Recurrent upper respiratory infections with otitis media

1. Recurrent upper respiratory infections with otitis media Nineteen month infant

2. Initial trust building process • He is usually shy • Learning new words • Loves putting his hand in the fish bowl • He is an easy going kid 5:25 • Mostly a happy kid • Does not scream, just whines a bit

3. Expressions of happiness • Plays games with me • Crawls and expects me crawl and catch him • Hundreds of kisses, drools and we wrestle • Does not like being smooched on the lips • Very easy going • Very careful getting off from his cycle

4. More on personality • Day care attendants say he is not a physical boy • He loves playing in the water during bath • 9:54 So water figures a lot-hand in the fish bowl, bath time…? • Yes. But he does not like his hair to be washed or cut

5. Say more • He plays with his hair a lot(HG) energy high • In what way? • Its comforting for him. He plays with the top of his hair a lot • Say more about this • He plays with my hair too. There is a woman at the day care with curly hair. He does not know what to do with it! • I do that a lot with my hair too

6. Smooth, silky feel • He likes the smooth, silky feel • Whenever I get him back from the day care he holds my hand with his free hand • Apart from hair, is there anything else of the same kind of texture that he likes to feel? • The cat, stuffed toys and finger puppets

7. Mother’s habit • I have also found touching my hair very comforting • When do you do this? • When I am tired. Ever since I was a kid. • What is the sensation when you do that? 15:57 • Smooth and soft. Like it when it is wet and cold to touch, like now-Demo

8. More on sensation • Its like putting your hand in a shallow stream with moss in it, as the water passes through the fingers • Feeling the moss or the water? • Feeling the moss and the water as the moss does not pass through your fingers

9. Moss sensation • Soft, slimy and cold • Say more on soft, slimy and cold • Like an ice cube but not that harsh • (Here is a block. Right time for a doodle) • Can you do a doodle while you experience this sensation?

10. Doodle 1-Plant under water • Talk about this • It is a plant that is underwater • Soft, like when it flows back and forth(HG) and high energy • 20:36 Glimpse of doodle • Do the action of back and forth

11. Demo of back and forth • Talk of this gesture and sensation • It is a plant in a stream of water. It is rooted but the water makes it go back and forth • 21:32 How strong is it rooted? • Not incredibly strong. But strong enough that the water cannot pull it. • But if you pulled at it, it would come out easily. That kind of a root system

12. Root system • Say more about its root system • It is anchored in something that is soft. • Like a clay bed or the bottom of a river bed. • Sort of bushy • I imagine something like clay where it can have roots that are deep enough(HG)

13. Relationship with child • We are well connected • Its like after 2 guesses, I know why he is upset • There is an ebb and a flow(HG) • His needs and my response to it • Say more on ebb and flow and this HG • It is like a conversation without words • Like our souls talking to each other

14. Ebb and flow probe and doodle • Visualize ebb and flow and say more 27:13 • Can you do a doodle again while experiencing this sensation • Doodle 2 • Its like when you sit on a rocking chair • A sideways rocking chair(HG) • As I am doing it, I feel like I am moving sideways

15. Sensation explored • It is comforting, relaxing and reminds me of sleeping • In what way? • It’s a nice way to go to sleep • Like lying on a hammock • It is warm and comforting • Warm in your core

16. Say more • It radiates from the core • Out, like the sun • Like when you put paint inside a glass of water and the way it disperses(HG) • 30:15 Did you feel the same sensation of being well connected even when he was in the womb? • No. Exactly the opposite

17. Talk on the opposite • (The opposite are 2 sides of the same coin. While probing that, the inner sensation is derived more easily) • My husband left me when I was 5 months pregnant • There was a total disconnect • I did not want to be in my own skin anymore • Even when he was born, I did not look at him • He was going to complicate my life

18. Trapped • 31:54 You feel kind of trapped(HG) with maximum energy • Talk about that sensation • Like you are just suffocating • Talk about trapped and suffocated • Its like you are underneath water and you cant get to the top • A sensation of everything being close and tight • There was a total disconnect from my child. That is how I felt then. Now I like him a lot

19. Strait jacket • Like as if you are stuck in a small, confined space • (When the words ‘as if’ are used to describe a sensation, one is very close to the vital sensation) • (I often use it as a form of a question if there is difficulty on part of the patient in elaborating their inner sensation) • (It is good to be familiarized with Robert’s- Sensation As If and keep it handy for reference)

20. Stuck, confined and suffocated • Like being in a pipe • Like having a strait jacket on • Your arms are like this(HG) • You cant move them • Your rib cage cant expand • You cant take a good breath • Taking little breaths to survive

21. Black cloud • Can you say how you felt when your husband left you? • I was desperately upset • (The miasm is getting confirmed as the remedy should be close to one that feels desperate) • But 2 wks before I had him, there was a tremendous, paralyzing fear • It was like a black cloud that follows you everywhere

22. Black cloud explored • It was dark and cold • Its like you have dug a really black hole in your backyard • It is cold down there • It was a feeling of heaviness • There was a trapped and suffocated sensation • Yet I just did not want to get out of it

23. No energy • I was so low • I did not have the energy to even try to get out • Earlier I wanted to get out • At this point I had no more energy left • (Here the Tubercular miasm is getting confirmed) • The desperation indicated a miasm close to the Cancer miasm earlier

24. Paralyzing fear • I recall not being able to function well • I was weeping but could not think • I would lie to people as I did not want to go out or meet anyone • I wanted to be alone by myself • I felt desperate • I had imagined how my life would be with a partner and I did not have that now

25. 50:12 Chief complaint • One needs to be flexible with the chief complaint especially in children • Once the vital sensation and link if any is established, the chief complaint is understood better • However, if the emphasis of the case is on the chief complaint from the beginning, it is always better to probe that fully and then proceed to confirm the other levels

26. Ear infections • With each cold that he gets, it goes into his ears and there is high fever and he is pain • He does not scream with pain but gets irritable • He has to be held then and caressed • There is a green nasal discharge and he loses his appetite • His cough wakes him up • He has had 6 antibiotics in the past 6 months

27. More on child • He does not like his upper arms to be touched • 58:00 Incident of someone holding him by the arms and picking him • He howled when that was done • He is very sensitive to his environment • He senses it when his father comes home • He stops and stares if he hears a baby crying or people fighting

28. Confirmation at all levels • Have you had problems with your periods? • No. Except that they came when I was 15 • Any muscle or joint related issues? • No. In fact I play a lot of sport so my physical fitness is very good • Any other illness for you that involves pain? • I have IBS since many years

29. IBS and childhood • It is anxiety and anticipation related • Anxiety of not reaching the bathroom in time • So travelling becomes difficult • Being in a car for long was a problem • I would anticipate trouble • I was a happy child • Well organized and perfect

30. Plant sensitivity • I was always nice to people • Now I am more selective as I don’t have the energy • I am sensitive 1:14:48 • Poem- harpoon striking the whale • I started to cry while relating this poem • It was very embarrassing

31. Pain and IBS • There is a lot of pain • It is like an intestinal knotting • Like a rope with a bunch of knots in it • It gets tighter and it releases • Like an old rope that prickles in a painful way • Like poking your hand in a porcupine • It is a sharp pain that causes me to double over

32. Understanding of the case

33. Ranunculaceae and Tubercular • The plant sensitivity has been established • The sharp pains take you to the Ranunculaceae family • The opposite of sharp is also seen in the form of soft and silky(hair) earlier • The trapped and suffocated confirms the Tubercular miasm

34. Link in mother and child • The confirmation and link between the mother and child is seen in the child in the form of love for water, feel of soft things • Also the aversion to being held by the arms in the child and the strait jacket experience in the mother • Their acutely sensitive natures

35. Cimicifuga • The feeling of being encaged and bound tightly emerges in this remedy • The green nasal discharges once again confirms the Tubercular miasm to which the remedy belongs • The love for outdoor and sport along with the suffocation in the mother • The need to wander about in the child once he feels comfortable • His own sensitivity to the suffering of others

36. Working of case and themes

37. Themes • Soft hair is comforting(entry point) • Moss in water sensation • Description of a plant in water- (Actea racemosa is often found in wet, marshy and forest land) • Strong connection • Ebb and flow • Conversation without words • 2 souls talking to each other

38. Plant Sensitivity • Acute sensitivity of a plant • Plant that has strong roots • But would come up if pulled • Anchored into a river bed • Ebb and flow • Connect and disconnect

39. Plant family? • Could be Malvales • Connect and disconnect • But further probing leads to trapped • Suffocation due to feeling trapped • Strait jacket

40. Euphorbiaceae? • The sensation here is tied as if hide bound • It also brings inflexibility, adherent quality and unyielding nature- like a dried up tight mask • Our patient is highly sensitive to his external environment. • He senses it when his father comes home and becomes very quiet

41. Sensitivity of the mother • ‘I was always nice to people • Now I am more selective as I don’t have the energy’ • She is giving examples of crying while reading a poem of a harpoon striking the whale, where the harpoon is again a sharp metal weapon like a spear with a pointed tip piercing the whale

42. Sharp and its opposite soft • Regarding her IBS, though she is talks of a rope, she says it prickles in a painful way, as if you are poking your hand in a porcupine, again which has pointed thorns • The opposite in the form of softness is also very prominent • So this again confirms the sharp pains of Ranunculaceae

43. Strait jacket expanded • Arms are stuck • Rib cage cannot expand • Little breaths to survive • Trapped and suffocated • Inability to move • Like stuck in a pipe or a confined space

44. Black cloud depression • This depression is so great that everything in Actea looks covered with a death - like pall • She feels as if a heavy black cloud has settled over her and enveloped her head, so that all were darkness and confusion.

45. Some references from Materia Medica • As may be easily imagined this patient is sad and morose. There is a great abundance of sighing as in Ignatia. Mental depressions sometimes take the form of suicidal mania. She is constantly afraid of becoming crazy and we notice that she has to exert great control to prevent her from committing suicide.

46. Rubrics and references • Delusions, imaginations: clouds: enveloped her, heavy black. • Delusions, imaginations: wires, is caught in. • Sharp, lancinating pains in various parts • Courage to confront rather than retreat from abusive or threatening situations • Being caught in relationships or lifestyle which are abusive, addictive, violent; dark, brooding emotions

47. Ranunculaceae • This understanding takes us to the Ranunculaceae family • The acute sensitivity with pains that are sharp and lancinating are very suggestive • It is as if their nerves are hypersensitive • Themes of insult and being humiliated

48. Tubercular miasm • Suffocation • Oppression • Desire freedom • Outdoor and sports • Ear infections with discharges • Running out of time • A very useful drug for more or less superficial conditions - though it has also a reputation in phthisis.

49. Ranunculaceae+Tubercular • Oppressed and suffocated in a place that is insulting and humiliating and needs to get out from there is the main essence of the case

50. Black snake root. • Black Cohosh. (Canada, Georgia, Western States of America.) N. O. Ranunculaceae. Tincture of the root. The emphasis in the case was a plant with strong roots The snake root as mentioned above, is prepared from the root of the plant