CASES

CASE1 v2

Bryonia alba

BOY, 12 YEARS OLD

This is a case of bronchopneumonia. It started with a pleurisy. In this case I did not make radiographs, because I send the patient to the hospital to have radiographs made - previously I did it myself, but it takes too much time, so that I do not do it anymore. I only send the patients to have radiographs in the hospital, if they are healthy. I had a very interesting case, where I heard the amphoric respiration. Here, you do not find it anymore, I saw it in Zaire where you often find tuberculosis. In this case a colleague already gave Bryonia and Phosphorus, but it did not work. He had constantly fever and when he came I listened and heard the amphoric respiration. I knew it was tuberculosis. I asked him if he liked milk, is grinding teeth at night and other things and I gave him Tuberculinum 10 M; 2 days later Tuberculinum 50 M and after 3 days he was cured from a tuberculous bronchopneumonia. Then we send him to the hospital to have radiographs made and they noticed symptoms of a just finished pneumonia. After 40 days there was nothing else to see. If I would have send this patient in this acute situation for radiographs to the hospital, they would have kept him there. If the radiologist had seen the radiograph, he would have said, "Well, it is a dangerous disease, the boy has to stay here", and when the mother is Calcarea she starts crying and is very worried and the child stays for a fortnight in the hospital.

Now we will see what Homoeopathy can do in a bronchopneumonia.

Look at the boy.

What kind of expression of the face is that ? Baptisia.

It is a drunken expression, it is not the colour of the face. Although he looks very pale, and it is not because of the paleness, but because of the drunken expression that you think of Baptisia.

A: Tell me, what is the problem ?

P: Pain here, while inhaling.

A: Get up and pull your shirt up. Where do you have pain ?

P: (Points to the left side of the chest)

A: Does this whole side hurt ?

P: Yes.

A: (Pushes on the chest) Less painful now ?

P: Yes.

You can make the diagnosis within one minute. You see the patient, he has this pain, you push and ask the patient to inhale, and the pain is better.

In Bryonia cases, when they say they can not breath because of the pain, how is it expressed in the Repertory ? "Impeded respiration" (p. 773).

That is typical for Bryonia. It is very painful while breathing, they stop breathing.

Everyone knows that Bryonia aggravates by motion and the respiration is a motion. Second, there is an amelioration by pressure and third, a stitching pain. When you have a combination of those three modalities, you may be sure you are dealing with Bryonia.

The appearance of Bryonia in pneumonia is pale, in rheumatic cases it is red, that is a clear difference. Every pneumonia case we saw up to now was very pale, on the other hand every neuralgia case and also the cases with arthritic pain we saw up to now was very red in the face. I do not know why.

A: Crepitations, indeed. On the other side, nothing. Crepitation with wheezing and crackling sounds. Pneumonia left with pleurisy tendency.

In pneumonia, in very serious cases you often hear nothing at all at the lungs. But here there were crepitations (He heard a curious trickling sound and then a louder crepitation as if someone were unwrapping great sheets of cellophane) , that is a symptom for pneumonia. But there are cases where you listen to the lungs and you hear nothing. Someone might have stitching pain while inhaling deeply like a pneumonia, we had such a case. A colleague listened to the patient and asked me also to do it. He said it was a very serious case, because it is a pneumonia and the respiration on one side was clearly weakened.

I went to the patient, but there was hardly any difference to notice between the respiration on the left and the right side, but the colleague who listened the patient was very anxious. I thought about Phosphorus because of the pneumonia, but because of other symptoms I gave Ignatia. You can also get a pneumonia because of grief and Ignatia will cure it. You do not believe me, because Ignatia is not known in inflammatory diseases, but Ignatia can also cure a pneumonia. In this case I do not know, if the grief was the cause, but do not forget that Ignatia can cure serious inflammation.

MP: How can this happen within two days ?

A: It might happen rather fast. Are you thirsty ?

P: A little. I have a dry throat.

"Dryness with thirst": Bryonia; "dryness without thirst": also Bryonia.

A: Does he want to lie down ?

MP: Yes, after school he slept the whole time. He could barely hold out in the waiting room, he nearly fell from his chair.

A: At the moment he is paler than usually. You have a dry mouth. Do you want to lie down ?

MP: He has a tendency to vomit.

A: Does he also has the tendency to faint when he is running ?

MP: I haven't noticed it yet.

A: What does the warmth do ? Do you prefer the coldness ?

P: In between.

Bryonia has an aggravation by motion and in warm rooms. Bryonia faints when he has been running and goes into the house, because of the exertion and the warmth in the room.

A: How is the pain when you breath ? How does the pain feel ?

P: A stitching pain.

A: Does it stitch when you do not breath so deeply ?

P: Less.

A: How is it when you rub on it ? Does it do good ?

P: No.

A: Do you have nose bleedings ?

P: No.

Why do I ask that ? Because of which remedy ? Phosphorus. Phosphorus wants to be magnetised. Phosphorus are people who can be cured by laying on hands. They are very sensitive to that, just like Silicea. They are also sensitive to electricity. These people have an amelioration by kinetic therapy. Pain in the back, all kinds of pain ameliorate by rubbing. If Phosphorus children fall, they want to be caressed, a kiss on it and everything is all right.

A: Does he want you to stay with him ?

MP: No, he doesn't want to be talked to.

Bryonia wants to be left alone. Where do we find this in the Repertory ? "Disturbed, don't want to be" (p. 37). In this rubric there are only two remedies: Bryonia and Gelsemium.

The first two remedies we think of in this case are Phosphorus and Bryonia, so we only have to differentiate between those two. On the psychical level the difference is that Bryonia wants to be left alone and Phosphorus normally wants someone near him who is holding his hand. But we also know of Phosphorus that he often is indifferent to relations (p. 55). Another difference is that Phosphorus moves the wings of the nose; Bryonia does not do it, "nose, motion of wings" (p. 340).

A: He has the tendency to sleep ?

MP: After 4.00 o'clock p.m. , yes.

A: On which side does he lie then ?

P: Usually, on this side, sometimes on the other.

A: Can't you lie on the other side ? Can you lie on the painful side ?

P: I haven't lain on that side yet.

On which side does Bryonia lay ? On the painful side. Do not forget Bryonia in lung cancer, in incurable cases that develop a pleurisy. In those cases the pain can be decreased by giving those people Bryonia. You can help most people with lung cancer palliatively, but you can not cure them.

A: Do you also have headache ?

P: Sometimes.

A: When does it hurt ?

P: I have it now and then.

A: Do you have headache while coughing ? Do you cough ?

P: Yes.

MP: A little, not much. It comes very deeply.

A: As if coming from the stomach.

He is coughing as if coming from the stomach (p. 806). And there is an important addition: Carcinosinum. You know that the headache of Bryonia is diagnosed by letting the patient cough and pressing the head at the same time; then it is better. They have headache especially when they put their head forwards, everything falls forward with the pain and then you take the head between your hands, push them forward and press at the same time, and then there is no pain anymore or it is less. That is the examination to recognize Bryonia.

A: Does he hold his chest while coughing ?

MP: Yes.

He holds his chest while coughing. That is typical for Bryonia. Where do we find this rubric ? - "Cough must hold chest with both hands" (p. 792). They hold the chest, because they have to press; the pressure ameliorates.

A: I give a remedy, I put it in his mouth. When you come home you dissolve the same remedy in water and give 3 times a spoonful today. Tomorrow morning you call me to tell me how he's doing. The general tiredness and the appearance are very important. At the moment he looks completely exhausted, he is ready to drop with fatigue. The stitching pain is very important as a parameter for tomorrow. He does not move, he is sitting still. He only moves the eyes a little, nothing else. That is important for the differential diagnosis between Bryonia and Phosphorus.

FEEDBACK

Do you see how he looks. 24 hours have passed. You can only reach this after one month hospital - a fortnight in the hospital and a fortnight at home.

A: Yesterday you got a remedy. How much did he get of it ?

MP: Last night and this morning still two times.

A: Last night three times 1 spoonful and today two times 1 spoonful. How much fever did he had yesterday evening ?

MP: 39,20 ° C. It remained so last night, but by the morning the fever had disappeared.

A: Yesterday, I had the impression he would be ready to drop. You look completely different today. Do you feel better ?

P: Yes.

A: What about the pain ?

P: The pain is less.

A: Do you start coughing ?

P: Yes, I have coughed very much today.

A: Yesterday, you hardly coughed. Did you have pain when you coughed ?

P: Yes, sometimes.

A: Has the pain on the left side disappeared ?

P: Not completely, but it is less.

A: Do you bring something up when you are coughing at the moment ?

P: Yes, mucus.

A: Take off your coat, then we will listen.

"Expectoration" means that the patient is able to bring up bacteria, this means that he has become stronger.

MP: This morning he still had a lot of headache. He didn't have it so strongly yesterday.

A: (Listens the patient) Now in- and exhale very deeply. (Patient is coughing). I'm deaf or he's cured.

MP: He had the tendency of not coughing so deeply. Always this superficial coughing.

A: But not at the moment ?

MP: No, not at the moment.

Which remedy has this superficial coughing ? That is Tuberculinum coughing, a very chronic, superficial coughing.

MP: We think he drinks too little. Does he not have to drink much ? He hasn't drunk the whole night and this morning only one cup of tea.

A: No, if he doesn't want to, he doesn't have to drink. Did he eat today ?

MP: Yes, even very well. This morning a little, at noon a little more.

A: How much fever does he have at the moment ?

MP: I haven't taken it yet. This morning it was 36,7° C or so.

Yesterday 39,2° C; today 36,7° C, without aspirin.

A: Do you have the feeling that you have fever ?

P: No.

A: Where do you have pain ?

P: Deep at this side a little, when I breath deeply.

A: You get this remedy to take home again, but you don't take it. The moment he has more pain you dissolve this remedy in water and give him a little. For me, he looks excellent. You have to stay inside, until you don't feel anything. Clinically, the boy is all right, yesterday there were crepitations everywhere.

MP: Yesterday he felt really miserable, nearly crying the whole time. And now, he played beautifully this morning.

A: You see, what Homoeopathy can do.

MP: There must be done something about his nose obstruction.

A: It has nothing to do with the acute situation. Now, we are not dealing with the previous situation. That is an acute case of a patient of my colleague. I will tell your doctor which acute remedy he got and then he will take care of it further.

Now she starts talking about this colleague behind his back. When you are working with several doctors together, never allow patients to talk behind the back of your colleagues. Prevent this immediately. They are trying to seperate you, especially critical people like Sulphur, Lycopodium and Nux vomica. They try to talk about other doctors. Never accept this !

When I had a seminar in the Netherlands, I came back after 4 days and one of my patients called me because she was coughing and there was something wrong with her ear. In the meantime she went to a colleague. Because 5 of our doctors also went to the course in the Netherlands, another doctor was in holiday and so on, he had to stay there for 3 days and 3 nights to take care of all the acute cases. He told this woman who called to take an aspirin and to call later. Then she went to an allopathic doctor and he said, it was very dangerous with her ear, she had an inflammation of the ear and had to take antibiotics. 3 days later I came back home and she called me. She said that she was not satisfied with the treatment. I told her that this doctor had been working for 3 days and 3 nights and then she understood.

All together you have to defend yourself against every possible danger, no matter where it comes from. You have to love each other, you need your other colleagues. One day you will become ill or you are in holiday and the other doctors have to take care of your patients. We need each other and we understand each other very well, we have to work with each other and we have to celebrate with each other.

She starts talking about this doctor, but I said, "No, this is an acute case, nothing chronic."

CASE2v2

Acute mastitis

Dd bell., bry.

WOMAN, 35 YEARS OLD

This case - it was in my first consultation room, the sound is not so good, but it is an important case, philosophically. That is the reason why I show it here. It is a mastitis, an acute inflammation of the breast after the birth of her child.

A: Three weeks after the birth of your child you got a breast-abscess on the right side.

P: Yes.

A: This situation started immediately. You had pain with 40° C fever and had a red appearance. Therefore, I gave you Belladonna and the next day the fever had gone. But then, you got fever again and the breast was hurting.

P: Yes, that was completely different.

A: Then, you looked very pale.

P: And I was very thirsty.

A: How did you feel emotionally at that moment ?

P: I couldn't tolerate anything, not even the children. I was very irritated. I didn't see well, I didn't hear well.

A: You wanted to be left alone ?

P: Yes.

A: What about the pain at that moment ?

P: Very strong. Not stitching. Continuously.

A: It was always hurting.

She already had an acute inflammation after the birth a few times. All these inflammations until now were Belladonna - no, once it was Phytolacca.

This case here, an inflammation on the right side with very high fever, very red - and I gave her Belladonna. The day, after the fever had gone, she got a completely different kind of illness. As she said, she felt completely different than previously with Belladonna. Afterwards she came into a Bryonia phase: dry mouth, thirsty, pale, could not tolerate her children, wanted to be left alone and was very tired.

Can we now say that our first remedy was wrong ? No, we have to follow the patient. That is the reason why it is important that the patient can reach a doctor when he needs one.

You might have to give another remedy after 3 days and probably another remedy after 3 days.

A: I gave you a remedy. When did it improve ?

P: The pain didn't disappear immediately, but the fever went down. During the night the fever went down.

A: Had the pain completely disappeared ?

P: Yes, but the redness hadn't disappeared yet.

A: And what about the thirst ?

P: It was over.

She was cured with Bryonia. Later she came, and said that she had pain in the left breast and cracks in the nipple. The pain had wandered from the right to the left side. She got Lycopodium and afterwards the breast-symptoms disappeared.

Later she had problems with her son who had asthma and eczema. Which remedy did I give her ? Ignatia ? After Lycopodium ? No, after Lycopodium it is Natrum muriaticum; and then she was very well.

CASE3v2

Bryonia alba

BOY, 4 YEARS OLD

A: Tell us, what is the matter with your child ?

FP: Last Wednesday at noon, 4 days ago, he went to sleep. He woke up suddenly and complained about his leg, you could not touch it. It came unexpectedly. First, we didn't pay attention to it. His grandmother was there. I was not at home myself. After an hour I came home with my wife. He sat on my mother's lap. I went to him and moved his leg and he pulled it immediately back. I said, "What's the matter now." My wife said we should have a look at it. We took off his pants and his left knee was completely swollen, red and warm. He was afraid you would touch it.

A: Probably, he was afraid that you would move it.

FP: And he was furious that I did it so suddenly.

A: It was an acute arthritis of the knee ?.

FP: Yes, especially on the left side and a little on the right side.

A: Did you notice other symptoms ?

FP: At that moment there were no other symptoms.

His little brother was ill for a few days and had fever. Two days before he also woke up and had a very red appearance. He was a little weak, shivered and had 39,1° C fever. But further, he wasn't ill, he ran about normally.

A: Is he an active child ?

FP: Yes, very active. In the mornings, when he wakes up, he starts immediately playing with this or that.

A: We can not say, that he is restless, but a busy child.

FP: Yes, always.

Where can we find this ? A child, constantly busy ? It is not a restless child, but it has to be busy: Apis, Bryonia is there. "Industry" is a very important symptom of Bryonia. Bryonia is one of the first remedies in industry. He also dreams about it. Apis is also there. The differential diagnosis to Ledum after a wasp-sting is very important. You can differentiate them by these mental symptoms. Apis is constantly busy, Ledum not. I have seen it so many times.

A: How did it go on ?

FP: My wife is a nurse, she immediately wanted to go with him to the hospital. But I said, "I know what they do there, namely from the first moment on they give blindly antibiotics, for fear it could develop to an osteomyelitis. I will call the centre." And I could come immediately.

A: Then I saw the child. It was notable, and I prescribed the remedy to that symptom, that the child had more pain when I touched it. I took him under his armpits and let him hang down, then he had more pain at his knee. When he stood, he didn't have pain, but he had when he was walking.

Be attentive with the observation. We know, that Bryonia has an improvement by pressure. When someone had an inflammation of the knee and is standing, it is a pressure. Standing ameliorates because of the pressure. When I lift him up, the pressure left off and he has pain. That was together with the industry an indication for Bryonia. A very little, but important symptom, such as the diagnosis of appendicitis - the rebound tenderness. You push (on the belly), release it and it hurts.

Does everyone know the rubric for appendicitis: "Abdomen, inflammation, appendicitis" (p. 552).

ABDOMEN,INFLAMMATION,appendicitis : Bell., Bry., cadm., calc-s., chel., chin., cocc., con., crot-c., dulc., echi., graph., hep., lach., lyc., Merc-c., merc., nit-ac., Phos., plb., Sil., ter.

A: Think about the rebound tenderness in appendicitis. The child is standing and the articular cartilages are pressed against each other. He stands still. So, pressure improves. I lift him and he has more pain. If the pressure has disappeared, the pain becomes worse. And motion aggravates, when he goes. A beautiful Bryonia sign.

FP: Yes, indeed.

A: How fast did it improve ?

FP: You gave me the remedy on Wednesday evening. We gave him that evening twice a spoonful in solution. When he woke up, he got out of bed himself and walked about. His knee was not red anymore, nor warm, only a little swollen. He did not dare sit on his knees yet. He could sit on the toilet and was lying on the floor. That day he got a spoonful 3 times. The next day he came out of bed again and was sitting on his knees. The swelling had disappeared also.

A: So, we can say that he was busy as a bee.

FP: Yes.

I saw him the first time on Wednesday evening, I made the video three days later, on Sunday. You know, what happens in a children's hospital with an acute mon-articular arthritis of the knee ? They immediately give antibiotics. With homoeopathy everything was cured within 3 days.

CASE4v2

Influenza

Bryonia alba

MAN, 45 YEARS OLD

A: You were here on Thursday, today it is Sunday. You came with a severe influenza, which you already had for a few days.

P: Yes, since Tuesday, then it started.

A: How did it happen ?

P: I think, because I have been walking about outside, without putting on more clothes. And so I got a cold.

A: Did you feel it ?

P: That I did something wrong, yes. I tried to prevent it with vitamin C. On Monday, I did not feel much and I thought, that it was all right. I went working, but I was cold the whole day. When I came home in the evening, I told my wife that I felt very well. I went sleeping and didn't become warm. I took another blanket and woke up at 3.00 a.m. because of the cold. On Tuesday morning I felt rather well again. I went back to my work. On Tuesday evening I had fever.

A: How was the fever ?

P: I started to fantasize. I had to heap bricks in the desert. And when it wasn't right, I had to heap them again at another place. That happened 150 times until I wake up again.

That is very interesting. He had a kind of delirium, delusion, dream. He had to heap bricks in the desert, they fall down again and he has to heap them again. Look in the Repertory: "Sleep, dreams, busy", "dreams of being busy" (p. 1237).

SLEEP,DREAMS,busy : Ambr., anac., apis., bell., Bry., camph., canth., carb-ac., carl., coca., hydr., hyos., hyper., ign., kalm., lach., led., lyc., mosch., osm., phos., sabad., sabin., sang., sep.

Radium bromatum has to be added here. He is very busy in his dream, and indeed in the desert. He said that he has heaped bricks in the desert, he has the delusion, to be away from home - "delusion, thinks he is away from home" (p. 27) (Laughter).

You can also say, that he has a kind of delirium in this fever. It is difficult to differentiate between delusion, dream and delirium. Look under "delirium, busy, during fever" (S. 18).

MIND,DELIRIUM,busy : Bapt., bell., bry., camph., hyos., rhus-t., stram., sulph.

P: ... and immediately, until the morning.

A: So, until the morning heaping bricks in your bed ?

P: Yes, in bed. I was completely exhausted. On Wednesday I couldn't do anything.

A: What else did you feel in your body ?

P: Forceless, no energy.

A: No pain ?

P: No. It came later, only in the evening, also during the night from Wednesday on Thursday. Pain everywhere. I couldn't lie anymore. I was tossing about, because of the pain. My arms were swollen and were hurting completely, even my testicles, everything was hurting. It was terrible.

A: Did you have headache while coughing ?

P: Yes.

A: And pain in the back while coughing ?

P: Pain in the back, headache, until Friday.

A: You were here on Thursday.

P: Friday I still had strong pain.

A: And Saturday ?

P: It had disappeared.

A: So, you had pain aggravated from motion ? But the pain was so bad, that you couldn't lie still in bed ?

P: Yes, I couldn't lie, because of the pain.

This symptom is very important for the differential diagnosis of Rhus toxicodendron (restlessness). Often, Rhus toxicodendron is so painful, that he can not move himself, and often Bryonia is so painful that he can not sit still. So, the differential diagnosis between those two remedies is not always so easy, unless he heaps bricks in the desert.

A: Did you also have a dry mouth ?

P: Yes, during the fever.

A: Were you thirsty ?

P: Yes.

A: In the meantime we know that you were busy in your dreams, but you also wanted to be left alone ?

P: Yes, no noise around my ears, nothing. I didn't want to know anything. My wife may lie beside me, but she may not do anything.

A: Do you think, that you are easily hot-tempered ?

P: A little aggressive, yes.

A: During your influenza you had also troubles with your stool. How was it ?

P: It was difficult, I had pain, also while urinating.

A: And you had a swollen feeling.

P: Yes, I was swollen up.

A: You got a tablet in dissolution.

P: Yes, I took 3 spoonfuls a day.

A: And today it is Sunday and you feel well, don't you ?

P: Yes, I get a push of energy again.

Question: "What did you give, which remedy was it ?"

A: Bryonia, because of the dry mouth, he wanted to be left alone, had this sore pain everywhere, he was inside the house, and went outside where it was cold - that is Rhus toxicodendron and Bryonia, the two important remedies.

The cause was not an east wind. Then, it should be which remedy ? Aconitum. But then, he also had to be anxious to die and he had to be very restless.

It could also be Gelsemium, but not in this case.

Gelsemium, Aconitum, Rhus toxicodendron and Bryonia are important remedies in influenza, also Nux vomica, Sulphur and others.

CASE5v2

Bryonia alba

- Girl, 10 years old

- This is a case for those who don't believe in Homoeopathy and the power of this medicine yet.

- It happened during my night duty, about 11.00 p. m..

- 00 p.m. when the mother came with her child.

- I examined the child and it was a clear appendicitis, a peritoneal abscess.

- A : When did the pain start exactly?

- P : When I came home today.

- MP : But she always had pain in the abdomen.

- A : During the examination the Mac Burneysh point is very sensitive and I felt a hardening.

- P : Yesterday evening I felt the pain for the first time.

- A : Did you sleep last night?

- P : Yes.

- A : You didn't have problems?

- P : No, not at night.

- MP : The night before last night she woke up and she lay in bed the whole morning.

- A : Were you at home alone?

- P : No, with my sister.

- A : You went working?

- MP : Yes., My husband was also at home.

- He is ill himself.

- He lay on the couch.

- A : Did you sleep alone in your room?

- P : Yes.

- A : What did you drink?

- P : Lemonade and water.

- A : Cold or warm?

- P : Cold.

- A : And did you have to vomit?

- P : No.

- A : What about the pain? Is it a stitching pain, or what kind of pain?

- P : Yes.

- A : I gave you a tablet.

- What did you feel?

- P : Nothing.

- A : Do you have more or less pain at the moment?

- P : It is exactly the same as before.

- A : Do you sleep on your side?

- Do you always sleep on your right side?

- P : Yes, sometimes I sleep on the left side.

- A : Do you always have to do something? Does she always have to be busy?

- MP : Yes, she is always busy and she reads very much, very much.

- We see a rather pale child who is sitting there and hardly moves.

- At home she lay in bed the whole time and she didn't desire company.

- Before she had recurrent abdominal pain regularly.

- I haven't seen this child before and when I asked the mother about the difficulties and the problems at home she said that she was divorced.

- A child who suffers from the fact that the father and the mother are separated is 99% which remedy?

- Answer : "Natrum muriaticum."

- A : Yes, Natrum muriaticum.

- These are very sensitive children, who react with abdominal pain or with headache.

- She is complaining about stitching pain, is sitting there and does not move only when necessary, only moves the head, only the eyes, has a dry mouth, is pale, has stitching pain and is constitutionally surely Natrum muriaticum, with this appearance and closedness.

- It must be a remedy which is complementary to Natrum muriaticum, and this is which remedy?

- Answer : "Bryonia."

- A : Yes, Bryonia, everybody knows.

- A doctor from Holland once said to me that when you give the remedy you can see immediately how the remedy works.

- That's why I said I will wait until I see something.

- A : Can she occupy herself well?

- MP : Yes.

- A : Are you tired now?

- MP : She nearly falls asleep on the chair.

- A : Are you tired?

- P : Yes.

- The remedy is working.

- A : Do you still have so much pain?

- P : I don't feel any difference.

- If a child starts falling asleep, it means that the pain has become less.

- Indeed she says that the pain is the same, but if there comes a quietness, a rest inside, then the remedy starts acting.

- I will take the temperature, but I don't expect high fever.

- Seldom the temperature in dangerous cases of appendicitis is higher than 38o/38.5o.

- A : Could you sleep now?

- P : Yes.

- A : Are you more tired now than before?

- P : Yes.

- A : The pain is still the same?

- P : Yes.

- A : As strong as before?

- P : Yes.

- A : Are there any problems at home?

- MP : My friend is at home.

- A friend of mine is living with me at home.

- A : How does she react to this situation?

- MP : Not so good.

- A Natrum muriaticum problem.

- Do you see? She has difficulties in keeping her eyes open (quietness for a while).

- Now, she fell asleep.

- A : Were there any problems or a fight or discussions lately?

- MP : No., I just told her that she doesn't have to take it to heart if there is something wrong.

- No, in the last weeks there haven't been any discussions.

- She was weeping because she had pain.

- She doesn't play theatre when she has pain.

- A : Does she have fever?

- MP : I don't know.

- A : Take the temperature.

- Do you have more pain while driving in a car?

- P : Yes, when there is a bump.

- A : 37.4o.

- This is low.

- Are you tired?

- P : Yes.

- A : You could nearly fall asleep.

- Is the pain still the same as before?

- You just sleep.

- She really fell asleep, internal peace.

Follow-up

- A : How is the pain?

- P : It is just as painful as before.

- A : But now she doesn't weep from pain?

- MP : Sometimes she still does, sometimes she is complaining, sometimes she is weeping.

- She is a person who doesn't complain much.

- When she says something then I know that it is real.

- A : But she is more thirsty than otherwise?

- P : Yes, yes, I'm more thirsty.

- A : Before you gave her a painkilling tablet?

- MP : Yes.

- A : And you also have a dry mouth?

- P : Yes.

- It is a dangerous situation : will the appendix perforate or not? Do I have to send her to the hospital or not? But I see the action of the remedy and I trust that the remedy will solve the case.

Follow-up (next day)

- A : How did it go?

- P : Good.

- A : Yesterday evening she took the tablet, then she became very sleepy.

- She didn't have to take the second tablet, I gave her one to take home in case the pain should appear again.

- And then she fell asleep.

- MP : .

- When we came home I told her, "You just go to bed."

- But she was anxious and she didn't want to he alone, and therefore she lay on the couch until half past eleven.

- Afterwards I put her to bed, she woke up and she said, 'I'm hungry."

- She drank soup and fell asleep again.

- She was anxious that I wouldn't be awake on time to wake her up so that we would be here on time.

- A : The pain disappeared completely?

- P : Yes, only when I walk I still feel something, and when I sneeze; or cough and when I stretched this morning.

- A : So while sneezing, coughing and stretching.

- What kind of pain was it?

- P : Again stitching pain.

- A : Still a stitching pain while coughing, sneezing and stretching.

- Yesterday I clearly felt this hardening.

- It is difficult to feel it now (while the patient is standing).

- Lie down on the examination table.

- Now, she can do it herself, you don't have to help her anymore.

- Yesterday it was very, very painful.

- Do you still feel anything?

- P : Yes, I still feel something.

- A : I can still feel the hardening a little bit.

- Do you see what you can prevent, an operation and a lot of suffering of the child.

CASE6v2

Dd bry., bar-c.

- Boy, 8 years old

- A : Turn your head this side so that I can see that it is a swelling of the parotid.

- A : Does it hurt when I touch it?

- P : Yes, it hurts here below.

- A : Does it hurt?

- P : No, a little bit.

- So not particularly a strong pain on a slight touch.

- A : Not bad, or?

- P : No.

- A : It is not red, only swollen, also not particularly warm.

- If they can't tolerate the slightest touch, when it is warm and swollen, heat with fever and on the right side, it is Belladonna.

- But here it is not Belladonna.

- In aggravation on slight touch there is another remedy, which immediately comes into our mind and that is Mercurius.

- You have to smell the breath and look at the tongue and then you can give Mercurius.

- Does everybody know the rubric for swelling of the parotid? It is under face "swelling, parotid gland" on page 394.

FACE,SWELLING,parotid gland : Ail., am-c., anth., apis., arn., ars., Arum-t., aur-m., aur., Bar-c., bar-m., Bell., Brom., bry., bufo., calc-s., calc., carb-an., carb-s., carb-v., Cham., chin-a., Chin., chlol., cinnb., cist., coc-c., cocc., con., crot-h., dig., dulc., fago., ferr-p., graph., hep., hippoz., hyos., ign., iris., kali-ar., kali-bi., kali-c., kali-i., kali-p., lac-c., lach., lyc., mang., merc-cy., merc-i-r., Merc., mur-ac., nat-a., nat-c., Nit-ac., nux-v., phos., phyt., plb., psor., puls., Rhus-t., sarr., sep., Sil., staph., stram., sul-ac., sulph., sumb., vip.

- A : Before he came the last time he has been ill for 14 days.

- Tell me how did it start.

- FP : With stitching headache.

- When the school was out he started crying because of the headache.

- He came home and he felt miserable and he complained about headache the whole time.

- It was alternating very strongly.

- Sometimes it was a little bit better and then he was a little bit quiet and then he started to cry again because of the headache.

- The fever went up and down, then 37.5o, then higher.

- He also vomited during his headache.

- A : Tell me when did he vomit?

- FP : The slightest thing he ate he vomited after 5 minutes, so with the slightest quantity he drank, even when it was only one draught.

- Everything started with a kind of meningeal irritation, vomiting after drinking, a kind of influenza; it was a dangerous situation with headache, vomiting and so on.

- A : How was his behaviour compared to before?

- FP : I told my wife that it was better the last week.

- It does him good when he conquers a disease.

- He is much more verbal and talks much more.

- He became more independent.

- But during the disease his behaviour was completely different than otherwise.

- A : Tell me about it.

- FP : Normally he is active, but when he is ill, especially with headache, then he wants to stay in bed.

- A : Do you have to be with him or not?

- FP : He wanted to be left alone?

- He was more quiet than otherwise.

- The first day he nearly slept the whole day.

- A : And he was paler than otherwise?

- FP : Yes.

- A : Last week on Tuesday or Wednesday I gave him the remedy, we will not mention the name.

- It was in 200 potency and I said, you should call again tomorrow.

- You gave him one spoonful.

- And how did it go?

- FP : It became a little bit worse.

- It was surely not better.

- A : Then you came back.

- I looked again and said, 'Yet, it is the right remedy.

- I will give it in 10M potency."

- FP : Then it went very quickly.

- After four hours he was nearly cured.

- He came very acute with vomiting after the slightest quantity of water.

- You know the rubric under stomach, "vomiting, drinking, after, smallest quantity" on page 532

STOMACH,VOMITTING,DRINKING,smallest quantity : Ars-h., Ars., Bism., Bry., Cadm., Phos., plb.

: Arsenicum, Bismuthum -Bismuthum in very dangerous situations, in perforations of the stomach - Cadmium sulphuratum - in what kind of disease?

- Answer : "In cancer."

- A : In cancer of the stomach, with black vomiting, vomiting like coffee grounds.

- Then Bryonia, Phosphorus, Plumbum with vomiting after small quantities.

- Normally he is a very lively child, but now he just only wants to lie down.

- He doesn't want to have anybody around, so Arsenicum and Phosphorus are out of question.

- For Bismuthum he doesn't have any particular symptom, not these terrible pains in the stomach which we know of Bismuthum.

- Further, in such a young child you wouldn't expect cancer of the stomach, so Cadmium sulphuratum is excluded.

- 'Doesn't want to be disturbed", there are two remedies in the Repertory, Gelsemium and Bryonia, besides he was very pale, he only wanted to lie down and so on, so that I gave Bryonia 200.

- The next day he came back and it was worse.

- But I was absolutely sure it was Bryonia and I gave him Bryonia 10M and four hours later he was cured.

- This is always the same story with low potencies.

- Now, I can understand that it must be very difficult to be a good homoeopath If you work with low potencies.

- You repertorize the case, give the right remedy and nothing happens.

- Then you start doubting.

- All right, so four hours later he was cured and then came this swelling of the parotid, one week later.

- Look very closely at the behaviour of the child and pay attention to what the father says.

- A : This disease went away very quickly.

- It was a kind of meningeal irritation, although the examination was not clearly positive, but this isn't of any importance.

- This is now one week ago and this morning you called because of this swelling of the parotid.

- A second important argument for this remedy is his state after the last disease.

- Can you describe this again?

- FP : Afterwards it went very easily, he talked more.

- I already said that it appears to me that he is doing much better every time when he got through a disease, as if the disease would bring him on a higher level.

- I don't know what kind of influence this might have, but he is really verbal.

- He is only 51/2 years old and if you hear him explaining things, he can do it better than before.

- A : How does he behave?

- FP : The amelioration which we determine, is that he is not so hyperactive anymore.

- You remember surely about the time that he was nearly hyperkinetic.

- This is much better.

- It is as if this improves after such a disease.

- A : The remedy which we have to give is clear.

- After the disease he was more talkative, more understandable.

- FP : I also wondered where he got this.

- He really asked intelligent questions.

- I really wondered where he got this cleverness, otherwise he doesn't do it, otherwise he is more childish.

- A : Show me your tongue, boy.

- A little bit down so.

- P : (Puts out his tongue.)

- A : It is not coated, Did he perspire last night?

- FP : He might have perspired, but not so strongly.

- This morning he had more pain than now.

- A : The swelling is not particularly red or warm.

- I will give him a remedy now and I would like to see him again on Saturday.

- FP : Yes, yes.

- A : If the swelling of the parotid would extend to the other side you must call me immediately.

- You see how this child is sitting there, is looking around and is playing.

- (Everything is very slow and hard).

- I've known this child for quite a long time and the problems were always tonsillitis, sometimes very acute, severe inflammations.

- He got a remedy in 10M potency and two days later he was cured.

- If the parotitis would have gone from right to left it would have been which remedy?

- Lycopodium.

- All right, he had Bryonia for the acute state.

- It became better and ' then came the parotitis.

- In the Bryonia state his behaviour was' completely different from normal, but now his normal behaviour came back.

- Which is the remedy?

- Baryta carbonica.

- But up to now we can't decide definitely, because we have too little information.

- FP : I think that his penis and his testicles remain very small compared to other boys.

- He thinks that in this boy compared to other boys the penis and the testicles are too small.

- This corresponds to the dwarfishness of Baryta carbonica, certain areas are not developed well enough.

- These are children which are late in learning to walk and at the same time late in learning to talk.

- I have quite a lot of difficulties in the differentiation of Baryta carbonica and Baryta muriatica.

- I tried to find out the differences.

- You know that Baryta carbonica and Baryta muriatica are remedies for childhood or for old people or for people who studied too much and whose memory fails and there is a lack of self-confidence, for example, in engineers.

- In such situations we have to think of Baryta carbonica, with anxiety with company, anxiety with strangers and so on.

- Another important point is the chronic swollen tonsils, as it is described in Baryta carbonica, and the swelling of the cervical glands.

- You find this in the Repertory in the generalities on page 1405 "swelling glands, knotted cords, like".

- If you feel in the neck before the M. sternocleidomastoideus you feel very small glands like a paternoster.

- Baryta muriatica is capital here, Baryta carbonica is not there.

- I doubt very strongly.

- They say Baryta muriatica is a remedy for old people with aneurysms and arteriosclerosis; but this is not clear for me.

- Yesterday evening I saw a child of which I had the idea only by the external appearance it could be Tuberculinum.

- But now it is three years old and up to now he didn't speak.

- Besides it was very late in learning to walk.

- When he turned his head I saw small glands in the throat and I felt them like a knotted cord.

- Then it was clear to me it was Baryta carbonica, but in the Repertory it is not in the corresponding rubric.

- I think there is a lack.

- It was a very small child, a child of which you could say it is a Natrum muriaticum child; pale, the head was just flat, the same appearance as Natrum muriaticum, but it was a child which let him tell by somebody else, a nice child.

- I think that the muriaticum element maybe indicates in the direction of Natrum muriaticum.

- Maybe is Baryta muriatica a somewhat smaller child than Baryta carbonica child, rather small, while Baryta carbonica goes more in the direction of the Calcarea, more fat and round.

- Maybe it is so, but I can't say for sure.

- A second observation was that it is a thin child, but the abdomen was a little bit too fat.

- If we look under the rubric "abdomen, enlarged, children" on page 546 we see again Baryta carbonica, on the other hand the glands like knotted cords : only Baryta muriatica.

- Here nobody seems to know exactly and it is our task to find out the differences between Baryta carbonica and Baryta muriatica.

- Maybe they are also complementary.

- Kent writes that if somebody got Baryta carbonica as a constitutional remedy before, you should give Baryta muriatica in acute inflammations.

- Maybe it is so

- We did it, we gave a child in an acute disease Baryta muriatica 50M which had got before Baryta carbonica and it worked wonderfully.

- It is difficult to recognize the difference, but in a certain way both have underdeveloped areas, either the mind or as a person they are too small or the testicle or the penis is too small and so on.

Follow-up

- A : Tell me how did it go?

- FP : Now, he is much better.

- The swelling is still a little bit to see.

- He still feels it when you push on it.

- When was I here?

- A : You were here on May 19.

- This is now 4 days ago.

- It was on Tuesday and now it is Saturday.

- Within some days it improved very well.

- On Tuesday he had a very serious swelling.

- FP : Immediately afterwards it became less.

- Then it was again a little bit more swollen and then it was again a little bit less swollen.

- The swelling was especially in the morning, it improved during the day.

- You see, sometimes he is absent-minded; he doesn't follow the consultation.

- If it would be a Calcarea child he would pay extreme attention, 'What do they say about me? I hope they don't say anything wrong or bad about me."

- He would listen very carefully.

- But this boy here, he is sitting there and he looks absent-minded.

- Do you see him dreaming?

- A : How is his behaviour now?

- FP : Good, absolutely good.

- Now I can't see any difference between the other boys.

- Two years ago it was really hopeless.

- A : He can go to school on Monday.

- He doesn't have any fever, eats well, plays well and looks very well.

- He looks better as if we...

- FP : ...and maybe he feels much better than I do.

- Every time the father comes with this child to the consultation.

- Very strange.

- He works at the bank, works with quite a lot of money and so on and he comes with his son here.

- Very strange.

- One day he had a very bad sciatica and during a weekend he went in an acute state to his family doctor, because I was not there or because he got the wrong remedy at the Centre, I don't know exactly.

- The family doctor gave him an injection and he sent him to the hospital, where X-rays were taken and all these kind of things.

- He was lying in bed with this sciatica for weeks and weeks.

- When it was a little bit better and he could walk again and work again he came back to the Centre and I said to him, "I see that you are still in pain.

- " 'Yes, it is still hurting, but it is much better than before."

- Then I started thinking..

- He always comes with the children here and he always starts talking about the child, about his behaviour and so on.

- That is strange.

- In his free time he goes fishing and takes his two children with him and on Saturday in the afternoon he goes with his wife shopping.

- Then I asked him where he had pain and he said, "Here!" and he pointed with his finger to one point.

- Since then everything is all right, he is doing well.

- His wife is Sepia and he is complaining - well yes, you know, about what he is complaining.

- But he is a good father and he understands his wife, because she had a very difficult youth, he understands everything and he is worried about his family, his wife and his children.

- He is also worded about his clients, he is very serious towards them, very careful and for me he is really a good father, because I don't understand anything at all about financial things.

- He says to me that I have to do this or that and nothing else and so on.

- He is a real father on this level, in his profession, for his clients.

- Also when they are a director of the bank or something like that you feel that they want to help you.

CASE7v2

Dd alum., bry.

Case

Girl, 7 years old

June 16, 1990

A : Seven years ago, in March 1983, we started the treatment. The original problem was asthma, recurrent bronchitis and eczema.

In the family history we saw that the grandfather on father's side had had asthma. The mother's sister had tuberculosis. Who else?

MP : My sister also had tuberculosis.

A : With her (the patient) the problems started during the first months of her life.

MP : From birth on she had dry skin.

A : It was treated with ointment and afterwards the asthma started. Has the eczema disappeared completely since she had asthma?

MP : No, actually not.

A : She scratched until it bled. The itching was worse after bathing, when she was warm and when she perspired. She regularly had lung inflammations. She already has received Pulsatilla, Psorinum and Tuberculinum, on which she was doing a little bit better, but yet it was difficult.

In the report of November 1984 the history of tuberculosis in the family is described, she eats badly, likes fat, likes dry sausages and she dips her bread in fried fat.

MP : She still does.

A : She is very restless, obstinate, throws herself to the ground, and she doesn't have eczema at the sea. She received Tuberculinum which didn't help. Afterwards we recognized another remedy, which helped her acutely with many lung inflammations. At that time we didn't realize it was her constitutional remedy.

MP : Yes, it was better after one day.

A : This was strange. Maybe Tuberculinum removed a layer, but it didn't help in the acute state; the other remedy which we are talking about now, did.

MP : Yes.

A : Her behavior in the acute state was very remarkable. Now she is sitting here completely quiet on her chair, but then she couldn't sit still for one minute when she didn't have shortness of breath. It was remarkable that both of these states, though different, pointed to the same remedy. Can you tell us something about her behavior when she didn't have shortness of breath?

MP : When she had problems with her respiration we couldn't handle her anymore, she would only contradict. Actually she was the boss in the house, everything had to be done her way. With this kind of behavior I noticed that soon she would be sick again.

A : She couldn't tolerate any contradiction.

MP : Yes. Then she became angry and rebellious.

A : Very difficult to get along with?

MP : Yes.

A : She couldn't sit still.

MP : No. She had to be busy constantly, drawing, painting, making handy crafts, always in action.

A : But this being busy was not being hyperactive.

MP : No, she didn't have the power for that.

A : She did only sedentary things.

MP : Yes. When she had in mind to watch this or that program on television you couldn't talk with her at all. She had to watch it straight away on television. She had to carry out what she had put in her mind.

A : Very obstinate. And she wanted to do something all the time. This was remarkable.

MP : Yes. And she had to talk constantly, even in her sleep.

A : Also when she was not ill?

MP : Yes, she was constantly talking. When she was on the telephone talking with her grandmother she always said, "Grandma, don't hang up, I have to tell you something." She was searching for stories which she could tell.

A : It happened also when she was healthy.

MP : Oh yes.

A : What did she talk about?

MP : About anything she did the whole day.

A : This is important. She talked about everything she had done.

MP : And what she still wanted to do, the plans she had.

A : It is strange that she was always busy and was always talking about her plans.

This is very interesting. She talked all the time, she talked on the telephone about what she did all day long. She talked about her activities. We find this in the rubric on page 10:

MIND, Business, talks of: ... Bry ...

MIND,BUSINESS,talks of : Ars., bell., Bry., canth., cimic., dor., hyos., mygal., op., phos., plb., stram., sulph.

She is a very busy child, but it is a different type of busyness than that of Tuberculinum. Tuberculinum runs about, but she is occupied with things for which you don't need to run.

Somebody proposed another rubric? Which one?

Audience: Talks in sleep of business.

A: Yes. You find this rubric on page 86:

MIND, Talking, sleep, in, business of: ... rhus-t ...

A : She is also difficult in contact, difficult to grasp. Are there other characteristics which were remarkable at that time?

MP : You easily forget these kinds of things.

A : At the moment she seems to be more in balance than in the period with the lung inflammations. On August 8, 1989 I gave her the remedy finally. Is she still so difficult?

MP : She is still the boss at home.

A : In what sense?

MP : She can't tolerate anything. Whenever her brother makes a wrong movement she makes a drama out of it.

A : Tell me something about her acute states. How did it start usually?

MP : She was even more irritable than she normally is.

A : I wrote it down here: first she became very pale. The cough appeared suddenly and then she wanted to lie down.

MP : She started to wheeze.

A : She had a lot of shortness of breath and you had to leave her in peace.

MP : Yes.

A : Did it always start this way?

MP : Usually it started with a cold, which went down.

A : It was remarkable whenever she was sick she was irritable.

MP : Yes. She didn't want to be looked at. She always had a kind of rejecting tone, "Iiiii".

A : Other children need more affection when they are ill.

MP : She doesn't. She also doesn't want to be caressed. I was only allowed to rub a little bit when the skin was itching.

A : How was her thirst?

MP : When she was ill she wanted to drink a lot. Usually she is not very thirsty and drinks very little. It is still so. Usually she wanted to drink at night.

A : Warm or cold drinks?

MP : She preferred the drinks at room temperature.

P : I drink warm things very seldom.

MP : Before she also liked her soup to be cold.

A : It lasted a while until I understood. By auscultation you could hear regular crepitations.

This is strange and I hadn't seen it the last two years. I knew that I had to give her Bryonia every time she came, but it never occurred to me that she needed Bryonia constitutionally. If we consider her mind symptoms, her personality and the kind of acute attack they all indicate the same remedy. We don't think of Bryonia as a chronic remedy, but we think of it in acute cases.

A : Did she complain about pain in her chest while coughing?

MP : Yes. She always said it was abdominal pain.

A : But it occurred in the region of the chest.

MP : When she had coughed for a few days, she had abdominal pain from coughing.

A : All right. This is the story concerning the lungs. This has really improved. Yesterday you called me because she had a lot of problems with itching.

MP : Yes. Now, she is older and she suffers from it.

A : I forgot to mention that she is rather economical. Tell us something about it.

MP : When she has drawn something it must be kept until everybody has seen it, only then I may put it away.

A : I remember that even the smallest snipping of paper had to be kept. Everybody had to look at it. But why?

MP : She collects everything.

A : She collects just to collect.

Avarice. Bryonia is stingy.

MP : Even now, she doesn't throw anything away. Even when a pencil is empty she still saves it.

A : Is she a little bit stingy or am I wrong?

MP : I wouldn't say stingy, because she can share things very well. She has since she was very little.

A : Anyway I noticed a kind of stinginess, especially for paper and pencils.

MP : Yes, often she sits there and she writes poems.

A : In the past her eruptions have been suppressed. (to the patient) Let's see your skin. (Spots of eczema on the thighs, arms) Does she suffer more than before?

MP : It's the same.

A : Do you have more complaints from this itching than before?

MP : Now it disturbs her more than before.

A : When does it itch most?

P : At night.

A : Does it itch every night?

P : Almost every night. Especially when I'm rubbed with ointment.

A : With what kind of ointment?

MP : A fatty ointment.

A : What do you think of your skin in general?

MP : It has become smoother. Before it was very dry and raw.

A : When does it itch?

P : At night and during the day when I'm too warm.

A : Does she scratch?

MP : Yes, until it bleeds.

A : Has she changed by character?

MP : Actually not. She is not as disobedient as before.

A : How is your stool? Wasn't it hard?

MP : Yes. Before it was terrible.

(to her daughter) How is it now?

P : Normal; sometimes a little bit soft.

MP : Do you have to press hard?

P : Yes.

MP : Sometimes she has to press very hard.

A : Did you ever see whether it is in balls?

MP : No.

P : Sometimes it is in little pieces.

A : How is your appetite?

MP : Very good. She can always eat. In the morning she can eat a bowl of pudding which was left from the previous evening.

A : What about potatoes?

MP : She eats them dry, without gravy.

A : How?

MP : Boiled or fried potatoes.

A : (to the patient) How do you like potatoes?

P : Fried potatoes.

A : And what about croquettes and French fries?

P : I like them very much, much more than boiled potatoes.

A : And mashed potatoes?

P : Not so much.

A : She doesn't have complaints when she eats potatoes?

MP : No.

A : Does she really eat them without gravy?

MP : Yes, unless there is a fatty sauce.

P : Oh yes, with goulash sauce where you can dip the croquettes. I'm very fond of spaghetti.

A : What about fruit?

MP : Very little.

P : I like bananas a lot.

MP : Yes, that's right. I have to squeeze the oranges fresh for her.

A : Is she hurried?

MP : She is very quiet and she takes her time, also while eating.

A : How is she in the morning? Is she refreshed or is she a grumbler in the morning?

MP : I have to wake her up, and she likes to stay in bed for a little while.

A : How does she react when you push her?

MP : She snaps my head off, "Don't push me! Give me some time!" Then she slams the door. Now she takes an art class. When her pencils and papers are lying all over in the living room and I urge her to tidy up the room she takes her time.

A : When she is occupied with something can you disturb her? Or does she want to finish the job first?

MP : Actually yes.

A : Does she have other complaints? Does she clear her throat often?

MP : Sometimes she does.

A : Often?

MP : Sometimes in the morning.

A : Show me your nails.

P : (shows her nails)

A : They are a little bit irregular. If you look from the side you see some stripes.

MP : Yes.

A : Does she have corns or hard spots on her foot soles?

MP : No.

A : How is the sensitivity to temperature?

MP : She likes to sit in the warmth, only in the evening she becomes too warm in bed, because she has itching.

A : With what kind of weather is the itching less?

P : I don't know.

A : How is it with wet weather?

MP : No difference.

A : To be able to judge the reaction to the remedy I must know whether she is scratching every evening.

MP : Every day I find scales in bed.

A : In a few days the itching must improve clearly.

MP : Will she get her allergy back?

A : No. This is a remedy which follows the previous one well.

MP : I wanted to say that her skin is doing very badly.

A : I hope this remedy will complete the treatment.

MP : We have been to Switzerland a few years in a row and that was very good for her.

She scratches until it bleeds. You find this rubric on page 1328:

SKIN, Itching, scratch until it bleeds, must: ... alum ....

Further there is the rubric on page 1329:

SKIN, Itching, warm, on becoming: ... alum ...

SKIN, Itching, warm, in bed, on becoming: ... alum ...

Yesterday she came back and she said that it was better with wet weather. You know wet weather ameliorates in Alumina. Of course after such a short time you cannot say she is cured yet; I have only shown you this case to give you the idea that Bryonia and Alumina are complementary.

Remark: Alumina is also in the rubric "restless while sleeping", "intolerant to contradiction", "obstinate".

A : Yes, but as long as the acute state is a Bryonia state you cannot give another remedy. She has been doing well for about one year with the lungs, and now we can give her a remedy for the itching. We could still wait, but knowing the relationship between Alumina and Bryonia and with the modalities she has the case is clear for me, it means that I have to give Alumina.

EXTRA

Dry mouth, very thirsty, pain everywhere and motion aggravated.

Answer: Bryonia alba.

Bryonia alba is also one of the busiest remedies, they are easily angry and easily offended. They always want to work, work, work and don't want to be disturbed. The differential diagnosis between Nux vomica and Bryonia alba is not always easy.

SLEEP,SLEEPLESSNESS,shivering, from : Bry.

HEAD,PAIN,sun, from exposure to : Acon., act-sp., agar., aloe., Ant-c., arum-t., bar-c., Bell., brom., bruc., Bry., cadm., calc-s., calc., camph., cann-i., carb-v., cast-v., chin-s., chin.,cocc., euphr., gels., genist., Glon., hipp., hyos., ign., Lach., manc., nat-a., Nat-c., nat-m., nux-v., Puls., sel., stram., sulph., syph., ther., valer., zinc.

The first time she got which remedy because of the stitching pain and the pain by motion ? Bryonia. Yes. A colleague gave her Bryonia and I agreed, because the pain was very strong by motion and it was a stitching pain.

He has worked, like the other man, but it was not in the desert. He said, "I was busy the whole night." I took the rubric "dreams, busy". Which is the main remedy ? Bryonia. He got Rhus toxicodendron and Rhus toxicodendron is complementary to Bryonia. The only available remedy I could agree with, was Bryonia.

Another case

- 'Doesn't want to be disturbed", there are two remedies in the Repertory, Gelsemium and Bryonia, besides he was very pale, he only wanted to lie down and so on, so that I gave Bryonia 200.

- The next day he came back and it was worse.

- But I was absolutely sure it was Bryonia and I gave him Bryonia 10M and four hours later he was cured.

- This is always the same story with low potencies.

Another case

A: And after the remedy you took a very big step forward, I mean after the acute remedy. You had pain everywhere, you had a touch of flu, you were trembling, you sagged in your legs, had a dry mouth, were thirsty and had to lie down.

Which remedy?

Dry mouth, very thirsty, pain everywhere and motion aggravated.

Answer: Bryonia alba.

Dry mouth, very thirsty, pain everywhere and motion aggravated.

Answer: Bryonia alba.

A : Right, Bryonia alba. I gave her Bryonia alba and then also her neurological complaints improved a lot.

- He sat there completely quiet and then suddenly he turned his head and looked at his mother.

- This sudden movement doesn't fit for Bryonia.

- Bryonia would turn the head very slowly.

- If Bryonia would sit in such a warm room he would take off his coat, because when it is very warm they have the tendency to faint.

- Warmth aggravates in Bryonia.

CASES