A 40-year-old woman; her main complaint is painful endometriosis with heavy bleeding.
She was sexually abused between the ages of three and nine. She is now married to a very gentle, loving and caring man (abuse is an issue). She became anorexic so that she could "at least have control over something, be in charge again, not be a victim."
After several miscarriages she had a sickly son. She could have no more children and adopted a second child. She works as a fundraiser for a charitable foundation and would like to set up a meeting place for adoptive parents where they can meet and share their experiences.
Origin of the endometriosis
The delivery of her son was difficult; there was an emergency caesarean section under general anaesthetic. "The anaesthetic didn't work properly, my husband was thrown out of the operating theatre and they stitched my uterus to the abdominal cavity." She says: "That's when it started. My periods became very painful and a growth formed in my abdomen. They then removed that cancerous thing surgically, but afterwards it just spread even more."
She can feel the endometriosis getting worse. "I bleed constantly and have terrible pain." (Hand gesture: like a claw). Painful periods that feel as if you are giving birth to a knife, splintering, like coarse sandpaper. Bowel movements are also painful: "Like a rabbit wrapped in barbed wire being shot out of its sensitive burrow."
Regulated and ordered
They tried to induce an artificial menopause with Decapeptyl injections, but the patient simply continued to bleed.
She had extremely heavy menstrual bleeding: "I felt the need to get the bleeding under control and my doctor prescribed the pill when I was 15. So everything was organised and ordered."
The opposite of that is "chaotic". "I have no control. My body is about to explode, I have cramps like mini-explosions. Pain all over my body. You feel these tumours growing in you, twisting and distorting you, but you have no control (control is a word of the Sarkodes)."
Going round in circles
"Because of my hormones I am a wreck, emotionally speaking. I never know who I am (no sense of self). I have PMS; I am tearful, useless. I am a wreck: no time, no space, no capacity. I am angry – the doctors caused this. I just want a normal cycle; I want to be able to feel that." (HG: The hand describes circles). "To know where I am; organised and ordered." (HG)
"The pains try to get out, they have to come out somewhere. There is a lot in my body that doesn't know how it should distribute itself. It is blocked."
Which substance in the universe corresponds to this feeling?
"Blood flows, like rivers and lakes too. It is as if the river has burst its banks. The tributary does not flow into the lake, it goes beyond its natural limits and becomes a burden."
What hobbies do you have?
"Walking, fresh air, a view, picnics, talking to people. I like walking on circular trails, going in circles, looking at everything as I pass by. There is no destination, I'm not going back and forth, then you are not really free."
Themes of the Sarkodes:
The patient's language is difficult to assign to a single kingdom: "capacity" (points to the mineral kingdom); "blockage/flow" (sensations of the crucifers); and much revolves around the theme of "control". The hormonal imbalance in the menstrual cycle is the main theme: control is necessary to restore balance, together with the themes of rivers, overflowing and going in circles or cycles. The need for control suggests Carcinosinum, but this is not about chaos. Control is needed to regulate the hormonal system that is producing too much oestrogen. Folliculinum is the female hormone remedy and is very similar to Carcinosinum. Characteristics of Folliculinum include nurturing and the need to mother others. In this patient this is expressed in her professional life: she works for orphaned children.
Her personal history of abuse and her experience of the caesarean birth and hormone treatment as medical abuse indicate the abuse/victim pathology of Folliculinum. She tried to regain control by becoming anorexic – thus denying her femininity and sense of self.
The language of the Sarkodes is clearly shown in the free-flowing "nonsense" of the case – the patient's sensation of her period as "... a river bursting its banks. The tributary does not flow into the lake, it goes beyond its natural limits ..." She describes the pains as something "that doesn't know how to distribute itself." The task of distributing this female hormone in the body has completely filled this woman's consciousness. But the hormone does not fulfil its task within its prescribed boundaries. That is pure Sarkode language.
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Prescription: Folliculinum C30, taken once a month at the time of ovulation, as described in Melissa Assilem's book 'Mother Remedies in Homeopathy'.
Result: The pain subsided, the endometriosis receded and within three months she was able to stop her medication.
Photo: Shutterstock; Guenter Manaus
Category: Cases
Keywords: endometriosis, menstrual cycle, control, regulated, ordered, functioning, boundaries, flow, flowing, blood, abused, anorexia, circles, charitable foundation, children, Sarkode, hormone
Remedy: Folliculinum
Original article: Interhomeopathy.org
