Vitex agnus-castus
Remedy code: 3-665.55.14
A 33-year-old woman with menstrual problems, fatigue, and severe back pain, a mild form of Bechterew's disease. A year ago, she stopped taking the pill. She always had menses problems, now each cycle begins with two weeks of light bleeding, followed by a week of extreme bleeding, a 'flood'. Then nothing for another week. She has a large pimple on her chin. During her period, she has terrible abdominal pain, which seems to affect her intestines and always causes pain just above her pubic bone. The pain radiates to her back, sacrum, and sometimes to her upper legs. In recent weeks, she has been suffering from 'shaky legs', just like during pregnancy. The pain is like labor pains, sacral, her hips are always sensitive, a nagging pain. Since she stopped taking the pill, she has 'finally got her feelings back', she was so flat. Now the hormones are upsetting her again: she has everything under control, but it doesn't feel that way. She has a nice job, everything is nice (family, social life), she doesn't recognize herself anymore: her cheerful self is gone. She has been very tired for a long time, she doesn't feel like to do anything, she is listless. She wants to do something about her body, it feels as if her body is very heavy when climbing stairs. When you are fed up, you start snacking. For the past six months, she has had a tennis elbow in her right arm. Her hand is thicker, her fingers are swollen, and she has pain at the joint. Her hands and feet: sometimes it seems as if she has rheumatism, they are so stiff. Her foot is swollen. Lots of complaints, “Oh well, I'll just brush them off.” She has troubled skin, especially on her face, which she refers to as “craters” or “mushrooms.” Her mood: negativity prevails, and she remains stuck in it. She still has moments of great joy, but she takes everything to heart when others comment. Menstruation: I do not want that hassle in my life. That is her greatest irritation. She can be harsh with the children, she doesn't know how to deal with them. She used to work in maternity care. Now she is a sports teacher, which is fun because she gets to do things with children. It's tough, the parents expect something from you, she finds it difficult to let go of the criticism, and she is irritated by how the parents behave. She sleeps well, but she doesn't feel rested. Sometimes she has a dream: someone is going to leave her, she also feels insecure in her relationship, 'am I good enough for him'. In the dream, she sees a man walking away and then coming back. Scared, and anxious, she wakes up with a start.
She is not creative, she does not have the peace of mind to read a book. She never puts herself first, she gets a lot of energy from helping others. She is very busy with her mother, grandmother, and her children. She sees a lot in other people, she also feels their emotions or hears them in their voice. She used to have a lot of angina, mouth ulcers, and migraines, but that disappeared five years ago after Streptococcus. Uva ursi and Crotalis horridus shift the symptoms somewhat but do not provide any improvement.
Analysis
The sacral pain points to the reflex area of the uterus, and back problems have been present for a long time, as have her menstrual problems. The hip causes radiating pain: large nerve pathway (Silver series). She is sensitive to people, nonverbal: Silver series.
She does not want medication, wants to be able to do it herself, aware of her behavior, rheumatism, and Bechterew in the symptom picture: Lanthanide series, Cold series.
With a lot of tension and restlessness in the body, she wants to be cheerful (Phase 5, or Stage 15).
Labiaceae: Help, a strong bond between mother and children. Complaints and mood explosive, character and behavior in good spirits enthusiastic, working with children.
Stage 14: Fatigue, listlessness, no feeling, lethargy, dismissing her complaints.
The eye-opener was the rubric 'cutting pain hip: Vitex agnus-castus.
Vitex agnus-castus is known as a herb with hormonal effects and pituitary-ovarian relationship.
Prescription: Vitex agnus-castus C200
Follow-up
The pain in the hip was much less after three days, and the following week it disappeared. The foot pain and swelling are also gone. The thigh remains sensitive laterally, and the skin (dermatome L4). The second week there was menstruation, a light flow with few complaints. After this week, mild back pain returned, as did the hip pain (10% of what it was before, slightly warm). She now falls asleep quickly and sleeps deeply until 6 a.m. She is no longer listless, 'my mood no longer suffers', she now feels calm in her body, no longer agitated. During the first week, she had a lot of back pain, first in her upper back with the old headache, and then the pain moved down, along the vertebrae. She only mentions this when asked, and does not experience it as a serious complaint (I always had back pain, there's nothing you can do about it, like a Stage 14 aspect). After two years, she still feels good.