Sulphuricum acidum Case
A man, aged 70, comes with the complaint of painless haematoma on the outside of his wrists. There is no real clear cause and they usually disappear after 3 days. As a child he often used to have nose bleeds < at the seaside.
General characteristics:
Temperature: he hates the cold, but cannot tolerate heat very well.
he hates storm and wind, and therefore the seaside.
Perspiration: easy, < heat and exertion.
Desires: sweet (3), fat, spices, milk.
Aversion: skins on milk and porridge (3), sour, unseasoned food.
Sleep: he has to get up frequently to urinate.
he sleeps on his back with his head resting on his hands.
Mind: he is an optimistic, hard-working person. His attitude is: if you have a problem you find an answer and then the matter is solved and finished. He retired 4 years ago, but has since started his own marketing advice bureau. He likes to work. His manner is easy and open, but he speaks more in rational than in emotional terms. He has a great desire for freedom. He often changed his job in the past because he got bored with it. He is rather dominating, he knows what he wants.
Marriage: his marriage is not so good. His wife drinks a lot. This is partly because he used to be away a lot, while she had to stay and look after the children. He feels responsible for this and is always trying to look for solutions for her. When she drinks she sometimes gets aggressive. He usually lets her be, but she would rather that he stood up to her. He feels that he is too rational in the way he behaves, but he does not know how to handle her strong emotions. Their sexual contact is very mediocre, her desire is very low and he suffers from impotency at times. He feels very sorry about their relationship. He tried everything he could to make a go of it again, but nothing worked. Now he just lets it be.
Analysis
This patient had been to me before with other complaints. But the haematoma had remained unchanged after the previous prescription.
The problem in this case is the marriage. He felt that he had done everything possible to improve the relationship. The group analysis gives a similar type of situation for Sul-ac. The central theme is a relationship that has been exhausted. The bleeding tendency also fits Sul-ac.
Reaction
After Sul-ac the haematoma gradually disappeared over the next two months. An old complaint of dizziness came back temporarily. He had had this 5 years ago, after he had fallen down one night. It was a feeling of light-headedness with vertigo, < lying down, < sitting up and standing up, > sitting with his head down.
He also had a dream on the first night after Sulph-ac. He dreamt of a calm sea, with fish swimming around gently. The marriage had improved, there was more contact and understanding for each other. He himself also felt much quieter, not so much 'let’s get up and do something'.
The dream was an obvious sign of the healing action of the remedy, the sea being the symbol of the emotions and the subconscious. The strong emotions changed into calm waters. This was followed by an improvement on all levels: the physical complaints, the energy, the psyche and the environment.