As classical homeopaths we know what sarcodes are, and most of us prescribe them too. Nevertheless we have very little information about sarcodes as a group of remedies. I would like here to present my understanding of sarcodes from my own cases and from what I have learned from my teacher, Rajan Sankaran and his team.
The cases presented were taken and analysed according to Sankaran's sensation method.
GK: Ghanshyam Kalathia, P: = Patient; HG = Hand gestures, my comments are in (parentheses).
First consultation, 4 June 2007
A 35-year-old businessman comes for treatment of his asthma to my clinic. Here is his verbatim report:
GK: What is your problem?
P: I have asthma, and during the asthma attacks there is a wheezing sound. This problem has become routine for me, and I have grown used to it. (Observation: He blinks very rapidly and forcefully.)
GK: Tell me more about your asthma!
P: One and a half years ago I had a severe bout of acidity. At that time I could hardly eat anything, so I took various herbal preparations and recovered completely from the acidity. After that my health was initially fine, but one night I suddenly woke up with breathing difficulty; I was frightened when I heard my gasping breath, and my family became frightened too; so they took me straight to hospital. After half an hour I was back to normal; but since then I get these attacks every ten to fifteen days. I have tried so many therapies, but nothing helped, so I have come to you. (This is the level of names and facts.)
GK: What did you feel during the first attack? (Shifting from the factual to the feeling level).
P: At that time I really felt fear; I broke out in a sweat, but now I don't need to be afraid any more, because I know this wheeze is due to a narrowing of my airway. Almost all asthma patients have the same problems. Asthma is the enemy of sleep: in deep sleep I suddenly had breathing problems (HG - he makes a fist movement very quickly). That woke me up, because the air would not leave my lungs. I think my lungs block, and then they give an order to my brain, and the brain wakes me up immediately. (He speaks very quickly).
GK: I understand, please continue.
P: During these attacks I feel a certain heaviness in the chest, as if my metabolism is not ready to exhale the used air, so that I cannot either inhale or exhale; when I then use an Asthalin (theophylline) inhaler, everything returns to normal. Since I have had asthma I also sometimes have such weakness attacks - I notice my knees go weak.
GK: Please tell me more about this weakness!
P: I am afraid of becoming paralysed. I feel as if my whole metabolism comes to a halt. I fear that my brain cells will die. The doctors say it's nothing serious, but if I have "nothing", why then do I have all these complaints?
GK: What is that feeling in your legs?
P: Suddenly my legs become shaky (HG - he lets one hand hang down and swing it back and forth), as if they have no tension. It is as if my legs have become sluggish, motionless. (HG – hands hang down). I think the activity and circulation of my brain decrease and become sluggish.
(He likes to speak in the form of "as if"; this means these are all his perceptions, but they are still on the local level. With the next question I try to generalise them.).
GK: Forget your body; please tell me, what does "sluggish" mean to you? ("Sluggish" was mentioned several times).
P: "Sluggish" means you have no strength left. Everything becomes shaky and loose (HG - hanging) – that is sluggish. A changed blood supply in the brain makes one sluggish. Blood gives strength, otherwise you would be totally powerless (HG - hanging), as if you were a water-filled plastic bag.
(He shifts from "I" to "one", i.e. he is generalising now.)
GK: Tell me more about "sluggish" and "limp"?
P: Sluggish means it is not paralysis, but there is little or no movement. Strength is completely extinguished. It is a similar experience to severe dehydration: when one dries out, the body becomes totally limp (HG - hanging).
(He speaks about "experience", i.e. he is now on the sensation level. He lets his hands hang down and makes very slow pendulum movements as he repeatedly describes what "sluggish" means, so I now first ask questions about the hand gestures.)
GK: When you spoke about sluggishness you made some hand movements, what do they mean to you? (I make the same hand gestures).
P: Sluggish means you have very low blood pressure and can hardly move (HG - hanging). Mobility depends on muscle tone. The blood contains all kinds of biochemicals that maintain muscle tone. (HG - he makes a firm fist). With changes in the biochemical composition of the blood the body soon loses its muscle tone.
GK: Biochemicals? (a new word)
P: I mean the blood composition. The blood contains different kinds of substances like cells, minerals, hormones, proteins, vitamins etc. But when the blood composition changes, the blood pressure falls, and from the low blood pressure one feels weak (HG - hanging). The body automatically obtains all blood substances, and many processes are involved. So ultimately it is the blood, (HG - he makes a very firm fist), that gives the whole body its strength.
(Here the hand gestures "hanging hand" and "fist" describe his energy patterns; "sluggish", "limp" and "muscle tone" are the sensations, but to which kingdom do these sensations belong? His description that "many processes are involved in maintaining blood pressure with the help of certain biochemicals" makes me think of sarcodes, because "blood", "processes" and "biochemicals" are words from physiology; my experience from other cases is that any sensation that relates to physiology is a sarcode sensation.)
GK: Tell me something about yourself? (I want to know more about his sensations in other areas of life.)
P: I am a very nervous type, with me everything must always happen quickly, because I cannot bear to wait. Sometimes I fight when something gets in my way. If I then don't find a solution, I become restless, because I always want to solve everything very quickly. When I have a problem I always want to get to the root and put everything right very fast.
GK: Tell me more about the theme: "I want to solve everything!"
P: If you don't find a solution, then you are out of the running. If you slack in the fighting, the opponent can overwhelm you. If you have no strength (HG – tightly clenched fist), what is then the difference between you and a wet sack? You are nothing! (HG - hanging)
GK: Please describe a "wet sack"!
P: A wet sack is completely limp (HG - hanging). It has no tone and can do nothing. It falls where you drop it, you can do what you like with it. It cannot even stand upright (HG – fist).
(Again the same story of "limp", "firm" and "tone")
GK: Please tell me about your dreams!
P: I have never remembered any dreams!
GK: What interests and hobbies do you have?
P: I really like driving a car at a speed of 120–140 km/h. It never becomes too much for me, even if I drive 400 or 500 km. |
A) Murphy, Materia medica (Important words are printed in bold)
Histamine dilates the small blood vessels and constricts the large vessels; it has a blood-pressure raising effect in carnivores and herbivores, narrows the bronchi and stimulates the smooth muscle of the gut, uterus and stomach. It promotes pancreatic secretion. Normally it is used in the form of histamine dihydrochloride, which also serves as a stock for the preparation of homeopathic remedies.
Histamine has general weakness as after physical exertion. Dryness of the mucous membranes. Sensation of constriction in various parts of the heart. Contractures of the muscles with trembling and cramps. Irritable, sensitive, impatient; paces up and down constantly. Reacts sensitively to the smallest trifles. Impatient, restless, must constantly walk to and fro.
Quarrelsome, melancholic, sad, exhaustion relieved by brisk walking. Waiting makes him totally nervous, he must walk up and down. Stomach pain; the stomach is like tightened up when he receives bad news or remembers a painful experience. Contracture and twitching of the eyelids and around the eyes. Spasmodic closing of the eyelids. Allergic and psoric conditions. Asthma or chronic bronchitis with shortness of breath, pressure or tightness in the chest. Coughing fits that almost suffocate him.
B) Synoptic Materia Medica
"It is a strong stimulant for the secretion of gastric juice, contracts the smooth muscle of the bronchi and acts as a vasodilator [capillaries and arterioles], which causes a fall in blood pressure." (Stedman) [See: Jayesh Shah, Hasty and quarrelsome – Two cases of Histamine, Homoeopathic Links, 3/97].
Constriction and dilatation are the fundamental potentials of histamine, which were expressed here as "firm" and "limp" ("sluggish"); so in the end everything makes sense. |
Information about sarcodes
Further information about sarcodes can be found in my article "The Language of sarcodes" in "Homeopathic Links 1/10". These are some selected sections from the article.
The physiological process, appearance or function is the sensation of sarcodes. The language of a sarcode patient is often confused with the language of mineral patients, because they sometimes talk about functions, but in mineral remedies the function is always related to structure. Mineral remedies often have the feeling: "I am missing something!" or "I am losing something!", whereas a sarcode patient is more likely to express: "I must function flawlessly, perfectly, adequately and as required, no more and no less!"
A sarcode is made from healthy tissue, and this tissue has a useful and healthy function. Why would someone need a remedy from valuable and healthy tissue? If the whole being of a person reacts as if it were that one part, this can be regarded as disease, and that patient needs the corresponding sarcode (See: The Sensation in Homeopathy, p. 681). A sarcode is made from healthy tissue, therefore it has a direct relation to physiology.
Because sarcodes are made from healthy tissue or secretions, they have the potential of the respective tissue. If we understand this potentiality of the tissue, we can prescribe sarcodes without difficulty.
Let us examine this histamine case for its potential. First the question arises: Why does the body need histamine? What is the role of histamine in the body? Histamine is used for capillary dilatation and arterial constriction or dilatation and constriction of smooth muscle, so dilation and constriction are the action possibilities (potentiality) of histamine. When the whole being of a person reacts like histamine, we give him Histaminum, and that makes him "more human".
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