This case study of homeopathic studies is an excerpt from Pierre Fontaine’s book “Homeopathy, Sweet Homeopathy: Coming Home to Perfect Health”. Find out more information including how to purchase a copy.
CHRIS
(Early 30’s)
MC: CHRONIC SINUSITIS
• Lack of focus
Pierre: What brings you here?
“I have had sinus problems for many years and I am at my wit’s end. There is all this pressure in my nose and I can’t breathe.”
How does it affect you?
“I am glad you asked. Worst of all, it is affecting my concentration at work and therefore it is beginning to affect my work because it is zapping me of energy. It gets much worse if I drink wine or beer, so I can’t even unwind with that.”
Tell me more, please, I find it all interesting.
“This time I got sick around Christmas. At first, the sinus on the left side was the most affected. I don’t get any headaches but I do get this pressure. The thing that concerns me now is that it is affecting my work. I can’t focus or concentrate. I don’t have the mental energy to do even the smallest thing. When I get a cold it always starts with a lot of sinus pressure and I think I have had several colds that I would call flare-ups within the last three months. So I have been congested for a long time and within that time there have been times that were worse than others. I also had some flu-like symptoms such as bone pain, fever, etc… for several days about two months ago.”
Tell me more about your sinuses, please.
“I wake up in the morning feeling pressure. That’s when it is at its worst. The whole thing has been pretty bad for over a year now. As a child I remember I used to get a lot of earache and sore throats. The whole sinus problem started when I was in college 18 years ago.”
You are doing great, thank you. Tell me more please.
“With this thing going on, the least little thing becomes stressful. It feels like an overwhelming state and the littlest thing causes me anxiety.”
Tell me about anxiety, please.
“I am feeling under pressure, I just want to run, I just want to get out of the situation. I feel totally scattered. I can’t make up my mind. I question everything. It is very difficult. It feels like concentrated emotion.”
Tell me about feeling scattered, please.
“I feel very disconnected from the environment. I feel withdrawn. I feel stuck inside my head and I don’t have any interests. Processing several mental things at the same time is very difficult. Work sucks at the moment. I can’t even do it.”
Describe the experience of being scattered, please.
It is the opposite of being focused. It is like little sheets of paper being torn off into many pieces and scattered in the wind. That’s the way my brain feels with all of this: scattered like little pieces of paper.”
REMEDY:
Baptisia
FOLLOW-UP: (1 month later)
Pierre: How are you?
“Overall, I am much better. The sinus pressure is almost gone. My anxieties and my concentration are much better and I don’t feel overwhelmed at work. I did have diarrhea for a couple of days and some anxiety but I didn’t do anything about it, I thought it would go away.”
What about the feeling of being scattered?
“My feeling of being scattered is a lot better. Since I only feel scattered when my sinuses act up, now that my sinuses are better I don’t have that feeling which means that I have been much better at work.”
MANY FOLLOW-UPS LATER: (over two years)
“From time-to-time I need to repeat the remedy, essentially I am much better than before. If I get a cold it resolves quickly without going into all the problems I used to get into.
DISCUSSION
This case is presented to show how effective homeopathy can be even after 14 years of suffering.
The way one is affected by the disorder is a direct result of the condition of the person suffering. It is therefore part of the condition itself. This is the “Golden Thread” that weaves through the physical, emotional and mental levels. In this case, it affects his concentration at work first and foremost. Let’s go deeper…
Being affected by wine or beer is a rather common symptom of sinusitis.
Notice how the physical condition smoothly connects back to childhood. Isn’t it wonderful? The constitutional remedy goes way back in this case. Remember Sandra’s case of tonsillitis also “started” in childhood (see case). Very often when the condition goes back to childhood it is a good thing because there is a good chance that it is a superficial condition. It means that the Vital Force has not dug deeper into the more vital organs. Nonetheless, such disorder can be as disabling as any other.
“I am feeling under pressure” is the same language emotionally as it is physically in his nose. It is not a coincidence and I love it. There is pressure physically and pressure emotionally and he wants to run, an activity for which one needs to be able to breathe!
He is “feeling scattered” here is a more personalized, individualized word and therefore I have to use it in my question.
As I often do, I pressed on with the feeling of being scattered. I repeated the question multiple times.
In this case, the sinusitis makes him feel like he is scattered like pieces of paper in the wind. It is a beautiful description.
In Samuel’s case of PTSD, you see a different type of feeling scattered (see case). It is a limitless expansion of particles as if they were lights. Precision is key in homeopathy. It may seem tedious but the trained homeopath can recognize the difference in a split second. That is the art of homeopathy. To me, practicing homeopathy is like having a tasting menu every day. I get to sample all these different flavors all day long.
Many people claim to be homeopaths, but they really don’t do it right. They give several remedies that don’t address anything central to the case because they never dig enough for it. They do it in a mechanical way. I don’t want to taste anything mechanical.
He had diarrhea for a couple of days. That is a possible reaction, which is generally very good as long as it doesn’t last long. It is a cleansing of sorts.
