey-like fluid (Graphites), and when he scratches, the bed is full of crust. He reacts very allergically, and his skin is sore. He is being treated with a vaccine against house dust mites and fungi; two weeks ago he stopped the second vaccination series; and his skin was very dry; he had extensive sore areas on various parts of his body, and oozing behind the ears. He cried and scratched a lot when he had been running around in the grass - his body became red and full of blisters and he scratched his stomach until it was very sore.
His nose runs and he sneezes a lot when he smells something specific like perfume. He has cracks at the corners of his eyes, and they are stuck together with discharge. It itches more when he becomes nervous and when I scold him. Sometimes he becomes nervous when he wants something.
Occasionally he is cheeky, or he moans and whinges. He obeys me, but sometimes he explodes. He shut himself off when I told him he could not go to the pet show.
He asks me how to do things, and when I tell him how, he does it that way. He feels compassion for people. He is affectionate with me and kisses me on the cheek, but he does not like me to see his wounds. He does not want to be touched or massaged. He is bossy with me and with his friends when they play together. When I buy something for his sister, he wants the same. He likes to learn and is good at school, although he does not like reading thick books. He is unhappy when he gets bad grades at school, and happy when he gets good grades. He is disorganised, takes clothes out of his wardrobe and does not put them back.”
Patient: „I am easily offended, and when I do not get what I want, or receive bad news, my condition worsens. My most painful experience was the loss of my grandmother in September 2010.”
Mother: „He was very close to his grandmother, who died ten months ago. The itching worsened after her death.“
He likes flying kites. „I would like to be a kite; that means freedom. I want to fly. I do not want to be a human, I would rather be a hummingbird.“ He likes to play football in the street, likes playing in the sand, plays with his dog and enjoys being in nature. At present he plays a computer game where you have to make a boy kill with a gun to win the game. He likes killing animals. |
| |
|
Fears
„I am afraid of horror films, of snakes, of animals that can kill, and of strangers until I make friends with them. I love the light and fear the dark and thieves. I am afraid of dying; I never want to die.” |
| |
Feelings
„I get on very well with my family, but I often have difficulties with others because I am so easily offended; my illness bothers me because people ask me what is wrong with my skin. I do not like to be looked at, and I do not like to be touched when I am in crisis. I am shy and cautious when I am in a crowd and feel uncomfortable about my illness. When I am nervous, I start to scratch. I like to be comforted, but it is awful for me when I get bad marks at school. I would feel better if my father had the money to buy a house with a swimming pool. I want to be a footballer. When we lived on a farm, I always wanted to fish – it made me nervous when I couldn’t fish. I am always in a hurry; I feel that time passes very quickly. I get into a bad mood when my wishes are not fulfilled, and then my illness also worsens.” |
| |
Food
„I like sausages, sandwiches, pizza, meat, grilled food, chocolate and sweets. I do not like Solanum gilo fruits (they are very bitter) (Brazilian jilo tomato, aubergine-like fruit), chayote (Sechium edule) (a type of squash) and cucumbers. Eggs and milk worsen the itching. At night I have to drink something about four times.” |
| |
General
„I like cold showers. I am always very hot. Even when it is cold, I want to fan myself to cool down. I hardly sweat at all. When running I have pain in the right side; I have to sit down because it hurts too much. I love moonlight, and I like dull weather. I hate strong smells and things that make me sneeze.“ He goes to bed late and sleeps a lot, especially when he takes antihistamines. He tosses and turns in bed and has difficulty falling asleep, especially when he is itchy. He snores and snores in his sleep, and sleeps with half-open eyes.
C.M.: Describe your ideal world!
P: „Without murder, drugs and alcohol. I love animals, plants and nature, and God is the most important thing I love. I have compassion for suffering animals and people.“
„I would like to fly. I have dreamed that I fell off a cliff and was able to fly. I want to fly like a kite. But I never wanted to be a pilot because I was afraid of falling and dying.“ |
| |
Prescription: Apis C 200
I did not know Cuprum arsenicosum very well and was influenced by his idea of flying, therefore I gave him Apis, but it did not help at all. His mother called me and I decided to give him Cuprum arsenicosum because it covers the symptoms of both Cuprum and Arsenicum. In addition, Cuprum arsenicosum covers the skin symptoms. |
| |
Follow-up August 2011:
He is much better, the sore skin areas are still visible, but only crusted red scars remain. Since his consultation he has not taken any more antihistamines. The oozing behind the ears has disappeared, and his eyes are no longer matted. The cracks at the corners of his eyes have gone; he still has a few small cracks at the corners of his mouth, but these are hardly visible either. He still sneezes at scented sprays. His legs hurt where the socks touch them. He still sleeps with half-open eyes. When he watched the film „Das Unmögliche erobern“ on YouTube, he had to cry because the bird died at the end; it had struggled so much and still had to die. He obeys better now. He wants to get ahead on the computer, and he justifies it like this: „That is better than going out on the street.“
He was able to improve his school grades. „It is now easier for me to talk to my friends, although they are the same as before.“
Mother: „He has become more attached to me. He hugs me constantly. When there is a lot going on, he talks in his sleep about the events of the day.“
He laughs at his mother’s description. |
| |
|
|
Prescription: Cuprum arsenicosum C 30
October 2011: his skin has improved and was completely smooth until two weeks ago, then some sore spots reappeared. He said he had been sucking camphor lozenges. He has become more affectionate and engaged.
When watching a film about a flightless bird that dreams of flying and jumps off a cliff, he did not cry. |
„I enjoy being with other people now, I am no longer ashamed.
When I scratch, a kind of white dust appears, but it no longer bleeds. My eyes still itch, but the corners no longer split. My grade average has improved greatly since I took the remedy, from 60 to 90. I no longer fear robbers in the dark. I only sweat at the joints - at the knees, arms and neck, and it itches there. I am no longer afraid of dying. I no longer enjoy flying kites in the hot sun; I prefer to stay at home. I can now accept being touched. I often breathe through my mouth; I feel a pain in the right side of my abdomen when I run breathing through my open mouth. The pain is under the right rib, but when I keep my mouth closed, it does not hurt.“ |
Final consultation: the itching completely disappeared. |
