Case Studies
Case of gastroparesis relieved using homeopathy
Susan contacted me on 9th December 2019. Her 16 year old daughter, Chloe, had been diagnosed with gastroparesis(delayed gastric emptying) earlier that year. Now, she could barely eat more than a mouthful. She had been suffering from digestive problems that started with chronic diarrhoea back in September 2018. She was under the care of
a consultant at hospital and had missed months of school. The diarrhoea stopped but she was left with almost constant pain and bloating and found it difficult to digest most things and was living on a very bland repetitive diet. In April 2019, she was diagnosed with gastroparesis. She could only eat very small amounts of food at a time before feeling nauseous and bloated. The consultant put her on new very strong medication. It helped a bit, but over time the medication ceased to work and by December 2019 she could barely even eat or drink a few mouthfuls and was in almost constant pain. The consultant wanted to prescribe some even stronger medication, saying that if it didn’t work she would have to be hospitalised and tube fed. He said that there was no cure for gastroparesis and that she might never be able to eat solid foods again.
It was at this point Susan contacted me. She was terrified about her daughter’s future and wanted to try another way. I only had a few days to make a difference as Chloe was eating and drinking so little. If there was no change soon then she would be hospitalised. I was only able to take a short case at the beginning over the telephone.
Chloe was suffering from a great deal of abdominal pain that extended down to her legs. She felt very nauseous most of the time and this became much worse if she ate anything. The pain was changeable in nature and moved around. She was unable to attend school. She was burping frequently and had lots of bloating. Her energy was very low and she just wanted to lie down. She didn’t like a hot room and wanted to have her window open. Chloe felt very low and wanted cuddles.
To start with I prescribed Pulsatilla and Nux-vomica given at different times.
The next day the nausea was a bit better after eating and the pain was slightly less.
A week later her pain levels had lessened and her nausea had improved. Each day had been different with some good days and some bad days, but there had been some improvement. She had been able to eat more, mostly soft foods, which gave her mother the confidence to continue. She was taking Pulsatilla and Nux-vomica quite frequently and the effects didn’t last very long. At this point I took her full case. The following is a short summary in addition to the earlier symptoms:
She felt full only after eating a few mouthfuls and had lots of burping, breaking wind and bloating. Her abdomen was distended and sometimes hard. She felt a bit better after burping. Chloe was still nauseous after eating meals and the Nux-v helped with this. Her stools contained undigested food. Her nausea and wind was often worse late in the evening. Her digestion was very slow and she felt it sat in her stomach for a long time. She had been taking charcoal tablets regularly for the past few months on a friend’s advice. I asked her to stop taking these. She had a history of being aggravated after eating pork and red meat. She was very anxious about the future and her health and had often suffered from anxiety.
I decided to give her Lycopodium and Carb-veg daily at different times as a liquid dose. She could also take Nux-vomica after meals if her nausea was bad.
A week later she was eating more and able to drink a daily food replacement shake plus yoghurts and some solids. Her energy and mood had improved and she no longer had any pain, which was amazing as she had been suffering with pain for nearly a year. Her stools were better formed with less undigested food.
January 2020.
After the xmas holidays, Chloe managed to go back to school taking a range of different foods with her. She was able to have chunky soups, bread and fruit without pain and only occasional nausea on top of a daily food replacement shake and her appetite was increasing. This was less than a month after starting homeopathic treatment.
February 2020
Appetite increased. Energy very good and mood also very happy. Very little nausea occasionally. No bloating and burping except when very tired late in the evening. Eating more solids and has even been able to eat half a chicken sandwich at one sitting. Digestion is working well. No undigested food in stools. She has stopped having her meal replacement shakes as she can now eat enough normal food and has three meals a day. She developed a headache which lasted a few days. I moved her up to a higher potency of Carbo veg 200c and the headache disappeared the same day.
April 2020
Remember the consultant said she may never be able to eat solid food again! This case demonstrates the power of homeopathy. Within a few months of homeopathic treatment she returned to almost normal eating. Prior to this she had been under the care of a consultant at the hospital for over a year and her condition and her ability to eat had declined dramatically, in a life-changing way, during that time.. See updates from Susan below:
REVIVE – A Homeopathic Novel
A PAGE-TURNING ADVENTURE WITH TWISTS AND TURNS
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“Insightful, Clever, Lots of Fun, and a Great Intro to Homeopathy”
Immerse yourself in this first of a kind, epic quest, with twists and turns. Journey with Sheysu as she is pulled into a maze of emotions and deadly battles across hostile kingdoms, to find a cure for her dying sister. Learn about homeopathy and remedies as the characters and kingdoms bring them to life in a way that is unforgettable. If you love homeopathy, you’ll love reading this.
Revive is a fantasy action/adventure novel where the characters are based on homeopathic remedies. No prior knowledge of homeopathy is needed. Homeopaths and non-homeopaths alike, can read it. I have tried to stay as true to materia medica and used specific rubrics, gestures and words to bring the remedies and kingdoms to life. If you would like to know more about how I wrote Revive, click here
It is available on Amazon and has many 5 star reviews.
For other countries search in Amazon for your country.
Case of anxiety during lockdown relieved with homeopathy
Joyce, a lady in her late 60’s, contacted me for severe anxiety during lockdown. She was extremely fearful for her daughter, who is immuno-compromised, and regularly had negative thoughts flashing through
her mind. She had also started to worry about her own mortality, and whether she would survive. Her mind was crowded with anxious thoughts such as the fact that she hadn’t done a will. This was very unusual for her as she was normally very positive. Joyce was usually a very active lady who was always out and about, so lockdown had affected her greatly. With the anxiety she had started having hot flushes that started in her chest and moved upward over her head. These were worse after anxious thoughts. In addition to the anxiety, she had started having palpitations and was conscious of her heart racing. At night she was very aware of her heart racing when she was trying to go to sleep. She would eventually fall sleep, only to wake up a couple of hours later around midnight to 2am. Her mind would then go into overdrive and she would be restless for the rest of the night, barely sleeping. This had been going on for a few weeks and was really taking a toll on her physical, emotional and mental wellbeing.
I prescribed the homeopathic remedies Aconite 200c and Arsenicum 200c.
Update next day: Thank you Sunita for the instant relief from my anxiety. The homeopathy has really helped. I had a better night sleep. I even coped better emotionally, as last night my husband wasn’t feeling well and that would definitely have set off my anxiety, but I was able to cope and even slept well after.
Update two days later: Slept well for second night, even after getting up to go to the toilet, I was able to get back to sleep. I’ve only noticed my heart racing once since starting the remedies. Thank you.
Read some useful tips on anxiety and homeopathic remedies that can help here.
Case of young boy with flu and cough resolved with homeopathy
This case has been reproduced here with the kind permission of my client Kirsty.
Kirsty rang me to say that her little boy, who is immuncompromised, was suffering from the worst flu he had ever had. He had been declining for a few days and the anti-biotics prescribed by the doctor weren’t working . She
had been advised that if he didn’t get better overnight that she should take him to A&E.
He was feverish with a temperature of around 38.3 but this fluctuated. He didn’t want to eat anything and was throwing up fluids soon after drinking them. His eyes were red and he was very sleepy all the time and had no energy. The sound of his breathing was very rattly and you could see his chest going up and down very quickly and his chest area was sucked in when he was breathing.
Every time he coughed he would get really hot and would keep retching, He had smelly wind after coughing sometimes. At night he was waking up frequently. His eyelids were very heavy and he had also been pulling at his ears.
Kirsty had tried a few remedies, but so far they hadn’t helped.
She had a homeopathic kit at home. I asked her to give Ant-t 30c but she didn’t have that, so the next closest remedy I asked her to give was Ipec 30c which she had.
The next morning his cough was better and not so deep. The rattling was less and his breathing was not so fast. Kirsty said that his breathing rate had reduced from 32 to 25 breaths per minute within an hour after taking the remedy. He had a better night sleeping and didn’t wake as frequently. Kirsty said he looked better. He was sitting up more and not as sleepy. No more vomiting and a normal temperature. This was the first improvement in days. By lunchtime he had more energy and asked to eat something. She was able to get the other remedy Ant-t that day and started giving that to him the same evening.
The next morning when we spoke, he had had a really good night. Kirsty said he was quite snotty, but said that his cough sounded like it was on its way out. He was smiling and had more energy.
The following day Kirsty said, ” he is running around now. He has only coughed a handful of times, and his nose has dried up.” He was now only taking the Ant-t twice a day. A couple of days later I got a text from Kirsty saying that her son was doing ‘fab’ and eating loads.
This case demonstrates how quickly and well homeopathy can work even when symptoms are very debilitating. It can be difficult sometimes to choose the best remedy yourself and this is where contacting a homeopath can help.
Read more about homeopathy for flu and coughs here
A Case of Vertigo Resolved with Cocculus Indicus
I want to share a case of vertigo with you, using a remedy that I find invaluable and have used many times. This is a case of a forty year old woman who has five children. She has been a patient of mine for many years and I have treated her whole family.
She contacted me for nausea and dizziness that had been going on for some days. It was very debilitating as she struggled to move around and she felt very weepy and anxious.
Her symptoms were:
Every time she moves her head, particularly moving up and down, it makes the dizziness worse and she feels like the room is spinning and then the nausea starts and she feels like throwing up.
She feels better keeping still
The vertigo is worse lying down
Her head is spinning – Feels like everything in her head is moving and she needs to re-fix it again.
She feels like she is falling and she needs to focus on something to stop it. She feels better if she stays still and focuses on something.
Her dizziness would come on also if she looked something moving like a car.
Her head feels as if it was full of cotton wool.
It’s much worse when she gets tired.
I asked her if something had happened before the vertigo came on or if she was stressed about anything, but she couldn’t think of anything unusual.
I prescribed Bryonia, which she tried for a couple of days. It helped a bit but the vertigo was still strong.
I then asked her to describe what her days and nights were like before the vertigo. Her days were very busy with 5 children, but it was the nights that were difficult. She couldn’t remember the last time she had had a full night’s sleep. Even when none of the children woke up, she still found she couldn’t sleep as she was listening out for them and every little sound startled her.
Cocculus Indicus is a great remedy for sleep deprivation and symptoms that come on after loss of sleep from caring for others (called nightwatching in the repertories). It can really help parents whose children wake frequently. The loss of sleep can result in sleeplessness, headaches and vertigo as shown above, plus many other symptoms. It is also useful for other conditions such as motion sickness, jet lag and period pains if the remedy fits the case
I prescribed Cocculus Indicus. Within a day her vertigo was much better and she was able to start moving around her house slowly. Everything was almost back to normal after a week. Later I gave her a higher potency when the symptoms started getting worse again, and after that she felt fine.
A Case of UTI Resolved with Capsicum Anuum
I want to share a case of a lesser used remedy. This is an acute case I took of a 70 year old Indian woman, living in England, suffering with a UTI(urinary tract infection).
She had been suffering from a UTI for four days when I took her case.
Her main symptoms were:
- Burning at the front of her urethra all the time.
- There was a slight relief after urination.
- She had a frequent desire to urinate.
- She was restless with the pains and found that walking around made her burning pain better
She had tried Cantharis which had not had any effect.
When I asked her what had been happening prior to the UTI. She mentioned that there had been a wedding celebration in India and lots of her family had called her from there to tell her about it. I asked her how that made her feel and she said she felt very sad. It made her remember her life in India and she felt so far from everyone. They could all see each other all the time and she felt left out and she wished she could be there.
I asked her more about the burning pains, and what she said helped me to confirm the remedy. She felt the front of her urethra was like an open wound and it was as if chilli pepper had been sprinkled there.
Interestingly she had tried Cantharis which seemed to fit most of her symptoms well, but didn’t help.
I prescribed Capsicum Annuum and within a few hours her burning symptoms and frequent urination improved and by the next day she was much better. Her mood also really improved.
Capsicum Annuum is a great remedy for burning pains which can be felt anywhere. In UTI’s it shares a lot of similarities with Cantharis, so it’s one to think about when Cantharis doesn’t help. Patients needing Capsicum can sometimes have a feeling of homesickness or nostalgia.
Interestingly the main active ingredient in the pharmaceutical cream ‘Capsaicin’ is from chilli peppers. This cream is often used for neuralgic pains, which are often burning in nature. Its use is quite homeopathic, but far better to use homeopathic remedies instead. In this remedy you can clearly see the homeopathic principle of ‘like cures like’. Chilli pepper(Capsicum Annuum) can cause burning pains, so it follows that it can also cure it.
A Sudden Case of Cloudy Vision
This is an acute case of a 50 year old woman who developed sudden cloudy vision in both eyes. She has been a patient of mine for many years and I have treated her whole family.
She contacted me early evening to say that at 10am that morning her vision had suddenly become cloudy in both eyes. One minute it was fine and the next it was cloudy. At first she thought she had got make-up in them and washed them but it made no difference. She said she could see but it was very foggy so vision was not great. There were no other symptoms apart from, if she shut her eyes tightly, it stung a bit. There was nothing that she could think of that could’ve brought it on. She had been stressed at work, but no more than usual. I was on my way out, so without many symptoms to go on, I suggested she take Euphrasia which has an affinity for the eyes and is often a good remedy for acute eye complaints.
Later that evening we spoke again. She had been to see an emergency eye doctor. I could hear the anxiety in her voice. He said there was a cloudy film over her eyes particularly where she had previously had laser surgery. He thought it was something viral and that it would eventually clear. There had been no change from the Euphrasia.
I asked her to recount what had happened that morning and asked what the weather was like on her way to work. She said that it had been cold and very windy. She had been wrapped up, but she had felt cold in her face.
With the sudden onset of the eye symptoms together with a possible causation of cold wind, and the anxiety/fear I heard in her voice, I asked her to take Aconite.
The next morning we face-timed. She was wearing sunglasses.
The previous night had been unsettled. She had been restless, in and out of bed feeling freezing cold but also feeling suffocated under the covers . Her nose and eyes had started streaming in the night. She had felt anxious and irritable and a bit wobbly on her feet.
Her symptoms that morning were:
Right eye: the cloudiness had gone. It was sensitive to light but there was no pain in the right eye and no watering.
Left eye: still cloudy a bit. It was now painful – feels like grit in the middle of upper lid. Very sensitive to light. Has been watering. Stinging pains in the eye. Can’t open eye.
I asked her to describe the pain more. She said it was stinging just like when you are cutting onions. Her nose was also streaming and she couldn’t see a thing from the left eye. I asked if the tears irritated or stung the area under her eyes and she said no.
She had a slight headache above her left eye. Her mood was now ok. Just feeling tired. She no longer felt unsteady, just weak.
I prescribed Allium-Cepa.
Within a couple of hours, her eyes and nose stopped streaming and the light sensitivity was much less. By evening she said she felt so much better and was just left with a mild grit feeling in her eyes and a slight headache. No cloudiness in both eyes, but interestingly she now needed reading glasses, where normally she could read without them. She carried on taking Allium Cepa and reduced the frequency as she got better. The headache she decided was from using reading glasses. Her eyesight returned to normal and she no longer needed reading glasses by the next day. She was so relieved as the experience had really panicked her. Her eyes have been fine since.
A Case of Abdominal Pains
This short acute case shows how our emotions can cause physical symptoms. It shows how quickly homeopathy can help, even when someone is in severe pain.