5.12.2 Cadmium muriaticum, Case 1
A 50 year old woman suffers from a stomach ulcer. She complains of nausea, water in the mouth and vomiting, worse from the smell of burning and meat. When she exerts herself lifting heavy things or pressing too much during stools she also has to vomit. Warm milk makes her feel better. She doesn’t have much pain, only a feeling of pressure just before vomiting. The stomach complaints started after she had a lump removed from under the skin over her stomach.
This happened when she had problems with her husband, a strict military type who already had four children. Everything was fine until she got two children herself and from then on life became hell. Her husband demanded her undivided attention the whole time and always told the children to shut up and be quiet and to clear up their mess. As soon as the lump on her stomach had been discovered she knew it was a sign that she should choose for her children and get a divorce. After the divorce she felt relieved, eager to be there for her children. But on the other hand she also felt guilty that she was taking the children away from their father.
She had an unhappy childhood, the relationship with her mother was extremely difficult. Her mother used to make negative comments all the time: ’You are stupid and useless, you will never get anywhere, you will never get married, you are too masculine’ etc. Her older sister added to her misery by confirming everything the mother said. Even now she starts to tremble in fear whenever she visits her sister, totally unable to move or speak. She feels powerless because she never received any acknowledgement, especially not from her mother. She always had to fight to achieve anything. Her mother had sent her to boarding school in the hope that she might be able to get a diploma. She always looked to her mother for a bit of love and attention but she never got it. She did her best to be a good girl, but her mother did not even notice. She is still a kind type of person, but she cannot stand up for herself. Her son asked if he could borrow the car for three whole weeks and she had great difficulty saying ‘no’. He said: ‘I thought you wouldn’t ’, which made her think: ‘Why do you ask then?’.
She had a strange dream that she cut off the tops of the fingers of her left hand while lots of people were looking on; she was very calm about it all and nobody amongst the group of onlookers took any notice. She dressed her wounds and, as before, nobody bothered to take help her. She teaches sowing and needlework and she is the only one of her sisters who has gone to college. She started college on her own initiative, ‘that ‘ll teach them!’. She was desperate to prove herself. Later on she tried to retrain in textile designs, but couldn’t keep it up. It all got a bit too much. She had a breakdown and had to resign because there was no possibility for her to work part time. She feels she was never able to fully enjoy her children because of the pressure of work. It is a sense of loss which also makes her feel guilty.
She tends to be a bit heavy and pessimistic, always sensing trouble when there is none. She likes her freedom and can’t stand rules and regulations. Medicines tend to wipe her out and she won’t tolerate this. She is very black and white in her points of view, ‘yes means yes and no means no’. She likes to be busy, it makes her feel good. She gets discontented when she is idle. When she meets people she either likes them or she doesn’t and in the latter case she is not interested in getting to know them better.
Generals
Weather: fresh air, sea, space; cold feet.
Perspiration: during hot flushes, especially on the head, which ameliorates.
Time: < 9 am.
Desires: bread, vegetables, meat, sweet, chocolate, coffee.
Aversion: sour (3), onion, garlic, spices.
Food: < cooked food, sour, meat.
Menses: every 5 to 6 weeks; active and sleepless before menses.
Sleep: difficulty getting asleep (2), after dinner; wakes frequently, < 5 am, < restless legs; sleeps on abdomen.
Physical: > motion.
Analysis
Her remark that she feels powerless against her mother is in itself almost enough to prescribe Cadmium muriaticum. She doesn’t dare to say ‘no’ (Cadmium) to her son (Muriaticum). Through her work with textile designs (Silver series) she feels that she hasn’t been able to fully take care of her children (Muriaticum). She feels powerless (Cadmium) because she never received any recognition (Silver series) from her mother (Muriaticum). She cannot stand up (Cadmium) to her husband who demanded all her attention and told her children (Muriaticum) to be quiet. She dreams that she cuts the fingers off her left hand (Silver series) with a knife (Stage 12) and nobody cared (Muriaticum) for her.
There are other confirming symptoms for the Muriaticum aspect: she wants to do everything for her children and often feels guilty towards them. She tends to get pessimistic and feel sorry for herself. Other Muriaticum generals: <- sour, <- gloomy weather, sea, -> bread.
Confirming symptoms for Cadmium: sleeplessness, < 5 am, teacher, textile design (art), stomach problems.
Reaction
After Cadmium muriaticum she soon starts to feel better. She is climbing out of the pit and won’t be dragged down anymore. She wrote down her experiences of her childhood which released a lot of sadness.
Other remedies that had worked partially before Cadmium muriaticum: Kali iodatum, Gaultheria, Ginkgo biloba, Zincum metallicum.