Betula alba
Remedy code: 3-644.41.07
A 20-year-old boy, tall, extended in length, calm, and patient. He has suffered from severe headaches for many years, which kept him from attending school, resulting in significant academic delays. Eventually, years of osteopathy and special orthodontics brought some improvement. Now he has started studying but lost a year due to frequent illnesses and staying home. Last year, he had the flu again and tendinitis in the right Achilles tendon, causing him to miss exams. The complaint started without any apparent cause. Now, he becomes very sick with every virus or bacteria. He wants to do a lot but lacks the energy. Last year, he had to stop midway through the academic year because he fell too far behind; it was ‘forcing’. He took up a lot of sports and job hunting: that wasn’t what he wanted, but he wanted to stay active and prepare for studying. In the summer, he felt rested. He improved, but this year, with full days at the university, he got sick again immediately. It’s school, school, and more school; the days are incredibly long. When he has the flu, he often has a sore throat, a stuffy nose, and muscle pain everywhere, with mild fever: alternating between feeling cold and hot, lying flat for a whole week. Since he started this year, it hasn’t gone away for three months. He manages, but as the day progresses, he can’t keep up, and he loses energy. Sleep is good. His BMI is below standard; he doesn't gain weight despite eating well. Pimples on his forehead, and his tongue is slightly tremulous. Study choice: he excelled in this subject in high school, and he liked it, knowing right away ‘This is it’. Real tension he had last year only when he saw the results: ‘shit, now what’. Last month, his father collapsed and was diagnosed with a serious illness. Since then, his behavior has changed, becoming more explosive. As a child, he had allergies: he underwent immune therapy for house dust and grass for the past five years. Luffa provides short bursts of energy, but he continues to get the flu.
Analysis
Iron series: fatigue and symptoms seem dependent on physical energy. He is enthusiastic about things, thinks calmly, and makes plans. Remarkably calm. Balance. Iron series and Phase 4. Building his own life, focused on practical matters: work, money, and study. Fabales are known for issues or symptoms related to connective tissue; Achilles tendonitis can be seen as connective tissue inflammation, pointing to Iron series. Rash on the forehead refers to the small intestine, also fitting with Fabales. Infections and pain (Achilles tendon) fit with Asterales, but he does not exhibit the characteristic sensitivity or vulnerability in his demeanor, behavior, and nonverbal cues. Crucial here was his pragmatism and stable presence, which remained despite fatigue and exhaustion.
Phase 4: study choice: this is it, always knew, immediately convinced. Weakness is constant, and doesn’t go away. Father theme Fagales.
Phase 1: spontaneous choice. Exhaustion, explosive, often says, “we’ll see.”
Stage 7: school, study, keep trying, 7. The situation is a new beginning (Phase 1), based on certainty (Phase 4) and study (Stage 7) as a burdening theme. The theme of ‘pioneer’ is known of Betula, a theme can be a solution, solving capacity, challenge or burdensome factor.
Prescription: Betula alba MK.
Follow up
After taking it, he hasn’t been sick for two months, for the first time in a year. Also more energy, able to do something at the end of the study day. When he has a day off, he now rests again, whereas he used to remain tired. No more headaches. However, he had to stop studying because he was too far behind to finish the year successfully; there was no more opportunity to try (previous school years always offered a solution, something devised for him, a theme of Stage 7). Pragmatic as he is, he made a new choice, didn’t worry, and plans to continue the study next year via a different route. It’s all not yet mapped out, he will see how it goes and what the possibilities are. The unknown doesn’t scare him, fitting with ‘a pioneer’. Now he has a rash on the upper right forehead, also under the nose on the right, and the tongue has a red edge on the right. This indicates that the intestine (forehead) and lymph (tongue edge) are functioning differently; a different balance is emerging even at the organ and tissue level. Sleep is good, no dreams. The ‘pioneer’ quality of Betula is seen before, in setting up a new business, trying out several routes, with severe skin problems and urticaria, and a case of severe digestion complaints and exhaustion prior to emigration.