Printed in Resonance and Reprinted in Homeopathic Links 1997
As a student at the homeopathic college in Bombay, I was quite confused and discouraged as I witnessed the diversity in the methods of practice in our homeopathic hospital. There were many variations, not only with regards to potency and repetition, but also in the way they chose the remedies. In spite of these variations, we saw positive results in many cases. Once I began my practice, I started to realize that the correct homeopathic remedy can be found through any number of methods, some from keynotes, some from the Repertory, some from remedy pictures, some from physical characteristics, and others from the mental-emotional picture. It is similar to entering a house from a front door, back door, garage door, patio or a window. If we train ourselves with only one method, we will fail in those cases which do not have that entry point open. If we are flexible and determined to get into the house, the mode of entry shouldn't matter. I would like to share the two most important lessons I learnt from the following case. One is not to be fixed about the method of arriving at the remedy and the second is not to fit the patient into the well-known remedies.
In May 1995, a woman in her forties came to me with a complaint of chronic fatigue syndrome and lower abdominal pain. She also had a history of recurrent throat infections. Three years ago she missed the opportunity to become a vice-president in her company because someone else got it with a recommendation from the president's wife. This made her very angry but she could not say or do anything about it. Within the next few days she came down with a severe sore throat and dry cough, which was worse from swallowing (2) and at night (2). She had tremendous weakness (3) and soreness of the body, especially the neck and upper back. Antibiotic clears the soreness of her throat quickly, but the complaint reappears in variable intensity each time she is upset. Her neck and upper back have not felt normal since. She has had several adjustments and massage sessions for the stiffness and soreness.
She works as a sales executive for a well known cosmetic company. She was hired as a part time sales agent a few years ago and she progressed to this position in just two years - the secret being her mastery with language.
Even as a child, no one could beat her in an elocution competition. Her parents would also have trouble arguing with her. Her vivacity and loquacity is remarkable and her speech is strikingly eloquent. She is dressed in attractive clothes with some jewelry. She comes across quite refined in her demeanor. She has two brothers, both older than her and she recalls having a tough time to get included in their games. This would make her very angry. Now she gets along well with them and in some ways is ahead of them in her career. She had many friends at school and enjoyed taking part in all kinds of activities. Her parents are alive and have retired, she has a good relation with them. She was married at a very young age for a short period. She does not have any hard feelings about it. She has been in a relationship for the past seven years which is good and just what she needs. She says she used to have the normal childhood fears of being in the dark and alone, but not anymore. She is fond of all animals except snakes. Snakes terrify her. She even gets dreams of snakes. She has restless sleep especially when she has a sore throat, she wakes up frequently and she is un-refreshed in the morning. She also has to change her position frequently during sleep because of her neck and back pain.
She is very chilly and gets chilled very easily. Her appetite and thirst are normal. She likes good food and she has been a vegetarian for twenty years. Her menstrual history is uneventful and normal with some swelling of the breasts before menses.
She used to get splitting headaches which responded quickly to pain killers. She also has a history of kidney infections with pain going from left to right.
Analysis
You will wonder why I am writing this simple and obvious case of Lachesis. I too thought this to be an easy case with all the indications for Lachesis: loquacity, communicative, powerful with language, animal characteristics like attractive clothes, fear and dreams of snakes, competitiveness and egotism. On the physical level, symptoms such as an affinity to the throat area, dry cough at night, unrefreshed after sleep, chilled easily (lack of vital heat) and the direction of left to right also clearly indicated Lachesis. It seemed to be the right remedy because most 'drug pictures' described Lachesis as a vivacious, loquacious personality. So, I decided to give her Lachesis.
However, at the end of the case-taking, before giving Lachesis, I went through the history form she had filled out for me. I found in the history form two peculiar symptoms she had mentioned. She gets severe itching in her ears, especially when she is eating and she also gets sharp shooting pains in her right breast suddenly and randomly. She has been examined for both these complaints and nothing abnormal has been found.
I have a habit of looking up such unexplained symptoms in the repertory, even when I am apparently clear on the remedy I want to give. This way I not only keep myself familiar with the repertory, but also study the 'unusual' or 'small' remedies through such rubrics. Lachnanthes was the only remedy listed in the rubric: Itching in the ear while eating. I didn't know much about it except that it is a very good remedy for torticollis.
When I started going through the Complete Materia Medica of Mind by Van Zandvoort, my curiosity turned into surprise as I saw rubrics like ailments from suppressed anger; delirium loquacious; delusion snakes in and around her; eloquent; loquacity changing from one subject to another; loquacity, speeches makes; restlessness, tossing in bed; talk, desire to someone.
These rubrics are all in common with Lachesis.
With these similarities, I started reading Lachnanthes in all the books on Reference works. What I found was most amazing: Lachnanthes is herb growing in sandy swamps near the coast. Hering says that in olden days, the Indians chewed the plant when they would meet the white man to give them a flow of language. The loquacity and power of language in Lachnanthes is remarkable. Choudhari writes that the loquacity of Lachnanthes resembles Lachesis. In the American Homeopathic Recorder it is written that Lachnanthes tinctoria, spirit weed, was sent to Dr. C. Hering by Dr. Byron, from Monticello, Florida, with a letter dated November 3d, 1852. In this letter Dr. Byron says, 'with the above I send you a plant, known among the
Indians refer to it as "spirit weed", which means an exciting weed. Root and flowers are the parts used by the natives to produce as they say a shining eye and big face, which means a brilliant eye and flushed and swelled face. They use it by chewing and in water; those using it look bold, "big" and talk loud (speak eloquent).' Clarke writes about Lachnanthes: very restless, throws herself about, feels weak...in the chest there are lancinating stitches, in quick succession in right side of chest below mamma., there is much coldness and chilliness, ...pain and stiffness in back, bruised all over, dry cough, roughness of throat...sleep bad owing to cough. There is much dryness of throat, which is worse on waking in the night, with much coughing. Aversion to meat... sleepless or restless sleep with distressing dreams..... burning in the region of left kidney, extending towards right side.
Follow-up
With all this, I decided to give her Lachnanthes C200. In a month, her fatigue improved 60% and her abdominal pains became more frequent for a couple of weeks and then disappeared. After three months, she had a fight with her boyfriend and came down with an acute attack of sore throat which responded very well to another dose of Lachnanthes C200. Her sleep improved along with the stiffness of the neck and back. Her chronic fatigue pain is 90-95% better. She is more relaxed and able to express her anger easily without getting sick. She is still quite loquacious, however at times she has become aware of it. Since she moved to another state, I hear from her infrequently but she is still doing well.
Valuable lessons always come from patients in our own practice. This case reaffirmed for me that the single most common mistake we make is when we try to fit the patient into well-known remedies. If I had not opened the form, I would never have come to Lachnanthes. We have to use all the tools we have like repertory, Materia Medica, keynotes etc. in order to come to the correct remedy. Studying and learning 'drug-pictures', or 'essences' of remedies, or 'portraits' and personality traits of remedies should merely be a guide. When they are used exclusively, many 'small' remedies which do not have extensive provings can be missed. Also, the correct remedy can be found through any method. In this case, just one rubric in the repertory, confirmed by the descriptions in different Materia Medica led me to Lachnanthes.
The key to successful homeopathic prescribing is fluidity and openness to each case. Homeopathy does not need rigidity and routinism because even though they give stability, they also restrict growth. Growth in Homeopathy will come from thorough and reliable provings of these 'small' remedies so we can use them and not miss them.