THE IMPORTANCE OF A CHRONIC INITIAL CONSTITUTIONAL HOMEOPATHIC TREATMENT INSTEAD OF A SYMPTOMATIC INTAKE.
Why do most good homeopaths always insist on a full homeopathic intake, where they ask you a whole bunch of questions not even related to the reason you sought help? (or so you think😉)
No wonder it is expensive and time consuming! (Why can’t they refine their skills like a medical professional who can have you in and out of their consulting room within 15 minutes?) Maybe I am being a little facetious in my reply, but I am wanting to highlight the fact that there is good reason we take our time and do a complete job.
I always answer that question with another question. Would you marry a person after ‘hanging out and getting to know them for 15 minutes? True health is more than just the absence of disease in the physical body and a lack of symptoms does not necessarily mean cure either. To help a patient to become healthy you need to know what is occurring in at least the physical, emotional and mental sphere. This is how you can address the chronic aspects of disease and return the patient to health. This cannot be achieved in a 15 min consultation.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with Symptomatic homeopathic prescribing according to symptoms – it is good and nontoxic and admittedly there are no side effects, but does it palliate or cure. Most times it removes the bothersome symptoms, but the condition often returns if the remedy is stopped. That is the reason why homeopaths recommend constitutional treatment.
Constitutional prescribing is approached through a thorough case history and understanding of homeopathic therapeutics to prescribe the perfect prescription which will allow the body’s reticuloendothelial system and immune system to be stimulated and have enough energy to throw off the illness. Homeopaths explore aspects of emotional health, your fears and worries, traumas that may still be affecting you, dreams and nightmares. Obviously physical aspects are also important incl. past medical history and surgeries, medication and modalities. Homeopaths collate all this information which helps them to decide what makes the patient function the way he does with all his nuances and peculiarities. Constitutional treatment helps the homeopath to get a firm grip on the essence of the case, which allows for faster healing and cure as opposed to just symptomatic prescribing.
Let’s look at a short example to illustrate.
Prescription Case Report
- 35 year old female
- MAIN COMPLAINT: History of breast lumps and anxiety
- CURRENT COMPLAINT: Pain in right breast and recurrent reflux(Heartburn) aggravated by alcohol causing a hoarse voice and itching ears.
- Very irritable and aggravated by sugar
- She is always in a hurry and has a constant fear of cancer.
Symptomatic remedy prescription for the main complaint (HEARTBURN) may include remedies like:
- Nux vom- irritability heart burn aggravated by alcohol
- Zincum met- nervousness restless < wine
- Arg nit- nervous, always in hurry, anxiety< sweets
We can assume that the above remedies would have offered relief to a fair degree, but the propensity for the heartburn to return would be good and healing to cure would not be achieved with this prescription or treatment approach. The reason for this is that the essence of the case is not found in the patient’s gastrointestinal system, but the emotions that have been plaguing her for years. They have led to the development of this emotional mindset and haughty mentality as a shield and protection against what she has experienced. (see chronic intake)
CHRONIC INTAKE (CONSTITUTIONAL PRESCRIBING APPROACH.) Taking the trouble and time to do a full intake which can take around 60-70 minutes, gives a complete idea of what is occurring with the whole person, not only in the gastrointestinal tract which is the reason for her visit. (heartburn).
Through extensive questioning, I found out she is very haughty, thinks she is really important and better than others, she loves the sun and the sea. She revealed that she was plagued by her past sins and had secrets that she was hiding as she was scared to confront the issue. She also was aware she had to confront it otherwise she would always be ill emotionally.
CLINICALLY, I determined she has a leaky gut that is aggravated by the alcohol and gluten in bread. I recommended an elimination diet from gluten and alcohol for 30 days while on treatment.
The centre of gravity of the patient is on the emotional level, with the specific causation. Based on this revealing cause she was prescribed her constitutional remedy, Platina metalicum 200, taken daily and Miasmic remedy, Meddorhinum 200, weekly and to return in 4-6 weeks.
Now, neither of the 2 above remedies have specific symptoms of heartburn directly, but once the causation of illness is addressed, the defence mechanism will move the vital energy away from the emotional body and address the gastrointestinal reflux and leaky gut.
Results and feedback after the weekend: She reported that the pain and swelling in the right breast had already disappeared. We await further feedback after 2 months.
Assessment of the Case
She has had anxiety for close to 20 years on and off, that was never addressed sufficiently and it affected her emotions and way of interacting with her family, relationships, self-confidence etc.
The causative factor of disease was in the emotional body. The trauma she experienced and is not able to forget, has become an obstacle to cure. The body has then tried to express it physically via inflammation and the resultant leaky gut manifested as heartburn. Did you know that from the point of view of body manifestations, the abdomen houses / is linked to your emotional body in the physical? Think of butterflies in your ‘tummy’ or irritable bowel syndrome. These occur when you get emotional and are unable to express the emotion. The body takes over and manifests the stress physically in the form of a gastrointestinal tract complaint. Another way to explain this, is through the gut brain axis model of disease. (The brain communicates to the gut its emotional stresses/worries, which are manifested in this case via symptoms of heartburn)
The Meddorhinum clears away the miasmic weaknesses of the case allowing the defence mechanism and immune system to normalize and repair the physical symptoms of leaky gut, hence there is no more heart burn.
Without the chronic constitutional prescribing, it would not be possible to get to the essence of the case and get a cure, all the improvement that would occur would be alleviation of heartburn, only to return when the stress factor rears its head again.
Whenever you have a GIT (gastrointestinal tract) problem , it can be an emotional elimination into the physical body. Another way of describing this is, if your body is a pressure cooker and the steam builds up (say an emotional stress), the pressure cooker releases steam via a valve – the body releases emotional stress via the abdomen as disease manifestations. (pain, IBS, bloating etc)
