CASE1
JV : How
old are you?
PT: Six.
JV: When is your birthday?
PT: July eleven.
JS ( jonathan
shore ) : So this little girl here, you will tell me about her in just a
minute.
JV: And what is the trouble?
IB: She looks to her mother.
PT: I don't know.
MP: You know what the trouble is. You keep getting sick
and you keep getting colds and earaches and things.
JV: Frequent colds and earaches. Since when? Always, or ...?
JS: So now a careful description of this
child. It's true - there is a trick, but anyway. Still it is very simple, just
describe her.
AD: Big eyes.
JS: Big eyes, yes. What else?
AD: Long hair.
JS: She has quite long hair, yes.
AD: Blond.
JS: Blond, yes.
AD: Sweet face.
JS: Sweet face, yes.
AD: She looks at her mother.
JS: Yes, she looks at her mother. But there is
a difference between this child and the others.
AD: She sits forward.
JS: She sits forward,
yes it is true; the others tend to sit back. But what I mean is much more
obvious in a way.
AD: She looks more confident.
JS: She looks more confident and her features
are what? What do you see there? She is more delicate. Her features are more delicate,
finer actually. She looks almost like a little doll. Maybe you don't believe
me, but look a bit more.
MP: She started really going out into the
world, which was probably at about one-and-a-half or somewhere. Her ears really
bothered her, last time - not this time, but the time before, which was about
three weeks ago. But there was no infection or anything.
JV: Right, the last time she actually had
antibiotics?
MP: Was in May. In fact she had a really bad infection
and then at the end of May they put her on a low dose for six weeks I think it
was?
PT: And ten days.
MP: Six weeks and ten days. Ten days were
about how long you go on ...
JS: So you see she has fine skin and she has a sort of a thin
... Her nose is thinner, and she is more delicate. She is looking to her mother
a lot and she has frequent infections. And then her mother says: "She took
the antibiotics for six weeks." and the child says: "Six weeks and
ten days.” And so the remedy is?
AD: Silicea.
JS: Yes, you see. SILICEA.
This child is a very characteristic Silicea child. Silicea also look towards the mother. They are very similar
to Natrum muriaticum, they
are contained, they sit in their chair, they are good children, well behaved,
but they are more delicate. More delicate and not so
emotionally reserved. You don't feel this little girl is shy. See,
she has bright eyes and she is there. And she is not the sort to say: "I
don't know.” This is not a concern for rejection in a way.
JS: And then of course this thing, she says:
"Six weeks and ten days.” Where do you find this symptom in the repertory?
AD: Conscientious about trifles.
JS: Right. It is this. When you see Silicea in children, they
can appear almost fastidious. Yet it
is not a real fastidiousness, it is an attention to small details. Now there
could be another interpretation of her response. If we were to take a
completely different interpretation of her response, what would we maybe say?
What is the relationship to her mother?
AD: Critical.
JS: Critical, yes. Her mother says this, she
says: "Oh now, it is that.” But I say she is not critical; why?
AD: She is too sweet.
JS: She is too sweet, and also she is looking
to her mother before she answers, so you don't have the feeling that this is a
critical statement. She is not
criticizing her mother, she is being precise. She has attention to details.
JV: And so she has had many, many earaches.
MP: Many, many earaches.
JV: Twenty, thirty ...?
MP: Well ...
JV: Ten, twenty ...
MP: At least twenty, over.
JV: For which she has received antibiotics.
When she gets sick, what happens?
MP: Generally she gets tired, listless, gets
feverish, gets quiet - which is unusual for her. Like
now even.
JS: You see there is another possibility for
this child, which we can't dismiss because of her eyes, which is what? Big eyes, bright?
AD: Phosphorus.
JS: Not Phosphorus, but Belladonna! Maybe. You see, big bright eyes.
Belladonna has these sort of glistening eyes; she is very
alert. You feel a lot of energy from her. So I say: "When she gets sick,
what is happening?” If the mother says: "She gets high fever!" then
it is going to be Belladonna. But no, what does happen: she gets tired and
listless and this goes towards Silicea. And of course,
recurrent infections, Silicea is one of the main
remedies in children.
JV: It is more; she goes more quiet
as opposed to more irritable and restless.
MP: Usually she wants to be somewhere quiet, lying quiet,
warm, snuggling up. She has always been like that, snuggles and kind of just
wants to be warm and quiet.
JS: So now we think: if she gets an acute, the
remedy will be ...?
AD: Pulsatilla.
JS: Pulsatilla, yes.
Here is a Silicea case and what happens when she gets
sick? She wants to be held and comforted. Probably the acute is Pulsatilla. It is one of the most common
...
AD: Yes, I know, but ...
JS: You mean statistically?
AD: No, not so strong, but
...
JS: What I see, is that one of the few times
that I prescribe a remedy on almost no information, is when I give Pulsatilla for the acutes and it
works and then the child gets sick again. And I give Pulsatilla
and it works and the child gets sick again.
If I can't find information for a better remedy, for another remedy, I will
give Silicea. And often it
works, in Pulsatilla acutes
where the kid is relapsing and the response is good and you think: "Aha,
this is it" and three weeks later they call you again: "The child is
sick.” What the hell! Again Pulsatilla C 200, few
days the child is better: wonderful. A week later, the mucus is coming back.
And even if you don't have other evidence for Silicea
... Of course, if there is another remedy, maybe you just gave the wrong
remedy. But usually, when it is going like this, Silicea
will complete the case. Does that answer your question?
AD: No.
JS: Tell me the question again.
AD: In what percentage do you see that chronic
Silicea cases will become Pulsatilla
in acute state?
JS: In what percentage do I see that chronic Silicea have Pulsatilla acutes? I don't know. I just bring this up, but she needs Silicea. Not Pulsatilla. And if Silicea is the right remedy, she should not get sick. But
if in a year's time or something she gets an acute, probably Pulsatilla will work for the acute, because she has given a
picture here of a Pulsatilla acute. It is very
helpful of course, when you take the case, even if people come with chronic
symptoms - you want to get an idea as best you can of the acute episode,
because it helps you. If you are thinking: "Gee, I can't quite understand
this child" and they say: "When the child gets sick, he has high
fever and he gets bright red," then probably the remedy is Calcarea, because he is having Belladonna acutes. It is also useful to know that, because then you
can have a plan. It decreases the work that you have to do.
STOMACH,APPETITE,relish, without (See Aversion to food) : Agar., alum., ant-c., ars., bar-c., bar-i., bell., bor., bry., calad., calc., carb-s.,
carb-v., caust., cham., chin-a., chin., cic., clem., cocc., coff., colch.,
cycl., dig., dulc., euphr., ferr-ar., ferr-i., ferr-p., ferr., hell., hep.,
ign., iod., kali-n., lach.,
lyc., mag-c.,mag-m., merc., mez., nat-c., Nat-m., nicc., nux-v., Olnd., Op., phos., plat., puls., Rheum., rhod., Rhus-t., ruta., sabad., sil., staph., sul-ac.,
sulph., sumb., thuj., valer., verat., verb.
JV: And she likes you to hold her at that time,
to be there?
MP: Yes, she always has, when she doesn't feel
well, she likes to snuggle and ...
PT: ...
JV: She responds well to being consoled?
MP: Yes, she is usually very nasal. In fact we were
listening to some tapes of when she was three and she sounded nasal in those
too. She must have had a cold when we were doing those, too.
JS: Just in passing of course, what response
does Silicea have to consolation? Very
strong for averse to consolation. But does that mean that she is not Silicea?
AD: No.
JS: Because no one, very few people are just
purely one remedy. A little bit of that, a little bit of this. Maybe when she
was young and she started to get the infections, if we had given her Pulsatilla then, she might not have had the trouble. So
this may be Pulsatilla which has gone into Silicea, and there still remains evidence of Pulsatilla. You have to consider this in this case,
although of course with her features and appearance, probably not, but still it
is a definite consideration here.
JV: What is your most favourite
food?
PT: Pizza.
JV: Pizza; what do you like on the pizza?
PT: Olives, cheese ...
JV: Sometimes you have bad dreams?
PT: Yes.
JV: What do you dream? I mean, what is a bad dream for
you?
PT: That wolves are
trying to bite my toes.
JV: Wolves. Yes, you dream a lot like that?
How often do you have bad dreams?
IB: She doesn't answer right away, but she
counts on her fingers.
JS: Now, see? She is not withheld. Why does
she answer slowly?
AD: She is counting.
JS: She is precise! She doesn't want to give me the wrong
information. And this is why I think in this case they look to the mother. They
don't want to give the wrong information. And now, you see she is counting:
"How many times?” "Gee, I had one then and one then and one then.” Very interesting, very characteristic here.
JV: Once a week?
MP: More than that. It is getting better, it was almost ... it was every night.
JV: She comes to your room in the middle in
the night? She wakes up?
MP: She would usually just be in her bed, a
screaming kind of dream. Yelling out, but asleep.
JS: So you see of course it is still during
the case, and I don't know or see the remedy as I know it now. The child has
bright eyes, she makes quite good contact, she has bad
dreams. I want to know: maybe it is Phosphorus. Maybe she does get afraid at
night and come into the parents' room. Pulsatilla too. They wake up, they are afraid of the dark and they
come into their parents' room at night. Phosphorus and Pulsatilla. But no, it is not the case with her.
MP: And then I would go in and I would comfort
her and I would put her back down, put the covers ...
JV: Do you sweat on your feet?
MP: Yes. When she was a
little baby.
JV: Other people, your husband has it or you
have it?
MP: Oh, my husband said his mother used to
have it.
JS: Her feet sweat. And now I ask, I don't
know quite why, but: "Is this in the family?" and it turns out that
it is.
JV: Her feet really sweat and smell, or they just smell and not so much sweat?
MP: Oh no, her socks are wet and she gets athlete's foot
frequently, because it is so damp in there and neither one of us get it, but
she does.
JV: And the smell is bad. If she takes off her
shoes and socks, do you ...
MP: Well, for a little kid they are ...
JV: It smells like what?
MP: It reminds me of a gym locker room or something. She
always likes to sleep with socks on, because she complains her feet get so
cold.
JS: I don't want to spend too much time, going
on like this, but I tell you whatever is in this video, is important for the
remedy. And so Silicea is one of the main remedies;
the perspiration makes the rash. The perspiration of the
feet. She sweats a
lot on her feet and she gets athlete's foot. Athlete's foot, it is a fungus.
AD: Swimming eczema.
JS: So we can make some reason: "Oh yes
it is because she sweats a lot and her feet are damp and therefore ...” But no,
specifically in Silicea the perspiration irritates
and causes the rash. If you look under extremities, you find it there
somewhere.
MP: There are plenty of sheets, ...
blankets, two comforters and she is always cold.
JV: And during the day, does she complain?
MP: Lately she has been complaining she has
been freezing.
JS: Is this symptom important or not?
AD: Yes.
JS: Very important. Why is it very important?
AD: A child being cold is rare.
JS: Yes. Especially so in
children. Children are warm. Their vitality is good. Their circulation
is good. Children are warm. Some children are very, very hot and this of course
is important. But
generally speaking, for a child to be cold is rare.
- The first time when he came he didn't
complain about his fingernails at all, now he says that they easily break off.
- This means that now
the moment has come where he is susceptible to Silicea,
because he is pushing up a symptom, the breaking off the nails, for which Silicea, Antimonium crudum, Squilla and Sulphur are the remedies.
GENERALITIES,BRITTLE finger nails : Alum., ambr., ant-c., ars., calc.,
cast-eq., dios., fl-ac., Graph., merc., nit-ac., Psor.,
sep., sil., squil., sulph., thuj.
- For this reason I gave him one month ago Silicea and this will cure him profoundly.
- I can't say what would have happened if I ignored Baryta carbonica and started giving him Silicea from the beginning, because he is clearly Silicea by appearance.
- If you see somebody with hair like
straw, this means, dry, inflexible hair, this is Silicea
until you can prove it is another remedy.
Following entry made
by me ..
MIND,CONSCIENTIOUS about trifles : Apis., ars., aur., bar-c., bry., carb-s., cham., chin-a., chin., cycl., ferr-ar., ferr-i., ferr., graph., hep., hyos., Ign., iod., lac-d., lyc., mez., mur-ac., nat-a., nat-c., nux-v., puls., sarr., sec., sep., Sil., spig., stram., sulph., thuj., verat.
Mind,
conscientious about trifles (p. 16)
Mind, dullness, sluggishness,
difficulty of thinking and comprehending (p. 37)
Mind, prostration of mind (p. 69)
Mind, concentration,
difficult (p. 13)
Mind, confusion of mind (See
Concentration) (p. 13)
Mind, imbecility (p. 53)
Mind, exertion, agg. from
mental (p. 41)
Mind, irritability (See
Anger) (p. 57)
Mind, weeping,
consolation agg. (p. 93)
Mind, consolation agg. (p. 16)
Mind, irritability,
consolation agg. (p. 59)
Mind, magnetized, desires to
be (p. 63)
Mind, timidity, about,
appearing in public (p. 89)
Mind, mildness (p. 65)
Mind, restlessness, nervousness (p. 72)
Mind, restlessness, internal (p. 74)
Mind, sensitive, oversensitive
(See Offended) (p. 78)
Mind, anxiety, noise, from (p.
7)
Mind, sensitive, noise, to (p.
79)
Mind, sensitive, noise, to, slightest (p.
79)
Mind, starting, noise, from (p.
83)
Coldness of the feet during headache makes me think of which
remedy?
Of Silicea.
That's why I asked about the fingernails.
the Silicea children are premature children. They are very thin and white and also their head is enlarged, their hair is very fine, very fine and dry like hay; they are not weak children.
Rectum,diarrhea,morning,bed, driving out of : Aloe., bell., bov., bry., chin., cic., dios., hep., hydr., hyper., kali-bi., lil-t., nat-a., nat-s., nuph., petr., phos., phyt., podo., psor., rumx.,sil., Sulph., syph., tub., zinc.
And in the rubric "dreams, events, long past" you see Silicea.
SLEEP,DREAMS,EVENTS,long past : Am-c., calad., ferr-i., ferr., senec., Sil., spig.
Silicea
is a remedy for people who have been in the concentration camps. These people
are anxious and it originates from a very big fright. They experienced several
very strong emotional events and every night they dream of these long past
events. Once, I had a patient who came with
headache. I gave her Silicea and two days later she
called me crying and said that everything that happened in the concentration
camp came back. She saw how a child was beaten with the head against the
floor until the head was bursting and the brain was coming out. She saw all
this back in her dreams and she was crying and crying, it has affected her so
strongly. Afterwards everything was over and her chronic coryza
was cured as well
Silicea
is one of the remedies you may not forget in people who are still suffering
from war memories
MIND, ANXIETY, fright, after : Acon., gels., lyc., merc., nat-m., op., rob., sil.
A little bit higher there is the rubric "anxiety from noise", Silicea is again capital.
MIND,ENXIETY, noise, from : Agar., alum., aur., bar-c., caps., caust., chel., nat-c., petr., puls., Sil.
These people often tell you that they heard shooting during the war, that they have been frightened by that and that they found someone dead. They heard this "blow" and since then they have these anxieties and these dreams of these long past events. Then, think of Silicea
Compare those two rubrics "anxiety after fright" and "anxiety from noise".
GENERALITIES,HARD bed, sensation of : Acon., agar., Arn., ars., bapt., bar-c., bry., caust., con., dros., ferr-p., ferr., graph., ip.,
kali-c., lyc., mag-c., mag-m., manc., merc., nux-m., nux-v., op., phos., plat., puls., pyrog., rhus-t., ruta., sabad., Sil., spong., stann.,
sulph., tarax., thuj., verat.
EXTREMETIES,FOOT,HEAT,bed,
in : Calc., fago., hep., hura.,
merc., mez., sang., sil., stront., Sulph.
EXTREMETIES,COLDNESS,FOOT,daytime : Hep., mag-s., nit-ac., phos., sep., sil., sulph.
CHEST,PERSIPERATION,AXILAE,offensive : Apis., bov., carb-ac., dulc., Hep., hydr., lac-c., lach., lyc., merc-c., Nit-ac., nux-m., osm., Petr., phos., rhod., sel., sep., Sil., Sulph., tell., thuj.
EXTREMETIES,PERSIPERATION,FOOT,sole : Acon., Am-m., arn., calc., chel., fago., hell.,
kali-c., merc., nat-m., Nit-ac., nux-m., petr., plb., puls., sabad., Sil., sulph.
GERNERALITIES,CHANGE
OF,weather agg. : Abrot., alumn., am-c., ant-c., ant-t., apis., ars., bell., benz-ac., bor., brom., bry., calc-p., calc., carb-s., caust., chel., colch., dig., Dulc., eupho., gels.,graph., hep., hyper.,
kali-bi., kali-c., lach., mang., meli., merc., mez., nat-c., nit-ac., Nux-m., nux-v., petr., ph-ac., Phos., Psor., puls., Ran-b., rheum., Rhod., Rhus-t.,rumx., sep., Sil., stront., sulph., Tub., verat.
Another case
However, I chose Silicea based on her lean figure, porcelain-like skin, recurring
infections, enlarged glands, sweatiness as well as her temperament; lack of confidence, conscientiousness, anxiety when presenting
things in class, and fear of needles. A funny selection of features, you might think, but I
thought she matches the drug picture well. I prescribed Silicea
200c one tablet daily for three days.
I next saw her seven weeks
later. In most respects she made improvement over the first two weeks, which
was sustained until about two weeks before this appointment. Sadly her sweats,
indigestion, sleep and tiredness had all got worse again. Her mum attended again with
her and agreed that she had been significantly better. I was encouraged that
she had responded to the Silicea so repeated exactly
the same prescription. I asked her to repeat this as and when she felt it was
needed.
I did not see her for another
14 weeks but she had continued to make good progress. This time she attended
without her mother. I hoped this was a measure of her increased energy and
self-confidence. She declared that her energy was nearly 90 per cent of her
previous level, her sleep was now refreshing. She had no digestive problems; she
looked well and had started a job. She said that she had taken Silicea on three occasions and quite quickly she felt
improvement. I suggested that she continue the same plan.
The remedy
Silicea (silica dioxide) is a
mineral from which much of the Earth is made, the source in homeopathy being
pure flint and, so far as I am aware, it is not used in other systems of
medicine. Not only is it found throughout the Earth’s crust, it is also found
in many sea creatures and most plants. Indeed it is the silica in the stem of
straw that makes it rigid.
The materia
medica for Silica is very long so I will only mention
a few interesting features which are characteristic. They tend to be mentally
indecisive, “lacking grit”, dreading failure. Useful when suffering from mental
exhaustion from studying,
referred to in some books as “brain fag”. The face can have a silky, anaemic, waxy and tired appearance, rather like porcelain.
Specific actions attributed
to Silicea include helping excess foot sweat,
clearing abscesses, which are slow to discharge. The constipation described is
that which requires much straining and if the movement is not successful it
will return inside the anus, described in some books as the “bashful stool”.
Patients do not need all the features of the remedy to have a successful
prescription but a number of keynotes may be enough to indicate this.
ANOTHER CASE >
- In Silicea the anxiety comes
after what kind of fright? After a blow, a loud noise.
Another case
- A child who slept very well the whole time, one day he is
frightened and afterwards he wakes up frequently.
- This is which
remedy?
- Answer
: "Silicea."
- A
: Yes, Silicea.
- "Anxiety from a
fright and anxiety from noises, If you compare these two rubrics you see
Aconitum and Silicea in both rubrics, but Silicea is the first remedy, has especially this symptom
that the child can't sleep anymore, when it has been frightened once in his
sleep by a sudden, loud noise.
- At night he
often wakes up and then he says, 'I'm thirsty."
- Thirst at night, which remedy is capital? Silicea.
- Silicea is sensitive to draft of air all over.
This child is fatter than the other child. With Silicea you find a fine structure, the hair is fine and so on. The hair is rebellious, such as the character of Silicea. Which is the constitutional remedy here ? Calcarea, right.
A: You have this child treated here, because he couldn't sleep; according to you he was terrified. We gave him Silicea.
This child came the first time, because it woke up very often at night. I asked why the child wakes up so often and the mother said, that he was frightened by a noise. How can we find this in the Repertory ? "Anxiety from noise" (p. 7), "anxiety after fright": Silicea. Do not forget that.
I
give Silicea with closed eyes when the mother says
that the child suddenly starts crying 3 - 4 times a night and nobody knows why.
When he develops to another remedy, which I do not
believe, for example from warm to cold and this perspiration remains, it could
be which remedy ? Silicea. Silicea
is a remedy especially for - I have seen Silicea
cases, for example, with a woman the perspiration was running in streams, it
was really dripping, she was perspiring very much. It was so bad, that I
thought, "My God, she looses so much moisture,
how is that possible !", she was perspiring at
hands and feet, you saw it really dripping - Silicea
M and she was cured.
To illustrate the applicability of Silicea, I will relate a clinical case. An old nervous and poorly nourished anaemic woman, who has been suffering from constipation for many years, with the Silicea symptoms just mentioned, plus great dislike for meat, and aggravation and distress after an evacuation, was completely cured with Silicea and liberal mixed diet, she having been a vegetarian.
- Silicea is the only black type remedy in the rubrics `Dreams, events, previous' and `Dreams, events, long past').
events, previous : Acon., aeth., am-c., anac., ant-t., arg-m., asaf.,
aster., bov., bry., calad., calc-p., carb-s., chel.,
chin., cic., coca.,
cocc., croc., crot-t., elaps., eupho., ferr-i., fl-ac., graph.,
Ind., jatr., kali-c., kali-chl., lach.,nat-c., nat-p., nit-ac., nux-v., osm., ph-ac., phos., plan., rhus-t., sang.,
sars., sel., senec., sep., Sil., sol-t-ae., spig., sulph., sumb., thuj.
long
past : Am-c., calad., ferr-i., ferr., senec., Sil., spig.
Silicea terra
Comparing it to Calcareas lack of a protective shell and inner organization, we may describe Silicea as rather well- organized, but devoid of fibre, stalk or firmness (Sil. is the main mineral constituent of stalks and fibrous tissues). Thus, Sil. tends to be a very orderly type of person, spic and span, but shy and timid without self-confidence, often anticipating failure. They are irritable and impatient when they are too hard pressed, aroused, or provoked.
- A : Yes., Silicea is the most important remedy in baldness in
children.
-
It concerns these white, emaciated children with baldness.
- Baryta carbonica did quite a lot in this Person, but which remedy do you think will solve this problem finally? With this appearance?
- Answer : "Silicea."
- A : Yes, Silicea.
- Look in the small book about the relationship of the remedies with each other, there it says that Silicea is complementary to Baryta carbonica.
- The first time when he came he didn't complain about his fingernails at all, now he says that they easily break off.