Author's note: I had difficulty keeping the length of this article within our editorial limits; therefore, to save words, I have placed the rubrics and references that — in retrospect — reflect both the case and the patient's remedy in parentheses and bold. I used the latest edition of Reference Works. All unmarked rubrics are from Roger van Zandvoort's Complete Repertory and/or from Complete Dynamics.
I have been treating six-year-old Zack for three and a half years. He is a beautiful child with dark curly hair and dark brown eyes with long lashes. When he smiles, the whole room seems to light up. He is a very serious child (Seriousness) with a precocious and extensive vocabulary, but with some speech difficulties (which is why he sees a speech therapist).
At our first appointment, however, what struck me most was his pout, his frown and his disapproving look (Dissatisfied with everything: dissatisfied with others). While I spoke with his mother, he accompanied his father restlessly, wandering down the corridor into other clinic rooms and back out again. His mother says that at home he sits quietly, plays with his toys and reads books (Desire to sit. Herrick: Quiet). He LOVES music (Anger: better by music). He was not interested in engaging with me and treated me like an „outsider“ (critical; suspicious; delusions: outsider).
Zack's main problem was a severe digestive disorder — which to me looked somewhat like early ulcerative colitis. He was very hungry, but could safely eat only six foods. The slightest carelessness caused severe pain (Abdominal pain, immediately after eating). As a baby he had frequent colic. He would spit up every meal and double up in pain. Indeed his mother used to nurse him in that state! When he (or his mother) ate a food to which he was sensitive, he suffered the most terrible cramping pains (Rectum and abdomen: cramping painsRectum: urge at night; Mind: tossing about in sleep). His stool was thin and slimy and contained occult blood. His anus became fire-red and alternately burned and itched.
He reacted to his first vaccination with a high fever and was utterly lethargic for 48 hours, after which his parents ceased vaccinating him.
He teethed early with great pain and increased digestive problems (Mouth: sensitive, gums).
His mother had suffered from eating disorders as a young woman; these disappeared when she met Zack's father, who enjoyed preparing tasty meals for her and persuaded her to eat. As food is a central theme in the family, Zack's condition was particularly stressful for his parents. He was a very hungry child, and they had difficulty procuring enough to eat for him (Herrick: Stomach, increased appetite). His mother said: „We want to give him the feeling of being part of a greater food culture.“ There were also digestive problems on his father's side of the family; therefore they usually cook their food themselves, as several family members are sensitive particularly to meat and fish when it is frozen and not fresh. (I thought this was an interesting characteristic of the 'animal kingdom' — the need for fresh meat and fish. Food theme: Lacs).
During pregnancy the parents were told that Zack had a „spot on the heart“ — however it turned out to be nothing serious. His food intolerances were explained by the paediatrician as „genetic“.
His mother had attacks of acute pancreatitis since her early twenties and suffered from chronic iron deficiency, which was also the case with Zack. She had repeatedly experienced blocked milk ducts while breastfeeding him, which always cleared with Sulphur (Krista Heron says that Massimo Mangialavori treated several cases of pancreatitis with this remedy, which also helped Zack).
The first remedy I prescribed for Zack was Jodum; I followed Jan Scholten's analysis: his parents fit very well into the Silver series (artists, writers), and I felt that he too had an artistic temperament. Jodum has a strong relationship to immigration (all his grandparents are European immigrants) and to food. His restlessness, dissatisfaction and ravenous appetite also fit Jodum.
The remedy did him good for a few months, and we return to it for acute complaints — for earache, cough or difficult behaviour. In other situations he also responded well to Sulphur jodatum (later I switched to Ferrum sulfuricum. There is a strong 'Stage 8' aspect in his personality. He is a FORCE, bossing people about and liking to control his environment. I then switched to Ferrum, also because of his chronic anaemia).
After taking Jod and Sulphur jodatum for a few months, I had the feeling that he needed a nosode. Things began to move — to his parents' astonishment — but that did not satisfy me, especially regarding the digestive system. He had broadened his range of foods, but still had attacks of colitis. I first tried Tuberculinum bovinum; but he remained especially allergic to cow's milk. That remedy did not help him at all.
I then gave Johneinum (a nosode made from a type of tuberculosis in animals — Louis Klein has provoked this remedy and devoted a chapter to it in his highly recommended book Miasms and Nosodes: Volume 1). The effect of this nosode was dramatic. After taking it in various potencies at regular intervals for nine months, Zack's colitis was essentially gone. |
Two years later his mother contacted me again about problems that had not responded to Ferrum sulfuricum or Sulphur jodatum.
Zack was having severe temper tantrums, up to five times a day. They erupted suddenly, usually when someone said "no" to him or when he was suddenly faced with changes of plans (Anger, fear, sudden, quarrelsome; quarrelsome in the family - Herrick).
He also says that he constantly loses things, both at home and at school — about five times a day. He not only loses his own things, but also those of his parents (Herrick: Confusion, disorganisation, loses things; Dreams: loses their purse, loses their wallet; goes away and leaves their shopping behind).
Everything concerning the extended family affects him deeply. Recently his grandfather had heart trouble, which upset him more than I usually see in children. He sleeps poorly for days when family members who have been visiting leave.
Zack also had social problems at school. He felt excluded. He wanted to be the leader, to dictate the game and to be on a level with the strongest and most popular in the class. When he did not succeed, Zack would stand up, place himself alone outside the group and look sad, as his teacher reported. (Delusion: excluded, victim. Herrick: He is driven crazy by what people say, justice fanatic, Herrick and others - general problems relating to the 'pack').
He told his parents he desperately wanted dairy products, especially ice cream made from cow's milk and not goat's milk (General: food; craving for creamy foods).
He asked his mother whether he could have a sibling. She was surprised, as he did not often speak about this subject. When she asked why, he replied: „Then I could sneak into your bed when you and Daddy and the baby are asleep, I could crawl under the covers and steal some of mum's milk!“ (Dreams: of stealing). She says he has never lost his enthusiasm for her milk and still likes to talk about the time he was breastfed. (Milk remedies, general; Mind: sentimental).
When I asked his mother for permission to write about Zack's case, she added the following comments:
„His temper tantrums have completely disappeared and character traits have returned that we remember from when Zack was much younger. As I told you, Zack's temper outbursts had become increasingly frequent over the last two years. Instead, Zack is now often overwhelmed by sobbing or crying. I have noticed that he has exactly the same facial expression as at 19 months. It is an expression of extreme emotional pain and suffering; he expresses a feeling of being unloved and abandoned. He stays with me, but as soon as his father appears he runs away and hides in a corner or in a cupboard, or he closes the bedroom door.“
(Herrick: Crying, tearful mood. Whimpering. Delusions: outsider, excluded. Oversensitivity. Milk remedies general – feeling abandoned).
(Heron: Orientation - Moon – closeness to mother: mistrust of men).
Analysis
Zack is doing well on Lac lupinum. He is working back through his themes — and this time I will stay with the remedy until he no longer needs it. I think I should have done this two years ago, perhaps even from the start.
However, I believe that the Johneinum nosode was definitely necessary. In hindsight I think that at that time Zack showed that he needed an animal remedy rather than a mineral remedy. A mineral remedy (e.g. one of those already given) may, however, be needed again later.
While working on this article I thought — especially in view of the connection with pancreatitis — of giving this remedy to his mother as well.
The case continues ...
Pat Deacon lives in Ottawa, Canada. She has a practice there, as well as in Montreal and Vancouver. Website: www.patdeacon.com |
