Jasminum officinalisA 60-year-old woman, she is lightly built, her posture is somewhat stooped, and her eyes are intense and troubled. She comes across as analytical, and concrete, she keeps asking questions, wants to understand what and why she is being asked during the consultation, and seeks a diagnosis herself. She often reads from a diary and takes notes in it during a consultation. She comes in for acute polymyalgia rheumatica, the diagnosis is based on her blood count. She has been suffering from pain in her upper legs, arms, neck, and sometimes lower back for six months. She cannot put on her socks; she has to slide out of a chair. She cannot bend over normally. It gets a little better during the day. Running is painful. Her right upper arm is painful at night, lying on her arm hurts, and it wakes her up. Bumping into things is painful. Bowel movements are also more difficult. She has red eczema on the side of her right eye. As a child, she had psoriasis and often had small patches of eczema near her eye. It started last year with stiffness, she thought it was stress, and she usually has something. Emotionally, she says that they moved during that period, she lived so nicely and a different environment takes some getting used to. Letting go of the previous house, the move didn't interest me, her feeling is still ‘I'll pack everything up and leave again, never mind’. They moved because of the necessary informal care for her very difficult parents. Her hobbies are painting and sports: tennis, running, cycling. She is now more tired and less agile. She has to take everything into account, but with a lot of exercise, everything loosens up. She has constant muscle pain; stretching feels like pulling it apart, although she has a high pain threshold. She gets tired more easily but just keeps going; she feels the fatigue in her eyes. A lot of stiffness. She works as a sales representative and drives around the country a lot. She enjoys traveling, and all the different companies and environments are interesting. She had an enjoyable childhood in a safe environment on a farm. She didn't finish school, she found work boring and therefore attended night school. She thoroughly explores things she likes. She doesn't want to use prednisone, she's not keen on medication because of possible side effects. What are the alternatives? Sometimes paracetamol, which does provide some relief. Holidays: visiting cities, driving a lot, seeing a lot. The move: she didn't want to leave, you fight it, it's disappointing, the whole renovation, ‘it eats away at you’: it makes her more emotional, she is irritated with her partner, she is often angry or passive. She doesn't feel like making anything of it, so she doesn't build anything. She feels like she is visiting her own home. She is not enjoying herself at the moment. She was given several medications:
Antimonium muriaticum (stubbornness, restlessness, and bulging eyes),
Gallium metallicum (
Stage 13, muscles of
Series 4), Jacoranda caroba (giving up a lot, fatigue, and intestines of
Phase 6 and wanting more of
Phase 5), Centaurea cyanus (theme of pain, adapting) do little or worsen for a short time. After
Psychotria viridis C12, the eczema and intestines are better, and the pain is somewhat less, but after taking it, she experiences a worsening and after a few weeks, the pain increases again, and the eczema returns. In the weeks before the relapse, she was restless, her arms and legs bothered her more, she felt “restless in my body as if everything is going on,” and she woke up several times a night. During the day she is stiffer, at night she has restless legs. Complaints of medial knee pain.
AnalysisMuscular rheumatism is reminiscent of
Series 64, the
Ericidae, but that is not otherwise recognizable.
Series 5: Interest in other cultures, she finds the companies “interesting” in her work, and the main pain zone is the shoulder girdle: all arguments for the Silver
Series and
Malvales.
Series 6: Making her own choices, strong self-reflection,
Lamiidae: when thinking or reflecting she searches for words or ‘reads’ her thoughts diagonally upwards, I often see this ‘reading’ and then reflect on it internally in the
Lamiidae.
The situation of adapting, it is not finished yet, ‘will it work out’ fits with
Phase 3, but her assertiveness and certainty fit with
Phase 4, as does taking responsibility for care, although there is a downside to this for her. This components brings us to the Psychotrioidae.
Psychotria viridis comes fore within the
Lamiidae,
Stage 17 still reflects on the ‘loss’ (of the beautiful home, place of residence), on the ‘emotional loss’ of her parents (
Ammonium muriaticum even seemed an option).
Psychotria viridis provides relief, but only temporarily, and initially worsens the condition for weeks, which is already an indication that this is not a very good medicine.
Continue searching ‘nearby’ this plant, within the
Rubiales. Q-search was used with this approach.
Q-search: The search term ‘Restless’ within
Gold series and
Silver series and
Phase 4 gives Fraxiunus amaricana as a possibility, but
Stage 12 is not appropriate here. Q-search ‘stiff’ within
Gold series and
Silver series and
Phase 4 gives
Jasminum officinale placed at
Stage 7.
Stage 7 fits with searching, trying, and learning as a theme, here as a stressful factor, keep trying.
Subphase 6 fits with everything she has to give up, the nice place, the freedom, the enjoyment,
Phase 6 also fits with intestines and fatigue.
Prescription: Jasminum officinalis MK
Follow-upShe is improving rapidly, her legs and back are much better, although she still has some muscle pain and stiffness. Exercising is going surprisingly well again, she can drive long distances without having to crawl out of the car. She started sleeping well right away and is less restless. She is no longer bothered by the cold. Her right arm is still painful. The eczema gets worse after a few weeks, and she also develops some acne. She has stopped physical therapy and no longer needs painkillers. Her energy is good now, and she is doing all kinds of things again. There is still the pitfall, she is still stuck in the situation; “do I feel at home here,” but now she quickly puts it aside and doesn't think about it. Her enthusiasm for making the house more beautiful sometimes gives way to passivity. After three months, her energy levels drop, her arm remains very painful, she is still stiff and often lies awake from 4-6 a.m. She got
Forsythia europaea for these residual symptoms, after which she remains symptom-free for years.