Case 5.5
By Rob Peters
First consultation: 13-02-2002.
The patient is a woman born in 1960. Her greatest problems are binging (eetbuien) and obesity. Beside this she has epilepsy. On the EEG disturbances are registered in the right hemisphere. The epileptic fit is a combination of petit mal and absences. During an attack she goes through the motion of swallowing, her hands take on a compulsive position and she rubs them together. She is confused and absentminded. Sometimes she begins to sing during the attack (Crocus, Teucrium e.g.). Preceding the fit she sometimes has the sensation of heat in the upper abdomen.
Her medication is Trileptal 300 mg. twice-daily 1 tablet. On this medication she is free of fits.
The epilepsy started ten years ago after she and her husband divorced.
She and her first husband have one child: an autistic son with a slow progressing (progressive) muscular disease (Morbus Becker). She and her second husband have one daughter who now is six years old. She describes her parental home as being unsafe. Her parents were in to the partner-swap-scene so they were emotionally unavailable for her. She was a nuisance. She was always belittled and told that she was worthless. âThoroughly belittledâ were her words.
Her first husband treated her like her parents did: âYou are worthless, a good for nothing personâ. He continually verbally abused her.
She doesnât dare to make real contact with other people because she fears being hurt once again. âI am so sad and that just continues. I am good at suppressing my feelings but the tears are very near the surfaceâ. As a child she was very shy, she didnât dare to assert herself.
The main issues she talks about are the grief and the incomprehension she suffered in the past. Now again with her in-laws she has this same feeling of not being understood/ appreciated/. Her present marriage is good.
Observation
A solid, round, obese woman who looks younger than her age. She gives the impression of a child. She is loquacious and apparently very open. But one can feel the tension and grief under the surface.
The loquacity is very apparent and I make a note of this as being a striking symptom.
Former illnesses:
- Recurrent rights-sided otitis media
- Since a fall from a staircase at the age of five, she has a fear of heights and of descending a flight of steep stairs (Borax, Sanicula).
- In the evening she is hindered by a distention of the abdomen.
Analysis:
This is a woman who has been treated like a child for almost all her life. You could say she was mentally abused.
Her greatest problem, her binging, has been an obsession (to her) for a long time. The grief about her youth and her first marriage, she bottled up inside. During the consultation she recounts her history openly but the emotions are controlled and not shared.
Striking symptoms are the singing during an epileptic fit, the loquacity and the grief about the fact that as a child and later as a grown-up, she never was acknowledged or taken seriously.
At first I thought of Teucrium because in its symptomatology it has this ravenous appetite. But in the case history I missed any mentioning of worms or nasal polyps due to allergic problems. When she told me about her preference for the herbs lavender and thyme, I started considering other members of the Labiates or extracts of the same. (of them)
After doing some research on the family of the Labiates (a report the Masi-group made on this family and what Jan Scholten told me about this subject) I came up with the idea of thymolum â an extract of thyme. Thymolum like Teucrium, has the symptom: loquacity.
In this case history we find the theme of not being acknowledged (Labiates), the pent-up feelings of years, the epilepsy and the increased appetite expressing itself in binging.
Because in this case the accent of the physical âcomplaintâ was on the epilepsy I chose Thymolum although I had never heard of this remedy and thus certainly knew nothing about the remedy picture. I gave Thymolum MK one granule on three successive days and after that when needed which turned out to be before her menstrual period.
Follow-up after 6 weeks.
âI now eat three times a day with a couple of snacks in between and I enjoy eating and havenât been binging. I have been kinder to myself; I even bought myself a bunch of flowers. I donât punish myself anymore. My whole life Iâve heard what I did wrong; now I want to enjoy life. âI am not allowed to enjoy eatingâ has changed in to âI enjoy eatingâ. I lost three kilograms without having to exert myself. I have more self respectâ.
Observation: She is less restless and more powerful.
Follow-up after 3 months.
During the last months she again lost weight (7 kg), no binging sessions, she felt wonderful. âI am going to follow a course on chiropodyâ. She quit her job as a charwoman.
Again she starts talking about the fact that she feels much stronger and that she has more self-respect. âI feel like a different person, I am more open towards others. I donât let people hurt me. Why should I visit people I donât like? I donât want to be disappointed anymore!â Every time she takes the remedy, which is mostly pre-menstrual, she has the urge to binge and to weep, her pent-up grief surfaces. During the treatment the weeping became less. âI feel stronger than everâ.
Follow-up in September 2002.
She called to tell me all is well. She is feeling great and doesnât think it necessary to come for consultation. We agree that she will ring me if she has a setback. She takes the Thymolum once a month.
During the treatment she has lost 17 kg. On the next visit to the neurologist she will bring-up the subject of cutting down on the anti-epileptic medication.
In retrospect it is possible to bring out Thyme in the repertorisation. But actually it didnât happen in that way. I was acquainted with the themes of the Labiates and thus stuck to that plant family and found Thymolum.
Some information on Thymolum:
The chemical formula for the substance that is extracted from the Thyme species and the Monarda species Is: C10H14O = ( CHC(CH3)CHCHC(CH3)2)COH).
Names: THYMol, ISOPROPYL CRESOL, M-THYMOL, 5-METHYL-2-ISOPROPYLPHENOL
Thymol was first discovered by Caspar Neumannin in 1719. It was purified bij M Lalland in 1853 and he named the substance Thymol. Caspar Neumann was the first to extract Thymolum from thymeoil in 1719. In 1853 allemand was able to purify it; he called the substance Thymol. Thymol is found in Thyme, Horsemint and Carum Ajowan. Thymol is used as an antiseptic and disinfectant and as such is considered superior to carbolic acid.
Itâs applications:
- externally for wounds, ulcers and abscesses
- as a conservative
- it was used for inhaling during infections of the air-passages and in diphtheria it was used to give relief to the patient.
- When in contact with the mucous membrane it has an irritating effect and a nasty taste.
When taken orally in a large dose the pure substance will bring about nausea, which hardly ever results in vomiting. Some of the testees experienced a transitory (passing) heat in the stomach region accompanied by diarrhoea resembling typhoid fever. Here I bring in to mind the feeling my patient had before an epileptic fit: heat in the stomac region.
Other striking symptoms of the use of Thymolum are: an increase in urine production, urine had a greenish colour. (this is also mentioned in the repertory: URINE, colour, greenish, on standing).
Still larger amounts of Thymolum bring about a coma.
Thymol can also be used as a remedy for expelling tapeworms. The use of Thymol as an external usage in various skin affections like scalds, eczema, psoriasis, lichen etc and its use as an inhalator (see above), are the most important medical applications.of this sunstance.
This essay I couldnât have written without the help of my colleagues who made an in-depth study of the Labiates. So again I thank the Masi-group and my always inspiring friend and colleague Jan Scholten