8.13 Samarium sulphuricum case
Width 4, Depth 4, Cure 7, Duration 5
by Marguerite Pelt
A female patient, 50 years of age, comes because of her rosacea. The eruptions are quite minor from my point of view.
A reserved person sits in front of me. Although her parents would talk more easily about emotions (so this is not a family issue), she is rather closed. She says she suppresses her emotions to protect herself. Her father died in 2001 after a long period of illness, but at that moment she had no complaints: "One can do so much when it is necessary". Her family and children as well as friends were supporting her in that period. She works 20 hours a week, teaching in primary school.
She is learning to find a balance between expressing emotions and protecting herself. This is a form of real self-control. She has been trained to teach kindergarten and now she has to teach first grade. She has to prove herself in this position. She forced herself in this position. She also has put pressure on herself when her father was sick and dying: she could cope with everything at that moment but had a relapse after his death.
Mouth: gums receding; cracked lower lip
Previous history
Urticaria and Quinckes edema.
Stool complaints, diarrhea, mucous stool with pain in the abdomen, distension and flatulence.
Generals
Weather: changes easily from being warm to cold and vice versa
Sweat: difficult
Aversion: soup, chicken, tomatoes, strawberries (all (1))
Desire: sweets (2)
Sleep: waking sometimes
Analysis
I started thinking of a Lanthanide because she is very much in control.
I see the combination of controlling and serving as an indication for a Lanthanide.
In this case the patient tends to prove herself, even to force herself. The proving is Stage 6, but the forcing Stage 8, so I chose Samarium.
I combined it with Sulphur, a prominent remedy for the skin but also for people who think ‘beauty, grace and harmony’ are important. In this case she is complaining of a minor rosacea.
Confirmations
Sulphur: bowel problems, offensiveness, -> sweets, <- strawberries, waking at night, cracked lower lip, face problems.
Follow up
After Samarium sulphuricum 200K she didn't return for a consultation because she was content with her appearance.
A year later she's doing fine.
Her quality of life rose from 70 to 90
As I didn't have very much information from this rather closed woman I started with ACTH 30K (=adrenocorticotropic hormone) a remedy for facial redness, rosacea and acne rosacea according to Julian. I presumed the menopause was also playing a role in the complaints because of her age (50 years old). And a disturbed hypothalamus pituitary axis will probably be affected by ACTH. A lot of theorizing on my part. ACTH 30K once a week ameliorated the skin symptoms of the face but they returned as soon as she stopped the remedy. A simple case of suppression.
In 1997 she had consulted me with complaints of the stool (diarrhea and mucous stool) and the abdomen (pain, distension, flatulence) that appeared to react well to Lycopodium 200K.