Hey folks,

Below is a case I submitted to a US Homeopathy Journal called Homeopathy Today. You may find it of interest:


In the summer of 2000, I traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, with my schoolmate and friend Tish Stoebner. We had been invited to help open an AIDS clinic in the slums of Nairobi. Both Tish and I have since graduated from National College of Naturopathic Medicine as naturopathic doctors.

It was a journey I never could have imagined, one that turned out to be an experience of grace for me, in that everything happened without effort. It was as if I was helped along throughout the trip and I found the experience—the wonderful people of Kenya, the beautiful countryside—profoundly moving.




Children wait to be seen at a homeopathic clinic in Nairobi



Our trip was five weeks long, and Didi Ruchira was our principal benefactor and contact person. Didi Ruchira is a nun of the Ananda Marga order who was treating patients in her mobile clinic in Kenya and dreamed of opening an AIDS clinic. Via email, we had agreed to come to Kenya to see patients and help her open the first non-mobile clinic. Tish and I also taught homeopathy to some of her Kenyan students.

We saw patients Monday through Thursday, had Friday off, and then taught all day Saturday and half of Sunday. On a typical clinic day, we woke around 6:30 a.m. and took a “bucket bath” using heated water from the propane range—there is only electricity from 11 p.m. till 6:30 a.m. We’d then pack our video camera, medical equipment, medical books, laptop, and lunches and take a taxi to the slums. Arriving at 9 a.m., we were blessed with patients of every variety till 5 or 6 p.m.

The poverty, squalor, and destitution of the slums was at a level we’d never witnessed before. I’d visited other developing countries and seen poverty, but nothing like this. These people lived adjacent to the Nairobi town dump. It was common to see them wandering through the heaps of garbage searching for things to use or eat or sell. We saw children playing on top of the mounds of garbage and jumping over raw sewage. It was almost beyond comprehension.

Here is just one example of the many people we were able to help while in Kenya. The words in the case are mostly verbatim, as taken by a Kenyan translator who was also a student of homeopathy.

A girl who gets “sick”
On July 6, 2000, a mother brought her 10-year-old daughter to see us. The young girl suffered from epilepsy. She was very shy talking about her problem and mostly looked downward, not saying anything unless prompted. She covered her face with her hands at times throughout the interview. During the interview, she used the word “sick” when talking about her convulsions.

“I cannot be sick unless I touch something. I only get sick after touching something strongly. If I am walking and I touch something, I become sick. After I move my hand from that place, I am okay, then I continue to walk; when I touch something again, I become sick. When taking my hands away from that place, I become well again. Anytime I touch anything, I don’t feel anything, just the convulsions

“I feel like things are holding me on my knees. I feel like I am being tied with chains just on the knee joints. It is after I get the feeling that I am tied with chains, and then I touch something that I get sick. It can come at any time. I’ve had this sickness since I was young. The convulsions last for two minutes.

“I dream of a person who I heard was sick, also of people and relatives who have died. If a relative dies, and I’m told about it, I dream about that relative. If I’m told that someone is sick, I have to dream of that person. If someone quarrels with me, I have to dream about that and I see that person quarreling with me in my dreams. If someone is beating me, I have to dream about that person. When the dream is over, I just wake up all of a sudden.

“I like the room that is cold, but I don’t like to be covered. I am not very thirsty. I don’t like fish, especially the small fish. I hate tasting things, I think that tasting things could be poisonous. If I go to someone’s home, and there is food, I just tell the person, thank you, then I refuse the food. I could be poisoned by their food.



Slum housing in Nairobi



“The thing I hate most is people with bad manners. I hate bad behaviors of the elders, the people who shut small children in a house and beat them and those who throw away their young children.”

The girl’s mother told us: “When she has the convulsions, she becomes stiff. Sometimes she becomes confused and doesn’t understand what people are saying to her. When the convulsions started she was about one year old. I first took her to the hospital when she was about nine years old. She mostly refused to take the medicine but when she did take it, it helped only a little. She has three to four convulsions a day.

She starts holding something, and then the convulsions begin. She is quite stubborn and if she doesn’t want to do something she just says no, I’m not going to do that. She likes washing the other children and also herself. She washes at least three times a day. She likes learning, although she doesn’t understand anything. She doesn’t know how to read. She hasn’t learned to write her own name. She can do math, but cannot read.”

This patient’s totality of peculiar symptoms pointed to the homeopathic remedy Syphilinum and she was given a single dose of Syphilinum 200C. (Below is a repertorization chart showing many of the characteristic symptoms of the case, prepared using MacRepertory software and the Complete Repertory.)


Follow-ups
Five days later the patient reported: “I feel better. Since I took the medicine I haven’t gotten sick. I haven’t had that feeling in my legs. I have been washing once a day, instead of 3 times. I’m not as scared of people or of being poisoned.”
The young girl made more frequent eye contact, even smiling openly a few times.
Several months later, Didi Ruchira reported that the girl continued to do well with convulsions being a rarity. She was also markedly less shy.

A homeopathic trip back in time
One of the things that struck me the about our experience in Kenya was that it was like a trip back to a “homeopathic past.” I saw patients of so many types with both acute and chronic diseases who were often receiving no health care at all—patients with epilepsy, AIDS, TB, Sickle Cell Anemia, etc. The cases were like nothing we see stateside and were often quite dramatic. It was beautiful to see homeopathy work with serious diseases as the only medicine given just like in the old days.

About the author:
Tim Shannon, ND, is a homeopathic physician who practices in Portland, Oregon. He specializes in treating depression, anxiety, ADD, autism, schizophrenia, bipolar and other behavioral, mental and emotional disorders. His chief homeopathic mentor is Massimo Mangialavori. When he isn’t working he enjoys being out in nature, swimming, hiking, and meditating. He can be reached at drt@drtshannon.com

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Tim Shannon, ND<br />2610 SE Clinton St. Ste. E<br />Portland, OR 97202<br />503-236-8853<br /><a href="http://www.drtshannon.com" target="_blank">www.drtshannon.com</a><br />drt@drtshannon.com

Thank you for sharing this with us.

Hi Dr. Shannon,
I'd be interested to hear more about Abha light and their work in Africa.

Thanks for sharing this case with us.
Just by the way, was there any indication of a Syphilitic taint in the Family History of the child?
Regards,
Doctorleela

PS: Its a little difficult to view the rubrics you chose.

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Hi Leela,

It was so nice to recieve your response to my other post as well. Very thoughtful. I understand your concerns. Homeopathy is indeed quite the mystery.

Regarding Abha Light, their website is: web page She has everything posted there.

As for the rubrics, those were not mine actually. They were put in by Miranda (the editor). I neglected to send them some, so she did a quick repertorization to give the article some sense of completion.

I believe some of the rubrics I used were:
Extremities; TIED, as if (7) * - Combined with the rubric: Mind; DELUSIONS, imaginations; body, body parts; legs; tied together (1) *
Mind; DEVELOPMENT, mental; arrested (12) *
Mind; WASHING; always; hands, her (15) *
Generalities; CONVULSIONS, spasms; epileptic (232) **
Mind; TIMIDITY (159)


As for a syphitic trait in the family, I couldn't say. I don't personally use miasm theory in practice. However, since she responded well to syphilinum, I would suspect something like that. In addition, given that sexually transmitted disease is SO rampant in Africa, it is certainly likely.

If you get a chance, I HIGHLY recommend you go to Africa. It may not be quite as dramatic as it was for me (given you are from India), but it was quite a wonderful experience.

I expect in several years, after my practice is a bit fuller, I will make a few trips over there. The need is great and the rewards are many. Thanks again for your sage insight
Ciao,
Tim

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Tim Shannon, ND<br />2610 SE Clinton St. Ste. E<br />Portland, OR 97202<br />503-236-8853<br /><a href="http://www.drtshannon.com" target="_blank">www.drtshannon.com</a><br />drt@drtshannon.com

Hi Tim,

YEs I've had looked at the Abha light website in the past. AFrica does sound exotic and untouched and that's why the interest.
And then one takes a good look around here (Rural India) and sees just as much need...

Thanks for the rubrics.
What helped you reach Syphilinum as the remedy choice?


Best regards.

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Hi Leela,

What made me choose Syph, was mostly the idea that she would only get the convulsions when she felt her legs were tied together (phatak's addition I believe). When I considered that rather odd sensation, with her overall backwardness, and the fact that her mother said she LIKED to clean 3 times a day. I thought, this MUST be syphilinum.

It was a real pleasure to see her only 5 days later and she was looking right into my eyes and smiling several times, which was quite striking. At the initial intake, she never once looked at me. Instead she was always sheepishly looking away or hiding behind her hands. She was more happy and outgoing, AS WELL as having had no convulsions for 5 days after the dose. She also mentioned that she was cleaning less, and her mother confirmed this.So I was quite pleased.

Anyway, those were some of my thoughts.

Sincerely,

Dr. T

__________________
Tim Shannon, ND<br />2610 SE Clinton St. Ste. E<br />Portland, OR 97202<br />503-236-8853<br /><a href="http://www.drtshannon.com" target="_blank">www.drtshannon.com</a><br />drt@drtshannon.com

In retrospect, might you have also used superstitious as a rubric--eg.,'I get sick whenever I touch something'--

Hi David,

I think you may be right, it is a possibility. However, what struck me at the time, was that she so clearly and spontaneously noted her delusion of something around her legs. I think she actually said chains around her legs or something. That is what stood out as peculiar to me.

But I like your idea because it suggests a deeper understanding of the kind of simplistic and backward type of concepts she had.

At the time, I didn't know syphilinum. But now that I have other nosodes in practice doing well, it seems that they can generally share a kind of "backwardness" or delayed development. So far, I've seen it in bacillinum (my patient had late speech & some paranoia) and Malandrinum (Autism) as well.

I have not seen it in Carcinosin however, so it is probably only true for a few of the nosodes, and perhaps not always expressed. Anyways, those are some thoughts. Thanks for the observation.

Dr. T

__________________
Tim Shannon, ND<br />2610 SE Clinton St. Ste. E<br />Portland, OR 97202<br />503-236-8853<br /><a href="http://www.drtshannon.com" target="_blank">www.drtshannon.com</a><br />drt@drtshannon.com

HI Dr. T,

Thank you for your sincere reply. I thought I'd check out a few rubrics, as the characteristics you noted were interesting.

MIND; DELUSIONS, imaginations; body, body parts; legs; tied together: syph.

MIND; DELUSIONS, imaginations; washing, of (K35, SI-381, G28): bell., syph.

EXTREMITIES; WASHES; always her hands (K1224, G1010) (MIND; Washing always her hands): plat., psor., syph.

I have found that cases who have benefitted from a dose of Syphillinum generally have an expression of a "syphilitic miasm" in the family history or past history.
Sometimes one realises this in retrospect and so whenever I take histories, I like to have all the details (besides characteristics) recorded right at the outset. This proves invaluable later when one reviews a case or re-studies a good prescription.

Warm regards,
doctorleela

[ 21. September 2003, 16:16: Message edited by: doctorleela ]

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Let's analyse how does a wrongly selected remedy Syph can cure an incurable Epileptic case. No proper symptoms were taken. Case taking techniques were not followed in this case. Totality of symptoms were also ignored. Even then a doctor claimed that he cured the patient. This shows that homeopathy has no rules and is mystry.

Although the total symptoms of epileptic attacks were not taken and totality of symptoms do not point towards syph.

Dr. T replied: Homeopathy is indeed quite the mystery....... (Dr. TS)

During case taking in epileptic cases family history and diseases are so important that an epileptic case cannot be completed without taking history of pregnancy period and miasmatic trend in the patient as well as in the family.

I congratulate Dr. T Shannon for his cured case story. Indeed homeopathy is a mystry. What ever you choose you don't need any evidence to support. In my opinion [SYPH] was wrongly selected and accidently cured the patient.

In my experience Syph has a wide action. This can be prescribe without taking symptoms in chronic cases. As it was done in this case. The propert of the Syph is it brings so many changes in the body whether the person is sick or not. This open up the way for body defence system which was struck due some unknown reason. In return the body immune system wakes up and covers the symptoms

All the best for cured cases. By the way miasm in homeopathy is not theory. It is just a phenomenon. OUr problem is we select a remedy in the first phase of case taking and then we try to find symptoms which fits with our selected remeedy. Is it not amazing.

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