As they departed and digestive disturbances with them, an old trouble dating way back in his life became more prominent-arthritis in all joints, large and small, especially knee joints. He could not tell definitely about early treatment for this but I have little doubt that strong suppression of arthritis weakened his resistance; brought on his fears and sent him to thoughts of suicide. His knees still bother and he uses cane he is smiling and can ear anything in reason.
The heart of this case is the suppression of arthritis although many might it is the depth of mental symptoms.
d. My fourth mental case is different and represents suppression, also, but suppression of what remains to be seen, for hits is a new patient, a young woman with her first baby seven months old. In the middle of pregnancy he husband told her he had seen a woman whose brother is mentally undeveloped. Immediately she felt as if this man had contaminated her, everything he had touched was dirty; she must wash her hands over and over to get them clean; later she must wash clothing, doorknobs, etc.
Sent a psychiatrist who did not pay much attention, she saw other mental cases in his office; then all her clothing was contaminated; can not wear the suit she had on that day; must go by it the closet and this spreads the contamination, etc., etc. She cannot talk about these ideas because others think them silly. Her husband works all day and all evening so she stays alone with her baby twelve hours consecutively and broods. She cannot sleep or eat properly; she loses energy and now she takes one cold after another. I have stared her on Syph. 1M and hunting for a lead to the suppression which could induce so deep delusions. She is perfectly reasonable about them but cannot throw them off. She is only twenty-six years old; poor lonely woman!.
2. The constitutional Remedy Cures the Acute Ailment.
a. A boy, now eight years old, had wonderfully healthy development through perhaps the first two years of life, then began to develop frequent acute attacks with high fever, marked enervation and slow convalescence, The acute symptoms were those of head and chest colds complicated by digestive disorders and earache. Prescriptions for such acute attacks helped them every time but gradually health between attacks deteriorated and the attacks became more frequent. Attempts to prescribe a curative remedy for the underlying miasm failed twice, then Tuberc. was given with prompt improvement in general health and longer intervals between colds. since then the few lighter attacks have been given Tuberc. in the beginning with abortive effect and health has been excellent.
b. Another deeply miasmatic patient always ailing from early childhood, growing up with spinal curvature, low vitality, tubercular symptoms apparently, weeks at a time in bed, exhaustion after light exertion, later prolapse of all abdominal organs, many more chronic symptoms coming and going. The first remedy long ago was Tuberc. which acted well for a time, giving her ability to stay up longer and do more. This did not last and Lach. became a good basic remedy. Puls. did good work, too. I suppose I treated this patient for twenty years without discovering the really basic chronic remedy.
As soon as I gave her Nit. ac. she began to sent for me less often until, after many months, she would go from three months to nearly a year without medicine When she did need some for an acute ailment, Nit. ac. brought rapid recovery. Of course she is never free from all symptoms or as strong as the average person but she is wonderfully, basically a different woman now at seventy-seven years.
3. It is saying that you all know to repeat that the constitutional remedy, given after an acute attack, shortens convalescence very much or transfers the patient period. We watch this procedure over and over and over again. One instance of it stands out in my memory of the long ago. A patient, past middle age, had a severe attack of influenza in the first overpowering epidemic of 1918. I saw her on a Monday; in the midst of her sufferings I discovered that her family to a new home the following Friday.
She had little or no help. Acute symptoms were decidedly better on Tuesday, about gone on Wednesday leaving her prostrated, the more so because of the rapidity of the action of the acute remedy. I had treated this patient for deep miasmatic symptoms for several years and knew her curative chronic remedy was Sulph. One dose of the 10M on Wednesday helped so promptly that she superintended the moving on Friday and was none the worse afterward for the experience. I had expected her to limp through the ordeal and almost collapse afterward. Nothing of that kind happened.
4. Past History Reveals the Remedy.
This, too, sounds familiar. One brilliant example is the development of a strong suspicion during the long recital or chronic symptoms dating way back to early life, that malaria suppressed by quinine lies at the base of the patients troubles. Oftentimes this discovery, corroborated by the patient, simplifies greatly the choice of the curative remedy. Several times I have found this to be Sepia, perhaps followed by Nat. m. Before such a suspicion was confirmed the array of symptoms was confusing almost to despair.
5. Family Chronic Remedies Help Family Disorders.
Our polychrest remedies have so many sides to them that it is quite possible for two or more members of a family to require the same one although each patient exhibits symptoms different from those of the others. Appreciation of this fact is helpful when the doctor is confused over the symptom picture and hesitates between two or more remedies. One family I have observed a great many years requires the snake remedies or spider remedies. In one instance a mother and daughter were cured of very deepseated miasmatic states by Tarent.. though it was hard to see, except through careful study, much resemblance of the one case to the other.
6. The patient takes strong drugs secretly through a period of treatment for deepseated chronic ailments. Confusion piled on confusion results in the doctors mind and not only discouragement but suspicion develops in the mind of the patient. One case of this sort when on to death from a vicious pharyngitis in spite of all efforts to save the patient. The day before she died the friend with whom she had been taking a “pan killer” for her frequent migraine attacks.
7. The Family Base(inherited tendencies) furnishes a key.
This may be tubercular, psoric, venereal, or wholly environmental. 8. A Combination remedy works when neither element given alone has the desired effect.
For example: one very difficult case did nothing after Calc.c., not after Phos. but Calc.p. made a brilliant cure and did not take long to show its capacity to do so. Of course the symptoms of Calc. and Phos. could be seen in the picture. 9. The epidemic remedy, when established in any epidemic, will cure one-sided, veiled cases of the epidemic disorder when no remedy stands out clearly.
10. When no remedy can be seen in incurable cases with almost wholly pathological symptoms, sometimes a drug selected on diagnosis alone will prove to be a deep acting palliative.
In one case of cancer of the tongue, Nit. ac. was a great blessing allowing the patient to go down to death with comparative ease.
11. Suppression is the key to be used in unlocking the case to uncover the original ailment.
a. A rather young woman was told by two specialists that she had a brain tumor with must be removed by operation. In desperation she and her husband grabbed at the straw held out in the form of Homoeopathy. She had violent almost constant headache, obscuration of vision, anaemia, malnutrition, weakness, etc. Questioning led nowhere for some time but finally she responded to an inquiry about perspiration of the feet. Oh, yes, she had had the most awful perspiration, soaking stocking and shoes, rotting show linings, and giving out a horrid odor.
A doctor gave her some kind of powder to use in her shoes and it went away entirely, had no trouble since. Sil. eased the headaches and later stopped them, improved vision greatly but never quite restored it, improved general health until she looked her former blooming self, and finally reproduced the foot former blooming self, and finally reproduced the foot sweat, odor and all. She is glad to have it in hits present mild form and gives Homoeopathy all the credit due.
b. A man had malaria in his youth suppressed by quantities of quinine. Later in life he became an epileptic going form bad to worse. His homoeopathic physician, Dr.Thurston of Boston, gave him the remedy the would have prescribed for the malaria when the patient had it. This lessened the epilepsy greatly and brought back the malaria which was then cured by the same remedy. This patient was not entirely cured of epilepsy but the rest of his life was comparatively comfortable and he lived to a good old age.
c. In another of Dr.Thurstons cases, the patient was apparently dying of cancer of the uterus. Many years before she had a bad attack of haemorrhoids suppressed by some strong local during treatment. The symptoms of that attack were sought and found. The remedy which would have been curative then cured the cancer and reproduced the haemorrhoids.
