Dirca palustris Case by Maarten van der Meer
A strong mother comes for consultation with her 2-year-old daughter, the oldest child, who has been sick seven times this winter. It always starts with a stuffy nose with lots of snot that is usually clear and sometimes yellow-green. This is followed by diarrhea, with spitting or coughing. There is never a fever. The sublingual glands are swollen. When she sleeps in the evening she wakes up after an hour, first starts babbling, then crying, but as soon as the mother goes there it becomes hysterical screaming. Normally, she is a feisty child can be very angry. Always quick to gag, daily she can drool a lot for hours for which she needs a bib. Known allergy to Amoxycicline, Zytromax goes well and has been given often. She usually has cold hands and feet. The pregnancy went normally, but the mother gained 20 pounds. Breast feeding was given until 6 months. The inguinal glands have been constantly swollen for months. She is a sweet little girl, who responds remarkably quickly and appropriately when the mother says something or lets something be heard to adjust her behavior or for correction. Although she crawls around my room very independently and out on adventures and seems well absorbed in her play, half a word or a sound from the mother is enough to make her react as if she is being called to order. No matter how small she is, her face seems to express “never mind” every time. After Staphisagria, she gets a day of high fever and has to gag a lot, then she is sick less often for a month, belly itching develops and she wakes up at 4 or 5, and she still has to drool a lot. She does get firmer and gains more weight. After 4 months I see her back with a respiratory infection, coughing and spitting up from the cough, and fever; she hasn't been this sick in ages.
AnalysisThe response to Staphisagria starts well, but she still remains sick regularly and new sleep problems develop which in itself is not remarkable at that age. After several months, however, there has been no improvement, the defenses and agitation have not improved. Since a good prescription usually does not require repetition, this is a reason to review the case. We look at the mood, the effortlessness in communication, the easy nonverbal communication, and the fact that the child however young still shows good readings about her feelings, gives a clue to consider a remedy of the
Malvales. She was always troubled by the mucous membranes, her compliant understanding, and her easygoing behavior, are clues to consider a medicine from the
Malvales group. In the “gagging cough” section of the repertorium,
Dirca palustris is listed.
Prescription:
Dirca palustris, MK.
Follow upShe was eating better immediately, on the day of intake. Since the fever subsided after one day, a nasal cold developed and she has been sleeping better since then. The stool only improved after two weeks. She is now cheerful, nice, and sweet, previously she was quickly out of temper. The skin of the abdomen is now clean, and the rashes and itching are gone. For the next two months, she has not been sick again, once a few days of sneezing was all. After another four months, she has not been sick again, but never sleeps through, stands upright in bed crying at least once every night to the despair of the parents, and is quickly comforted though. Between 22-24 pm, she sleeps but is very restless with turning and pounding. Otherwise, she is doing well, she is sociable and easygoing, and never sick again (Restless sleep evening: the repertoium mentions
Pinus sylvestris). Upon inquiry, the mother has an allergy to Pine trees when touched, this causes sneezing and red dots on the skin in the mother. The child is given
Pinus sylvestris C30. On this, she sleeps well until the last message 5months after Pinus. Remark: Plantfamilies 2009, the Thymelaceae family was incorperated with the Malvaceae family in the
Malvales.