Vipera berus

A case of breast cancer By Maria Davits
I want to present this case to evaluate my evolution as a homeopath and to philosophize about what would have happened if I had given the last remedy the first time. Lady born 7-6-30.
The first consultation was on 26-1-1989.
Her main complaints were flushes of heat with a
lot of perspiration, especially at night and irregular nausea, that had nothing to do with eating. Eating doesn’t help. Her last menses was one year ago. She always had terrible pains in the abdomen and the back during menses, like labour pain contractions. The parturition of her three children gave no problems. Breast-feeding also no problems. From 1970 till 1978 she took birth control pills. In November 1985 she had a cyst in her right mamma and two small myoma’s in the uterus. Pain in back, extending to left leg. Stiff muscles and pain in cervical region, draft aggravates. Warm bathing or sitting in the sun helps for this. She is very energetic, likes to be busy and is very loquacious. She can be very furious, especially with her husband. He is very depending on her, is like a child and likes to cuddle, but she doesn’t like that. She doesn’t sleep with him any more. She sleeps very badly, wakes up at , 3 and 5 o’clock. She is very caring, when neighbours are sick she brings them food and does the shopping for them. I gave her Lachesis MK, because of the flushes, myoma’s, loquacity and because she couldn’t stand tight clothes.
After one month she came back. Nothing had changed; she had more pain in her cervical region. The flushes were the same and she was still nauseated and sleeping badly. She complained of pain on top of her head as if she was beaten. I asked about her food desires and aversions (the first consultation she was too loquacious to interrupt her). She likes chocolate and fruits very much. She doesn’t like milk. I was thinking of Cimicifuga, but I gave her Viburnum 200K, because of the labour like pains she had during her menses, which extended from her back to the abdomen. From that time on al her complaints slowly became better. Sometimes the nausea came back, sometimes the sleeping problems or the pain in her head. I repeated Viburnum MK during 989 till 99, 0 times when she came or telephoned me. 20-6-1999 Viburnum did not help her any more. She sleeps badly, wakes up at 2, 4 and 6 o’clock, also with flushes of heat. She has sciatica in her left leg, moving around feels better, sitting long aggravates. The pain on top of her head was also back again. She talks a lot but doesn’t say much. Because I thought of Ammonium muriaticum I asked her about her relationship with her mother. The only thing she said was that there was not much contact, because the mother was always busy with herself. I considered Colocynthis, because of the irritation with her husband. But I gave her Cimicifuga because of the rest of her complaints: pain on top of her head, flushes, and loquacity. Everything went better and I repeated Cimicifuga twice.The suffering goes onOn 2-0-‘9 she came again. She had stitching pain in her left upper leg. She wakes between 1 and 3 in the night. Sensitive for cold and drafts. She says that she is very impatient especially with her husband, but she feels obliged to stay with him. She is like a mother for him. She has to organize everything. Her husband cannot be alone. I gave her Kalium carbonicum MK (now I would have given Kalium sulphuricum or may be Kalium bromatum). This I repeated two times.
On 30-3-1992 she comes again, has pain in her right upper arm, but it had started in her left upper arm. Wakes up from the pain and is nauseated from the pain.
She also has flushes and pain in head, cold hands and cold feet. She has the feeling that her head is full of blood. I gave her Sanguinaria MK, because of the flushes, head full with blood, caring disposition. She feels much better after that, but 2 months later she is diagnosed with Paget’s disease of her left mamma. Breast amputation follows. After that radiation. The flushes are still there, but she says that she feels quieter. After that I see her from time to time with more or less the same complaints. I gave her Kalium sulphuricum, Ferrum sulph. and Magnesium sulph., because of the problems with her husband. She had feelings of duty (Kali) towards him, was fighting (Ferr) and angry (Mag). I also once tried Coffea because all these remedies did not affect the sleeping problems at all. She developed swelling of her left arm after the operation, due to damming up lymph. So she needed lymph drainage regularly. She feels psychologically much better and at the end of 1996 she is very happy because her husband has met a girlfriend and she is going to live separately from him. During 998 and 999 she calls from time to time for Viburnum. She uses these as sleeping pills she says. She is very happy that she lives alone now.
On 6-1-2000 she comes again. Flushes, sleeping badly, all the same stuff. Then she says when she was almost leaving "A few weeks ago I took antibiotics because I had an inflammation of my left arm". That was the arm that was still very swollen after the operation. During the inflammation the pain was worse letting the arm hang down. Then I got the feeling that the whole case was Vipera from the beginning. I gave Vipera MK just one time. All her complaints went away and her arm came back to normal. I called her in August and she said that she has the feeling she doesn’t need anything any- more, everything is fine. Her sleep is good, she has no flushes and the most surprising: her arm is as before the operation. All is going very well with her now.
Discussion
This woman got many different remedies. Some didn’t do anything, but a few had positive results, at least according to her. But she developed breast cancer. So we are inclined to think of a suppres- sion. But she also felt much better psychologically. She divorced her husband, which was a big relief for her. So it could very well be that some of those remedies were really good ones, like Viburnum, Cimicifuga, Kalium sulphuricum et cetera. They may have helped her to let go of her husband.
But the Vipera is doing something more profound for her. Only one dose gave her a tremendous amelioration. So the question is: what would have happened if she would have received Vipera from the beginning? Maybe she wouldn’t have developed the breast cancer at all. A sign for that can be that the Vipera cured the swelling of her arm. It’s also peculiar that I gave her Lachesis, another snake remedy, as the first remedy, which may indicate that a first remedy is often a good one. In this case a more European snake like Vipera would have been worth while considering.
Maria Davits