An excellent response by a woman with irritable bowel syndrome, fibrocystic breast disease, anxiety, and grief.

Such a Big Shock?

A forty-two-year-old high school French teacher from Eastern Washington, Kristin first visited our office four years ago for help with her irritable bowel syndrome and fibrocystic breast disease. She mentioned immediately that she and her husband had had marital difficulties, which left her in a state of shock:

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

  I've always had a lot of digestive problems and food sensitivities.
  In my twenties, I had parasites. I have pain from my stomach to my
  lower abdomen. Then there are milder, chronic things like a fluttery
  feeling in my heart, skipped beats, and itchy ear canals. I used to
  get mild psoriasis on my elbows and ear lobe. Ten years ago, I had an
  episode of Fifth's Disease. Then I developed strep throat, which
  ended up with a reactive arthritis. My fingers, ankles, and knees
  became swollen. The rheumatologist told me to take aspirin for two to
  six months. I went instead to a homeopath. He prescribed Belladonna,
  and within 15 minutes, I was 75% better.

  I get pimples in the middle of my back. My bowel movements are
  incomplete and tend towards constipation as well as some diarrhea. I
  can't bear to have anything tight around my abdomen. My energy is
  low. I have been on DHEA and licorice to strengthen my adrenals. My
  DHEA and cortisol levels were in the basement. I was on Lexapro for
  my anxiety. It brought up the bottom of my moods. Without it, I was
  quite anxious. My husband finally admitted to having had an affair.
  The whole shock of it took me out of knowing who I was. I would panic
  for fear that I would be hurt again. I feel tightness across my
  chest. I can't breathe. I feel like I am not okay spiritually. It was
  such an insult. Like pulling the rug from under me. When I would go
  running, I couldn't breathe through the tightness in my chest.
  Halfway through a run, I would break out crying. It's better now.
  When I feel it, it as if someone is sitting on my chest, gripping it.
  Like a tourniquet around my airway. Like a lump in my throat. Like
  there's something caught in my esophagus. If I tried to swim when I
  felt this way, it was difficult to keep my face in the water because
  of the tightness in my chest.

  Such a big shock! Whenever I found out that my husband was lying
  to me, it became hard to breathe and to exercise. My back was
  giving me problems, too. Pain right between my shoulder blades.
  I went for chiropractic adjustments every three weeks.

Kristin explained what she meant by "shock":

  It took me completely by surprise. I had never even considered that
  this could happen in my marriage. It surprised me in such a
  fundamental way. I got the feeling that I didn't know if I could go
  on. Wondered what my life was about. I was really taken by surprise.
  I didn't want it to be true. It just couldn't be happening to me. I
  thought we would be together forever. I kept thinking about getting
  the rug pulled out from under me. Is he going to hurt me again? I
  needed to be more in control, to check up on him so it would not
  happen again. A total sense of being off-balance.

  I think I'm still reacting to the situation, even though it has been
  three years with a bunch of lies in-between. It undermined my
  ability to trust everything the way I thought it was. I'm still
  really having trouble maintaining that balance. Knowing who I am
  and what I want and making sure nothing happens to me. How do you
  make sure that bad things don't happen to you? I just felt shocked.
  And it happened again and again each time I tried to trust him and
  he would again cover up. My whole emotional world was shaken up. I
  couldn't tell the difference between my own panic and my
  intuition.

We inquired a bit more about the initial grief.

  I cried a lot. Racking crying and sobbing. In the first few weeks,
  I slept only an hour at a time. Then I would wake up with a surge
  of panic. We separated. The affair pulled everything apart--our
  family, finances, home. I kept telling my husband, "Just tell me the
  truth." The hardest thing was not knowing. Not being able to trust. I
  start to have the hope that I will eventually have a relationship
  that is closer to my ideal. I am lost. The immediate sense of panic,
  of getting the rug pulled out, is gone. But the disorientation is
  still there. I feel a deep sadness.

We explored with Kristin whether she had ever felt similarly earlier in her life.

  In a previous relationship, the circumstances were quite different,
  but I still had that same sense of having the rug pulled out form
  under me. Of being off-balance. Your feet go out from under you. That
  sense of being slammed down.

  I'm very emotional. When I am somewhere with lots of personalities, I
  become irritable. Or way too empathetic. Very intuitive and very
  sensitive. I may not know what's going on in someone's life, but I
  can pick up his emotional responses. I can't read his mind, but I can
  read his emotions. The cues he is giving.

  I have had fibrocystic disease forever, since my first mammogram at
  20 years old. Lumps all the time, even in post-menstrual breast
  checks. My breast have gotten more and more dense, fibrous,
  fluid-filled, sore. There's no point in getting mammograms, since
  they always end up doing an ultrasound.

We concluded the interview by investigating fears, dreams, family history, and some generalities.

  My only real fear is being alone. Nothing else. I don't remember my
  dreams much. I did dream that my husband's lover was waiting in my
  house for him to come home. My mom was alcoholic and a smoker and
  died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. My father had heart
  disease. My maternal aunt, paternal and maternal grandmothers, and
  paternal uncle all had cancer; most of them died from it.

An Obvious Prescription

The first medicine that we gave Kristin was a very straightforward prescription: Ignatius amara (St. Ignatius bean) 200 C. It is a marvelous medicine for many cases of acute grief. At Kristin's first follow-up appointment, three months later, she reported as follows:

  After the first dose, I thought I noticed back pain and stomach pain
  stirring up. I had foggy thinking before the remedy. I feel clearer.
  The fluttery feeling in my heart is gone. My heart still skips once
  in a while. The mid-cycle breast tenderness is less, but the breast
  lumps under the still have on-and-off constipation, loose stools, and
  pimples. I have been much less anxious. The lump in my throat is
  gone. I feel more like things are gonna be okay. Less panicked. I
  have been much more able to manage highs and lows. I have begun
  another relationships. I am getting ready to file for divorce. I am
  not as tired in the evening. Wearing tight clothing around my abdomen
  doesn't seem to bother me.

Some symptoms were definitely improved. We raised the potency to Ignatia 1M. Two months later, we saw Kristin again.

  I had a reaction to the remedy for a couple of days. I no longer have
  a sense of hopelessness. I can be empathetic now but not take on my
  husband's emotions. The fibrocystic breast symptoms are a little
  better. The anxiety is still much better. The lump in the throat and
  pressure in the chest are gone, even when I go running.

We continued to see Kristin at three-month intervals. Although the symptoms that had improved, as mentioned above, were 75% better, overall she felt only 60% improved. She was happy that she now felt so well, mentally and emotionally. But a number of her physical symptoms were only minimally improved. We knew that there must be a better medicine that would help all of her symptoms. This after all, is the beauty of homeopathy: one medicine for the totality of the patient's symptoms.

On Shaky Ground 

Although we write these cases using the proverbial "we," only one of us takes and manages each patient's case. Kristin happened to be Judyth's patient. Not satisfied with the outcome, Judyth explored the case further with the goal of finding a better medicine for Kristin. Over and over again, the same sensation emerged, one that was not particularly addressed by the Ignatia, as excerpted from the retaken case:

  My stomach is flip-flopping ... Topsy turvy. Out of balance Shaky.
  Weak in the knees ... jiggling. Not grounded. Not peaceful. Really
  shaken ... Not stable. Not calm. Vibrating isn't the right
  word ... bouncy. Not stable. A feeling that everything can wash away.
  The rug being pulled out from under you. The sand washing away under
  your feet ... a feeling of falling ... a little bit like a roller
  coaster. No sense of gravity. You're being pulled down. Like falling.
  Like there is nothing to hang on to. It feels really shaky. I can
  feel it in my body right now. In my arms and legs. Sort of quivery. A
  connection to not knowing what to do. Shaky and heavy. I can feel it
  shaking inside. Shaking like a leaf. A sense of being out of control.

As we typically do when we are trying to delve more deeply into the sensation of the chief complaint, Judyth asked Kristin to tell us about the opposite of what she had just described: "Calm. Grounded. Peaceful. Sure. Comfortable. At ease."

Then, again, exploring more deeply into the sensation itself:

  Shaky, quivering, and fearful. Held back. Tight. Like [my] pants are
  too tight. Like I can't breathe. Am going to suffocate. Like
  something is holding [me] down. It takes more work to
  breathe ... insecure. Taking away trust. A lack of trust gives me
  that feeling of the rug being pulled out or being washed away. I'm
  not safe. Not secure. Whenever I am, I would just think about what
  you need to do to be safe. To be prepared for whatever. Being aware
  of surroundings. Like a parking garage in the dark. Who is around?
  How quickly can I get to my car? Not being a target of crime. Just
  being prepared for whatever your surroundings could present.

Judyth knew this sensation, which Kristin so brilliantly elucidated, was the key to her case. But the medicine was not yet evident. So Judyth gathered more information about the sensation:

  The affair was like a huge blow to something I was already sensitive
  about. That rug-pulling-out feeling makes me feel queasy. Seasick. I
  can't find anything to hold on to. Like rocking in a boat. It would
  be easier to lay down than to stand up. Like that roller coaster
  feeling of falling. The bottom falls out. You're suspended in mid air
  and you fall ... falling. No safe place. Gravity pulling you down.
  Seasick in my stomach. When I feel lonely, I get a sick feeling in
  my stomach. Like I'm gonna throw up. Nobody is there for me. Scary.
  Queasy. No solid ground. The rug being pulled out from under. Like
  when you're standing between a boat and a dock. That rocking. No
  solid ground. You don't want to stay there long. You want to step to
  one or the other.

Thank You, Twenty Mule Team 

It is indispensable, when using the Sensation Method of case taking, to thoroughly investigate the sensation to its deepest core. But then we need to be able to translate that sensation into the simillimum. Fortunately, Judyth had the wisdom to consult Bob on this particular case. Once he heard the well-expressed sensation, a medicine quickly came to mind. It is best known for the fear of and aggravation from downward motion. It is mineral remedy (logical, due to the emphasis on the loss of a relationship and the issues of security) known to be effective for problems of nutrition (Kristin's bowel symptoms), skin, and nerves. The medicine? Borax (sodium borate).

Borax is a complex mineral containing chains of interlocking triangles and tetrahedrons. According to Dr. Rajan Sankaran's schema of the homeopathic periodic table, the issue of Natrum is that "I have a separate identity and lack the capacity to find my own nourishment and care." And that of Boron: "Do I want to be attached or separated?" with a desire to hold on. A mineral salt, or combination of two elements, involves issues of relationship. So, it is not surprising that Kristin's main theme involved "finding herself" after a marital separation. The best-known sodium salt is Natrum muriaticum (sodium chloride), which is also the best-known homeopathic medicine for the chronic effects of grief, betrayal, and lack of trust. The hallmarks of Natrum muriaticum are a desire to bond intimately with a partner, a profound hurt when the relationship ends, followed by the building of a wall to protect oneself from future hurt and, most often, a repetition of the process due to the inevitable tendency to want to bond again. Borax is a much lesser-known sodium salt, but similar in many ways.

What is most fascinating for us about this case is Kristin's sensation of being on unsteady ground with the rug pulled out from under her. Borax is found in the MIND rubrics: "anxiety from motion of airplane, cable-railway, downward motion, elevator, while riding downhill; confusion of mind from downward motion or rocking; delusion of waves; fear of downward motion, of riding in a carriage; startled from downward motion." In the STOMACH section of the repertory, Borax covers nausea from riding in a carriage or cars, seasickness, and vomiting after riding in a carriage (more extreme than in Kristin's case).

The first dose of Borax 200C was given three and a half years ago. Since that time, Kristin has responded very well. At the first post-Borax follow-up visit, she reported feeling "way more balances, emotionally way more stable, no panic attacks, no sensation of falling ... the emotional trauma of the last three to four years is gone. The fibrocystic breasts are better also."

Over almost four subsequent years, Kristin has taken periodic doses of the Borax, first in 200C and 1M dry doses, and subsequently in 200C liquid plussed doses, as needed. Judyth sees Kristin four times a year. All of the symptoms on Kristin's case could be tied together in one thread, and all responded beautifully to Borax.

Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman, ND, DHANP, LCSW, and Robert Ullman, ND, DHANP, are licensed naturopathic physicians board certified in homeopathy. In practice for 25 years, they practice at the Northwest Center for Homeopathic Medicine in Edmonds, Washington, and treat patients by telephone and video consultations as well as in person. They are co-authors of eight books, including the best-selling Ritalin-Free Kids, Rage-Free Kids--and Prozac Free; A Drug-Free Approach to Asperger Syndrome and Autism; Whole Woman Homeopathic Medicine; and Mystics, Masters, Saints, and Sages: Stories of Enlightment. They have taught internationally. They live on Whidbey Island, Washington, and in Pucon, Chile, and can be reached at 425-774-5599 or online at www.healthyhomeopathy.com.

by Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman, ND, DHANP, LCSW, and Robert Ullman, ND, DHANP

www.healthyhomeopathy.com