Two Ferrum Cases from our Records
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 1996 Sep / Oct Vol V No 5.
Kasim Chimthanawala & Sanjay Tambe.
Cases.
` Ferr / Ferr-pic
CASE 1:
SPASMODIC BRONCHITIS WITH ANAEMIA
A grossly anaemic child of about 4, was admitted at 3.30 a.m. with repeated bouts of spasmodic and suffocative coughs ending in vomiting of whatever he had ingested. The episodes were so distressing that the child had become exhausted and listless. On enquiry it was found that the attack had started within half an hour of the child getting exposed to dry cold breeze a day before.
He was already on cough sedatives, Antihistaminics and Antibiotics but with no relief. Instead, the complaints continued to be aggravated since I a.m.
O/E the face was flushed but conjunctiva was pale and skin cold to touch. The pulse was full but poor in tension, tongue coated greyish, thirst +++ and had not passed stools since 24 hours.
H/o recurrent epistaxis every summer.
Child was immediately put on oxygen inhalation.
Arsenic alb, Ipecac, Cuprum-ars and Coccus cacti came out as probables.
Coated tongue, absence of nausea and increased thirst eliminated Ipecac and absence of
cyanosis ruled out Cuprum ars and Coccus cacti. Hence fractional doses of Arsenic alb IM
were started every 15 minutes. No relief till 4.20 a.
Boerickes Materia Medica came to our rescue.
Flushed face with anaemia and nocturnal cough ending in vomiting of food pointed towards a
drug hardly thought of for spasmodic coughs,i.e Ferr met. So it was selected and
administered in IM potency in fractional doses every 15 minutes.
It acted much beyond expectations and the child comfortably slept by 5 a.m. or so. However for constitutional correction, he required Calc carb IM and Tuberculinum IM within 6 months.
Was it a mere coincidence that the pains due to left shoulder Rheumatism of the anaemic mother also yield to this metal, given on the basis of modality "pains better moving slowly ?".
CASE 2:
BEGIN HYPERTROPHY OF PROSTATE WITH LARYNGEAL POLYP
An old man of about 60 with hoarse voice and hard of hearing was brought to tour hospital OPD with the complaints of dysuria. About 4 months back, his urinary flow was diagnosed as a case of BHP with Laryngeal Polyp and was advised surgery for both, to which he was opposed.
Being the father of a Homoeopathic colleague, he was already on Conium 200, one dose daily and Sabal-ser Q 10 drops bd for the past 4 weeks, but with no perceptible relief. For hoarseness he was given Causticum 200 SOS.
On 24-1-96, the first day of his visit, the urine literally dribbled and the speech could not be understood. Although there was not much distress the patient was not looking fine. Most probably his Blood Urea may have been high (due to back pressure on kidneys). There were no other outstanding symptoms worth reporting. In such odd situations Dr. Boerickes Materia Medica always comes to my rescue ; hence I referred to it.
The trio of BHP, hoarseness of voice and hardness of hearing led me to select Ferr-pic - once again, a rare drug to be thought of. However, it was selected and 3 doses of 200 potency was given on 29th Jan.
No change was noticed till 18th Feb. The urine continued to dribble. His blood Urea was 84 mg percent. so one dose of IM of that remedy given.
Within 24 hrs of its administration the urinary flow eased substantially and there occured a fairly good mental elation within 3 days.
The effect continued till 28th June when there was a distressing relapse. the flow completely stopped. Catheterisation done. One dose of Ferr-pic IM repeated.
Patient remained better generally for 4-5 months thereafter. Both the voice and the Urinary complaints returned to normal limits.
On 3rd November when the urinary complaints once again started raising their head, it was decided to review the case a fresh interview.
On the basis of an additional symptom ie multiple small warts on nape of neck, face and dorsum of feet (both sides) one dose of Thuja 1 M was administered.
Haematuria occurred on 3rd sept. (after 25 days of the antisycotic.) SL was continued.
No complaints since the Tubercular Elimination.
Inference : Homoeopathic potencies prepared from Ferrum group are no doubt deep acting but require to be thoroughly proved in order to unearth their true complete potential - a good number of uncommon peculiar characteristics. Until that time we may use them in selected cases for temporary relief only. Of course, at times it has been observed that even though these lesser used remedies are selected on a restricted symptom totality and administered in high potencies, they do initiate the curative process. In such cases these remedial agents act on an constitutional plane.
