Lupus Case 1

CLARA
(Late 30’s)

MC: LUPUS ERYTHROMATOSUS

• Hyperthyroid

Pierre: Please tell me about the lupus.
“The lupus started with pain in the joints of my hands, I can’t even open them now. They felt numb. When I started taking medication for the lupus I developed a high fever of 104°F and decided I would prefer to stay away from the medication but in the end I couldn’t because of the pain.”

OK, continue please.
“When I get sick I get freezing cold. It feels as if I am going to die. It truly feels as if I were dying. This coldness has been with me for three years, it is like an ice cube and I shiver. It starts in the legs and it goes up my body. When it starts, I begin to shake violently from the coldness. At that moment, I need to be around people. I even start to babble like a baby during the cold.”
Could you tell me about this coldness, please?
“The cold is like an attack. When it goes away I feel very weak. After the shaking stops I sweat and then the coldness stops. Then I develop a rash and after that I feel healthy again but I keep a constant fever of 98-99°F. I also have pain in the ankles.”

OK, what else?
“I don’t eat much anymore. I used to get very high fevers and sweat but not so much anymore. When I get really sick I don’t feel like leaving my home, I feel very weak. I am actually afraid to leave the house. I feel safe inside. Six years ago, I was diagnosed with a mild hyperthyroid. The doctor didn’t prescribe anything and just recommended rest because I was very stressed. Three years ago, I thought it was back as I was experiencing the same symptoms. I also feel like I cannot run fast and I am losing my memory. I used to get cold (not colds) often when I was a child. I remember now I had a kidney infection when I was eight years old.”

(long pause)
Please continue. Could you tell me what is going through your mind at this moment?
“Since the lupus, I have had some uncomfortable dreams. Not scary but feeling like things go wrong. I have a recurring dream. I am not afraid of technology but this dream keeps coming back. Would you like me to tell you about it?

Certainly…
“In this dream I live in a tall building. We live on the 3rd floor and the elevator keeps going even past the 12th floor, which is supposed to be the top floor. It is very scary. It is like not knowing what is going on. I keep thinking what is going to happen to me? Maybe it is going to take me up to the sky. It cannot be, it does not exist. There are little windows and I look out because I want to know exactly where I am going.”

Pierre: Tell me about your childhood, please.
“It was like living two lives: happy and sad. I had a lot of problems but there was a problem with my father who has a big psychological problem. I suffered from a lot of verbal abuse in the house. I was torn between my mother and my father. My father and I don’t need to talk to understand each other. Outside the house everything was great but the stress inside the house was very intense and this is why I left. I really thought my mother was my enemy. I thought my mother might want to kill me, so I left everything behind and left. I had to leave the country because he could have found me anywhere. I get depressed thinking about it. How could I face this mess? I will never feel whole again. Before I left I was diagnosed with hyperthyroid. Every day I spent there was impossible.”

I understand. Do you have any food cravings?
“I use a lot of salt on everything.”

REMEDY:
Natrum muriaticum

FOLLOW-UP: 

Pierre: How are you?
“I have a little more energy than before. The pain in the joints is almost not there and I don’t have as many problems when I wake up as I used to. I have had less pain in the joints of the hands. The last few days however have not been as good. I am starting to feel pain in the hands and a little more pain from the skin rash. I had a low grade fever again yesterday. I am afraid now that perhaps it is coming back. I still don’t have the chills and I am not shivering but I am concerned as I feel it may be coming back. I have to help my fingers come back from an extended position from time to time but over all it is a better.”

Pierre: How about your dream?
“My dreams are much better than the ones I used to have. I have depressing dreams but now they are coming back to the way they were before all this. I feel like the remedy did good but it did not win the war.”

REMEDY:
Repeat the remedy.

FOLLOW-UP 2 THROUGH 6: (9 months)
“I finished the remedy and altogether I feel better. Mentally I am very comfortable. I stopped taking the steroid medication and I started to experience some slight numbness especially in the 3rd and 4th finger but overall I can do without it. At times, I feel some pain in the wrist and in the palm. I have a hard lump in the right palm and some left elbow pain as if it is dislocated but over all the pain is 80% better. I had a bladder infection a couple of weeks ago, which I used to get frequently, with a milky, slightly yellow discharge. I had to go to the bathroom often soon after drinking. I feel like there is something going on with my kidneys like I used to have when I was 8 years old. When I was a child I had a lot of fevers. In one month I had two tonsil infections. I have no more fevers and no shivering cold but I have this odd feeling in that area. Since I started taking the remedy I am the first to get up whereas I could not get out of bed before and I would force myself to sleep. I feel more secure and comfortable about what I have to do. I am more alert. I can remember phone numbers and other things. My dreams are not scary anymore. For example, I had a dream that I am flying like a bird and I am able to escape some problems and fly away. With the lupus I used to have dark colors in my dreams and problems I could not solve but now I can solve the problems. I feel strong and I don’t feel tired. I used to always ask for days off, now I can work much more. I can also think so much better, too. I feel more like a whole person. I can choose between things much more easily. I know what I want. The kidney pain is gone. The problem with urination has improved a lot. I thought all my problems were from my kidney but not anymore. I don’t sleep well. I have to sleep on the sofa but when I wake up I feel well. I can sleep only seven hours and I am fine. I was losing my hair before the lupus and that seems to be better now. My fingers feel fine. During the winter I got a slight cold, I did not take medication and it went away on its own. I don’t think that would have happened before. I would say my general health is good. I do feel like the inflammation is over and what is left is not going to expand. I am not afraid of it anymore.”

REMEDY:
I repeated the remedy a few times during that time.

FOLLOW-UP: (1 years later)
Pierre: Tell me what is going on, please.
“I have a lot of pain in all the joints. Any kind of movement becomes an unbearable pain and I feel even worse when I lie down. The whole thing is definitely worse when I rest. I wake up because of the pain. Four or five weeks ago I even thought I had a heart attack. I had a lot of stress. I was working constantly. I started to feel pain around the heart, as if there were air bubbles. One other night while I was working hard I felt a strong pain in the chest area, as if a lump of air was pressing against the ribs. It was as if it were pressing toward the front with a sensation that I had a hole in the back, which lasted three days. I have had dreams of dead bodies, decomposing bodies since then. I know it is a dream but I should not be seeing things like that.”

Have you seen a doctor?
“Yes, I did. He did some tests and he said everything was OK. I did not have a heart attack, my heart is fine.”

REMEDY:
Zincum metallicum

FOLLOW-UP: (2 months later)
Pierre: How are you feeling?
“I have been much better. I was great until I got an ear infection. For two weeks I was constantly cold and very sensitive to drafts and I could not warm up”.

I think you should have called me.
“This was not the same kind of cold as I used to get with the lupus. I had stiffness in the neck and some burning pain on the tip of the shoulder blade and then something extraordinary happened. I was really well for two days and then my feet started to hurt. I could not walk; I could not even touch the ground. It started on the sole of the feet then moved to the top of feet. It was a “big pain.” I could not touch anything; I could not take a step. I felt very restless. Only hot baths helped. In the morning all the pain was gone. Unfortunately, two weeks later all the pains came back. I am very confused. I can’t sleep all night. I am feeling lazy. I have salt cravings again. My brain does not seem to work. I can’t do riddles, whereas normally I am very good. I feel indecisive. My husband is a pain, I am not feeling love toward him or others. I am thinking of unpleasant things from the past, what my father said a long time ago, etc. I am not happy.”

REMEDY:
Repeat the first remedy given, Natrum muriaticum.

FOLLOW UP:
Pierre: Long time no see. How are you feeling?
“Some pains remain but it is mostly a little stiffness. I have had arguments with my husband. I prefer to be by myself and I’ve come to realize I had almost no relationship with my mother. The flair-ups have not been so severe. The reason why I am here is because I got pregnant. It’s a very high-risk pregnancy with a high possibility for genetic complication and I would like to be as well as possible. I had a dream that a little girl was walking towards the light.”

REMEDY:
Repeat Natrum muriaticum

FOLLOW-UP: (Three years later)

Pierre: How have you been?
“I have had a lot of stress in the last two weeks. I volunteered to run my friend’s wedding. It was a lot of work and stress, everything ended up on my shoulders. I did everything by myself then my husband came to the wedding and told me that it was “no work, It’s not a big deal.” I was the leader and when he came and said that it was so destructive. I had planned every little detail with puzzle accuracy. I felt like “You are trying to destroy this perfect puzzle.” This is the last day and you come to destroy it. I can’t believe he said that even up to now. The only one who did not like it was my husband. I don’t know if he did it out of vengeance or stupidity. I think it is vengeance. I am completely shocked to the point that I cannot cry. I was very pleased with the wedding - everybody was - and at the same time I am very dissatisfied with my personal life. I don’t know what to do. I think this relationship is not going anywhere if he turns everything to shit. I am very satisfied with myself. I know I may not have a Ph.D. but how can I do this with somebody who contradicts me all the time?”

Describe the feeling of shock a little more, please.
“At first I felt disbelief and then big, big, big anger. It was a huge disappointment. I am afraid now. Do I share my love with the enemy? Obviously, this was planned. I had to put my anger on the back burner at the time but I now have a constant feeling that I cannot rely on him. Then I got upset that the person I share my life with is helping to destroy it. If someone is jealous of my success I can’t stand it. It hurts me that I have to explain this to him. I can feel all the symptoms of lupus coming back; all my pains are coming back. I want to cry but I can’t, I can’t get my anger out. I would like to but I can’t.”

REMEDY:
Hoang nan

Pierre: Tell me about the lupus.
“By the time I received the remedy I had all the symptoms of lupus. I was very weak. I didn’t eat. I was confused, chilly and I could not get out of bed because of the pains. We were supposed to go Upstate but I stayed home. One day after taking the remedy I went shopping. I felt immediately that the progress of the lupus had stopped. It was like something had lifted.”

Tell me more, please.
“I am not in shock anymore. Definitely I can think like I could not before. I have a lot of anger directed at my father. My sister brought pictures and I saw my father. When I left my country, I was not able to deal with him. It was basically emotional abuse so much so that I could not talk about it. I did not have it in order. Now this part is over. I have everything in order. I was a victim of wrongdoing. I don’t feel hopeless anymore. I was afraid of going back to my country but not anymore. He’s too old to take him on physically but I could confront him now.”

I think we are looking at something that is far deeper than before, don’t you think?
“When I saw the picture, I got angry at the way my mother looked and I am sure she looks like that because she is with my father. She does not deserve such a life. I have some anger but the feeling of it is not bad, it is certainly better than being afraid. I feel totally better; there is a big difference from before. Even the nodules in my hands are much better. They are gone in the left hand and the right hand is better. I am somebody. I would say this is an active state. I’m thinking a lot about business, I feel I can do something on my own.”

What about your husband?
“I told him either we work it out or we split.” He said, “OK, I will send you decent child support” so I said, “You don’t understand, I go and I send you child support.” So he started thinking and now he realizes that it is better not to walk away. I could never have said such a thing before. I am able to say things right, which never happened before. This is becoming a very important point in my life. I could not do business and take care of things because things were not in order and behind me. I feel younger as if I were 23. I can’t believe how old I am.”

REMEDY:
Continue

FOLLOW-UP:
Pierre: How are you?
“I am doing very well. Life is good, I am free to pursue anything I like.”

REMEDY:
Continue

PHONE:
“I continue to feel very well. There is no lupus.”

DISCUSSION

This lupus case gives a good contrast of the way we used to choose a remedy and the way we do it now (which I talk about throughout this book) all wrapped into one. As Homeopathy has gone through a renaissance, knowledge and accuracy have improved immensely. The difference is as wide as the difference between a Ford Model T and a 2008 BMW. Today’s consultation is a lot more fluid and precise albeit a little more challenging because the questions asked are much more insightful of the disorder.

Although she is taking steroid medication the symptoms of lupus are acting up. She is in great pain and discomfort physically as well as emotionally. There is another factor at play here and in many of these cases. She does not want to be on this kind of medication. People read about the side effects on the Internet and get very alarmed. It is not that they are philosophically against meds. They just don’t want to suffer the consequences of them.

Here is the physical process of the attacks she suffers from. She gets freezing cold, and then she starts to shake. After a while the shaking stops and she starts to sweat. Once she sweats the coldness goes away. The shaking is actually an automatic bodily response to create heat within itself. It is the equivalent of rubbing your arms when you feel cold.

She stopped speaking and seemed to be thinking of something. It is important to respect these moments to allow space for the person to freely go where her instinct tells her. Most of the time though people are just trying to make sure they make sense. Of course, that’s not what I am looking for, as it is the brain talking rather than the feelings.

At the time, I did not investigate the information in the dream thoroughly enough. Today, it would be totally different. So the next question is very disjointed from the whole.

It seems confusing. The father was the abuser but she thought the mother was the enemy. She has a great connection with her father so how could he be the bad guy? What is at play here is that she has resonance with her father.
There is nothing stronger than resonance. It is like an electric lock. It looks like one could just be able to pry it open easily but, in fact, it is stronger than anything else.

Considering my understanding of the case at the time I asked about the food craving for a confirmation of my choice of remedy. The salt craving indeed confirmed it.

The remedy was selected with an analysis like this:
1. I need a remedy with features of icy coldness almost to the point of delirium, but with intermittent heat;
2. Joint pain;
3. The remedy must have grief regarding the mother
(today I would never assume the feeling since it was not spoken in those terms); and,
4. Craving for salt.

These four points represent a totality, not the totality.

The remedy had some resonance but clearly the lupus is still there and “coming back.”
Even by today’s standards, we would not change the remedy. Lupus is an extremely serious condition and to expect it to be gone in such a short time would not be reasonable.

The resonance is close enough for her to feel better. For most people this would be a good result especially when you consider two facts:
1. The remedy does not cause side effects, and
2. She is not taking steroids.
At the time I, too, thought it was pretty good but we can do better.

I recommended a different remedy because the characteristics are different from prior visit. Dreaming of dead bodies and having a sensation of a hole in her back is all new. She never talked about anything like that before. In this instance ,it is what we call an “inter-current” remedy. Nowadays, I seldom make use of that technique.

Had she come to the office at that point I would most likely have given her a remedy called Rhus toxicodendron. This remedy has features of restlessness, not being able to sit for any amount of time with excruciating muscle or fascia pain. Only a hot bath gives slight relief but then restlessness and pain quickly returns. In other words, it fits exactly what she was describing. I used this remedy myself once after I was shivering cold in a pool while I was trying to impress a girl. The day after I was in screaming, tearing pain. I couldn’t hold myself straight; I was going from one hot shower to my bed and back to the shower. Moving about relieved the mental anguish a little but it did not relieve the physical pain much at all. I couldn’t get a remedy since I was on a tiny island. I suffered all the way back home on the plane. The first thing I did once I got home two days later was take Rhus toxicodendron. I felt relief almost instantly.

We had a long conversation regarding her dream of a guide coming and bringing comfort and reassurance to her that everything will be fine.
Though there were quite a few odds stacked against her everything turned out perfectly fine.

From here on this is the new and far better way of taking a case and analysis.

Here we see the theme of enemy that was at the beginning of the case represented by the mother. The feeling of disbelief and leaving mentioned before are there, too. The symptoms of lupus are the same but the deeper feelings were never elucidated. Now the most central remedy, the most similar (simillinum) will have a far deeper effect than any of the others.
I need a remedy that has features of being so shocked it is to the point of not being able to cry and that as a result the feeling is complete destruction.

Here we can clearly see that up to now the remedy had been palliative only. It never reached the deepest root. Now this remedy is resonating deep into the VF (Vital Force).

She has a lot of anger toward her father. These are the first signs of something deeper happening. Her perception is coming into better focus or into “order.”

Now this is a deep acting remedy. She sees things as they really are. Her demeanor is far more upbeat, this is deeply changing individual. This is the first time we are moving away from the physicals and freely exploring the emotional level. That said, the nodules were very hard and I too never thought they could go away, let alone so quickly.

I asked about her husband at the end, as I was surprised she did not mention him.

Viva la freedom. Lupus libre! Resonance sets you free.

The remedy was repeated once in six months.

Over the last five years, few symptoms ever flared up and it is clear that the deeper remedy restored her health on a totally different level. All the symptoms of lupus have now clearly disappeared: the fever, the coldness and, as unbelievable as it is, the nodules that had formed in her hands have also disappeared. Her emotional state is clearer and who doesn’t need that?