CASE 2.5: Asparagus
When food plants become remedies
A woman, born in 1962, whom I had treated in 1990 for migraine which was cured with Calcarea carbonica and then Berberis, came back in 1994. She was in the 31st week of her third pregnancy. During her previous pregnancies, she had a tendency for water retention, esp. in her legs and fingers.
Now she noticed the beginning of oedematous swelling in her fingers again.
She also suffered from circulation problems, low blood pressure, flickering vision in the morning, sometimes with prickling and numbness in her fingers and face.
But most disturbing were the cramps in her calves during sleep and on waking, esp. when stretching her legs (from right to left). The cramps were so painful that she shrieked on waking, as if someone was cutting into her legs. Frequent urination ameliorated and the urine smelt 'bad'. During heat she felt an oppression of the chest.
Except for these complaints, she felt quite happy. First she had been a bit shocked to be pregnant again, her sons being six and eight already. She was looking forward to having a bit more freedom to accompany her husband on his official trips. Her dreams represented this situation: concern over her timetable, being stressed about managing everything concerning her sons during her delivery and afterwards. Also dreams of being betrayed by her husband with feelings of being hurt, of anger and revenge. It was very important for her to be able to trust her husband and to rely on him.
In the repertory I found Asparagus as the only remedy cramps, leg calf; stretching, on waking, when.
In Clarke's Materia Medica: Severe drawing pains in the calf of the right leg, in the morning, on waking and on extending the limb, cramp in both calves. In T.F. Allen's Encyclopaedia: On awaking, as he stretched himself, there was a cramp-like pain in the calf of the left leg, which compelled him to cry out,É
So I asked her, just for the fun of it, 'What about asparagus? Do you like it?' Her answer: 'Oh yeah, I love it. Just this morning I prepared some tins of asparagus to cook for lunch!' As I have learned to take these hints as a little gift I probed into the materia medica of this to me pretty unknown remedy and found: It is a remedy for dropsy, for diabetes, (her father had suffered from diabetes mellitus). There are many symptoms concerning the urinary organs. (The patient also had a history of frequent cystitis.) The urine smells peculiar, as we all know, after having eaten a meal of asparagus.
Clarke mentions an increase of heat and an oppression of the chest, also a feeble, accelerated pulse, which usually occurs when the blood pressure goes down. (The patient had low blood pressure.)
There were not many and not very characteristic mind symptoms in the
Materia Medica of this remedy. We do not know much of the central state which is caused by Asparagus.
Anyway, I decided to try Asparagus in a low potency. The cramps in her calves were aggravated for some days, then they stopped completely. Emotionally, she was much better during this pregnancy than during the previous ones. There were no swellings of the fingers and legs and no circulation problems or feeling of numbness anymore.
In February 1995, she gave birth to a healthy girl who had a great desire to be carried, which is one of the rare known mind symptoms of Asparagus.