Yeh, Snoopy, I’m with doctorleela, so leave me alone!

Anyway, Rapunzel, I’m emboldened by doctorleela’s agreement, and also by your homeopath’s agreement, in prescribing the phos as an antidote to the arg n. I recommend resuming the arg n, but consider that your son is extremely sensitive, not only to remedies but to food and likely other substances in the environment, so reduce the dose and don’t repeat the dose until you’ve waited a long time to see his reaction. Stay at LM1, succuss only 2-3 times, and give only a few drops or half a teaspoon instead of a full teaspoon. Wait at least a few days to see if there is a reaction; if there is any reaction, positive or negative, continue to wait for the action to complete itself, and do not re-dose until then. (There is a patient on this BB who takes 1 drop of an LM2 once a week, using only 2 succussions, so remember it is the patient’s sensitivity that is the issue, not any absolute standard of smaller or larger dose.) If he aggravates again, in spite of the smaller dose, try to wait it out, but if it persists use the phos again as antidote, wait for the effects to clear, then repeat the arg n again, assuming the symptom picture is still pretty much the same, and reduce the dose, the succussions, etc even more.

Having said all that, please wait for comments from the senior homeopaths here.

The bad news: eliminate eggs and, yes, you know what’s coming, chocolate. Minimize this, but if really necessary, permit "cheats" to the diet, but make them very small. Sensitives can often tolerate very occasional (say, every 4th day) cheats, but only if they are small cheats.

I really don’t pay too much attention to whether people are “allergic” to foods, for I have found that people can have reactions to food even when they’ve tested negative for allergies. I prefer to think in terms of food reactions, then, instead of a specific type of reaction (allergy would be one type of reaction). A comparison I make to clarify this is to point out that, if you drink too much alcohol, you’ll get drunk. This doesn’t mean that you’re allergic to alcohol, but rather than you’re reacting to it. People react in the same manner to foods. Along these same lines, the deepest cravings reflect, essentially, an addictive type of relationship to the food in question – and that is why, specifically, I emphasize the urgency of eliminating eggs and chocolate from your son’s diet. To repeat, since your son has already shown improvement when dairy was initially removed, and since he is clearly reactive to foods, even requiring the 4-day rotation diet regime, I am hopeful that this elimination will prove beneficial.

Other recommendations:

1) Try feeding your son on a mono-diet, that is, one food per meal. Don’t mix any foods. If he has meat, have it plain (no sandwiches). Wait a few hours, then permit potatoes or whatever. This method of eating may make it easier for his digestive system to handle meals. Although they don’t necessarily recommend this strategy in particular, you should read Harvey and Marilyn Diamond, Fit for Life, for good information on food combining, if you haven’t already read it. If he resists such a routine, try to stick with it anyway: he’s already having problems with meals, so you don’t lose anything, really, if he misses a couple, and eventually he should get hungry and start eating what you give him. If you must combine foods, do so very sparingly, and monitor reactions closely.

2) Massage therapy. Be sure the masseuse knows how reactive your boy is, as massage can be very powerful and is usually followed by a cleansing reaction, so they should take it easy on him. Have him drink plenty of water for at least a day after the massage. Alkaline water.

3) Bach Flower Essences and the Australian Bush Essences are non-homeopathic remedies that work in similar fashion, but without the depth or strength of the homeopathics. Since they are so mild, these might prove useful in addressing some of the issues around stress, tension, suspiciousness, and the rest. The Bach Rescue Remedy and the Bush Emergency Essence would be a good place to begin. It appears, based on my limited experience, that these can be taken along with the homeopathic remedies, without interfering with their action. You health food store, or the Bach and Australian Bush web sites can provide descriptions of other essences that might match up with your son’s personality.

4) Look for replacement foods, for example, carob instead of chocolate, soy ice cream instead of dairy ice cream, dairy free and wheat free frozen waffles, etc.

5) I’m guessing he does not actually react badly to “pure water,” but that you purchase the water in plastic bottles, in which case, if I am right, he is reacting to the hydrocarbons that leach out of the bottle into the water. Find a supplier of purified water than offers storage in glass containers; if it is a water cooler you end up with, find a supplier that has a dispense with a stainless steel reservoir, instead of a plastic reservoir.

6) Talk to a naturopath or someone well-versed in alternative treatments and consider using antioxidants. Once again, these agents can also cause cleansing reactions (btw, the homeopathic “aggravation” is really nothing more than a specific variety of cleansing reaction, imho), so be careful.

I recommend these additional measures because it sounds as though your son is getting out there in terms of extreme reactions; although homeopathy may have the power to handle the case successfully by itself, I would be afraid that it would leave you with the impression of health, while leaving behind hard-to-spot residual symptomatology. Remember, we have already seen how easy it can be to miss symptoms of disease. A multi-pronged approach for a many-faceted problem simply makes good sense. But in saying this, I’d advise further to coordinate everything through your p
rimary care physician, so to speak, who should be your homeopath.

Best wishes,

Bach

[ 07. September 2002, 16:03: Message edited by: bwv11 ]

__________________
"The need to perform adjustments for covariates...weakens the findings." BMJ Clinical Evidence: Mental Health, (No. 11), p. 95.... It's that simple, guys: bad numbers make bad science.

Ok I have read through this lot and have a couple of comments to make but this is not a prescription. I have had a lot of success with kids and allergies by using Carcinosin in just a split dose of 30C so maybe you could mention this to your homeopath. Another thought is this craving for the taste and smell of dirt. Is this Plica and if so maybe a Calcium rememdy may be considered.

__________________
RSHom - Registered Homeopath

Ricky,
I also thought about Calc after reading that Joshua eats eggs every day and also the quite peculiar trait of tasting and smelling his calc ' medicine ', and the substitute, both of which have the common attribute of smelling of dirt.
Rapunzel, I'm intrigued by the coral that Josh craves so much,has a tantrum over and won't leave the house without. Could he be proving this substance ( ie,proving Calc.) in some way?

Pica involves the ingesting of substances which are "inedible"--such as dirt, or chalk, or lime.

Calc is one remedy which turns up in that rubric; but there are other remedies there, too.
eg: abies-c, alum, alumn, aur, bell, bry, calc-p, cic, con, cycl, ferr, ign, lachesis (as a 4 in my rep), nat-m, nit-ac, nux-v, psor, sil, suph, tarent.

Incidentally, ignatia actually feels ameliorated by ingesting these substances; bry, calc, caust, cupr, iod, ip, lyc, nat-c, puls, ruta, and sulph are all aggravated from ingesting these undigestibles.

That being said, My own tendency here would be to prescribe something that would address some of the acted out behaviours you've seen. I was intrigued by the effect of the pulsatilla, but only because it made me think of one of its complements--lycopodium. Your son's extremely demanding behaviour (to be hugged, to not be left alone, to have what he wants when he wants it) is a kind of domineering, a way of obtaining attention from his parents despite the presence of his sibling rival. Lycopodium also has the severe sugar cravings you write about, as well as the digestive difficulties with just about any food. It also fits with your description of your son "having lost his confidence", and staying small at 32lbs.

The "jealousy" issue is helpful--but sometimes the best thing for the homeopath to do is examine the case more fully to see how this jealousy is being played out (as sadness? as a cause of insecurity? as anger?) to help in the differentiation between remedies.

I think the best thing for the homeopath to do is to re-take the case, noting the symptoms which persist from the initial casetaking (if there are any) as well as the newly developed symptoms presenting. There is definitely enough there to clearly point out a good remedy--just from what you've written, there are some clear symptoms there that I can't factor in to another Arg-nit prescription.

I also think all this other "stuff" that's being done--the supplementation, the
"coral" stuff...its just getting in the way enough to befuddle the case.

That's just my 2 cents' worth...

Divina

[ 08. September 2002, 00:07: Message edited by: Divina ]

__________________
...and deliverance has many faces<br />but grace<br />is an aquaintance of mine

Rapunzel,

Today, I read your son’s case in detail.
The way you presented the whole case. It demands, to give you reply in detail. You took great pain while writing your son's case. It is an excellent presentation of the case. It gives me a complete picture of the case too.

For instance, I would say it is the case of Kali Carb which is my favorite remedy. I will repertorize the case in my spare time. Allergy – food upsetting (any type) after eating and ulcer type problem is the key note symptom of kali carb.

Lach is not the remedy. The son feels fresh after sleep.

Hyosy is not the remedy. There is a confussion/difference. The patient wants to be remain naked and the patient don’t want cover his/er body under clothes. Great difference.

Puls, Ars and Nux are closely matched. But you have already tried them.

I think, you must give your son a dose of China cm and start kali carb 30 from the next day tds for one week and observe the changes.

__________________
<b>Dr. M Iqbal (Classical Homeopath)<br />Iqbal Poly Clinic, Main Market, Kharian<br />Phone Clinic: 05771-511337, Residence: 05771-533737 </b>

Dear Rapunzel,

This looks like Phosphoric Acid. I think he was a Phosphorus child who went into Phos-ac. after the grief/emotional trauma of the baby being born. Phos. people can go into phos-ac after a grief. The symptoms are weight loss, pining away, apathy and physical pathology following a grief. There are some confirmations for Phos-ac. like his asking for ice. Phos. and Phos-ac. are complementary remedies.

The arg-n. caused such a bad aggravation with no amelioration that I don't see how anyone could even consider repeating it. The phosphorus acted so well, I can't see how anyone could dismiss it so easily.

The child is sensitive to remedies, so, those suggesting high potencies like CM...I just don't know what you could possibly be thinking.

Since 30X worked so well with this child, I would suggest Phos-ac. 30X in a small bottle of water so that the remedy can be shaken--and therefore, slightly altered in potency--before each dose to prevent an unintended proving. Once or twice a day, one sip, adjust according to his response. That's how the case looks to me.

Good luck,
Snoopy

[ 10. September 2002, 17:47: Message edited by: Snoopy ]

Phos and kali carb are good choices.