3.1.5 Natrium arsenicosum, Case 1A 43 year old woman comes suffering from migraines, which started when she was still at primary school. The pain starts in her neck and comes up over the back of the head to behind her left or right eye. The feeling is as if she has a tight band around her hand, > band-like pressure, > cold, while the rest of her body wants heat. She feels cold and her feet are cold too. The pains are < noise (3), < light, < sun (3). It affects her eyesight and her ears start to buzz. She feels as if her head will burst and it frightens her.
The complaints started when her parents were quarrelling a lot. This frightened her. She did not show that she was afraid because she wanted to keep up a brave face in front of her two younger sisters. She always tried to mediate between her parents and would go from one to the other to try and soothe the fights. When she was 12 her parents got divorced and this was a relief to her. But afterwards her mother proved to be very unstable emotionally, and she even had to stop her mother from committing suicide one day. She used to feel restless when she was at school, because she was always wondering ‘what her mother was up to ’.
She is tall and slim with a very refined, aristocratic sort of look. She is friendly but rather reserved. She likes to keep an eye on everything, wants to keep things under control and know what is going on. She is very conscientious and precise. When she has planned something it has to happen. Even when she is in pain she will carry on and suppress the headaches with painkillers.
Dreams: She dreams that she is walking on the beach carrying a child in her arms, but when she turns round there is suddenly water everywhere and she gets very frightened.
Work: she used to be a dental nurse.
Weather: coldish, < cold, < heat, very tired < sun.
Desires: bitter (2), chicory, sweet.
Aversion: fat (2), meat.
AnalysisThe most important part of this case is the story of her childhood. She always had to be on her guard in case her mother tried to commit suicide, she had to check constantly that her mother was all right. Homoeopathically translated this means she always had to make contact (
Natrium) to avoid her mother from terminating (
Arsenicum) her life.
There are other ways of translating this situation but her presenting symptoms fit the above mentioned combination of elements.
Arsenicum symptoms: refined, tall, aristocratic, controlling everything, conscientious, precise, cold, < cold, -> sweet, <- fat and meat.
Natrium symptoms: reserved, sensation as of a band, > pressure, < heat, very tired, < sun, -> bitter.
ReactionFollowing a dose of
Natrium arsenicosum the migraine disappeared completely after an initial aggravation. Afterwards she had some hayfever-like symptoms for a while. Another dose of the remedy removed these symptoms. She doesn’t feel she has to have everything under control anymore and she can leave events to take their natural course.