by Ulrich Welte, excerpt from The Silver Series - The Periodic Table in Homeopathy - Remedy-finding through Series and Stages
A patient just over 60 years old comes to the practice because of a sensation of tightness in the heart area and painful pressure on the chest. In addition, her knee has been swollen for two months. She is worried and therefore asked the receptionist for an immediate appointment. Three months earlier she had already required emergency treatment in hospital, then for a generalized urticaria that was attributed to an allergic reaction to salami. Now she is afraid that something more serious might be the cause this time as well. She has had high blood pressure for a long time; on the day of our consultation it was 180/120. From her GP she takes a low‑dose beta blocker and a lipid‑lowering drug. The ECG is normal. The right knee is noticeably oedematous and swollen, without redness or overheating and with no history of fever. Since childhood she has had reduced vision in the left eye.
She is a designer in the fashion industry and still actively and creatively working. She is slim and discreetly elegant, dressed entirely in black in a flowing long dress of soft fabric, held at the left shoulder by a silver brooch. She appears young, gentle and warm‑hearted, and she is spontaneous. There is something somewhat aristocratic and at the same time somewhat childlike about her. She lives alone and runs her studio entirely on her own. She sews expensive model garments which she sells to renowned shops at home and abroad.
As a young woman she went, many years ago and on her own initiative, from the small provincial town where she came from to Paris to begin a creative career in the great city of arts and fashion. "When I was twenty I went off to Paris. I couldn't speak a word of French at the time, but I thought I would manage somehow and learn it there." That is exactly what happened and, despite many difficulties and disappointments, she somehow made her way over the years. She writes: "I went to Paris without any knowledge of French, at twenty. It was a difficult start, but I persevered until I managed it and stayed there for 35 years."
Later she returned to Germany and set up as an independent designer. Since then she has lived alone. Years ago she actually wanted to withdraw from working life, but dressmaking is her life and she still receives numerous commissions from around the world. She feels restless and driven. "I rush all the time, I have many orders, but I cannot organise my time well. I am creative, but chaotic." She smiles mischievously as she says this.
Analysis, remedy administration and course
Her artistic talent and her activity as a fashion designer by vocation point to an element of the Silver Series. Art, design and international fashion tailoring are the content of her life, which she would never describe merely as a job. Her discreetly elegant appearance and her aristocratic manner also point to this. Her spontaneous, somewhat naive manner is typical for stage 1. The fact that she manages many things on her own also fits stage 1. Her own assessment "I am creative, but chaotic" could point directly to Rubidium. The physical complaints of chest tightness and reduced vision are also found with Rubidium[1].
On the basis of these considerations, Rubidium metallicum 1000 was given[2]. Within days the pressure, the pain and the thoracic tightness had gone. Blood pressure fell to 160/80. Inner restlessness increased somewhat at night. This reaction subsided after a few days without further administration of a remedy. After two weeks she reports that her hot flushes are also significantly better. She had had these since the menopause, but they had seemed so normal to her that she had not mentioned them until now. The knee joint swelling? Yes, that has gone too. She also says that she lets things run a bit more. The restless, anxious sense of being driven that she had always had is no longer perceptible.
Because of doubts about the metallicum identity of the remedy (due to the high reactivity of the metal it is likely to have been rubidium hydroxide; see the chapter Substance Knowledge) a preparation from another manufacturer (Helios), Rubidium sulfuricum C30, was given, which was actually unnecessary. However, the course remained favourable. Later the visual acuity of the left eye, which had been impaired since childhood, even improved within a further four months. Her colour preference is 8C, a deep red[3].
[1] Homeopathy and the Elements, Scholten 1997, pp. 533–534
[2] It was a remedy from Schmidt‑Nagel.
[3] Colours in Homeopathy, 8th ed., Welte 2015, Narayana Verlag
