A typical case from our Practice

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From one extreme to the other

A Typical case from our Homeopathic Practice in Bingley

A Mother brought her 11 month old baby girl in to see me because of the ‘barking’ cough she had on and off from the age of 3months. She was ‘off colour’ whining and clingy, only sleeping about two hours at a time then waking up coughing and angry. She had had a few courses of antibiotics with little or no effect.

In Homeopathy we want to know more about the symptoms in order to find the exact homeopathic medicine that will restore the baby to a balanced state of health, e.g. how the baby has changed from her normal state and what makes the symptoms better or worse. So I asked the Mother to explain a little more…

She told me that her baby had a history of high fevers and especially now during this bout of illness she can become very hot, she becomes very angry particularly when she cannot get her own way which also brings on a bout of coughing. After the coughing fit the baby usually becomes very sleepy and her face which is usually bright red (especially her cheeks) goes very pale. When she has temper tantrums she can bite, either herself, other babies and also the Mother. She can push the Mother away, pull her hair and generally will not tolerate any interference. During the consultation I noticed that the baby would want to be on the Mother’s lap one minute then want to be on the floor playing with toys. One minute wanting cuddles then the next minute pushing away. Mother said she was like an Angel when she was well but a Devil when she was poorly. She had become very fearful of late especially for loud noises like the vacuum cleaner or raised voices, she had also developed a fear of dogs.

Taking everything into consideration I prescribed the appropriate homeopathic medicine and asked the Mother to contact me in a few days time.

The Mother rang to tell me that on the same day the remedy had been given her baby developed a slight fever but slept well throughout the night, the following day she had perked up, smiling a lot but still a little clingy. After two days she noticed that her whole mood seemed to have changed for the better with less and less episodes of violence, anger and temper tantrums. Her cough became looser and less ‘barking’.

I saw Mother and baby for a proper follow up appointment after one month where the Mother reported that baby was very well in every way and said to me “Thank you so much for giving me my baby back”

This case is just one of many Children’s and babies cases I see every day. All are individuals presenting with different problems from, bed wetting and night terrors to eczema and respiratory conditions as well as behavioural problems and Autism.

Monica Robinson MBRCP Hom is a homeopath with over 25 years experience. She practices in Bingley, West Yorkshire at Prospect House Clinic 177 Bradford Road. She is also principal of the Yorkshire College of Classical Homeopathy. Monica can be contacted on info@ycch.co.uk or by telephone on 01274 519800

Turning the vital state into order

Kent writes

A number of times a patient has said, ” Doctor, did you intend to take away that fatty tumour I had on my back ?” The chances are that I did not know he had one. That is generally the way such things appear in the practice of the Homeopathic physician, for he does not prescribe for the tumour,  and the chances are he thinks little about the tumour in his prescription,  he gives the constitutional medicine and they often disappear after a while,  and then the patient thinks the doctor has done a wonderful thing. He gets more glory and credit for curing a wart than he does for curing the patient. The Doctor who prescribes correctly turns the vital state into order.

Report of Seminar on Homeopathic Treatment of Neurological Disorders using the Cycles and Segments approach.

Seminar in Keighley, West Yorkshire, 13/14 October 2012

Dr Paul Herscu and Dr Amy Rothenberg

The first time I saw Dr Paul Herscu present Cycles and Segments nearly 20 years ago, I must confess to being somewhat perplexed. Why do we need to look at a case in this way, why do we need to group symtoms together? When faced with something new our first thought is to question it (rightly so), then to either dismiss it or embrace it.Sometimes we dismiss a new idea without understanding it, Homeopath’s know all too well this approach.  I liken this to a sports person learning a new skill. The coach will encourage the player to work at a new technique that will enhance his game. The player will resist at first “Why do I need to do this ?  I’m doing alright as I am”.  Where the coach sees a weakness in the player’s game he will encourage the player to improve his skills by doing a certain manouevre or changing a certain aspect of his game. Looking at doing things in a different way to improve his game. The player will then work on his weakness until he has mastered the skill and improved his game.
I was the player who dismissed the new technique. In fact, I didn’t see Paul again for another 5 years. I plodded on in my Practice,  getting fairly good results but also getting frustrated at times when I couldn’t seem to help my patients. Even taking into account obstacles to cure, there were some cases that I felt should have been helped better.
When I saw Paul again at a seminar in London. There he was once again explaining how the Cycles and Segments approach had helped him tremendously in his practice. This time I listened to the Coach!
He talked about Stress and Strain. How the person receives a stress and how the person  strains against that stress. The straining process being the symptoms that are produced.  How certain individuals are predisposed to certain stresses and that we all strain in a different way depending on our susceptability and predisposition.
When we give a remedy , the remedy is a highly specific stress on the individual which creates healing.
He explained how a case could be divided up into segments. Each segment containing rubrics that mean the same thing. This way you will not lose the remedy,  especially if you use too small a rubric.  It’s probably best to give you an example at this point from our recent seminar.

Segment 1.

Chronic inflammation of the throat
Inflammation of the skin
Irritable easily
Bladder infection inflammation > all mean the same thing INFLAMMATION

Segment 2.

Excessive perspiration
Chronic diarrhoea
Easy temper
Yelling, throwing things > all mean the same Discharges

Find the crux of the case, what needs fixing. What’s the worst thing.
So find examples of the patients story. Do not take anything at face value. If the patient is anxious, you need to explore that.
No symptom happens in a vaccum, they are related.
All symptoms are context dependent. ie what makes the pain worse/better. (Modalities)
Each segment relates to one another.
Seeing the same type of symptoms related again and again throughout the case.
( how many times have you had a Calc case before you and you know you can predict that they are constipated)
You must not focus on just one part of the case.
Don’t get distracted on irrelevances of the case ie does he like sun,types of food,etc
If you give Sulphur because your patient sticks his feet out of the covers, is warm blooded,  has a skin rash, desires cold water, you will go wrong.  Many remedies/patients share these symptoms but do not need Sulphur.
This is a true understanding of the case before you – The totality.

At this point I would encourage you to go to Paul Herscu’s web site http://www.nesh.com where you can read an article on the cycles and segments approach. He also has an explanation in his book on Stramonium.

So this understanding of Cycles and Segments was demonstrated by Paul and Amy throughout the seminar. Amy took a case of a woman in her 50’s suffering with MS. She demonstrated the model of cycle and segments beautifully, simplifying the case. She then had the delegates go through the segments of the case, understanding how each symptom related to the next.
The following day she presented a paper case of Nux moschata, divided us into groups and got us to recognise symptoms that meant the same. She explained how it wasn’t necessary at first to link up the segments into an actual cycle. Getting the segments was enough at this stage. As you become more familiar with the system you will be able to see a cycle of one segment following another. The remedy needed will still come out in your list of remedies even if you don’t do this. Remember you are still learning the technique in the early stages and there will be some head scratching. If you persevere, you will become more accurate in your prescribing.
Paul took a case of a young 11 year old boy on the Autistic spectrum. Once again demonstrating his powers of perception. The boy had a history of outbursts of anger but after the outburst wasn’t aware that he had had an outburst.The anger lead him to become confused and dull. Along with the rest of the case, shrieking, overly sensitive to perceived threat, dogmatic, fears dark/strangers. The case came out to Mercurious. If we had just centred on the fear of the dark we would have given Stramonium as indeed the previous Homeopath had done. I have made this mistake in the past as I’m sure all of us have.  Stramonium after the anger would have resulted in a desire to close off and shut down unlke mercurius which would have felt depleted and weak (not remembering). Stramonium would remember what they did.
Paul also showed us his map of Hierachy of remedies. If you go to his web site or the Stramonium book, you will be able to see this

Basically, he says that remedies can be categorized into a hierachy, not dissimilar to Herings law of cure but in terms of remedies, each phase represents a deeper state of pathology progressing from left to right. Polycrest remedies in phase one, Nosodes in phase two, more intense remedies in phase three. As you can see phase three remedies split off into dullness of the psychi as in Baryta Carb or excitability as in Stramonium. The fourth phase becoming more intense.
Babies ought to be born needing a phase one remedy however you can have a baby needing a remedy from phase four where something odd happened i.e. Mother was exposed to toxins, violence, cord around the neck etc. As you get sicker you may move across to the right of the diagram but depending on the stress you may stay on the left. Anxiety in phase one will be less severe than anxiety in phase four. Would you prefer to have the anxiety of Calc or the anxiety of Stram?

Instead of having many different remedies coming through the system, you will find mostly remedies suited more to the case coming through. If your patient needs a remedy from lets say phase three, the list of remedies will also show the next remedy likely to be needed after the appropriate has run it’s course. Of course the case must be taken again to make sure the patient has moved into a new remedy picture.

Here at the YCCH we hope to have Paul and Amy back next year. On our 3 year course we follow the cycles and segment approach. We have found over the years our students very quickly embrace this method , as it is a truly holistic way of understanding the patient.

Observations from James Tyler Kent American physician 1849-1916

A number of times a patient has said, ” Dr, did you intend to take away that fatty tumour I had on my back ?”. The chances are that I did not know he had one. That is generally the way such things appear in the practice of the Homeopathic physician, for he does not prescribe for the tumour, he gives the constitutional medicine and tumours, warts, lipomas often disappear after a while, and the patient thinks the Dr has done a wonderful thing. He gets more glory and credit for curing a wart than he does for curing the patient. The Dr. who prescribes correctly turns the vital state in to order.

New Season

Many patients come in during the change over from one season to another. The person has to adapt to the new season. We strain against the new season’s changeability.In doing so, our bodies use up too much energy and we become susceptible. The healthy person will go through this change with only slight ailments. The sick person will find it hard to adjust. Coughs, colds will linger on. If they are really chronically ill.,they may only feel unwell, the body not being able to express the symptoms of distress now. So when you start coughing or come down with a cold during the change of season, look upon this as a time of adjustment. You may get through it by just using natural remedies, like honey and lemon, ginger, vitamin C , for sore throats, etc. If symptoms persist you may just need a top up of your constitutional remedy (seeing a Homeopath will confirm this) or maybe a different remedy for the acute state you are in. Remember , look upon symptoms as the expression of the healing process, an indication that the body is trying to rectify things and bring about equilibrium.

Pulsatilla – A Potted version

People who need this remedy are very emotional, will cry very easily. They often feel rejected and feel that no one cares about them.

They will therefore do anything to gain attention even to the point of being manipulative.

 They love cuddles as this takes away the feeling of being forsaken. Pulsatilla types love fresh air, they will soon over heat in a warm room and like to have the windows open.They don’t drink enough liquids, just don’t feel thirsty. Can be irritable if their needs are not met, demand attention. Affectionate, mild, yielding, cheerful disposition. Arthritic remedy, the pain can be in many places. Fears the dark, being alone. Can be very jealous and suspicious.Love sympathy and attention

.

integrating conventional and complementory medicine to treat children

watch this video from ‘savvy mums’ on you tube

What a patient of ours has to say

As a practicing mental health nurse I understand how important it is for holistic assessment and treatment for the wellbeing of the individual. I have found homeopathy at the Yorkshire Centre of Classical Homoeopathy very useful for myself and my family either alongside or as an alternative to conventional treatment. We have all experienced excellent results with a whole range of conditions ie, Eczema, asthma, stress and stress-related symptoms. As well as recurring infections that may flare up from time to time. What I like about homeopathy is the gentle effect it has on the body which seems a more natural method of healing and that general overall good health is achieved from just one remedy selected for the individual.  I also feel happy with the fact that it is one of the few complementary therapies endorsed by the NHS.  There is a homeopathic Hospital in Mossley Hill, Liverpool (my native town) which regularly receives GP referrals.

Jackie Haw-wells

Community Mental Health Nurse

Bingley, West Yorkshire.

Homoeopathy treats Autism

Do you have an Autistic Child?

If so we urge you to watch this short clip from ‘saving a lost generation’ showing how homoeopathy is really making a substantial difference to the lives of these children … and their parents.

Here at the YCCH we specialise in treating children with Autism, Aspergers, ADHD and behavoural problems, please contact us.

Multiple Sclerosis and Homoeopathy

The following testimonial is Multiple Sclerosis sufferer Khan Johnson’s story of how conventional treatment failed and Homoeopathy is succeeding in helping him return to a ‘normal’ life.

Claire Williams is a final year student of the Yorkshire Centre of Classical Homoeopathy, in Bingley, West Yorkshire. Tel: 01274 519800 Web: www.ycch.co.uk email: info@ycch.co.uk

Claire is treating Khan under supervision and guidance from an experienced homoeopath through the Centre’s Student Clinic. Please note that Khan’s treatment is still continuing but this kind of positive reaction to homoeopathic treatment is commonplace in our daily practice, not only for Multiple Sclerosis sufferers but for people with all manner of serious illness.

If you want to discuss your own health issues with us after reading Khan’s story, please contact Monica or Anthony Robinson at the Yorkshire Centre of Classical Homoeopathy.

I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Dylan Moran’s fault, but my most recent MS episode will be forever linked to him.

October 2008, a Sunday evening, and I’m dashing out of the office to go and enjoy an evening of Mr. Moran’s take on life. Then back to the office to write the review and then home.

As I headed out of the office for the second time, I noticed that my foot seemed to be wet. Still, no matter, I can sort that at home.

Only at home, it becomes clear my foot is dry. Clearly something is amiss again with my neuro system – a fact which becomes more apparent the following morning when the funny sensation in the sole of my foot was now the funny sensation in the lower half of my leg.

In the space of a couple of days, this became the funny sensation in the lower-half of my body, and a trip to the doctors was in order – not least, because I had managed to pull all the cartilage and tendons in my left knee, and the added strain on my right one was starting to tell.

A lovely chat with an overly-officious stand-in GP (“I have to do this as part of my training. I want to be an anesthetist”) concluded that I was probably having an episode (my suggestion, she agreed) and that I had probably damaged my knee due to walking more through muscle memory than controlled ability (again, my suggestion to which she happily agreed). And no, they couldn’t sort me out with a walking stick.

The one thing she could do for me was get me in quick-smart at the Neurology department at Pinderfields Hospital (a place I know pretty well by now). So, having limped in, I was allowed to limp out and drive my manual car to the hospital. I really hope she qualifies and doesn’t end up working in a local surgery somewhere…

Pinderfields also agreed with my diagnosis – I was indeed enjoying the fruits of my third recorded episode. Steroids were, therefore, the order of the day. Now, in an ideal world, this would have been three sessions with an IV drip and I’d be dancing again by the weekend. Only, wouldn’t you know it, they were having the ward decorated. So no bed to lie on for an hour. And using the same office I was examined in was out (a privacy issue apparently. Sure I can hobble about in my boxers, but sit fully clothed? Unthinkable).

So, the only solution was a course of steroid tablets. Which I collected in two visits, owing to

So the run-up to Christmas 08 is enjoyed with drugs, knackered knees and a nervous system totally out of whack. Still, once the steroids build up in my system I’ll be right as rain. Dancing the light fantastic, no doubt. Man-made drugs are just the best…

Which is why the following July I find myself having a consultation with Claire, a trainee homeopath and old mutual acquaintance whom I’d been put in touch with thanks to the wonders of Facebook.

Together with her supervisor, Monica Robinson an experienced homoeopath who is also the Principal of the Yorkshire Centre of Classical Homoeopathy in Bingley where Claire does her training we begin the consultation. The initial hour is spent trying to get a handle on my physical and mental states, which probably goes some way to explaining why I was there for two-and-a-half. Can’t remember the last time I managed to chat with my GP for more than double my allotted time.

The time flies by, and I am waved on my way with promises that the treatment, once arrived at, will be with me shortly.

A week later, I am told that the remedy Tarentula Hispanica will be the order of the day, and tablets will be with me shortly.

So, to recap so far. NHS = much sodding about to no avail. Homeopathy = treatment on the way after single consultation. Nature’s winning so far!

What happens next, I still can’t quite believe.

August 19^th, I take my tablets. All three of them in an ascending dose, and that’s it. No side effects (which is good news for Mrs. J, who is no fan of a steroid-fuelled husband), no aftertaste (don’t know what is actually in steroids, but it tastes like metal) and no need to have needles stuck in my arm (something I have become quite bored of, I have to say).

And a week to the day, there is a clear improvement.

Now, it may have come on gradually and I just didn’t notice, but what I do know for certain is that seven days after taking the Tarentula tablets, the feeling is back in my right foot. Not 100%, sure, but at least 90. I know all my toes are there, and the sole of my foot is back in the real world.

Over the next few days, like a receding tide, the feeling returns up my right leg, across my waist and down to my left foot where all this began.

Now, it’s pretty hard to pinpoint day-by-day the return of feeling. It being a gradual thing, it takes -landmark moments – such as realizing you can now feel the pain in your knee, where once it was just a numb pulling – that you notice that your nervous system is again carrying the signals it is meant to.

It was about another week before I realized my left foot had joined the party and I was again feeling “normal” (this being a relative term for an MS sufferer).

I also realized I was a lot calmer, mentally. The brain had stopped racing at 90 miles an hour, and the need for constant loud music just to get through a day had been abated. Something steroids had never achieved.

And so the rest of the year has actually been quite enjoyable. Sure, there’s been the odd day where walking has been, at best, interesting, but that’s due to muscular pain in my knee joints and nothing to do with my nervous system. And I know that when I get round to it, Claire will help me deal with that too.

As for my feet and legs, all I’ve been left with is a faint residual tingling sensation in the sole of my left foot. Which given that, at one stage, I couldn’t even tell if it was me actually peeing (the only clue I had was the fact I was the only person in the bathroom) that’s one hell of a leap. Literally and figuratively.

But the big thing for me is the no side-effects. Steroids, as I mentioned, tend to leave a nasty taste in the mouth and alter your personality. They’ve also now decided they can affect bone density, making you more prone to breaks etc. Something of a negative at the best of times, doubly so if you have a propensity to fall over.

I’ll be honest, despite using homeopathy for the simple things in life such as a cold, I’d never considered it for something major like MS.

Now I’m not sure I’d consider anything else.

Kahn Johnson

December 09