Ammonium Carbonicum Case
A boy, aged 14, comes with his mother because he has problems concentrating at school. He gets distracted very easily, but he isn’t very interested either. As long as his work is up to the pass mark he is content.
His stomach is over-sensitive, especially to stale food, which makes him sick.
Chinese food gives him diarrhoea.
Past history: He has had pseudo-croup for years.
Periodic spells of vomiting in the autumn. These attacks are usually very violent: he often screams while he vomits the whole contents of his stomach all at once. These attacks happen around 3 h.
General characteristics:
Temperature: normal.
Desires: sweet (3), eggs (3), milk, spinach.
Aversion: chicory (3), cumin.
Sleep: on his right side. Once a month he wakes at 3 h.
Mind: He has come for a consultation, but I feel that is only because he had to.
He looks rather surly and he only grudgingly gives a minimum amount of information. He does not get on very well with his parents, especially his step-father. He says that he can’t have a decent conversation with his step-father, because he is afraid of being smacked or punished, for instance by not being allowed to watch television. He thinks his parents are 'dim-wits', he feels like smashing the place to pieces sometimes.
His parents got divorced two years ago and he has found this very hard to deal with.
His hobbies are watching t.v., computers, skateboarding, having fun with friends. He bites his nails, worse when he is studying and while watching television.
Analysis
The way he reacts to his step-father is typical of Am-c. A description of this rather typical behaviour cannot be found in the literature, but it is evident from the group analysis, and has proved to be correct in my experience. Besides this there are some other confirming symptoms for Am-c, such as aversion to answer questions, < 3 h., stomach complaints, desire for sweets.
Reaction
Am-c 1 M brought about an aggravation for two weeks. During this time the atmosphere at home was terrible, he was continually picking fights with his stepfather. He also had a very bad day at school with his teachers. After that everything went better. He started to enjoy his studies and his concentration improved. The situation at home became easier and, after a temporary aggravation, he stopped biting his nails. One month later the stomach complaints were gone.