My sexual desire is driving me mad:

a Cantharis case

Case:

A 65-year-old woman came to the practice because of "chronic tiredness". She felt she could no longer achieve as much as before and needed her naps in the afternoons. She was retired. Previously she had a demanding job at the Telekom, where she had several employees under her:

"I had to keep an eye on them all and enjoyed the busy-ness - I was everywhere at once."

She used to have an apparently endless reserve of energy; she was busy all day at work and as soon as she was home she would start on the housework again.

"I even worked outside at night with the car headlights on to paint the fence. I felt I was endowed with extraordinary energy. I was always on the go. At night I could not sleep; my mind was stirred up with busy-ness, and often I had to take a sleeping pill to relax. I tried meditation, but I can't sit still long enough for it. I have to be on the go."

Although her main complaint is "tiredness", she does not appear that tired. She is small, well dressed and well coiffed and speaks in a lively, cheerful manner. She frequently makes quick gestures and is constantly moving on her chair. She has bright eyes and speaks quickly and very intensely. When asked to talk about herself, she speaks mainly about her husband.

"He is always shouting at me and says I sew too many clothes, and that my wardrobe is already overfull. He hates it when I come home with the fabric for a new dress, but I love having new dresses. Although I only wear them once, I end up giving them away. My husband is such a pest; he hoovers up after me if I've done anything in the kitchen and clears away every crumb, even if nobody can see it." (He later receives Germanium for his joint pains and depression).

P: "I was a wild child; I did what I wanted and slept with anyone who wanted sex. My mother imposed no restrictions on me - she had felt restricted by her own strict upbringing, and let me do as I pleased. But that also meant she did not protect me and did not give me safe boundaries. As a young girl I was quite provocative; at twelve I was raped by our neighbour, but at the time I did not know it was actually rape. I liked it. He spoke about me to one of his friends, and he also sexually abused me. Eventually it came out, and they were arrested, and my photo appeared in all the newspapers. I was then regarded as a 'loose girl' and considered fair game, and it just went on, even though the men had been put in prison. I have a very strong sexual drive; I thought it was great, but in reality it was too much. I had affairs with married men - once a man even spent the night before his wedding with me.

These days I am miserable sexually. When my husband wants to 'punish' me, he withholds sex, sometimes for months, well aware that that is my weak spot. I often think about leaving him and going in search of another man - I hardly need to look, because they sense it and come to me. I have to restrain myself, otherwise... Women don't like me, they are always afraid I will steal their husband. They gossip about me and exclude me from their circles. They always try to be the best, to have the best events to show off, and they exclude me."

DC: "Anything else?"

P: "All my joints and muscles hurt - the doctors say it's fibromyalgia. It is better when I move, but I become stiff quickly. For years I have taken antibiotics for a chronic bladder infection. In the past I used to scream with pain when I peed. Now it smells, but it doesn't hurt anymore as long as I take antibiotics."

DC: "Anything else?"

P: "When I am unwell I get dermatitis on my hands, blisters form and the skin peels off in large patches. I used to often dream that I was a flower on a railway line - a train would come and I would be crushed. When I was little I once told the doctor about it, he was alarmed and told my mother she had to keep an eye on me, but nothing changed. I still have the feeling I could be crushed and killed at any time, and sometimes it wakes me at night.
I eat all the time, I just snack. It doesn't matter what I eat, it could be anything at all, but if I don't eat my blood sugar drops and I am close to fainting. I eat snacks and whatever is at hand instead of making myself something elaborate. I am thin, but that's only because I move so much - anyone else who ate as much as I do would be fat."

Analysis

She clearly needs an animal remedy:

- competitive behaviour

- increased sexual drive

- fear of attack

- liveliness

And it is clearly an insect:

- impetuous (as opposed to snakes, which are craftier)

- (fruitless) industry

- well organised

- team-worker

- fear of being crushed

-> Many patients who need beetle remedies have muscular problems, often in the form of fibromyalgia, like the stiff shells of beetles

Prescription:

The bladder infections, the dermatitis and the sexuality that drove her nearly mad pointed to Cantharis, which was given in ascending potencies over two years.

The first thing she noticed was that she slept better, and was initially able to reduce her sleeping pills, then stopped them entirely. Her energy increased, but not in the frenetic way it had before.

"I still have a lot to do, but I no longer feel constantly driven to work."

The dermatitis on her hands flared up once more briefly, and the skin peeled off completely; she applied a herbal ointment, and since then her skin has been smooth and causes no problems. Her urine smells less, but it took some persuasion to convince her to reduce her antibiotics, as she was afraid of the pain she had previously had when passing water. But when her urine cleared up again she reduced the antibiotics, and then stopped them altogether, without negative side effects and without her previous cystitis returning.

Most remarkable, however, was the change in her relationship with her husband.

"He has become much kinder, he no longer shouts at me all the time. We understand each other much better, and I no longer think of leaving him for another, although I still attract other men. I like to flirt, but it is no longer as important to me as before; I do it just for fun."

"I now eat better and no longer snack so much. I now eat at meals and don't nibble all the time in between. But strangely I am not losing weight, even though I eat less. Perhaps I no longer burn it in the same way."

"My muscles are not so stiff anymore. I used to have to 'warm up' in the mornings and was constantly stretching. My neck still goes out of place from time to time, but I no longer need painkillers."
(She had never told me she had taken any...).

After almost a year she returned - and this time she spoke more about her sadness than about tiredness or pain.

"I have cried a lot. My whole youth appeared to me in my dreams and thoughts. I am becoming increasingly aware of how alone I felt as a child and how little maternal care and protection I had. I gave myself to men only to be noticed; I considered sex a way of making contact. But now that I am older, it is clear to me that I have no real friends and that the men only used me. I weep and weep for the little girl who was never properly loved."

It was interesting to read about Cantharis in Frans Vermeulen's "Prisma": "Polyphagia[a href="#ftn1">[1]

We know the industry of insects, but tiredness also belongs to the remedy picture, especially when one is overwhelmed with constant busy-ness: "Great weakness. Constantly tired, marked sinking of strength."

Reading Vermeulen's text on Cantharis is almost the same as reading my observations of this patient.

[1] Pathologically increased food intake, because no feeling of satiety occurs

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This article was published on www.interhomeopathy.org

Photo: © shutterstock - "at the height of happiness", siloto

Category: Cases
Keywords: competition, intense sexuality, fear of being attacked, fear of being crushed, impetuous behaviour, team-worker.
Remedy: Cantharis