Dirca palustris

655.26.13 Dirca palustris, CaseWoman, 40, fibromyalgia.
She has pains in her leg and hand, mostly on the right side. They feel weak and have dragging pain. She also has headaches which lead to exhaustion, with loss of half of her visual field. She has pain in her left abdomen which is twisting and turning, or cramping. She has athlete’s foot. She is easily exhausted, even from walking 15 minutes, then she has to rest for 15 minutes. Her teeth are sensitive. She has recurrent cystitis, with urging when she suddenly thinks of urination. She has restless legs, worse from sitting down. Her muscles feel tight, worse in the morning on rising, better from walking for a time. It is a wringing feeling, as if squeezed, tight, as if the blood cannot go through. In the morning her hands feel stiff, cold and weak, they feel restless.
Her concentration is poor, she can think only with difficulty, so much so that she cannot carry out any basic job.
She has low self esteem. This has to do with her education, where she was told that people from a lower class never could rise to a higher class. Her mother was very strict, both mentally and emotionally. She did not show any love, she was cold and did not want to be kissed, which still is the case. Her father was also very strict and abusive but more physically so. He only knew he could control his children by beating them physically. He took them over his knee and beat them with a stick on their naked buttocks. He still thinks he did right saying that children had to be kept under control. Her youth was painful and cold. It was a waste of life, conforming and doing what she was told. She felt pushed down in her neck, put down. She should have been alive, full of bubbles. But now there is only anger inside. Even now her parents do not show affection to her and her health, they feel it’s not their responsibility anyhow. It’s strange for her to see that her parents are excellent grandparents to her children. They also love her husband. It seems that they love everyone except their own children.
She had a relationship for a few years but that did not work out well. She was sexually abused and felt trapped. After that she had another relationship and had a few wonderful years in the beginning. Then she married and felt trapped again, trapped by the responsibilities, which became worse when she had her children. She has two boys and they are beautiful children. She loves them very much but it also feels a pressure of responsibilities. She feels frustrated being trapped. Also with her physical complaints she feels trapped in her body again. It is pulling her back, the weakness, the dragging pain in her leg. She longs to be free, being alone in a hotel room makes her feel better. She loves her husband but he is also emotionally shut down. As a child he was also physically abused and had a very strict upbringing. She feels she cannot get an emotional connection with him because he cannot talk. She has a fear of hurting her husband because complaining upsets him. She feels unloved, although it’s getting better and better lately.
She has no hobbies, she is not passionate about anything. She tried things like knitting but got bored easily. She worked as a nurse but it was very stressful so she stopped. Then she learnt beauty therapy and later on Aromatherapy. That is the thing she likes to do. Meditation helps her to keep her focus, to switch off her mind. She feels better expressing her emotions. In her youth she learned never to be weak. She only started to cry after she started in psychotherapy but then she cried for two years.
When asked what were the worst things in her life she mentions three things. The first was that she was hit by a ball as a child and was not allowed to cry. The second is the sexual abuse and rape, the shame and blaming herself. The third is that her husband has no feelings for her after 10 years of marriage.
Dream: she is lying down and has a severe pressure on her chest and sternum, she cannot move, she is screaming but cannot get out of the dream.
Dream: examinations with the fear of failing.
She likes plants very much, all of them, the beautiful colours, lilac. She loves animals, the life in them, dogs.Weather: < wet, > warm weather, > Italy, > mountains and hills.
Desire: sugar salty after sweets.
Female: menses too late.
Sleep: generally very good.AnalysisHer sensation is typical: twisting, wringing, squeezing and tight. This is the sensation of the Thymelaeaceae. It is the sensation of turning in two opposite directions.
Then we see the other aspects of the Thymelaeaceae, the oxygen aspect of being neglected by her parents. The Sulphur aspect of feeling unloved, having a bad marriage and having had being abused in a former relationship. We also see the Silver series quality of having a desire for alternative therapies, Aromatherapy and homeopathy.
Her marked anger indicates the stage from 12 till 15. The fact that she has a pronounced anger but keeps it in is an indication for stage 13. Together this leads to Dirca palustris.
Follow upOne months after Dirca palustris MK her energy has gone up a great deal. Her mood is still alternating but she feels more at peace. Her headache is gone. The twisting pains are only there once in a while. Her muscles feel less tight. Her menses became more regular, instead of being too late. She got a return of an old sinusitis with a feeling of her left ear being full, blocked. She has the feeling that she is coming out of something. She felt in the past of she was in a rut, being held back. Now she is surely coming out.