Dr. Anke "Rachel" Zimmermann, B.Sc., N.D., F.C.A.H., Naturopathic Physician
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| Cases I am publishing a selection of cases from my practice here to help illustrate the way I work. More will be added over time. I will try to explain my reasoning process and point out important details in the cases. A case of irritability, violent impulses and cognitive dysfunction A Case of Diabetic Gangrene with Impending Amputation of the Leg A Case of Pneumonia A case of Panic Attacks in a Young Girl Multiple organ failure and fear of the dark in two Wheaten Terriers Please also see this link to dramatic cured cases of the world-renowned homeopath George Vithoulkas. http://www.vithoulkas.com/content/view/80/lang,en/ A case of IBS and migraines in a young girl In February of this year I received a phone call from a former patient of mine from Ontario asking for advice for his 12-year-old daughter whom I will call Lisa – not her real name. The young girl was suffering from irritable bowel syndrome as well as severe migraine headaches which would come on during the night, sometimes several times a week. She had been suffering for four years but was steadily getting worse over the past two years and especially the past few months. They had taken the girl to a couple of other practitioners in the area with some success, however, the child’s symptoms would only be temporarily relieved and would return with greater intensity. As the father and his parents had been patients of mine in Ontario with good success in the past and were quite desperate for their daughter they decided to consult me and even offered to fly out to Victoria with her. I suggested to try taking the case over the phone to start, but asked for a photo of the girl, as physical appearance often helps us to decide on certain remedies. The mother sent a photo via email which showed a pleasant-looking, full-faced and sturdily-built young girl who looked mature for her age with lovely full, wavy hair. Her physical built was an important consideration in the prescription. (Note: I see most of my patients in person, the reason I published this case here is because it illustrates some important points used in homeopathy. ) Speaking to the mother during the phone consultation I learned that Lisa had not been really well since a week-long summer camp experience when she was eight years old. While at camp she came down with an intense fever and flu-like symptoms, which at the time were attributed to a virus. At the time she was sick for 4-5 days with a 104 degree fever. The fever began on Tuesday, she had abdominal pain and was vomiting by Thursday and taken to the hospital that day and again the next day. The parents picked her up on Saturday. That night the fever broke at exactly 5 am. (Note, this is very important for the rest of the story.) Three other kids at the camp had also been ill with the same symptoms. Ever since that time she has suffered from recurrent fevers, stomach aches and diarrhea. The parents think that the child’s immune system was somehow compromised by the illness, as she has not been quite well since. (Note, this can happen. It is a well-known fact that a severe infection can weaken the organism and some people – more common in the elderly – never fully recover from a severe flu, pneumonia, mono, etc. Homeopathy can be very helpful in such cases.) The other girls at the camp did not believe that she was really sick, which was also very stressful to Lisa. The child was also very frightened of the hospital at the time. They could not find her vein and only a 16-year-old girl was with her in the hospital. (Note, the fright Lisa experienced when she had this fairly severe illness far away from her parents may have also contributed to the lasting aftereffects. ) For the first year or so after the initial episode she would have ‘attacks’ of stomach aches and diarrhea about once a month or less often. Over the next four years this has slowly increased to once a week, then every two to three days. At those times she would wake up around 2- 3 am and be doubled over in pain. In 2007 another naturopath diagnosed her with parasites and suggested a parasite cleanse which gave some relief for about ten weeks, then the problem recurred. Another parasite cleanse was performed, but only gave relief for about four weeks this time. Around that time she was also given a battery of medical tests, including an abdominal X-ray which showed that her bowels were completely impacted with feces. The child was sent to a specialist who told the family that there was nothing he could do, it was a case of irritable bowel syndrome and the family should expect good and bad days. He did prescribe Lancelol pediatric gel for ten weeks, though, and every morning the girl would have a massive bowel movement. Now the child has also developed migraine headaches, which also come on at 2-3 am during the night. They last for 48 to 72 hours and affect her vision and balance. She is very pale with those migraines. Sometimes it seems that weather changes will trigger the migraines. Her hearing becomes very acute, she can hear people talking down the street. She is worse with motion and wants to lie still. (Note: 2-3 am seems a time when both her GI and migraine symptoms are aggravated. Homeopathic doctors get very excited when they hear such things, time modalities can clinch a case in a wink.) She can wake up doubled over in pain with cramps, then will rock back and forth until by about 3 am she would have a bowel movement. She will push on her stomach as if it is dough to get the stool out. Her IBS is worse if she eats junk food and a lot of wheat, but her diet is generally very good. She has missed five days of school in the last month as a result of the migraines. If the family travels and she gets excited she will get a fever. She has been like that since the summer camp in 2005; when she gets really nervous or excited she will become sick with a fever and vomiting. The mother tells me that she was also like that as a child. She would vomit and then be fine. I asked the mother to tell me more about the girl’s personality. “She is a good kid, really funny. She has a heart to serve and loves to help out at summer camps for the less fortunate. She takes acting lessons. She is very logical and excels in math but finds the language arts more challenging. She is a pleasure to be around. Sometimes a bit lazy when it comes to homework” She is miserable at school. The family moved and she is attending a new school since last September, which she says she hates. Why does she not like her new school? “It is too structured for her. It’s a private (religious) school. The kids are not allowed to talk during lunch or in the halls. It is very strict with a lot of rules. The kids are not allowed to go to the washroom by themselves.” (Note: This may or may not mean anything.) She enjoys physical activity like hiking or kayaking, can do a five-hour hike, has great endurance. She is very neat and tidy, showers every day and “would die if her bed was not made.” She has her own bathroom at home and keeps it spic and span and even complains that her mother does not clean it as well as she does. She eats what is on her plate. She is seldom late. She is very responsible. Last summer she decided to do dog-walking as a job, got two daily clients and walked the dogs reliably every single day at only age 11 for the entire summer. At Bible camp at age nine she washed the dishes three times a day for 100 people for 16 days. “Other kids would bugger off, but she didn’t,” the mother said. (Note: These personality characteristics are very important information for me. Anything that is unusual and peculiar is very useful to assist in a good homeopathic prescription. This child is responsible and even dogmatic beyond her years.) Adults like talking to her, she is mature for her age. “We treat her like an adult and discuss many things with her, including finance etc. “ She may tell the teacher that the teacher is not doing a good job. She loves here family, her family is very important to her. The family is very involved with the Church and the girl enjoys that also. Does she have any fears? “She does not like to sleep by herself. She is afraid of heights, but okay being in the CN tower inside. If standing on a table or ladder would want to have her mother stand behind her. She has issues with her peers and will fret over them. She feels that she is being picked on.” How is her sleep? "It is broken. Goes to bed around 10 – 10:30 pm, but naturally would like to stay up later. By 1:30 pm she will be up and ask me to come into her bed. I have to speak to her 4-5 times a night, every night. Last night I spoke to her at 1:30, 3 am and 4:30 am.” (Note – this is an important symptom, the child never sleeps properly at all. ) She gets hot when she sleeps. Around the time she first developed the stomach problem she developed difficulty in falling back to sleep – wanted to be cuddled. It is still like that. Tell me about her perspiration? “She perspires under her arm and on her hands when she is anxious – they become clammy and blotchy. Food cravings? Loves microwave popcorn, coke, more savories than sweets, popcorn over cake. Likes ice cream, hamburgers and fries, steak and fries, loves olives very much (desire for olives - good symptom, once again, anything unusual is very helpful) Does not like pepper and overly spicy food. Analysis: What is going on here and what needs to be done? This is a young girl, mature for her age both physically and mentally, who developed an acute illness four years ago while away at camp and has not been well since. Her symptoms include bouts of stomach aches and diarrhea, likely secondary to constipation, as well as migraine headaches, all of which come on at about 2 am at night. She is better after a bowel movement which happens by about 3 am. During the original illness her fever of five days broke at exactly 5 am. From a homeopathic point of view the time aggravation is very important here. We need a remedy which covers the peculiar time aggravation of being worse from about 2-5 am, and which has digestive problem and headaches. Her personality is kind of conservative and almost overly responsible, even dogmatic, for such a young girl. The remedy which matched her symptoms, including her personality, best, was Kali-carbonicum. I prescribed Kali-carb 200CH based on the above symptoms, one dose a day for two days only. Other remedies I considered were Calc-carb and possibly Sulfur in the future. The peculiar time aggravation was the most important factor in the prescription. Follow-up email from mother on March 18, 09: “We just wanted to let you know (and thank you so much) that Lisa is doing much better. After the first dose of the remedy she had a massive bowel movement and lots more elimination for 24 hours. She had some mightmares which is very unusual for her. She has the start of a headache from time to time but is she takes a Tylenol it will go away right away (that did not work previously, she would be ill for 24 to 72 hours.) The stomach cramping is almost gone and she is sleeping better.” Analyis: What happened? The remedy acted well, Lisa had increased elimination which is not an unusual reaction as well as some nightmares. Suppressed emotions often come to the surface in dreams after a remedy. She is now doing better in all areas. Plan: Wait. Follow-up on phone April 16, 09 “There was quite an improvement after the first dose of Kali-carb. Now the symptoms are slowly creeping back again. The headaches are still better. She may get some prodromal symptoms such as flashes of light but not full-blown headaches. She has not missed a day of school since the remedy. Her sleep is till better. She is in a better mood, much more agreeable! (Note: The mother did not mention her mood at the initial consultation, but has noticed a change. This is a very good sign. It makes sense that she would be feeling better on all levels as her health improves.) Plan: Repeat Kali-carb 200 CH and order Kali-carb 1 MK in case it is needed. Follow-up, June 14, 09 She has been doing well in every way until two weeks ago. There were no headaches, bowels were functioning well. Just now the symptoms are coming back a bit. Plan: Kali-carb 1 MK She has not needed another dose at this time An Unusual Case of Fatigue Incidentally, Lisa’s story reminded me of the time I treated two Soft-Coated, Wheaten Terriers. The dog’s owner, let’s call her Anna, came to see me in regards to severe fatigue. On inquiring into her circumstances I learned that she had great difficulty sleeping. “You, see, Dr. Zimmermann, I have two dogs. They are brothers and 11years old and both of them are sick. Harvey is up every night with vomiting and diarrhea. He is okay during the day, but sick every night. He has lost a lot of weight.” Apparently the vet had diagnosed him with inflammation of the intestines and advanced liver and kidney disease and Harvey was not expected to live much longer. I asked her immediately if there was a certain time at night when he was sick. “Roughly between 2 and 5 am, “Anna said. “And his brother, Zorro, has developed a fear of the dark and refuses to go outside to do his business in the evening or at night. But he is old, too, and has poor bladder control. So I am up all night looking after those dogs.” Which explained why she was so tired! I suggested the most logical thing: Treating the dogs! Both of them had very nice, clearly defined symptoms which every homeopath would easily be able to prescribe for. Harvey’s 2-5 am time aggravation and digestive symptoms immediately brought to mind the remedy kali-carb, the same remedy I used with Lisa. Zorro, it turned out, was not only afraid of the dark, but had also become very aggressive towards other dogs and even people. The other day he had even tried to attack a horse. At the same time he had become very clingy with Anna, pining after her when she would go out and barely leaving her side. This combination of violent behaviour with a desire to attack combined with a strong fear of the dark and an aversion to being alone brought up the remedy stramonium, which is often used for just that kind of combination of fear and violent tendencies in humans. I have often given it in cases of children or adults with severe anxiety which dated back to a fright, especially involving violence or the fear of violence. Anna gave the dogs the remedies and within a few days Harvey stopped vomiting at night. He gained back some weight and did better overall. He lived for another six months. Zorro mellowed out and was willing to go out again at night to relieve himself. And Anna started sleeping better and had energy again. The interesting thing here is that animals also respond very well to homeopathy. Their symptoms of disease can be quite similar to those of humans, and of course, they also have unique personalities and can even suffer from shocks, frights etc just like us. Homeopathy can be very helpful for a dog or cat who has been attacked by another animal and is frightened since, for animals who are grieving a move or loss of a loved one, or for those who have separation anxiety. Although I am not a vet, I have frequently treated animals, usually at my friends’ or neighbours’ homes rather than in my office, with the exception of Jack the squirrel, but that is quite another story… |