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By Joy Lucas RSHom.
Female, aged 24.
Presenting complaint - eating disorders.
Her mother came to the consultation with her.
The moment this client walked into my room the first thing I noticed
wasn't her thinness as she had a thick coat on but it was the look on
her face.
She had the look of fear, her eyes wide open in, what I took at first to
be, astonishment or anticipation.
But this look stayed with her the entire time and as I observed her more
I came to realise that it was really her eyes which were slightly
protruding - this is what gave her the look.
Underneath her thick coat she wore a thick jumper but her emaciation was
still obvious.
Her mother starts to talk about her daughter straight away, without
giving her the chance to speak for herself.
But after a few moments the daughter starts yelling at her mother to
shut up and go away.
Now normally I am not keen to have a partner, relative or friend
accompany the client for any great length of time, but having said that
if they arrive without telling you it is always good to hear and see
what happens as it can be most revealing - as in this case.
Mum says - "You see, it is like this all the time.
All I want her to do is eat properly, I love her and I don't want her to
die, but she shouts at me all the time."
Having now proved her point Mum doesn't say another word for quite a
while.
I ask my client what she would like to talk about as a way in to her
problems.
But she just sits there looking extremely nervous.
Finally, "I don't want to be here, I want to go home." This is
said in a quite tantrum like way, in a voice and tone which sound much
younger than her 24 years.
I decided to sit it out and wait and took the opportunity to observe
her:
Skin bad - lots of spots around the mouth and lips (like a crop of cold
sores).
She had a habit of touching her head, same spot, all the time and also
pulling her knees up together and wrapping her arms around them.
Now I realise her eyes are protruding slightly because she is looking
around the room.
The eyes are also quite red as though she has been crying.
I ask her if she would like me to put the television on, or would she
like a book to read.
She asks me to close the curtains.
Why? She just shrugs her shoulders.
I close the curtains, at which point she asks me to turn the fire on as
she is cold (the room is actually already heated and very warm) and then
asks for some water, she insists on mineral water.
Fortunately I bring the whole bottle to her because she drinks nearly 3
glasses very quickly.
Then she asks to go to the bathroom.
I tell her I will chat to her mum 'til she comes back.
She doesn't reply.
Mum starts to tell me the story:-
"It (her eating habits) started after her father and I split up and
my new partner comes to live with us (11 months ago).
I think she was jealous, now when I look back.
She just stopped eating but I didn't really have time for her, I was
involved with my own problems and trying to build a life.
I thought she would be leaving home anyway.
Now she won't let me near her and she just shouts at me all the time.
It is like I am the child not her."
"She drinks water all the time, but she will be throwing up in your
bathroom now, I am so sorry about that.
She gets a lot of diarrhoea.
I know because it happens in her bedroom.
She is so thin and weak, I thought she had cancer but she wouldn't go to
the doctor."
No blood in the stools.
I ask about the eruptions on the face.
"This is recent 2 weeks ago she wouldn't get out of bed, said she
had pains all over her body and couldn't move properly.
She was so weak.
She stayed in bed for 3 days then this skin things starts.
I thought is was measles or chicken pox.
She never had either as a child.
But it is only round her face and some on her neck now.
I know she eats, I hear her getting up in the night but she throws up
all the time."
Her daughter then shouts from the bathroom - "I know you are
talking about me, stop it.
I can hear you, I'm listening to you."
We sit in silence for another 5/10 minutes.
At this point I am reasonably sure that I will not get anymore
information.
On the form that I give my clients to fill in, the mother had written
that there was a family H/O cancer and diabetes.
When the daughter comes back in to the room I ask if she is alright -
she actually smiles but doesn't sit down again, or say anything.
I invite her to talk to me for a while but she puts her coat on, still
nervously touching her head and face.
She sees some flowers in a vase and goes over to smell them.
Next to the vase is a little bowl of lavender flowers - (people love to
crush and smell them - this didn't become significant until much later)
- she took a small pinch of this lavender and put it in her pocket,
smiles at me again.
She obviously now wants to leave.
I ask her if she will come and see me again.
"I might and then I might not."
What an extraordinary case.
There was so much I hadn't been able to ask - especially her menstrual
and sleep patterns.
But somewhere in me I am confident that this girl had told me all I need
to know.
I had only a short while until the next client so I immediately wrote
down the absolute basics of this case so I didn't lose the feel of it.
Anxious expression Quarrelsome - always telling her mum off Suspicious -
listening to us from the bathroom Jealous - of mum's new partner Thirsty
Taciturn - indisposed to talk Herpectic like eruptions on face
Photophobia Won't eat Involuntary diarrhoea Vomiting after eating and
drinking Protruding eyes Smells flowers and takes Lavender (I don't know
why I thought this was significant - the Rx Lavender had occurred to me
but I didn't know much about that Rx except that it is very cold) I was
also thinking about Phosphorous and Kali Carb, having an affinity with
colours.
Other remedies which came to mind were Nat. Mur; Sepia; Hyos.
I had begun to think about the Kaliums because they nearly all have some
kind of eating disorder, but I needed to work on the case.
I was equally concerned about how I would get her to take any Rx at all.
I began my search specifically with the Kaliums in mind.
I didn't have to search for very long.
Kalium ars came up straight away.
The extraordinary thing for me was what this remedy is also known as
"Fowler's Solution" - a concoction used to restore and
revitalise ageing skin, amongst other things, which contributed to the
gaunt waif-like look of women using this substance to make them look
beautiful!!! And Fowlers solution was made up of, according to Clarke,
arsenious acid, carbonate of potash, and compound tincture of LAVENDER,
and distilled water.
The wonders of our remedies never fail to amaze me.
I phoned the mother to enquire about whether her daughter would actually
take the remedy in tablet form and we decided to give it in water as she
was so thirsty, but on no account was it to be done without her daughter
knowing.
I sent her 30c to be dissolved in water of her daughter's choosing and
to be sipped as often as she liked, and to stop if and when there was
any reaction.
5 days later the daughter appeared at my house, unannounced, with some
flowers for me! She apologised for her behaviour but wouldn't stop to
talk.
2 weeks later she phones to ask me if she can stop taking the water as
she doesn't feel thirsty anymore and it is making her feel full.
I ask her about eating and she says that she has one small meal a day,
has put on 5lbs, and then she tells me she had her hair coloured.
She stops the remedy and promises to phone again.
This is the longest conversation I had had with her.
I didn't hear from her for 2 months so I phoned her mother who said that
her daughter had moved out and was sharing a flat with a friend.
She had continued to put on weight steadily, their relationship was now
so much better especially when the mother's partner wasn't around - so
there was still some jealousy - but overall things looked very good.
She said she would get her daughter to phone me, but I didn't get any
more calls from her, but I have seen her around, barely recognisable.
This was several years ago but it formed part of my ongoing interest in
this family of remedies.
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