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CHRISTINA ARI ¦
ACUTE REMEDIES LEDUM AND BORRELIA / CONSTITUTION REMEDIES
SPECTRUM OF HOMEOPATHY
BORRELIOSIS
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mother had also developed a persistent state of weakness
following the flu she had around the time of Tamara’s birth.
One grandfather died unexpectedly from flu and the other
from cancer, and her grandmother suffered from alcoholism.
Only her paternal grandmother, from whom she was now
separated, was healthy.
Tamara’s increased liability to fall ill with infectious disease
followed by persistent weakness became apparent after the
family’s move, following the separation from her healthy
grandmother and her familiar surroundings. This led her to
feel deeply destabilized and this is precisely when the borre-
liosis infection occurred. As the illness progressed,
Calcarea
silicata
and
Acidum phosphoricum
turned out to be the most
suitable remedies to strengthen her constitution and her
defenses.
CASE 2: four-year-old girl, lymphadenosis benigna cutis
(German name is B. Bäfverstedt), a borreliosis
lymphoma
The first time Lara comes to my practice, her right ear had been
swollen and discolored red-blue for two weeks, although it did
not hurt. She has pain in the joints of her lower body and along
her shins, and for some time, her appetite has been poor.
The clinical diagnosis is lymphadenosis benigna cutis (B.
Bäfverstedt), which is a borreliosis lymphoma.
Comments:
such pseudolymphomas usually arise reactively
during the early stages of a borreliosis infection (stage I or II)
around the area of the tick bite. There are soft, bulging, also
nodule-like or grouped swellings on the skin with blue-red
discoloration. The swellings are caused by lymphocytes in the
skin. Typically these are found on the earlobes, neck, in the
armpits, on the nipples, and genitals. Such skin lesions can
form the center of erythema chronicum migrans.
Acute treatment:
Lara evidently had a borreliosis infection in
the first or second stage. Typical changes matching erythema
migrans were at this time not present and had previously not
been seen. There was no time for a thorough initial consulta-
tion as the little girl urgently needed immediate treatment.
Her mother strictly refused antibiotic treatment, which is why
she came to my homeopathic practice. I prescribed primarily
Ledum
12D as a remedy that I have found effective in my
practice for borreliosis infections during the initial stage, ad-
ministered three times a day, plus
Borrelia
200C once a day
for the first three days. I also ordered a blood test for a more
precise analysis.
Prescription:
Ledum
12D and
Borrelia
200C
Progress and comprehensive casetaking:
three weeks after
the start of treatment, Lara came once more, and now there
was enough time for a thorough casetaking. The girl had a
slight cold. Her ear was still blue-red, also painful to the touch,
and the joints were unchanged. The blood test indicated a
raised level of borreliosis, type IgG. IgM-AK was not raised
which, I did not know at the time, tends to show that the infec-
tion was no longer recent.
CASETAKING
Lara is a quiet and rather serious girl of late. She is sociable
and likes sharing with her friends in kindergarten. The parent’s
separation a year and a half before affected her badly. She
loves her father and misses him dearly. He was violent to-
wards her mother and therefore he was ordered to leave by
the police on several occasions. She also has a sister who is
a year and a half younger, though she seems relatively unaf-
fected by it all, which bothers her. Her mother says Lara is
“wide awake and creative.”
Family history:
during the pregnancy, Lara’s mother was
extremely unsettled by the gynecologist’s remark: “The fetus
is too small.” The birth of Lara in the 41st week of pregnancy
lasted twenty-one hours. The opening phase was delayed
and the APGAR score was 8 / 9 / 9. The child initially had
torticollis, which responded well to physiotherapy. Her motor
and linguistic development was rapid. Lara was very bright
and defiant, preferring to cry alone if necessary. Even before
the parents’ separation, she tended to hyperventilate and suffer
attacks of croup. Atopic dermatitis on the buttocks appeared
a year after the parents separated, and was successfully treated
with a fatty ointment. Last year, she had increasing joint pains
and headaches. Lara was especially liable to colds, usually
phlegmy. Her favorite food was French fries and she was
afraid of storms.
The lymphoma and the joint pains were so far unchanged and
her liability to infection returned in addition rather than replacing
the joint pains.
Prescription:
discontinue
Ledum
,
Tuberculinum Koch
200C
once a day for three days, followed by daily doses of
Silicea
LM3
Progress:
just five days later, Lara developed a temperature of
40°C. On her own initiative, her mother gave her a few doses
of
Belladonna
30C and then continued with
Silicea
. She de-
veloped a severe cold and cough as well as acute otitis media
on the right, where the lymphoma was also located. Her ear
was massively swollen on the inside, discolored livid, and ex-
ceptionally sensitive to touch. With
Apis
30C, there was rapid
and convincing healing. The girl quickly felt healthy, seemed
unusually wild and cheeky afterwards, perhaps even hyperac-
tive. The lymphoma on the right ear disappeared during the
acute episode! She continued to often complain of joint
pains, which improved on motion, and was thirsty, drinking a
large amount of cold water.