Mary was an a thin, athletic 11 year-old child with chronic asthma. Her
asthma had started at five months old, and had been severe for the next two and
a half years. She was a forceps delivery. She was never breastfed, and was put
on soy formula at birth. Solid food was introduced at 4 months. She had had
chickenpox twice, once at four months and again at age 9. She had had fever
and irritability after a DPT shot. She had had one wart on her elbow. Her 19
year-old sister had developed asthma after Mary.
Mary's asthma had continued since infancy and now was of particular
concern because she played sports. She was a very competitive swimmer and
soccer player. Whenever she would get a cold, it went into asthma. Her lungs
would tighten up and she would develop loud, squeaky wheezing. The wheezing was
worse on inspiration.
Attacks were induced by viral illnesses, pollen or exercise. She was very
reactive to grasses, mold, wool and rabbit dander. Her asthma was very
definitely worse from being exposed to cold, damp air. Her typical pattern was
to get a runny nose or ear infection which would proceed to a cough, sore
throat and wheezing. Then she would be treated with prednisone or antibiotics,
which would relieve the symptoms for a while.
Mary was a popular child with many friends. She liked music and being
social. She always pushed herself to be the best, and doing well at sports was
very important to her. She could be irritable at times. She denied anxiety,
but she had a long history of fingernail biting.
She desired candy, spicy food, hamburgers and pizza, and was averse to
eggs.
Her body temperature was normal, but she could get cold at night. Her hunger
and thirst were average.
Now study the case and prescribe a remedy. Turn to page___ for the first
prescription, follow-up and discussion.
The remedy that was given was Natrum sulphuricum 6C, T.I.D.
This remedy is one of the main remedies for pediatric asthma that is worse from
cold, damp weather, indicating the presence of the sycotic miasm, which
originates from an ancestor having had gonorrhea. Mary took the remedy for four
weeks and returned for follow-up. She had had two weeks of increased congestion
after the remedy, but her asthma had decreased markedly. She had only had one
incident of slight wheezing the day before the visit. While at camp she had
fallen on her back and bruised a rib. She had some residual back pain which
was resolved by a dorsal spinal adjustment.
Mary continued the remedy once a day and stayed well for two months
until mid-September. Then she developed increased congestion in the middle of
the night, or morning which caused her to expectorate thick yellow mucus. This
had come on after swimming in Lake Washington. She was not wheezing. She was
given Dulcamara 6C, TID, which is useful for autumn colds that are brought on
from getting wet. The Natrum sulphuricum was discontinued. Two weeks later, she
returned after becoming worse. A runny nose with thin discharge had started
after the Dulcamara and she had developed wheezing and coughing. She wheezed
much more at night between 2 and 3 A.M. Ice water helped the wheezing a lot.
Her wheezing would improve from exercise now, rather than becoming worse. She
continued to desire sweets and pizza. She was feeling very sensitive to the
cold. She was still biting her nails, but not anxious. Dulcamara was
discontinued and Kali carbonicum 30c at bedtime was given acutely because of
the severity of the nighttime attacks, the chilliness and the time of
aggravation. The nightly asthma attacks ceased within a few days on Kali
carbonicum and Natrum sulph was begun again in 30C potency, once daily. The
Dulcamara had apparently caused a relapse, and Natrum sulphuricum was needed
again to finish its work.