The Case:
A lady patient talked to me on the phone from the USA and presented the following disease condition for prescribing.
At first, it was easy to hear her, but as the call went to the 15 minute mark, her voice became harder to hear and was becoming quieter and quieter.
She told me that for the past 6 months, she had suffered from a sore throat and extreme weariness and tiredness of the body. She said her knees felt heavy and weak, her hips also, in fact all her lower limbs were weak and tired. Her profession is a trainer for phone consultants for a technology company, and she had been off work for a couple of weeks due to voice issues. She said she would cough , some phlegm would come up and the tone of her voice would change, usually to a higher pitch, much weaker and empty sounding… sometimes she would be unable to talk at all.
Further enquiry produced the following symptoms. The coughing would induce the phlegm (green) to expectorate. She said the taste was like a spoon of sugar and not pleasant. Along with the cough , there would be a feeling of lassitude and weariness in her arms spreading across the upper chest with difficulty in breathing. She felt better not moving at all and deep breathing helped her to breathe more easily.
She stated that she needed to urinate more frequently at night, but did not really feel an urge, just the fullness of the bladder informed her of the need.
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There were a number of ways to approach this case. We here at the IHM primarily use the SYNOPSIS P&W THERAPEUTIC POCKET BOOK as our guide to analysis. For those that know this particular remedy, it would not be necessary to repertorize as the SX are clear, however we present analysis from the TPB to show how it is done.
The above are the presentation of the throat sx. We then could look at the other sx associated:
These two reportorising sheets are for demonstration only to show a choice of SX to use in rubric form. If we converge them we get:
We do not advocate using more than 4-6 rubrics to cover a case, as the TPB works best on accurate sx and will lead to a choice of few remedies quickly.
Indeed, this is how I repertorised:
In looking at the patients reaction to the infection, we see that WEAKNESS is the state. A state of lassitude which amplified when coughing into the upper chest and arms. A read of STANNUM in the MM will show this particularity. It will also show the condition of urination and feeling clearly…
I have a practice over the years of reading EVERY medicine that am to prescribe until I form an accurate picture of the proven SX in mind… if I have any doubt, I always read again.
Not so fast you prescribers, not so fast.
Ive done this lots of times, talk to people I mean, telling them that their life expectancy is suspect or at worse, shortened within a recognised time frame. It was a little different this visit, looking at the face of a 30 year old adult that I recall as baby and then a toddler and then through the years. It always is a wrenching feeling to be the giver of bad news, and yet with this child/woman there was none of the quiet deep desperation I usually am swamped by, just an overwhelming feeling of love and care and gratitude for having her in my life no matter how long or short. This kid aint being let go so easily.
Yesterday a.m. I noticed a slight pain in the outside of my right ankle joint. I have these often from walking up the stairs extra times, or standing up a lot. 
admin
Vera Resnick IHM DHom Med (Lic)
Maintaining Causes and Anxiety.
Over the last year, I have seen an increase of patients with Mature onset anxiety. (Age 58 on). A variety of reasons and a variety of medicines. However, the commonality among the patients is the age. So what could trigger off this debilitating condition?
Minerals.
Recently, I have been looking at water, its composition, the process of filtration from the supply companies and what we actually end up with despite what the label says. Im disappointed to say the least.
We live in a damaged world. Greed and ease of process take precedence over the wellbeing and welfare of humanity. Processed food, genetically modified food and food devoid of essential minerals and vitamins is the norm. My research into anxiety led me to make an astounding discovery, and one which I suspect is a cause for an increase in patients experiencing anxiety disorder.
In 95% of the patients I have with anxiety, they have low Magnesium. Investigations show in the USA that 75% of the population have low Magnesium. It is no wonder that Antidepressants are prescribed so much in the USA. Only 25% of the population have just enough Magnesium to fulfill their needs.
Medical wisdom states that 200 to 300 mg of Magnesium a day will help or rectify a severely anxious person, and true enough it does help. However, if the supplement is stopped, the problem returns.
I am working on the hypothesis that water is the best re up take medium for minerals and have postulated a premise for evaluation and am conducting my experiments as outlined further in this article. Bear in mind, Homoeopathy and the law of similars is the ONLY medical therapeutic approach I take for applying a cure.
What I am doing here comes under the heading of ‘removing maintaining causes’. If an absence of a required mineral causes a problem, then the answer is to replace the mineral and no medical intervention is required.
Now I dont suffer from anxiety attacks or generalise anxiety, but I think its likely that I perhaps have depleted Magnesium levels so this will help. It has been my experience that this gentle intake of minerals through water is something that works well and lasts longer.
Drinking Soda and coffee will remove Magnesium… Soda will really block the intake… coffee can be overcome with a glass of mineral rich water.
So why is this being mentioned on a homoeopathic site? Simply because we can be in a hurry sometimes to prescribe a medicine when simple steps can rectify a situation. I would be called to elderly patients exhibiting signs of weakness, spaced out, dizzy, incoherent etc, and the answer was either give them water with electrolytes, (Dehydration) or a multi vitamin infusion.
Im looking at anxiety in the same manner where there is no obvious cause or rationale. Many ‘cures’ have been made with Magnesium replacement and so I feel it pertinent to mention. It is a lack of basic requirements for the body.
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