| Cases Illustrating Repertory Work.
Mrs. C. F., 35 years, record contains the following symptoms:
Mind. - Thinks of nothing but death.
Homesick and worries about home whenever away.
Cross and irritable.
Memory very poor. Forgetful, which is very troublesome.
Company makes her nervous; does not want to stay and visit with
frieds when they come to call or spend the
evening.
Imagines there are persons in the room.
Difficult to concentrate her thoughts on any one thing long enough
to complete it.
Head. - Headache most of the time, severe pressure
at base of skull.
Pain in right side of head extending down to neck.
Aggravation from warmth of bed; from mental exertion.
Amelioration from lying.
Itching of scalp with much dandruff, with falling of hair.
Vertigo in hot room and when rising from seat.
Stomach. - Hungry all the time, but a little
satisfies.
Much belching of tasteless gas.
Desires sweets which disagree.
Abdomen. - Sensitive to pressure of clothing.
Much rumbling of flatus with pressure both up and down.
Urination. - Profuse, pale and alkaline.
Sometimes burning in bladder after urination.
Menses. - Profuse.
Irregular.
Dark, with dark clots.
Very much depressed and inclined to be tearful before menses.
Leucorrhoea profuse for a few days after menses - excoriates.
Sleep. - Good but unrefreshing. Wakens tired
and exhausted.
Very sleepy after dinner (at night).
Dreams frightful, usually of drowning.
General Aggravation and Amelioration. - Better
in open air.
Worse from pressure of clothes about abdomen and throat.
Very sensitive to noise.
Repertory Analysis.
Mentals. - Imagines Phantoms, etc. (page 27.) - Ambr., Apis, Arg.
m., Ars., BELL., Carbo v., Caust., Crot. h., Hep.,
Hyos., LACH., Lyc., Merc., Nat. m., Op., Phos., Samb., Stram., Thuj.,
Sulph., Zinc.
Sensitive to Noise (page 79) - Apis, Ars., BELL., Carbo v., Caust.,
LACH., Lyc., Merc., Nat. m., Op., Phos.,
Zinc.
Aversion to Company (page 12) - Bell., Lach., Lyc., Nat. m.
Physical Generals - Amelioration from Open Air (page 1307) -
Lach., Lyc., Nat. m.
Menses Dark (page 723) - Lach., Lyc.
Menses Irregular (page 724) - Lach., Lyc.
Menses Dark Clotted (page 722) - Lyc.
Therefore, if our analysis has been correct, Lycopodium should
cover this case in its entirety, and consulting our
Materia Medica we find not only the general symptoms of the case
that we have used in our analysis but all the
others which are recorded in the record of the case. Therefore,
we know that this remedy is the similimum to the
case, and if administered carefully will cure.
The second case that I will give will show you how not to use
the
repertory. This method of trying to find a remedy which will cover
every
symptom of the patient is the one most of you try to use and it
is one
that is discouraging not only from the fact that it takes so much
time, but as well as the fact that many times the
repertory will not give the particular rubric for which you may
be looking. I selected this case for the reason that each
of the symptoms can be found in the repertory and that one remedy
covers them all.
Case 2. -
Mrs. H. S. came to me 2-12-‘07 with the following symptoms
which I will give in her own language:
“I am so nervous; am afraid I shall kill some of my people,
as I go all to pieces and can’t control myself. Thinking
about killing, I dream of killing my little girl. If I do not get
better soon I shall commit murder. Every afternoon I
have pain over my eyes as if burned. Can’t read at night,
as there are sharp pains going through my eyes; if I persist in
reading dark points appear on the page so I cannot see the print.
Hungry most of the time; in morning when I
awaken there is burning pain in my stomach which grows worse until
I get up, when it goes away. Always have to
take pills to move my bowels; before they move there is a sharp
cutting pain in the rectum and many times the
bowels come out while at stool. If I drink beer will have piles
for two or three days. My menses have been too often
since my last child, three years ago, and for a week before I am
sick have whites each morning, which are much
worse walking. There is not much flow, and it only lasts two or
three days and smells sour as vinegar. Can’t sew
for past month, as there are stitching pains in the back of my neck
when bending my head forward. Feet cold as ice
every afternoon and cramps in my calves keep me awake nearly all
night. Do not shop, as I feel so badly when I have
to stank long.”
Repertory Analysis
Fear of killing people. - Abis, Ars. a., Nux v., Rhus t., Sulph.
Dreams of committing murder. - Rhus t., Sulph.
Burning pains over the eyes, worse afternoon. - Sulph.
Sharp shooting pains at night, on reading. - Phyto., Sulph.
Followed by dark points. - Con., Sulph.
Burning pains in stomach on waking, better rising. - Sulph.
Cutting pain in rectum before stool., - Asar., Sep., Sulph.
Prolapsus recti during stool. - Ign., Lyc., Podo., Rhus t., Sulph.
Leucorrhoea mornings, worse walking. - Nat. m., Bov., Sarsa., Sep.,
Sulph.
Menses scanty, short duration. - Amm. c., Lach., Puls., Sulph.
Menses smell sour. - Carbo v., Sulph.
Stitching pain in neck from bending head forward. - Sulph.
Feet cold afternoon. - Nux v., Sulph.
Cramps in calves while in bed. - Ars. a., Caust., Ign., Sulph.
Worse standing - Con., Cycl., Lil. t., Puls., Sep., Sulph., Valer.
Here we see that Sulphur covers each symptom, but with a good knowledge
of the arrangement of the repertory it took me some time to work
it out. Now to demonstrate how much more rapidly we can arrive at
the same results by working from the generals to particulars, we
will start with a general rubric:
Menses scanty, short duration. - We find the following nineteen
remedies that have this symptom in the first and second grades:
Alum., Amc., Asaf., Bar. c., Cocc., Con., Dulc., Graph., Lach.,
Mang., Merc., Nat. m., Nux v., Phos., Plat., Puls., Sepia., Sulph.,
Thuj.
Now among this group of nineteen remedies will be found one which
will cover the totality of our case. If we were
to give a remedy upon this one symptom alone we might give any one
of the above, for they all have this condition in
a high degree; but if we did not give the right one we should not
cure the case. We must individualize our case still
further, so we will use another general.
Worse standing. - In consulting the repertory we find that of
the first
nineteen there are only the following seven which have the symptom
in
the first and second grade: Con., Cocc., Phos., Plat., Puls., Sepia.,
Sulph.
But still we have seven remedies, any one of which may be the remedy
so far, and we must individualize still further
by another symptom. We will take the general, better in open air.
Here we find that we have only four remedies of
our previous group which will have this symptom in the first and
second grade - Con., Phos., Puls., Sulph.
We have now worked our list down to four remedies and we will
individualize again by taking another
general, fear of committing murder. This gives us Sulphur, the only
remedy which covers all of the symptoms we
have taken so far. Now if the logic of our reasoning be correct,
if the technique of selection be without a flaw,
Sulphur must be the mathematically correct remedy, and reference
to the pathogenesis of the remedy shows that
Sulphur not only covers these four symptoms we have used, but it
also contains all the other particular and
common symptoms of the case. The proof of the pudding is in the
eating, so we will turn to our record and we find
the patient was discharged 7-7’07; that all symptoms had disappeared,
bowels move naturally. Says never felt better
in her life.
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