4.6.2 Chromium muriaticum, Case 1
A 50 year old woman suffers from hot flushes. She gets hot and sweaty, her head becomes red and hot especially when she exerts herself doing household chores, ironing etc. It affects her sleep, because she also gets palpitations with it. It gets worse when she spends a night in her parents’ house. She goes to her parents every so often to take care of her mother who has Parkinson’s and who is in a nursing home during the week but comes home for the weekends. The hot flushes are not worse from alcohol. Lately she has found it hard to cope with opposition and criticism. Her youngest daughter has started puberty and criticises everything all day, especially the state the house is in. This makes her feel guilty, as if she isn’t good enough and isn’t doing enough. It makes her feel inferior.
She often feels bloated, with her abdomen swollen and much flatus. Sometimes she gets bleeding piles. When she is nervous she gets palpitations and pain in her stomach, better from putting her hand on her stomach.
She is the eldest of 9 children. She had to help bringing up the younger ones, and she always had to be neat and tidy and set a good example. Her parents were strict but nice. Her mother cared for her children with humour, but did not show much warmth. Now she hates housework, she would rather read a book. Sometimes the work gets on top of her and makes her feel tired and powerless.
Her father was strict but just. Religion was very important and they went to church 7 days a week. She is reserved and doesn’t like to share her likes and dislikes. She is easily hurt by criticism and she feels uncomfortable in strange situations.
She has a slight prolapse of the womb, and coition is rather painful. She suffers from colds with watery coryza. Changes in temperature make her cough and she has a bad, metallic taste in her mouth. Sometimes she has little ulcers on the inside of her bottom lip. She is quite hoarse and cannot sing. She has some slight loss of urine when she sneezes.
She dreams of being pursued and not being able to get away because her legs are glued to the spot. She also dreams about her children, that her youngest daughter runs away from home, or that she herself abandons her daughter.
Her face is quite tight and she talks slowly and with hesitation.
She has some eczema on her hands, on the palms, < left hand and little finger, also some oedema of fingers, ankles and stomach.
Generals
Weather: cold with hot flushes.
Perspiration: everywhere, < hot flushes.
Time: < in the morning on waking.
Desires: sweet (2), cheese, fat, bacon, soup.
Aversion: fat on meat, sour, cabbage.
Food: < cabbage.
Analysis
There are a few Muriaticum symptoms: she has an aggravation from housework and from caring for her mother.
She considers this to be her task although she gets a lot of criticism, which points to the Iron series. But which element in the Iron series?
If we look at her childhood we see that she had to behave nicely, she had to be neat and tidy and give a good example. This could be Niccolum, but Chromium is more likely because she is very closed and has the feeling she is not doing enough. And so we get Chromium muriaticum.
There are other confirmations for this remedy: her daughter (Muriaticum) criticises her for not keeping the house tidy (Chromium). As a child she had to be behave nicely (Chromium) to set an example for the other children (Muriaticum). Her mother cared (Muriaticum) for the children, but did not show much warmth (Iron series). She dreams of being pursued (Iron series), but she can’t escape because her legs are stuck (Stage 6, being forced).
Other Chromium symptoms: feeling inferior, reserved, tight face, halting speech, < criticism, < unknown situations, metallic taste.
Muriaticum symptoms: dreams that her daughter is running away, dreams of abandoning her daughter, prolapsed womb, ulcers on the lips, left sidedness, oedema, hot flushes, watery coryza, loss of urine < sneezing, <- sour.
Reaction
Initially she was given Calcium muriaticum, which seemed to help with the hot flushes for a while, but it did not hold. After Chromium muriaticum 1M she becomes more stable and less inclined to be depressed. She is now able to listen to criticism and decide whether it is justified and whether she can do something about it. Six months later the hot flushes are as good as gone and she doesn’t sweat so much when it is hot.