5.15 Antimonium, Case 1A 55 year old man suffers from bronchial asthma. He wakes up at 5 or 6 in the morning very short of breath. He also gets bronchitis several times a year. This often starts after a cold which he catches from others or when the weather turns cold. He has been taking antibiotics as a precaution every winter for years. Change of weather makes him feel worse and smoking makes his cough more productive.
He suffers from frequent headaches, pulsating in the temples, radiating to left shoulder and right hand, < being busy with visitors, < irritability, < looking towards the left, > pressure, > relaxation. He usually takes a nap in the afternoon, otherwise he is exhausted by 10 pm. He often feels quite anxious and hurried: he finds it impossible to wait patiently in a queue. He used to be a teacher, but he lost his job because he couldn’t function well within the school. He had problems with his colleagues who wanted him to adapt to their old system of teaching with a blackboard. He preferred to work with video’s etc., which his pupils loved and which got them very good marks. Another thing that irritated him was that nobody had taken his illness into account when they made up the teaching timetable. He often gets depressed, and doesn’t know how to enjoy life. He only feels happy when he listens to music, especially Mozart’s piano concertos. He also loves opera’s and singing, which is his greatest hobby. He always sings solos, and hates to sing in a choir. When he was little he sang in the church and he wasn’t allowed to play football from September onwards in case he got a cold and couldn’t sing his solo in the Christmas Eve service. He had wanted to become a professional singer, but he parents wouldn’t let him. From that moment onwards he lost interest. He felt he would never have got asthma if he had been allowed to sing. As a child he used to be quite sickly and puny because of his bronchitis and the whole family took the mickey out of him. They always spent their evenings at home competing with each other over who was the cleverest and who could convince the others of his superiority. This has made him hate any form of discussion or mind games. He is always the loser.
GeneralsWeather: < changes of weather (2), < cold, < damp, > sea.
Perspiration: easy, < night; on chest, stomach and feet.
Desires: meat, cheese, sour, salt.
Aversion: fish (2), starch.
Food: onions, sauerkraut, stone fruits.
Sleep: difficulty getting asleep; on the right side.
AnalysisThe most striking thing he said was that he would never have got asthma if he had been allowed to sing. It had made him lose out (
Stage 15) on his career as a singer (
Silver series) and this brings us to
Antimonium. He always loses (
Stage 15) when they play mind games (
Silver series).
The bronchial asthma is a confirming symptom for
Antimonium, and there is no reason to look for one of the
Antimonium combinations.
Other
Antimonium symptoms: stubborn and contrary, < 5 am and 11 pm, left sided, < anger, < change of weather, -> sour, < stone fruit.
ReactionAfter
Antimonium 1M his complaints gradually become less severe and his lung capacity increases. He feels a whole lot better in general. Eighteen months later he still seems to be doing very well.