Magnesium bromatum Case
A woman, aged 30, comes with complaints of the sinuses and a lot of fears.
The sinus problems are mostly on the left, giving a feeling of heaviness and pressure behind the cheeks, worse from bending down. She also has headaches with it. The upper respiratory tract on the whole is giving her problems: sore throats, coughs and constant colds < damp. Many ear infection since childhood, < right side.
She also suffers from bowel spasms. The abdomen is swollen, with a nagging pain above the groin > loosening clothes. Sometimes this is accompanied by violent cramps, which get better when she lies curled up on her side, with a hot water bottle, also > rubbing.
The fears started when she had a nervous breakdown 6 years ago. She had attacks of hyperventilation with pressure on the chest. These panic attacks could happen anywhere, anytime, but mainly in the weekend or in the evening. It was as if she had strong feelings of fear, aggression, sadness and loneliness, all stored in her chest.
She is very tired and feels as if she has to give a lot, but has nothing left to give.
Past history: anaemia.
During pregnancy she was very tired too, and she therefore did not breastfeed her baby.
General characteristics:
Location: left sided.
Temperature: cold, but < hot weather. < damp; aversion thunderstorms.
> sea. < wide open spaces.
Time: < 7 am to 9 am.
Desires: sweet, cheese, fresh vegetables (3).
Aversion: black sausage (3), bacon; nausea from fat, spices.
Menses: copious; on the first day she is very ill: weak (3), trembling.
stomach pains, fever, sweating, diarrhoea and nausea.
Sleep: on her side, curled up.
Mind: She comes from a family with 11 children. She was number 8. Her parents spent their whole life fighting. She often used to lie awake at night and felt guilty about these fights. Her father was very dominating and did not give her mother much freedom, also not financially. He used to shout very loudly during those quarrels. Her mother was quiet and she often used to get into debt to give her children something extra. She still dreams about these situations at home, about her father shouting and waving his arms, about her mother sitting silently, and she herself creeping away crying.
These rows have made her very afraid of violence. She hates shouting, it makes her shrink away into a corner and withdraw completely. The same happens when she tries to get angry herself, she can’t cope with it. She also hates violence on television.
She is a very sensitive person, who feels for other people and wants to help them. She feels responsible to help others, just as she used to feel responsible for her parents. She is quite hard on herself, doesn’t easily spoil herself.
She also feels guilty, in the past about her parents, and now about herself, about the fact that she has some complaints and needs help. She has difficulty showing her feelings, particularly her feelings of guilt. She did not talk about this until the third consultation.
It is as if things don’t succeed the way she wants them to. She dreams that she has to run against the wind, but she isn’t making any headway.
Marriage: she has been happily married for ten years, although they have had some difficult times with her nervous breakdown and all her fears. They never quarrel, but she is often irritable towards her husband. She has little desire for sex.
Analysis
The fear of, and aversion to, aggression is very obvious. A Magnesium combination would therefore come to mind, the more so because of some strong Magnesium symptoms such as the rows between the parents, the violent stomach cramps > warmth and bending double, the aversion and aggravation from meat, the desire for fresh vegetables and the aggravation at 7 h.
However, Magnesium carbonicum and Magnesium muriaticum did not give the desired results. The complaints changed or got worse and there was no mental improvement, quite the opposite. But it still seemed that a Magnesium combination was called for. The aggravations from Magnesium carbonicum. and Magnesium muriaticum seemed to confirm this. Mag-s also appeared to be a good remedy, on the basis of the quarrels between the parents and the avoidance of quarrels in her own marriage. But the contented feeling about her own marriage does not fit with Mag-s. There are no other Sulphur traits present either, except perhaps the general aggravation from heat and the left-sidedness. It wasn’t until the feeling of guilt became clear during the third consultation that I realised that Mag-br was the indicated remedy. If we look at the case again we can see that there are indeed several symptoms of Bromium present: > sea, < heat, swollen glands, left-sidedness, sinus complaints and great fears.
Reaction
One month after taking Mag-br 1M she felt much better. She dares to speak up in company, also in her therapy group. The sinus troubles, the dizziness and the stomach pain are 60% less. She had a dream in which someone was angry with her, but this time she did not feels as paralysed by it as before.