A Case of Acute Stomach Pain Treated With BRYONIA

Cases

A mother contacted over phone for her 3 yr old child who was crying for last 1 hour continuously for no apparent reason. The child had no fever, no cold, cough or any other complaint. There was no problem on urination and child had passed motion previous day. Thirst was normal. When questioned the child was holding stomach and was sitting on couch. When the mother tried to carry the child, she refused to be moved. On this basis Bryonia 200 one dose was given to child. Within 2 min the child stopped crying, became comfortable and started playing.

Explanation

The child was probably having a colic. We generally think of colocynth, mag phos, cham etc in such cases. I too thought of them. However, the modality that the child did not want to be moved and was sitting still, led to the prescription of Bryonia (motion agg).

Aude Sapere

Shivangi Jain
BHMS, MD, PGDMLE, PGDHHM
drshivangijain79@gmail.com
https://drshivangihomoeopathy.com/

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A case of anxiety treated with LAUROCERASUS

Cases

A 45 yr old lady came with cardiac anxiety. It started after a scare about an accident of her only son. Though nothing happened to the child, she developed these anxiety attacks every time she heard anything out of ordinary. She was in a constant state of tension. There were constant eructations, more so when she was empty stomach. She complained of leaving things here and there without remembering them, after that incidence. She was given one dose of Laurocerasus 200. Follow-up after a month resolved her complaint to a large extent. She was given kali phos 6x for another month.

Explanation

After a sudden fright, we usually think of medicines like aconite. This case with its sudden onset, fright, and anxiety was also taking me towards prescribing aconite. However, the unusual manifestation of memory loss struck me and made me search further. The memory loss after a fright (cause and effect) led me to laurocerasus (sudden loss of memory, from pain, fright, etc. (Boger Synoptic Key)). The result spoke for itself. I, nevertheless wonder what would have been the action of aconite in this case. Only if there was a parallel universe.

Aude Sapere

Shivangi Jain
BHMS, MD, PGDMLE, PGDHHM
drshivangijain79@gmail.com
https://drshivangihomoeopathy.com/

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Case of heel pain and undefined heel lesion, homoeopathy and ANTIUM  CRUD

Cases

This is a case of a 35 yr old male, obese with no other comorbidity, c/o heel pain b/l for last six months, and an unspecified eroded lesion of 3 cm diameter on left heel. His serum uric acid was normal and the X-Ray heel advised by the previous doctor did not show any abnormality. He had severe pain in getting up in the morning and keeping his foot down on the floor, which reduced after some time as he moved out of the bed and walked around. His tongue was deeply coated white. He was given ant crud 1m/ 3 doses, and silicea 6x 3 tabs twice daily for a month.

The next follow-up revealed a healed lesion and no pain.

Explanation

I encounter heel pain as presenting in many patients but most of them have no reason to which it can be attributed. Some may have uric acid levels raised or some may have a calcaneal spur which might be causing a plantar fasciitis. This patient had a whitewashed tongue which (heel pain and white-coated tongue) prompted me to give ant crud and since the pain was acute, a moderately high potency in repeated doses was given. A biochemic was added as a supportive. His heel pain and lesion healed completely on the follow-up.

Aude Sapere

Shivangi Jain
BHMS, MD, PGDMLE, PGDHHM
drshivangijain79@gmail.com
https://drshivangihomoeopathy.com/

Download the pdf file of the case here.

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Case Of Superficial Thrombophlebitis Treated with VIPERA

Cases

A 67 yr old male came with pain in rt leg with a localized area of redness. On examination, it was found that he had varicose veins in the leg and one of the superficial veins had thrombosed and gotten inflamed (on examination one could appreciate the cord-like structure running along the length of the vein). He has a standing job and never took any treatment for varicosity. He was on antihypertensive medication. He was given Vipera 30/ 3 doses/ od with local application of arnica Q and asked to come back with venous doppler study of both the legs, to see the extension of thrombosis (a thrombosis in the deeper vein can embolize to lungs causing acute/ subacute or chronic pulmonary embolism). He came back three days later with the report showing evidence of superficial thrombosis only. The extent of thrombosis had reduced almost by 90% (on palpation only a small area of thrombosis was left) and the superf. inflammation of the skin gone. Vipera was stopped and local application was continued till another 3-4 days when the thrombosis resolved completely.

Explanation

Vipera is one of the main medicines for inflamed veins- phlebitis. Along with this the bursting sensation that the patient complaint pointed towards Vipera (veins thrombosed, bursting sensation).

Since nothing else could be found a lower potency was chosen with limited repetition and a local application.

Aude Sapere

Shivangi Jain
BHMS, MD, PGDMLE, PGDHHM
drshivangijain79@gmail.com
https://drshivangihomoeopathy.com/

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Case of Varicose Ulcer treated with LACHESIS

Cases

A patient of mine consulted for a relative, a contractor (construction) 54 yrs, who had developed a non-healing varicose ulcer in the left leg and was advised a skin graft as all treatment failed. The patient had no comorbidity. Since his job included long-standing, he had suffered from varicose veins bilaterally for years. 2-3 years back he developed this ulcer near the left medial ankle which refused to heal despite conventional treatment, hence the advice of skin grafting. The only information I got was that he had severe burning pain in the lesion and it prevented sleep. Lachesis 200 one dose was given. A local wash with calendula Q was also advised regularly. The next day the pain reduced and the patient was more comfortable. Nothing else was given (not even a placebo) and patient kept reporting every week. There was a remarkable change in the appearance of the lesion within 10 days, with granulation tissue appearing and ulcer becoming shallower. Slowly the ulcer started healing and after 3 months of the only dose, it healed completely.

Explanation

As this case was not under my direct observation that is why I decided to go with a moderate potency. It was a left-sided varicose ulcer and had marked burning as a symptom. There are many other medicines having varicose ulcers but none have such burning (it was the sensation voluntarily given by the patient) as Lachesis. Based on this a single dose was given (Lachesis- left-sided, varicose ulcer, burning pain). And since the patient kept improving the dose was not repeated (had the progress stopped, I would have had to think about a second prescription).

This case is also interesting as I did not give a placebo to the patient (I could not, as the medicine was prescribed over the phone). Improvement in the first few days convinced the patient that his treatment was on the correct path and he followed every instruction that was given to him, diligently. Aude Sapere

Shivangi Jain
BHMS, MD, PGDMLE, PGDHHM
drshivangijain79@gmail.com
https://drshivangihomoeopathy.com/

Download the .pdf file of the case below

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Clubbing of fingers and Lauroceracus

Internal Medicine/Knowledge of Disease

Clubbing is a physical sign, seen as knotting at the end of fingers and loss of normal nail curvature.

There are various causes of clubbing of fingers, commonest of which are enumerated below:

  • Cyanotic Congenital heart diseases
  • Subacute bacterial endocarditis (SBE)
  • Lung abscess
  • Bronchiectasis
  • Empyema
  • Bronchial CA
  • Inflammatory bowel diseases- ulcerative colitis/ crohn’s disease
  • Some cancers

Lauroceracus can either be curative (when chosen on basis of characteristics or peculiarities) or palliative (if given purely on a pathological basis in those with anatomical defects.) in the above conditions. Let us now discuss these conditions and symptoms that indicate the remedy pathologically in these diseases.

  • Children born with cyanotic heart disease (blue babies (Boger synoptic key)), often show signs of distress and cynosis on exertion. Their skin may have a bluish discolouration. Clubbing of fingers is a well-known sign in such patients (Toe and finger nails become knotty. Clubbing of fingers (Boericke materia medica))
  • Apart from clubbing SBE may present with neurological symptoms such as seizures and twitching also present in lauroceracus symptomatology. (Convulsive twitching. Epileptic convulsions, with foam from the clenched mouth ( BBCR)
  • Bronchiectasis/ lung absecss – (Cough, with copious, jelly-like, or bloody expectoration (Boericke materia medica))
  • I could not find any overt symptoms (pathologically) of inflammatory bowel diseases in Lauroceracus, though it could come as remedy in individualization of the case.
  • Lauroceracus is known to have some cancers in its pathologically and may be helpful in these conditions if clubbing of fingers is found to be an associated symptom.

Complete repertory states two other medicines in clubbing of fingers viz cal iod and beryllium. In Cal Iod the suppurative pathology could probably explain the clubbing. I do not know much about beryllium as medicine, so would refrain from commenting on it.

Knowledge of disease helps us in diagnosis, prognosis, management, and its prevention. It is not possible to always cure a disease due to a variety of factors. Though we generally use characteristics and individualistic features for the selection of remedy, knowledge of pathology (of both disease and medicine) also helps in remedy selection in such cases.

References

  • Boericke materia medica
  • Boger synptic key
  • Boger Boenninghausen materia medica and repertory.
  • French diagnostic index
  • Harrison’s principles of internal medicine

Shivangi Jain
BHMS, MD, PGDMLE, PGDHHM
drshivangijain79@gmail.com
https://drshivangihomoeopathy.com/

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SOURCES OF MICRONUTRIENTS IN THE BODY

Patient Management/Removal of maintaining cause

Our body is a dynamic system that is constantly exchanging matter with its surroundings: taking in something and giving out something else. To function and maintain itself properly it needs substances of different types in large or small quantities.

Those minerals and chemicals needed in smaller quantities are called micronutrients. They play a vital role in metabolism and their deficiency in the body can lead to various diseased states. Therefore, it is of paramount importance for a physician to know these nutrients and their deficiency diseases, as a simple substitution in diet can correct the disorder without any medication (as they are mainly because of errors of diet and act as maintaining causes in treatment of chronic illnesses).   The physician can effect a ‘cure’ even without any medicine. Below is a comprehensive but not exhaustive list of various micronutrients and their dietary sources that a physician can advise to her/his patients and prevent deficiency diseases, by simply advising a nutritious healthy diet.

(§4
He is likewise a preserver of health if he knows the things that derange health and causes disease, and how to remove them from persons in health)

To know more download the below PDF file

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VIPERA AND TRIAD OF ABDO PAIN, FEVER, AND JAUNDICE

Internal Medicine/Knowledge of Disease

Today while studying Vipera I came across this symptom in Boerick Materia Medica.

“Violent pain in enlarged liver, with jaundice and fever; extends to shoulder and hip”

I would like to show here, another way materia can be studied and applied.
Here we are assuming a more pathological approach and would apply knowledge of medicine to study materia medica.

This symptom mentioned above is a triad of pain fever and jaundice. Which is a charcot’ s triad of cholangitis (if the pain is right hypochondrial pain).

Let us now see a differential diagnosis of conditions where this triad of fever, jaundice, and abdomen pain can be present (in all of these conditions vipera can then be thought of based on patient presentation and pathological symptom similarity):

  • Cholangitis- this inflammation of the bile duct causes the classical triad of charcot. It Can be diagnosed on ultrasound and blood picture will generally show neutrophilia. Primary or secondary, it can be associated with ulcerative colitis. The picture is very similar to that present in vipera.
  • viral haemorrhagic fevers- contracted from rodents, bats or insects, these fevers can present with all the features of pain fever, jaundice, coagulopathies, renal involvement etc. Vipera can be a very useful medicine in these fevers.
  • Scrub typhus- caused by bite of an infected mite with eschar formation at bite site, this presents as fever myalgias, enlarged spleen, pain abdomen. Rash, injected eyes and hepatomegaly may or may not be present.
  • Leptospirosis- contracted from infected rats, it presents with fever, pain and jaundice. It also affects kidney function and may cause haematuria.
  • Enteric fevers- caused by salmonella typhi from contaminated water or food, this will present with diarrhoea, constipation, fever with lower pulse rate than expected, low WBC counts. Bilirubin will however may not be raised.
  • Malaria- chills and fevers present in intermittent way depending on type of malarial parasite. There may be enlarged liver and abdomen pain.  The bilirubin doesn’t rise unless haemolysis occurs, causing black water fever.
  • liver abscess- fever, chills and painful hypochondria(rt) are common findings, however jaundice is not a common presentation. It can be easily diagnosed on USG.
  • viral hepatitis- these can present with fever, pain and jaundice. However it is the liver enzymes that are raised markedly in comparison to raised bilirubin.
  • Other acute abdomens such as pancreatitis appendicitis, diverticulitis etc can present with fever and pain abdomen though each will have their own characteristic and jaundice may or may not be present.

(Please note that this similarity is found only while studying the medicine from a pathological point of view. The confirmation can only be done by applying this knowledge in such a clinical condition in a patient.

This kind of approach is especially helpful when:

  • one is not able to find any characteristic symptom or
  • the attendants are not able to give one,
  • there is time constraint or
  • the physician has not seen the patient but has received a diagnosis from attendants.

The results in such prescriptions would nonetheless depend on the accuracy of diagnosis and its pathological similarity to chosen medicine.

References
www.medscape.com
Harrison’s Principles and Practice of Internal Medicine, 12th edition.
Pocket Manual of Homeopathic Materia Medica & Repertory by William Boericke

Shivangi Jain
BHMS, MD, PGDMLE, PGDHHM
drshivangijain79@gmail.com
https://drshivangihomoeopathy.com

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CONCOMITANTS WITH PAINS

Materia medica/ knowledge of medicinal powers

(compiled from N M CHOIDHRY MATERIA MEDICA and NASH LEADERS)

Pains with desire to take deep breath- xantho

Pains with chilliness- puls

Pains with delirium- veart alb

Pains with fainting- hepar sulph

Pains with irritability- cham, nux v

Pains with numbness- aco, plat, cham

Pains with salivation- plantago

Pains with sleepiness- nux mos

Pains with sweat- cham

Pains with frequent micturition- thuja

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Differential diagnosis of NAUSEA remedies

Materia medica/ knowledge of medicinal powers

In an acute case sometimes, it is important to relieve the most troubling symptom. It can however lead us to the right remedy if carefully individualized. These quick tips of differentiating between closely associated remedies aspire to do the same. 

Here you will find how to differentiate nausea of different remedies. The characteristic symptoms which differentiate these remedies are also mentioned for easy understanding.

  • Nux vom- has more of retching than vomiting. Chilliness and irritability.
  • Ant tart- nausea is associated with sleepiness. Rattling in chest.
  • Ipecac- nausea is associated with clean tongue and thirstlessness. Rattling chest.
  • Tobaccum- severe nausea with sweating and sinking in stomach > by uncovering the abdomen.
  • Lobelia- very similar to tobaccum (except the modality), it has however more action on respiratory sphere, rattling chest. Salivation with complaints. Pricking and itching of skin Is a useful concomitant to differentiate it from other drugs. Urine with deep red colour/ sediment with aSbove complaints.

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