Carbons

2.10 Carbons, Case 1A 50 year old woman has eruptions on face and neck. In the right side of her neck she has little lumps with desquamation of the skin. The skin near the corner of her eye is red, occasionally swollen, itching and the skin feels tight, as if it had been burnt. This extends to her nose and sometimes to her ears, aggravated by wearing earrings. The eruptions come and go. They start off as little lumps and the skin ends up feeling very rough. The sensation is hot, burning and itching. It is aggravated by sun and she is allergic to dust, cats and dogs (2). Not influenced by weather, seasons, food or flu inoculations. The eruptions started a few years ago when her mother went through terrible suffering and eventually died of cancer. Her mother had been the strong force in the family. After her mother died she cried in her sleep for quite a while.
She is a dance teacher in a school that is run by her brother and she loves her work: it means a lot to her. She is happily married and has two children. Her husband is happy for her to have a job. To her the family comes first and she loves her children: they often go on holiday together. She is lively and cheerful and likes having fun. She is always in a good mood, sees the good in other people and is never suspicious. On the rare occasion that she gets angry she gets very upset by her own outburst. The only time she cries is when she watches a sad film. She dreams about nice things, for instance about people who stay the night in a dance hall.
During the consultation she is very lively and she chats about herself in a relaxed manner. She wears lipstick and earrings and a bright red jersey with lots of glitter.
She is always busy, can’t sit still and likes to talk. She talks about whatever comes up in her mind, she doesn’t hold back, although she says she would avoid confrontations.
She suffers from constipation when she is on a journey.
As a child she had chronic ear infections in her right ear. Her hearing on this side is slightly diminished. When she was 18 she had a skin eruption covering her whole body for two years with an allergy to dust. At the age of 22 she got Pfeiffer disease, just after she got married. She used to suffer from hoarseness and frequent colds and she had an operation on her nose to straighten the septum.
She occasionally gets a bit wheezy with a lot of sneezing when there are cats around.
No trouble during pregnancies. She did not breast feed, because she did not have much milk and it was a bit inconvenient anyway because of her job.GeneralsWeather: -> sun, sunbathing; -> fresh air.
Perspiration: little.
Time: > evening.
Desires: sweet (2), chocolate (2), prawns (3).
Aversion: olives, ginger.
Menses: every 24 days, no pains.
Sleep: good, only needs 5 hours.AnalysisMy prescription was mainly based on her appearance. She is a straight-forward kind of person, no real problems at home or at work. You could say she is who she is and she takes things as they come. No great worries about the past, or about herself and she doesn’t particularly have to prove herself either. This is typical of Graphites. The fact that the skin complaints started after the death of her mother, who had been the driving force in the family, also points to the carbon series. She was left without support and had to manage for herself.
Other Graphites symptoms: eczema, roughness of the skin, desquamation, right sidedness, ear infection, constipation, < travelling, crying on seeing a sad film, talking during sleep, liveliness.
This is an example of a strong Graphites, although the unstable type is more commonly met in our practice.ReactionAfter Graphites 1M the eczema became much worse for two days. It kept her awake for two nights, after which it gradually disappeared. She feels fine, as she already did before she came to see me.CaseA 30 year old woman is extremely unstable (Stage 10). She can’t get a grip on what she is doing, she is always worrying and analysing. She has a problem with her ex husband because he comes and goes to pick up their son without taking her wishes into consideration. She finds it difficult to stick to what she wants and always gives way to his arguments. She cries continuously (Graphites) during the consultation and she feels like a little child (Carbon series). After taking Graphites she feels much stronger. She is able to stand up for herself and insists on definite and concrete arrangements around the boy’s visits to his father.