The case, then a few questions.

The woman is about 55 years old. When she was 17, she was in a terrible car wreck, her whole body crushed, bones cracked all over, bedridden and casted and so forth for at least a year. Hips and ankles were rebuilt. Had been addicted to morphine. Now, chronic arthritis, often manageable, flares up when the weather changes, as presently. Severe pain in neck and shoulders, and legs--pain as if she'd been exercizing. A headache at the very back of the head and reaching down to the neck. Collar bones hurt. Hair hurts, knuckles swollen. Better with movement (in agreement with Allen's Keynotes, in disagreement with Boericke).

Arnica 30C as needed. She dosed and repeated once with no effect; I had her stir more vigorously and after another few doses on about the half hour, she was somewhat better.

Today I brought her Arnica 200C. She took two doses and was much better, and was hopeful she'd actually get some sleep tonight.

Questions:

1. I'm assuming this will be a "chronically" used acute remedy, that is, the problem will continue to bother her and she will take arn as a specific as needed. Will the arn act in any way as a constitutional, bringing about at least some degree of improvement in the basic condition, even though it was chosen as an acute and not as the similimum?

2. Are there any adverse effects from using such a remedy repeatedly, after the fashion of an allopathic prescription?

This was my second prescription ever. My first was about a week ago, also Arnica, for a woman with aches and pains and bent over after exercizing. So both of these were pretty easy, but it surprised me, because I have been giving up on the idea of really doing much with homeopathy, first because there's just too much to learn and as they say too little time, and second, because I am really only interested in treating emotional disorders. Or so I thought. The response of my second patient to the arn 200 felt so good, I can hardly tell you. All I can say is that I'll be careful and go slow and always ask for help if I need it so you don't have to pull your hair out because there's another uncredentialed "homeopath" out there.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Bach

__________________
"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.

Hey there darlin'

You might be pleasantly surprised to know that since the pt's condition began from the accident and injuries that the Arnica might very well act as the "constitutional" or more aptly, as the cure for this condition because you are prescribing on the causation as well as the symptom picture and by prescribing on causation the well chosen remedy can act deeply, even years later. I hope this turns out to be the case for you and your pt.

In regards to prescribing Arnica repeatedly and the dangers involved, well, you know that there is a risk of proving and you certainly do not want to repeat the same dose over and over. Above all - watch and wait.

Good luck.
Barb

__________________
Man, do not pride yourself on your superiority to animals. For they are without sin and you in your greatness defile the earth by your appearance on it and leave traces of you foulness after you. Dostoyevsky

hi bat girl -

thanks. but does watching and waiting, in an acute case, mean that it is ok to repeat as needed as often as necessary, if, for example, the remedy provides relief, but then the pain returns in an hour or two, and this keeps on happening? or certainly it comes back every morning. but maybe arn will be curative (constitutional) rather than palliative (acute), and the pain will start returning with less intensity, then less frequency ... ah-hah. i'll wait and watch ...

__________________
"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.

hey bach - here is the problem with your question - this case is not an acute. Her condition is chronic, acutes will resolve on their own (or kill the pt). When she has a flareup of symptoms that is called an acute exaccerbation of the chronic but basically is the chronic condition. SO if you repeatedly dose her with arnica and arnica is only palliating or suppressing then yes, you will run into trouble.

AT this point, if I were you, I would hope that the arnica will act deeply on the injury state back when she was young. If not, than we need to retake the full case.

This is just my humble opinion and you should wait for someone wiser, smarter and of course much OLDER than I to answer. SNoopy? SHirley? Anyone?? :razz:

__________________
Man, do not pride yourself on your superiority to animals. For they are without sin and you in your greatness defile the earth by your appearance on it and leave traces of you foulness after you. Dostoyevsky

Isn't Barb a genius? Wow!

Anyway, I would just add: put the remedy in a water bottle and tell the patient to shake the bottle before each use. This will prevent antidoting of the dose that may be still working
and Hahnemann says in the Organon that the vital force rebels at the same dose being repeated over and over again, so he suggests dosing in water and
"dynamizing" as he calls it, meaning to succuss before each dose.

OK, having said that, at some point Arnica may stop doing the job because symptoms specific to other remedies may make an appearance, and you'll change your prescription as these things arise.
For example, she may say to you, "I'm being bothered alot by stiffness! It's better after a hot shower." So, you'll give a dose of Rhus tox 30C in water to take as needed and see how that does. Or she might say, "I have numbness and tingling and sharp shooting pains!" So you'll give Hypericum in the same way; and consider that 30C may not be high enough, but it's a place to start. She might say, "These pains are so bad, I can't even move, I feel like I'm locked!" So, now you'd give Bryonia. So, this is a possible scenario; you have to follow what presents itself.
If Arnica isn't working, and she's complaining of symptoms that look like Hypericum, etc., then give that remedy, and you may find that the Arnica symptoms present again. This is a great case, we're anxious to hear what happens!

Snoopy

Hmm....Barb and I were posting at the same time!
Remember, I never said she was tactful!

About it being an old injury, if it's still active, then you have a clear etiology--
a "Never Well Since"; and that's what we're always looking for in a case. There's a very good prognosis if we can find this.
Just to give you an example, take someone who comes to a psychiatrist for emotional problems, and there you are writing all their symptoms down, and you're thinking, "Oh, this sounds like Nat-mur, or Aurum!" But, then the patient says, "I've been like this ever since the concussion from the car accident." Now you say hooray! because you've got your remedy!
It could be Arnica, but more likely it's Natrum
Sulph--personality changes after head injury!
Knowing the cause makes all the difference.

Thanks, guys. In fact, some lessons I've already learned pretty well, so when I gave "Mary" the arnica, it was in a 12 ounce bottle, with instructions to shake before each use. I've even found myself that the number and strength of succussions effects the action of the dose, and that sometimes I want a milder and sometimes and stronger dose, and so I succuss accordingly, which is also what I told Mary to do.

She slept like a baby last night, and was very grateful.

Thanks for all your help. I'll report back as things (hopefully) progress.

__________________
"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.

Bach - you said "she slept like a baby last night", that's great news! Now, does she know not to redose until/unless the positive effects wear off? As I said - now we watch and wait.

__________________
Man, do not pride yourself on your superiority to animals. For they are without sin and you in your greatness defile the earth by your appearance on it and leave traces of you foulness after you. Dostoyevsky

Hi Barb,

Yes, she knows this, but my instructions were not necessarily real clear or accurate the first time around, and though I've clarified the procedure to her and she seens pretty good with this, I'm going to have to re-address the question. I've also already half-corrected my initial communications to her that we were, in essence, treating an acute - but I see by the last couple of posts I'm going to have to clarify that further, and re-emphasize that we need to communicate about this on a consistent basis--"Mary" btw is not a patient - or was not - but a colleague; I think though that she just became my patient anyway!

Terrific. My first two patients are pro bono. Does anyone out there make any money at this? Never mind, I already know the answer to that one.

__________________
"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.

Tell me about it!

(Sigh...)

Snoopy