Struggle for Success
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 1995 Jan / Feb Vol IV No 1.
Prabhakar Murthy.
Cases.
` Ign / Ars / Sep.

Failure are certainly part and parcel of our practice.

No doctor is completely self sufficient; he learns more and more as the years pass on. No person can become a successful practitioner without facing earlier failures.

Even now we cannot give 100 percent guarantee in fevers that within 2 or 3 hours the temperature would come down to normal from 103 or 104. We can not give a guarantee to a case of diarrhoea that another motion would not occur after using a particular medicine. It is a fact that there may be very few persons who can predict it, but many of us feel that we did a good job after the end result only. This is certainly the peculiarity of the Homoeopathic system. The second aphorism of Organon should be thought of "The HIghest ideal of cure is rapid, gentle and permanent restoration of Health or removal and annihilation of the disease in its whole extent, in the shortest, most reliable way on easily comprehensible principles".

When we stick on to complete case taking and elicit good analysis of symptoms and prescribe a single remedy either on the basis of causation or totality or peculiar or concomitant or mental generals etc, with the help of the principles derived by Dr. Hahnemann, the cure must be very rapid. Any deviation in these things means we are sure to delay the process of the treatment which may lead to some unnecessary drugs, repetitions, changes, I shall give some examples wherein I had to run from pillar to post and delayed the process of cure.

Case 1:

In 1978, in the early days of my practice, a 75 years old man came with Bronchial Asthma with frequent attacks since 4 years. Patient complained of dyspnoea and cough worse night around midnight, the expectoration was white patient felt better after expectoration. More cough drive to nausea., Patient had fear of death, suspicious about others, loquacious, wanted to commit suicide. He desired open air.

Based on fear of death and midnight aggravation, I started with Ars-alb 30 SOS. No relief could be elicited. Still confident on the same medicine. One dose of it was given in 200. Patient was co-operative and patient. Another 10 days passed without relief. Based on nausea I switched over to Ipecac 30 and then 200 were given with reasonable intervals but of no avail.

45 days passed with no relief to the patient. The patient used to come to me almost daily, used to bore me for a long time. Considering the loquacious nature, night agg, especially during sleep etc, I jumped to Lachesis30, 200 and latter 1 M at reasonable intervals. Yet there was no relief.

One day he started literally weeping as the medicine was not giving any relief. He also said that all these troubles were since his daughters death who was so dear to him. She was his only daughter and he was expecting some support from her after she duly completed BEd course and ready to go for a job. At this juncture she met with a road accident and died. As per the patient all the troubles are since then. Either coincidence or whatever it may be I gave Ignatia 200 ID.

This prescription is having support from another concomitant symptom "Patient complained of Retracted Penis" which I did not observe in any other case earlier to it or later till date the degree of retraction.

With this one dose that same night itself the patient reported a bit of improvement as he had very comfortable sleep inspite of dyspnoea. ON the 3rd day I gave the same medicine in 1 M potency one dose. He came to me after one week telling there were no bouts of dyspnoea any more. Another one week later he reported a severe degree of itching in right groin driving him to scratch ntil it bled profusely. It was involuntary in the night and during sleep. He was under my observation for another 4 years but never complained of dyspnoea or though grief about his daughter the persecution feeling was less.

Case: 2

A 50 years old female complained of headache since three years. She had undue anxiety about her children going out for any work and used to scold them if they did not come back home on time. She had a left sided headache starting from the left eye, eyebrow then all over to the left side of the head upto the nape of neck, worse from 5 p.m. onwards. There was a numb feeling all over the head. She attained menopause two years back. Appetite was decreased since the past one year and sleep disturbed. The patient was under the treatment from a psychiatrist since a year but it did not relieve her complaints. The sedatives made her sleepy and dull.

Arsenic-alb 200 was given. There was no response even after waiting for a considerable period of time. So, Spigelia 200 considering the type of headache was prescribed and the numb feeling all over the head disappeared. Then I went to the 1M potency with similar improvement. I asked the patient to mix the 1 M dose in half a glass of water to be taken one spoon after stirring for 20-25 times anti-clockwise, in graduated doses. This went on for 4 months and the patient was showing steady progress. The pain extending to all over the head and neck was better. Mentally the patient showed good improvement but some times anxious and irritable with children. The pain in the left eye and just above eyebrow remained as it was.

At this juncture I happened to read in a Journal - Ptosis during Headache. I observed that the patients left eye was smaller than the other. I inquired with the husband who told that when there is a pain, the eye used to close. I cross checked it with Kents repertory -

1. Eye - Heaviness - lids - as if could not be held open
2. Eye - Heaviness - lids - Frontal Headache.

Sepia is in 2nd grade in the first rubric and it is the only remedy in the second one, in 3rd grade. Our teacher used to tell us not to leave any single remedy rubric even if it is in the third grade.

The indifference towards children and irritability gave me strength to give Sepia 200 one dose. The patient reported cent percent relief in the next visit itself. No medication since then.

From Case 1, I could know the importance of mental symptoms. From that case onwards I ask every patient whether any fear, anxiety, unusual anger or any calamity in family which influenced him.

From Case 2, I started searching for any rare or peculiar symptoms in the case and use the repertory and without any hesitation apply it judiciously however smaller the drug is graded.

To sum up, proper and complete case taking only can guide us to better results. There is no short cut for success. The struggle goes on and on.