6.12.1 Cinnabaris, Case 1
A 70 year old man suffers from headache and depression. The headache is situated behind his eyes, with the sensation as if the eyes are being pushed out of their sockets. The headache is sleep, < evening. It often starts at 5 pm with yawning and some lachrymation. Besides having these headaches he also feels anxious and depressed. He wonders ‘what will happen to him after his death’, ‘Am I doing it right, am I doing enough?’. But acts as if everything is fine and nobody knows how he feels.
He also has problems with his teeth, and every time they start to ache he gets another bout of depression. He grinds his teeth and clenches them until it hurts. He gets frequent colds, hayfever, bronchitis and problems with his joints. He has had strabismus since the age of 6, divergent to the left. His left eye is better than his right, but he reads with his right eye.
In 1933 he had a tubercular inflammation of the glands in his neck on the left side. In 1965 he had an infection in his gall bladder.
About 30 years ago he had some psycho analysis sessions because he suddenly had a breakdown with much crying during his father in law’s funeral. He felt suicidal because the thought he hadn’t done his work properly. He has always been very ambitious, often using other people to climb the social ladder. He worked like a mad man when he was 30. He started work when he was only 15 and gradually worked his way to the top. But he tends to feel his is not doing enough or he is doing things wrong. He has a low opinion of himself. He used to be the strong second in command in a large company with a weak director. He liked being in that position because he could go his own way without having to refer to the parent company in America very often. He has had some ideas about starting his own business in the past but he decided against it because he was afraid it would fail. He would rather not take the risk: ‘If I make a mess of it I would look a complete arsehole’. When he thinks he can’t be best he would rather not try it at all.
He was made redundant in 1976 and it made him panic. The thought that he might have to sell his house and eat into his capital almost drove him mad. Fortunately he found another job in no time. He grew up in the recession of the thirties and this has left its mark on the way he thinks. He is very weary of of people taking over his position. He dreams that he has to write a course in X-ray diagnostics but there is someone else sitting at his desk who has taken over the task. He also dreams that someone has stolen his shoes.
He feels very lonely: ‘I never want to love someone again, because I’ll only lose them again’. His mother died when he was 18 and this was the first time he cried. He can give love, but he can’t receive it. He would probably lose his self control if someone touched him or put their arm around him. The only people he really loves are his wife and daughter, but he can’t show it, he simply can’t say the word ‘I love you’.
He can be very violent and it takes a lot of self discipline to control it. He once nearly killed a boy who was bothering his 12 year old daughter. He turned bright red with anger and grabbed him by the throat without thinking. This outburst frightened him a lot afterwards.
He cannot tolerate being ordered about, he is a born rebel. Since he has joined the freemasons when he was 60 he has become a bit milder, until ‘his behaviour was worse than dog’.
He dreams about wanting to be be violent but restraining himself, about bringing food to people who are in a camp and about things not going the way he wants them to. He also dreams about driving a heavy articulated lorry, about playing bridge and laying large bets and about holding in his aggression, which makes him wake up with a headache. The day before the consultation he dreamt about a large rock in the sea that he had to climb down from along a dangerously steep path.
Generals
Weather: warm, < rain, sunny, frosty weather, < damp heat.
perspiration: profuse, < exertion, < night.
Time: < evening.
Desires: meat (3), fish (3), everything, sweet, spices.
Aversion: sour, sauerkraut (3), vinegar(3), sloppy food (2).
Food: > muesli: constipation.
Sleep; excellent, makes him feel better; on right side.
Analysis
His position as a director points to the Gold series, although this could be debatable, because he did not want to start his own business and prefers to remain second in command. But the fact that he wants to make his own decisions and can’t tolerate being bossed around is very typical of the Gold series. The fear of losing his job indicates one of the latter stages: Aurum, Mercurius, Thallium, Plumbum, Bismuth. But the problems with his teeth and jaws immediately point to Mercurius. Confirming symptoms for Mercurius: suppressed violence, closed, strabismus, < evening, grinding teeth, suicidal, profuse perspiration at night.
But which Mercurius should we choose? Besides the theme of depression there is also the theme of love: it is better not to love someone, because they will die anyway. And if anybody touches his wife or daughter he will kill them. He loses control when someone puts his arm around him. This aspect leads us to the combination Mercurius sulphuricum or Mercurius sulphuratum, which is Cinnabaris. Because his behaviour is rather direct and he is not preoccupied with his own gain I preferred to give him Cinnabaris, which doesn't’ have the Oxygen component.
Other Sulphuratum symptoms: warm, sweet, -> spices and left sidedness.
He had had some Lachesis and Tarentula in the past, without any results. He had temporarily improved on Sulphur, but it did not last. This fact in itself was a further incentive to try Cinnabaris.
Reaction
Cinnabaris 1M is a ‘bulls eye’. Two days after the remedy he had an aggravation hat lasted 5 days; cold, pain in left lower molar, headache as if a nail is sticking in the vertex, with hair pain. After that he starts to feel more positive. After a month he feels that his depression and his anxiety has gone. During the course of the next few months the complaints of nose, sinuses, teeth, head and joints gradually improve. One year and 6 doses of Cinnabaris 1M later he does not suffer from depression anymore. He thinks he probably wouldn’t commit suicide now if his wife were to die. The headaches are much improved.