Hi - my husband called from work saying he vomited.

Came home just now and told me this:

Last night he sweated A LOT in his sleep.
Woke this morning - and was VERY THIRSTY - unusually so = he said, "I felt dehydrated" - so he drank tea and lots of water (usually on has tea in the morning w/ breakfast).

He made breakfast: Mueslie with a cut up banana and milk (also cup of tea). He said the banana tasted a bit odd (but he ate it anyway). It was slightly bruised, but this normally doesn't offend his taste buds, but it did this morning.

He said his lower abdomen (bowel) felt insecure JUST as he was due to go to work - so he waited a little bit as he didn't want to be driving when a sudden urge for diarrhea hit him. He DID have some small amount of diarrhea - water like - before leaving for work.

He got to work and noticed he felt very lethargic and tired. He also said waves of nausea started - and he would have to sort of stop whatever he was doing (talking, lecturing, typing) and wait a minute for it to pass (I think he had to just breathe calmly at the same time).

He then said that he felt cold BEFORE vomiting - and after vomiting he began to feel too warm.

Slight temp...about 100F.

He felt some mild relief from both vomiting and the diarrhea. He has vomited 4 times so far. He has had diarrhea about 6 times (2 since the last vomit). He feels insecure with the bowel - as if it comes on suddenly and he won't make it to toilet (but he does make it thankfully).

Acutally the first vomit was at 9am-ish - and he was talking to one of the juniour officers - and he said this wave of nausea came over him...and he had to hold up his hand and he apologised to the other officer (hoping the wave of nausea would pass)..but it did not..and the large envelope he was holding came into use! So, he was able to avoid spewing all over this poor guy.

He then said he tried to soldier on - but the nausea and vomiting have carried on (the number of times above)...and he says this feeling of tiredness is overwhelming...he cannot think - and must lie down and rest.

When he came home and was trying to undress for bed..I noticed he was doubled over with cramping (lower abdomen)...which seems to have calmed a little after he was lying down. He is not terribly talkative, but when I asked about his morning (to get the list of symptoms) he was very talkative and helpful (usually he won't give me much to go on!!!).

I'm looking stuff up - and have come up with Colch.

He said one thing that was notable to him - that made the nausea MUCH worse was Perfume. One officer who was in civilian clothes (having just come from a relative's funeral) was wearing men's cologne - and John said he actually had to ask him to leave the office as he felt he would heave all over the place from the strong smell.

Kent has:
Nausea, odours, from: COLCH (3), dig (2), eup-per (1 and I don't have this rem!), ph-ac (2), and Sep (2).


Colch came up in some other rubrics, but I am not confident at all what would be indicated here.

He had Gels for the flu a couple of weeks ago, and while it didn't magically go away, he felt it did lessen the severity of the flu that he felt coming on! Before that..he had Rhus Tox. (he had slight small amount of blood on toilet paper yesterday, but didn't notice ANY today with all the diarrhea).

Any suggestions here???? Gm what do you think with everything that has happened in his case??

He is lying down now...and says lying still is helping with the nausea a bit...
Also, he asked for COLD water - usually it makes no difference..and the thirst is still excessive...he drank the WHOLE glass in 2 seconds and still wants more but is hesitant to indulge.
NO SALIVATION at all prior to vomiting (or otherwise).

Your help is greatly appreciated. Others welcome to comment, but GM please if you see this - could you guide a bit?

Thanks much!!
Lisa

[This message has been edited by Lisa~Annan (edited 02 January 2001).]

Hi Lisa. I hope John is feeling better and that someone gets to you soon to offer some help. Tell him peanut and I wish him a speedy recovery. Jen

Hi Lisa,

Oh, boy, here we go again!

I think the colchicum is a very good choice--the one other remedy that comes to mind as being very, very close is cocculus--because it has the doubling over you describe, as well as the sensitivity to odours (but in cocculus it is the thought or smell of FOOD, not just any odour). A big cue to the colchicum is the tremedously enlarged abdomen--lots of trapped gas which causes pain.

Causation is different in the 2 rems--cocculus gets sick from "nightwatching", that is looking after others who are ill; and loss of sleep. Losing sleep is a big issue in this rem--for whatever reason (worry, concern, overwork, etc.) It is a big motion sickness remedy, with lots of vertigo.

Colchicum gets sick from changes in weather (so there is a cyclical quality to this illness, every spring or autumn); and there is a general aggravation from cold and damp weather.

Which is closer to what John's having?

Divina

Neither. NO motion sickness..NO FLATUS earlier....NO VERTIGO either...Smells of food don't bother him...only strong perfumes/colognes.
The weather changed about 3-4 weeks ago and is the same since..so that isn't it I don't think.

His symptoms have changed now.

After I posted..I started repping the long way..and it took me over two hours of reading, etc...and I came up with Phos (but he can hold down cold water even if it warms in the tummy!), Sulph and actually Ars was the highest! (can't recall why I ruled over Ars but there was some major modality that escapes me at the moment)

Anyhow, in reading on those three rem's, I decided Sulph fit best (esp the modalities compared to the other two) - but of course, I'm not experienced, so I ended up thinking Sulph was somehow safer too - in that it can open and cleanse! (? Gawd, I hope this is okay)...also, I only gave a 30x.

SINCE THEN:
He is NOT vomiting.

Diarrhea - now with some flatus WITH the passing of diarrhea, which is still like water (he says, "Like Brown Soup of Tea without milk in it"). Still cramping JUST before diarrhea comes..but not during or after passing diarrhea.

and a high fever now. DRY HOT now - a sweat has not come since the Sulph was given. It is now 7:33pm and I gave him one dose 30x at around 2pm...so it's been 4 1/2 hours.

He says he feels achey all over now..muscles in legs, etc...like a flu. Very tired - lying down.

He said while I was out (I took the kids out for the afternoon so he could rest in peace and quiet) he tried to lie on the couch to watch cricket - but had to go back to bed..."I needed to lie down fully"....doesn't want preoccupation.

Any suggestions? Was the Sulph a safe option? It seems to have caused the symptoms to change some..and he is STILL very thirsty (with the fever now)...
I made a mistake earlier - he did NOT drink a glass of cold water in one go..but he did drink HALF a glass of cold water in one go earlier when I posted.

Now he says he is drinking smaller amounts more frequently (since the nausea is gone now).

He says NOW - he "couldn's face the thought of food"..
I asked if the smell would bother, and he says he doesn't know, because I haven't cooked anything (since he was soo ill I took the kids out to eat to avoid disturbing him)...should I see if something bothers and report back? Is this important to know?
Any help would be appreciated
Thanks..Lisa

Seem like it work, if not working properly, use tuberculinum one m.

I don't know why U ruled out Ars, but it still seems to me the best choice.

I too would have given Ars in the very first instance as this usually works in this type of scenario

Hi Lisa,

It looks like arsenicum is indicated even now (the small sips of water, drunk frequently). I should have remembered this--at the risk of sounding like a broken record--just 3 days ago here my cousin's entire staff of co-workers all came down with a similar flu--the whole mob of them were throwing up, and having diarrhea while trying to work on their busiest day of their year! As the only well one, she was able to run to the nearest health food store for remedies, and arsenicum worked well for many of them.

Yes, it is one of the GE remedies for the flu going around right about now.

Don't worry about the sulphur's effects. This is an acute situation--worst that could have happened is that "it pushed him further into his state, so that you could see the symptoms more clearly". Giving the appropriate remedy now will resolve things just as well.

Hope he feels better soon,
Divina

The reason I chose Sulph (I just read up again on Ars to refresh my memory)...was because when I read Ars Stomach...it didn't seem to fit what he described to me. There was no burning - eructations - and under Abdomen - no swelling although there was cramping. Also - he was wanting cold drinks - not warm as in Ars (unless I misunderstand how that modality reads?).

And being underconfident, I felt (in my deep worry not knowing a lot about Ars) Sulph was safe. Maybe I was wrong.

But since Sulph - he is as described above.

The only thing he FAILED to tell me then was that a headache had developed - and it is still there....in the temples. So the vomiting stopped. Fever came - DRY with NO SWEAT, headache came - still thirsty and drinking steadily but not gulping it down. Still diarrhea watery - like tea/brown soup....

Now, I'm confused....GM you say Tub 1M (he has no respiratory symptoms AT ALL at this point and has not with THIS illness or the LAST acute a couple of weeks back).

And others here are saying Ars, which kind of makes some sense too (???).

Gm, are you going for Tub - because of a miasm thing?? I'm just trying to understand this better...

If the aim is to suppress this so he feels better - then that is not what we're after...is this what you thought would happen with Ars, GM?

I just need a little better understanding...as I know you have the case details (including his recent symptoms)..i.e. that growth on his lower right eyelid, etc...

Are you thinking with those things in mind too? It seems so, but I'm not 100% sure.

Anyhow, there is NO change since my last posting...still as above..
So I would be greatful for more advice...if we should:
Leave it to heal now?
Give Tub?
Or go with Ars?

I appreciate everyone's help with this.
Lisa

Hi Lisa,

You can't prescribe on symptoms your husband doesn't have...so if he doesn't have the burning stomach pains of Ars but he has the vomitting and diarrhea, he doesn't have pathology that has progressed that far (in the ars. provings, this burning referred to ulcers--your husband just has a flu). So it may not be burning, but he does (did) have vomitting and diarrhea--those things do fall into the rem's picture.

The temperature of the water is not as significant as the rate at which he's drinking it: an ars. patient would drink constantly, but only small sips at a time (there is a parsimonious insecurity about not being able to get more if its needed). I'm not surprised that there is such dryness, as the amount of diarrhea and vomitting taking place should make anyone really thirsty. So, drinking very conservatively in such a situation would be the activity that would make "the bells go off" for me.

Then, under the rubric HEAD, Pain, heat, after the; Ars2, calc, carb-v, Eup-per3, Nat-m3

All good reasons to give Ars. a try, if you have it on hand.

Divina