Final Cases Flashcards
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.
Pulsatilla
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 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 album
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
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.
Strammonium
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
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.
Mercurious
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.
Hyosymus
A seven year old boy was considered ADD by his school teacher. He is exuberant, a bit restless, but bright and a quick learner. He connects well with people, and gets into trouble at school because he loves talking and interacting with others, and can do this doing class time. He is a likable child, curious, alert, and makes a good contact with you. He craves salt, sweets, and bread. He is averse to fish. He is quite thirsty, wanting ice cold drinks. He has many friends, even makes friends with strangers in line at the supermarket. He fears being alone, the dark, kidnappers, and cancer. If sad, he seeks consolation which helps a lot. He tends to be chilly. Epistaxis.
Phosphorus
A 29 year old woman has oral and vaginal herpes. She gets outbreaks several times a year, which puzzles her because she is so physically fit. She works out strenuously at least 5 times a week, for up to two hours. She has a tendency to amenorrhea. She often has a leucorrhea, a vaginal discharge that is irritating and acrid. She gets extremely irritable and weeping before her menses. She has not been in a romantic or sexual relationship for several years. She said she decided that sex was too animalistic, and she wants to suppress this aspect of herself and work on her spiritual development. She has become more and more irritable, sarcastic, and harder for others to get along with. She prefers being alone, and hates consolation. She feels better from activity, also better in the evening. She is worse in a hot stuffy room. She likes to be in the sun. She fears poverty and ghosts.
Sepia
A 9 year old boy developed a bad cold and sore throat, which started with his right tonsil, then spread to his left one. Throat is soothed by warm drinks. He tends to be very demanding of his parents, especially when ill. He is a fearful child, gets quite worried about his health even when he gets a very mild illness. He fears alone, kidnappers, the dark, and meeting new kids. He wakes hungry, must eat immediately or becomes extremely irritable (but never violent). He craves sweets. Certain foods aggravate, causing a lot of gas, bloating, and this can lead to diarrhea. This alternates with constipation. He gets headaches over his right temple. His colds and fevers are always worse in the late afternoon or around 6 p.m.
Lycopodium
A 37 year old man who teaches art has benign prostatic hypertrophy. He is a pleasant man, seems very gentle. He has difficulty standing up for himself, for most of his life has let others take advantage of him. Confrontation is very difficult; he seems unable to assert his boundaries, even when it’s obvious that he should. After his wife left him for another man he developed psoriasis. Now for seven years he’s been alone. He wants a relationship but is shy. He has trouble sleeping, and usually masturbates to fall asleep. He gets sleepy in the afternoon. If he gets the opportunity to take a nap, he feels very badly after waking from the nap.
Staphysagria
A 74 year old man has chronic digestive problems. He has a lot of offensive gas, and tends toward diarrhea. He has a red, ruddy complexion, and a kindly look to him. He seems very intelligent, bright, curious, and independent. He is warm. He gets hot in bed and uncovers, sleeps with the windows up year round. He loves to tinker, to fix things, and to make little inventions. He loves to get praise for this from his friends and neighbors. He craves sweets, fat, beer, cola drinks, and salads. He is thirsty for cold drinks. He also has an itchy rectum, mild eczema that itches, and sweaty feet with a very strong odor.
Sulphur
A 20 year old man developed a tremendous fear of being attacked after getting into a violent fight downtown, where he received a concussion. His initial response was to become extremely fearful of being on the streets, especially after dark. He developed a fear of animals of all sorts. He began to train strenuously at the gym, becoming quite muscular and aggressive. He had violent, frightful dreams. He developed epilepsy. His behavior became definitely manic. In this state his pupils become dilated.
Strammonium (Belladonna secondary choice)
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
