A 42-year-old woman presented with the following complaints: recurrent bleeding haemorrhoids for 26 years (she had been operated on twice for this, in 1986 and 2009). For six years she has also suffered from rheumatoid arthritis. Dizziness for three years.
(HG means hand gesture)
Greeva Mankad (GM): Please tell me about your complaints in your own words.
Patient (P): “I am mainly worried about my arthritis and the haemorrhoids. And then I have various pains, dizziness and sometimes heartburn.
My right hand is more affected by the arthritis than my left. It started in my right hand. My right knee also sometimes hurts when I walk for a long time. The finger joints of both hands are usually swollen in the mornings; the swelling comes and goes. They usually swell when I eat something acidic or when it is too cold outside. In the mornings they are so stiff and sore that I cannot hold anything, sometimes I drop things. And then my hands feel too weak to move and they sometimes tremble. My fingers are also slowly becoming crooked. My doctor suspected rheumatoid arthritis because the rheumatoid factor was over 100. Since then I take painkillers when it hurts a lot. My heartburn is also getting worse. I feel attacked by so many complaints (HG) and I feel weak and powerless because of it.
I have had haemorrhoids that bleed for 26 years. I have already been operated on twice, but it still isn’t over. I have been bleeding now for two months and it makes me very weak. The bleeding just doesn’t stop, despite the operations. Every time my stool is very hard and a few drops of blood come. It stresses me a lot. I am afraid when I see the blood. I get hot all over and I tremble. I fear when it will start again. Am I cured now or not?
When I think about my complaints I start to tremble (HG) and get palpitations. I have the feeling as if my heart is beating with full force.”
Observation: She looks as if she is feeling something. She breathes deeply.
GM: “Stay with it and describe what is happening to you.”
P: “My whole body trembles or shakes, even when I sleep. I am very frightened; I have this strange sensation all over my body. I have no hope left for myself and I worry about the future. What will happen to my body? Will something serious happen to me? I have the feeling as if my heart is pounding at full force, as if my blood pressure is rising.” (Pause)
GM: “You describe this very well. Tell me more.”
P: “My body trembles and my blood pressure rises. I have the feeling that this disease will not leave me and I feel very stressed because of it. My blood vessels pound. I feel my blood pressure rise and especially in my neck. I then become very aggressive, it is as if my anger gathers there. It is as if everything gets stuck there, suffocating me (HG, she grasps her neck with both hands). I cannot explain it better, I have told you everything. I only know that I pray to God to help me. Many thoughts go round in my head. Suddenly I become afraid; my body trembles and the pounding becomes very intense. As if this disease attacks me and makes me weak. (At this point she repeats her hand gesture)
Dizziness is another problem. It began three years ago with the menopause. As soon as my cycle became irregular, the fainting began. Even earlier I had occasional dizziness. The doctors say that it is probably due to the menopause. When I faint, I am unconscious for 5–10 minutes. Sometimes I also feel dizzy while sitting. Then I have to stand up or sleep before it gets better. Whenever I sit after work, I feel a little dizzy. It started when there was a lot of fighting at home. I feel tormented by my family. My husband used to be very nice to me, but my husband’s family does not treat me well. They must have influenced my husband.”
Observation: She feels tormented by her family. She perceives her main complaint in the same way.
P: “They just won’t leave us alone. We argued a lot. I got worse day by day. Those times were bad for us. My memory worsened; it was as if my brain was slowly deteriorating. Over the years I became weaker and weaker. At night it was worse and I could not sleep. In the morning everything hurt: my nerves, bones, everything was sore. Small things led to arguments at home. Everyone tried to put me down (HG downwards) and suppress my feelings (HG downwards). They harassed me and I felt powerless against them. I had to think about it constantly. They deliberately thought about how to annoy and provoke me, but I simply endured it, said nothing and did not react. Even when I had painful and bleeding haemorrhoids, they did not care. They simply hoped that I would die from the blood loss and then another woman could take my place.
My life was destroyed by this torment. It makes me very sad to live with them. I cannot stand them at all. My fainting attacks are also getting worse. Sometimes after an argument I felt faint and stayed in bed; I did not respond to their quarrel. I just remained quiet and motionless and pretended to be unconscious, although I was already conscious. I just listened and waited until I had strength again. Now I am afraid when I feel dizzy – I could faint and hurt myself. On the one hand I have to think about my illness, on the other hand about the torment by my family.
My haemoglobin was often 6 or 7; I was anaemic and weak. I tried to stabilise it with aloe vera, spinach and other things. I also received many medicines and injections. The bleeding did not stop and my family stressed me. I lost all hope that I would ever recover from the illness. Sometimes I think about dousing myself with petrol and killing myself, or drinking DDT. If I no longer exist, only the poison remains.”
GM: “I didn’t understand that. What do you mean by ‘If I no longer exist, only the poison remains’?”
P: “I have suffered for 26 years because of them and now it’s enough. The whole story began shortly after the wedding. The years passed and I remained quiet, did not defend myself and endured the torture. I suffered the physical complaints only because of them. How dare they? They have strangled me and I feel like I am in prison. (HG followed by a long pause with deep sighs).
GM: “I understand your situation. Please describe this sensation ‘to be tortured and suffocated; to be imprisoned…’ What do you experience physically and mentally?”
P: “I cannot bear it any more. They do it on purpose. Now the threshold has been crossed. I do not care about anything. I want to take revenge. An eye for an eye. I should have defended myself, but I could not. I feel powerless and contracted there. I would like to torment them, harass them. Blood shoots into my eyes, as if sparks were flying from them. I will show them what it means to cross my limits; they will suffer.”
Observation: It was now clear how she perceives her own situation, her emotional history. I want to explore her deepest sensation.
GM: “Good. Describe your sensations more closely. Please stay with what you are experiencing.”
P: (Pause) “My blood beats so hot, my heart races and blood shoots into my eyes. It is as if someone is strangling me at the neck. (HG) Someone is strangling me and taking my breath away … someone is catching me, holding me tight (HG). Something is very tight here, tight and stiff. As if everything gathers here. I feel strong and my anger has reached its peak.” (Pause …)
GM: “You describe this very nicely. Please stay with it and say what spontaneously comes to mind.”
P: “My whole body becomes heavy. My neck starts to hurt and swells.
All my strength, my power, everything comes up here. (HG: points to her neck)
As if the energy for the fight rises within me … My anger has reached its peak and I feel strength. My neck becomes very sensitive” (Pause)
GM: “Just close your eyes … and feel.”
P: “Something very powerful lies in the area of my neck. It wraps around my neck so tightly, around and around. (HG: shows something that wraps around her neck). It is coiled … it is as if it were wound around my neck. It goes round and round (HG: around the neck); it is dark brown. My neck is completely constricted … everything gathers here … I could choke on it. Everything must go out … I would like to bite them … kill them.”
GM: “Tell me about your dreams.”
P: “I mostly have very terrible dreams, I am afraid to go to sleep. I never wake up refreshed in the morning.”
GM: “What are your dreams about?”
P: “I often dream that someone is standing behind me … I am chased by a large crane and a turtle … they chase me … they run after me. Sometimes I am also pursued by a ghost, it tries to kill me.
Once many cranes chased me in a dream – I had a few of their eggs. They tried to catch me with their beaks and throw me into the sea. I woke up in time.”
Observation: The same theme of torture and torment appears here as well.
Menstrual cycle
The patient has been in the climacteric for three years.
GM: “How was your cycle in the past?”
P: “The bleeding was dark red and ran like water. It lasted between five and six days. The cycle was 25 days. At 38 I entered the climacteric, my cycle became irregular and I had hot flushes. I still have hot flushes and pain in the fingers.”
Physical characteristics
Food: reduced appetite.
Thirst: drinks 2–3 litres of water a day.
Cravings: well-spiced food, which however causes heartburn and makes the haemorrhoids worse; heartburn in the morning and when she eats less.
Aversion: nothing in particular.
Season: Cannot tolerate summer. I like winter, but the joints then get worse; a hot patient.
Sweat: absent.
Sleep: I wake up often, especially after an argument. At the moment I hardly sleep.
Case understanding
In this case the themes ‘I versus You’ and ‘victim and aggressor’ point to the animal kingdom. It is about torture, harassment, mistrust and revenge plus the sensation of contraction, suffocation and strangling. The snake pattern is clearly recognisable. The patient’s talkativeness and her tendency to jump from subject to subject are also striking.
Characteristics of the Viperidae
Haemotoxicity; pent-up anger until it explodes; sit quietly and wait; then suddenly attack without warning.
Characteristics of the subfamily Crotalinae (pit vipers)
If the snake is repeatedly provoked and annoyed, not only does everything accumulate, but it actually strikes.
Fear after a fright.
Fear as if being pursued.
Fear with insomnia.
Anaemia, due to bleeding.
Confirmatory rubrics for Crotalus horridus
Mental – Delusion – people, persons – behind him; someone is
Talkativeness
Mental – Company – Aversion to – family; flees from
Mental – Unconsciousness – dizziness, during
Rectum – bleeding from the anus
Dizziness – menopause – during
Prescription: Crotalus horridus 1M, dissolved in water and taken for five consecutive days.
Summary of follow-ups
After five days the bleeding from the haemorrhoids had completely stopped, the pain and stiffness in the joints had lessened. The dizziness had improved.
Three months later all complaints had significantly improved. She had no bleeding and no more dizziness. The fingers were no longer becoming more crooked and the intensity of the swelling and the pain had decreased. She could grasp and hold things without dropping them. She no longer needed to take pain tablets. The sensation of constriction had also lessened. Emotionally she felt better and began to make peace with her relatives. She had better control over her anger.
After six months of treatment all complaints had improved by more than 60%. She no longer had swelling, pain or joint stiffness. The haemorrhoids had also subsided. Dizziness, exhaustion and heartburn had completely disappeared. Her haemoglobin values also improved: 11 mg – her blood values had never been this good. Her awareness of her own emotional state changed.
Fifteen months later the patient’s rheumatoid factor was 6.45 IU/mL (1.00 to 20.00). She was satisfied in every respect.
Conclusion
This case was a good lesson for me: sit still, listen attentively and trust that the diverse expressions of the patient will come together into a beautiful picture that corresponds to the remedy picture in every respect.
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Photo:
Crotalus horridus atricaudatus; Dawson; CC BY-SA 2.5
Category: Cases
Keywords: arthritis, bleeding haemorrhoid, dizziness, tormented by family, suffocation, mistrust, revenge.
Remedy: Crotalus horridus
Original article: Interhomeopathy.org
