Dear colleagues,
Will welcome and appreciate some thoughts on my case which I am stuck with. My patient has been doing well the last two months on Carc for depression and constant waking at night leaving her drained in the morning.
Now she is also menupausal and these symptoms have now emerged, making her sleep worse and giving her panic attacks about any appointments she needs to keep the next day. (Initially did well on Arg Nit ).

Her ss are flushes rising from feet upto chest and feels like a surge in her chest. Her chest is the hottest part during the flushes. She sweats between her bust , needs to throw her covers off and then gets cold so has to cover up. Doesn't like anything tight on her.

The flushes wake her up frequently -doesn't last long but keeps her awake.
Similarly, tosses and turns in bed at the thought of meeting friends or keeping appointments the next day.

Any ideas on calming the hot flushes and the panic will be of great help. (The sleeplessness stems from childhood fear of abusive father).

Hello Asha,

You mention far too few details !

I think you simply need to take a full case history again taking into account all mind symptoms, modalities worse/better, food and drink cravings/desires or aversions etc.

If you say she can`t stand tight clothing (Lachesis) or she has hot flushes followed by chilliness (Sulphur) etc. it`s not enough to prescribe on !

Women suffering from hot flushes as their chief complaint also should avoid/minimize hot, spicy or hot-temperature foods and should wear loose clothing and layers that they can comfortably remove and add back on. A diet high in soy and flax is recommended. If your patient doesn`t have high blood pressure she should also take vitamin E, 800 milligrams a day and avoid smoking and drinking alcohol. Also tell her to drink lots of water !

A few keynotes are :

If her joints ache and she`s sighing all the time consider/study Cimicifuga.

If she`s on the verge of exploding and has a sense of constriction round the neck and is talkative with all symptoms worse on waking consider/study Lachesis.

If her hot flashes/flushes are worse in bed (wanting to stick her feet out from under the covers) or after a hot bath and she`s itchier than usual consider/study Sulphur.

If she`s had a history of hormonal problems with moodiness, cries easily and hates getting too hot consider/study Pulsatilla.

If her sexual energy is diminished and she is constipated and grouchy, has hot sweats, backache (esp. in the sacral area) with sinking or dragging sensations consider/study Sepia.

If she has dry mucous membranes, esp. along with pain in the right shoulder consider/study Sanguinaria,

Hot flushes and melancholia.......Aurum met.

Throbbing in the head........Glonoin(e).

Flushing esp. in the face sometimes with nosebleeds and a tendency to put weight on......Graphites.

Loss of appetite, regurgitations and backache......Kali carb.

Flushes worse in the evening and after exertion with general weariness......Sulphuric acid.

If she gets the correct remedy she should feel better within a week.

Don`t prescribe Lachesis (e.g. 30c or 30k) more than twice daily for a week or less frequently for longer than a month to prevent a proving !

Wim

__________________
Homeopath for people and animals.
(Sorry, Wim no longer works here.)

Thanks alot for this, Wim. Her acute symtoms work out to Sulph.
By the way, are there any herbal remedies that are effective in supporting hot flushes if you don't want to interfere with the constitutional treatment with an acute remedy? She finds passiflora gives her an headache. And the pills are full of additives that the patient is not happy about taking them. And valerian hasn't worked for her.

regards
Asha

Hello Asha,

Advise her to stop the Passiflora incarnata.

To reduce the hot flashes/flushes she can take boron which is a trace mineral and/or herbal formulas containing chasteberry, black cohosh and dong quai. Boron also decreases the risk of osteoporosis.

One thousand milligrams a day of hesperidin, which is a bioflavanoid, can also reduce the hot flashes.

Quite a few women find natural estrogen and progesterone creams containing wild yam very useful and also promensil containing red clover may alleviate the flashes.

They can all be safely used alongside the hom. constitutional treatment.

Wim

__________________
Homeopath for people and animals.
(Sorry, Wim no longer works here.)

Addition for Asha,

Sulphur is esp. indicated if you see (part of) the following symptoms/modalities :

Hot flushes with hot head, hands and feet, burning and must throw covers off, (mild) perspiration, faintness, fatigue, emptiness at pit of stomach, insomnia, swollen breasts, profuse menses, dry, itching scalp, patient may be intellectual, a dreamer, life in disarray, irritable, selfish, depressed.
Modalities are : worse getting hot, 11 a.m., full moon, night, sweets, standing , bathing.

Wim

__________________
Homeopath for people and animals.
(Sorry, Wim no longer works here.)

OK Asha...thanks for PM....I hope Sulphur will solve the problem now....Wim

__________________
Homeopath for people and animals.
(Sorry, Wim no longer works here.)