Here is my analysis of a "swine flu" case as Ipecac, which is one among a dozen or so homeopathic remedies which might correspond to any given case, depending on the symptoms at hand (see end of this post for the particular case in question.)
Short list of potential remedies in flu :
Gelsemium, Baptisia, Eupatorium perfoliatum, Sabadilla, Arsenicum, Asenicum iodide, Dulcamara, Byronia, Phosphorus, Rhus toxicodendron, Allium cepa, Sticta, Ipecac, Veratrum album.
Instead of repertorizing, (since the repertory is only an index to materia medica)
I went straight to materia medica & read the "likely suspects" for genus epidemicus which had been discussed in various conversations online amongst fellow homeopaths, comparing from there, to the case posted.
While reading, I came across several references to Ipecac, and so read several materia medica on Ip., coming to choose it above the other "likely suspects" for genus epidemicus .. and a fair match for this whole individual case.
H.C. Allen, "The Therapeutics of Intermittent Fever"
"The persistent nausea, which does not always amount to vomiting, which is usually present in every stage, is the 'guiding symptom' of Ipecac.
constant ausea with or without vomiting
Loss of appetite, aversion to food
Cutting pains across abdomen
Intermittent fever, nausea, and vomiting; slight chills followed by much heat
Sudden attacks of sweat, worse during sweat, better after
--
T.F. Allen "Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica"
feeling of heaviness & pressure in the head
heaviness of the head
vertigo, while walking
cutting pain in the side of the abdomen
cutting pain about the umilicus
stools like diarrhea; purging ; frequent stools of greenish mucus
sore throat
** cough caused bye constrictive tickling
** cough causing inclination to vomit, without nausea
suffocative cough, dry hacking cough
pain as if bruised in all the bones
very weak, indolent depressed
exhaustion
awkward, clumsy, knocks against things
swaying to & fro of body to either side, as in drunkeness, with stupefaction of the head
**sleep interrupted by frequent waking and frightful dreams
**vivid unremembered dreams, with frequent waking
sudden general head with perspiration
perspiration lasting several hours
frequent chill
------
Kent (reversed repertory)
Sleep, dreams, anxious (p. 1236)
Sleep, dreams, frightful (p. 1240)
Sleep, dreams, unremembered (p. 1243)
Sleep, dreams, vivid (p. 1244)
Sleep, interrupted (p. 1246)
------
T.F. Allen Handbook of MM & Therapeutics
persistent nausea and aversion to all food
catarrh lemon colored phlegm in litle balls
cough, mucus looking like a mass of worms
"it has been found valuable in intermittent fever, characterized by persistent nausea, with chilll and fever, frequently with raging headache" (compare Eup.Perf, -which lacks the persistent nause)
Baehr Therapuetics
sec. 11, epeidemic and endemic infectious disease, intermittent fever
"decidedly adapted to epidemic fever, if it cures one case it will undoubtedly cure most others"
"particularly indicated when fever is accompanied by gastric symptoms such as loss of appetite, loathing of food, nausea, .. diarrhea with very little bile.."
-----misc.
stools lumpy greenish watery; .. dark, almost black looking like frothy molasses
Borland, Pneumonias
incipient stage
(consistent with all above, but indicating therapeutic use in acute pneumonia ... which is where the more "killer" version of H1N1 goes)
-------
NOT present in the case at hand, but for future reference:
Hemorrahge from all orifices of the body
======= see below for the case information ========
warm wishes,
david hartley
www.holistiq.com
www.karmaclinic.org
www.GratefulMindandBody.com
below: case information courtesy of
Hart Matthews
Durham, NC
US
--
42 yo male of generally strong constitution and solid build
c/o influenza beginning March 27, 2009
Symptoms began the night before with a vague feeling "like something
was coming on." The patient woke March 27 with a mild sore throat and
a headache "like a bunch of weights in there." Halfway through his
day at work, he began to have "really sharp pain in the lower
abdomen, really pretty sharp ... like a blade was stuck in my gut."
This pain was accompanied by intense nausea. He knocked off work
early (the first time he's ever felt that sick in his adult life) and
went home to have diarrhea that got rid of the abdominal pain.
Although he continued to have diarrhea daily for a week, he never had
the abdominal pain again. The early diarrhea might have been darkly
colored, he's not sure. After he started taking antibiotics on Day 6,
it was definitely a very dark green, almost black.
He never ate much after that first bout of diarrhea, as the nausea
continued for the entire course of the illness and "nothing sounded
good to eat." He never vomited, even though he often felt he needed
to. The only food that felt good to him during the week was chicken
soup. Sometimes he would nibble on crackers, but they "didn't do much
for me."
Feeling very weak, he fell asleep after that first stool and began a
cycle of chills and drenching sweat. He felt miserably hot during the
sweating and better during the chills. At first, the sweats tended to
be at night, all over his body. Later he had an episode during the
day. He did not remember having any dry heat. Unfortunately, there
was no thermometer in the house, so he never got a temperature measured.
The sore throat persisted, "raw and sore, not unbearable, just
nagging." He doesn't remember anything making it better or worse. A
cough started that first day, a cough from a little tickle, though he
couldn't say where exactly the tickle was. When the cough was
productive, his sputum was "white gunk." Every now and again he would
get the feeling he needed to get something out of his chest, and he
would manage to "dislodge" something. It would come up as "little
white balls." There was also a raw feeling from dislodging it, but he
didn't describe it as painful. Sometimes the cough was violent and
paroxysmal, making him feel like he would vomit.
Of course, he had the usual flu muscle aches, all over his body and
worst in the lumbar region. I didn't get more details than that.
The headache persisted throughout the week with a feeling of
heaviness and difficulty keeping the head up, needing to "support"
the head with either pillows or his arm. He often spoke of extreme
weakness and of leaning either his head or body on things for "support."
He described the fever as "fever hitting the brain." He had very
vivid, repetitive dreams. He would wake thinking, "okay, I don't want
to dream about that anymore." One dream was about "different kinds of
knots" and lasted an entire night.
On Day 5, he went back to work and could feel that he had made a bad
decision. Although he made it through the day, he felt progressively
weaker through the day. On Day 6, he went to a doctor, who heard
rales in his chest and prescribed antibiotics. His temperature was
measured at 100.2 degrees Fahrenheit. From numerous blood tests they
determined only that his platelets were low.
While waiting in line at the drug store, the patient began to feel
"really hot and sweaty," "leaned my arm out to support myself on a
rack" and "got a little bit of that tunnel vision thing." He woke on
the floor with people around him, having been unconscious for about
15 seconds. He had hit his forehead on the floor. When the paramedics
checked his vital signs, they found him drenched in sweat. He
declined a visit to the hospital.
The patient took more work days off and felt fully recovered two
weeks after the onset of his illness. He made a full recovery and
feels "great" now.
Labels: 1918, epidemic, h1n1, homeopathic, homeopathy, pandemic, Spanish, Swine flu, treatment
