Two Rare Remedies To Cope With Stress
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 2002 Mar / Apr VOL 4 NO 2.
Dr Sonu Mehrotra
'Sterculia / Indol

An old man of 70 yrs, came to me in Feb 02, with his daughter-in-law, with complaints of weakness, drowsiness and depression. The patient was an advocate, intellligent and with a flourishing practice. He was always full of energy; a workaholic and never felt any mental stress or lethargy. But one year before, his only son, a diabetic since childhood, got kidney failure and was hospitalized twice in Nagpur, twice in Mumbai, but still no improvement. His condition worsened. His son was at home only and his wife did dialysis at home. This old man (patient) was the only male member left and had to rush to all hospitals with his son and because of this, he was mentally depressed and physically exhausted. All this resulted in extreme stress- weakness, drowsiness and dullness.

Patient as a person:
Patient was very good natured person, but now does not want to talk to anyone, does not feel like mixing with the world. He is not inclined to do practice, which he was doing successfully for last many years. In office he sleeps while talking to his clients which causes embarrassment; he has started taking liquor to cope with his depression.

Past History:
2 years back he had angina but ECG is normal now.
Family History:
Both father and mother had Asthma.
Present Complaints:
1. Drowsiness
2. Depression
3. Excessive sleep, tiredness and unrefreshed because of constant dreams.
4. Breathlessness while walking or any exertion.
5. No appetite
6. Weak digestion, has to pass motion after eating anything.
7. Habit of taking liquor, which he wants to leave.
8. Headache in the morning, ? hangover.

Line of Treatment:
First I gave him Acid-phos 200, Carbo-veg 200, Kali-phos 6x without any result. Therafter I consulted Dr. Bishamber Das book and referred to "Debility" chapter. I found two specific remedies for him and those were ‘Indol’ and Sterculia. Indol:excessive drowsiness, falling asleep while at work, and drowsiness as a result of mental trouble. I confirmed some of the patient’s symptoms from Dr Boericke’s Materia Medica: headache in the morning, sleepiness and continuous dreaming and this confirmed this remedy. When I was going through debility chapter by Dr Bishamber Das book, I found "Steculia" the correct remedy and it gave me the power to endure prolonged physical exertion and on confirming from Boericke M M. I found this is an excellent remedy for giving up liquor habit and promoting appetite and digestion. The final symptome ‘weak heart’ confirmed this remedy.

Treatment:
I started giving Indol in 6^th potency twice a day and asked him to take ‘sterculia’mother tincture  as a specific support and within a week, I got very encouraging result. Patient motivated to leave liquor, appetite improved, no motion after eating, very sound sleep, and now he felt no drowsiness and feeling more energetic to help his son. Now though his son is not still keeping well and our 70 years old patient is doing everything like a young man. He took these medicines for a month and I met him recently and found him with full of energy and having no stress.