Cases Flashcards
A 26 year old female medical student complains of recurring fevers. She had these in childhood, and they returned last year, after a romantic grief. She is sensitive, sympathetic, an emotional person, but she tends to keep a lot inside, and is uncomfortable with consolation. She loves being outside, the sun, camping, hiking, or just going to the park. She is very sensitive to injustices. She has problems falling asleep some nights; on others she will wake and be unable to go back to sleep. She craves chocolate, eggs, fat, salt, and hot soups. Digestion is good but a tendency to constipation. She has many moles. She is adopted and no family history is available.
Carcinosin
A 48 year old man, an accomplished professional photographer, complains of chronic arthritis, worse wet weather, worse first motion, better continued motion, better warmth, worse cold. You notice circumscribed red areas on his cheeks. He had alopecia since his early 30’s. He is allergic to milk, which causes chest colds. He has a history of frequent bronchitis and childhood asthma. Both arthritis symptoms and respiratory symptoms are worse before storms or from a change of weather. He admits to some compulsive or ritualistic behaviors. He has been married four times, with a history of several extramarital affairs. He craves meat, fat, pork, ham, salty, and ice cream.
Rhus Tox
A 47 year old male complains of fogginess, difficult concentration and poor memory. He is disorganized, yet creative and artistic. He loves to paint late into the night, often goes to bed around sunrise. He loves adventure. He is vital and charismatic. He pushes himself in many ways. He likes spicy food, alcohol, grapefruit, sweets, fat, and is averse to beans and eggplant. He suffers from painful arthritis, with redness and swelling of his fingers.
Medorrhinum
A twelve year old boy suffers from asthma. He seems tense, inhibited. He is fastidious. He also has many sebaceous cysts, visible and palpable under his skin. His asthma is worse wet weather, worse 3 a.m. He dreams of falling, and of dead people. In bed, he tends to sweat on parts that are uncovered. His sweat has a peculiar, sweet, honey-like odor. No strong food desires, but he hates onions.
Thuja
A 26 year old man complains of joint pain, frequent bouts of hoarseness, and occasional coughs with a raw feeling in his chest. He has a history of Bell’s palsy. All of his symptoms are worse in cold, windy weather or drafts. He prefers wet weather, and is better living in Portland since leaving a windy area of the Midwest. He craves salt and smoked meats. He is sympathetic, and is actively involved in organizations to protect the environment.
Causticum
A 33 year old woman has severe PMS. At that time she gets intense headaches, extreme irritability and jealousy, and strong craving for alcohol. Headaches tend to come on while she sleeps, or she will wake in the morning with a headache. Her PMS symptoms all resolve within a few hours after her menses begin. She craves farinaceous, oysters, alcohol, and coffee. She has a strong sexual drive. She is competitive, intense, and passionate. She tends to dominate conversations. She tends to be warm, and gets headaches from the sun.
Lachesis
A 44 year old man complains of fatigue and frequent sinus infections. He is very orderly, precise, and seems very courteous and mild mannered. He is a timid person, lives simply, is reserved. He is frugal, worries about money. He has never liked physical labor or exercise, enjoys his work as an accountant, but when work piles up he gets frustrated, overwhelmed, and makes many mistakes, which creates anxiety for him. He is constipated, is aggravated by milk. Though very chilly, he prefers cold food. He sweats a lot on his hands and feet. If he gets a cut it heals slowly and can get infected. He is uncomfortable with consolation. He is extremely sensitive to noise. He likes the sun.
Silica
A 12 year old boy, diagnosed with ADHD, learning disability and behavioral problems, is prone to anger and jealousy. He is extremely talkative and restless. He is quite manipulative of his parents and friends, and has alienated most of his friends because of his behaviors. He likes to shock his mother by using foul language, especially when she has company over. He is jealous of his older sister, often hits her without cause. He insists on wearing extremely bright, wild-patterned clothes that draw a lot of attention.
Hyoscyamus
A six year old boy suffers from recurrent otitis media. He seems restless, distant, and hard to connect with, a bad odor. He always feels worse when he sweats, which often happens at night during the bouts of otitis. He is averse to sweets. He is thirsty for cold drinks, and loves bread and butter. He seems a bit suspicious. The otitis always comes on in the night, and usually is accompanied by a very strong, offensive discharge from the ear involved. He has chronically swollen cervical lymph nodes. He sweats a lot.
Mercurius
A ten year old boy seems very serious and sad. When his parents divorced he developed insomnia, depression, and speaks frequently of suicide. He is very religious, feels this world is too hard, and wants to be with God. He loves music, especially church music and Bach. He feels forsaken by his father, who moved to the East coast after the divorce. He tends to keep his problems to himself. His mother is quite concerned, because he is a lot like his father, who is an alcoholic and severely depressed, and suffers from heart disease though he is only 35 years old.
Aurum
A 48 year old woman has asthma and peptic ulcer. Her symptoms are worse at night, from 11 until 2 a.m. Her stomach burns, is better warm drinks, especially from warm milk. She is very anxious, nervous, restless, and fearful of death. She is very chilly, likes warmth, but likes a window open too. She fears robbers, being alone, cancer, suffering, and worries about financial security (though she is quite wealthy). She dreams of robbers. She is critical, sharp, and controlling.
Arsenicum
A 62 year old man suffers from recurrent bronchitis, pleurisy, arthritis, and allergies. With the allergies his face swells, especially around the eyes or lids. All of his symptoms are worse around 2 or 3 a.m. He also wakes at this time and is unable to go back to sleep for an hour or two. The pleurisy produces sharp, stitching pains. His arthritis pains are also sharp, fleeting, like a jabbing pain. He is chilly. He is averse to touch. He fears ghosts. He craves sweets. He works hard, is conscientious, careful to always do a good job.
Kali carb
A 29 year old woman suffers from digestive problems, and must be very careful with her diet. Symptoms are worse from overeating, from fats or rich foods. She likes milk, ice cream, eggs, and butter. She has a very low thirst. She tends to be warm, can sometimes get hot feet so she uncovers them in bed. She likes the sun, but dislikes heat in any form. Her GI symptoms are somewhat relieved from putting a cold application over her abdomen. Her menses is very irregular. She gets sad and weepy before menses, and gets an irrational fear that her husband will leave her. She has fear of the dark, alone, men, and insanity. She is easy to talk with, likes people and company, and describes herself as a ‘people person.’ She has difficulty making decisions. She weeps easily and likes consolation.
Pulsatilla
An 18 year old girl contracted encephalitis. She recovered, but since then has developed a tremendous fear of the dark, being alone, and of dogs and cats. She has some residual neurological symptoms since the illness: jerking of her body and chorea at times. She craves sweets. She is very clingy to her parents, and insists on sleeping in the room of her younger sister.
Stramonium
A 29 year old man suffers from frequent colds, sore throats, and back pain. He is chilly, worse in wet weather, and likes warm weather. He perspires a lot on exertion, especially on his face and head. His palms sweat, and he can perspire in the cold. He is afraid of high places, spiders, getting a disease, and going into a hospital. He is hard working, reliable, and gets along well with people. He craves milk, sweets, eggs, and cheese. Digestion is good but he tends toward constipation. He is allergic to aspirin.
Calc carb
