|
50 year old woman, Mrs. J. S., reported with complaints of pain in multiple joints since 4 years.
- She experienced pain in all joints of the upper and lower limbs, more in the knees and wrists.
- The pain kept shifting from right to left wrist and from hand to legs.
- The pains and stiffness of joints would be worsened by working in water, from winter and monsoon.
- She would feel better by exertion, hard pressure and hot water application.
General features:
She had a normal appetite with no particular likes or dislikes about food. Her stools would be dark colored and bloody and she would be always constipated. She used to get frequent urinary tract infections and this would get worse from spicy foods. She would sweat profusely on her palms and soles.
The patient had disturbed sleep she would wake up at 2 am. She would get many dreams throughout the night; frightful dreams, about her house, old friends, of childhood, teacher beating her, etc.
Her menstrual cycles were irregular with pain in abdomen during menses and she would get a sensation as if the nerves were being pulled. Her menses would be associated with vomiting and the vomiting would improve as the menstrual flow would get better. Her menses would stain indelible. She was very sensitive to cold in general and would always prefer to be warm.
Mrs. J. S. had lost her mother at the tender age of 6 years and her father had remarried when she was 8 years old. It was then that all the troubles had started. She received rough treatment at home thereafter, and was often beaten and abused. She could not perform at school because of these tensions at home. At school too, she was punished badly and soon her performance in studies went down markedly. She wanted to run away from home at that time. The patient had become very desperate and extremely angry and she would cry a lot. Her father never supported her or took her side when she received rough treatment at the hands of her stepmother. This resulted in a lot of suppression of her emotions.
When she got married, the situation was no different. Her mother-in-law and five sisters-in-law were worse than her family members. She would be locked inside the house; she could not write letters and would be beaten. Her husband never supported her. He was the only son of that family and used to work in the Middle East. She tried to commit suicide by poisoning herself on few occasions. Finally, she left everything and came with one daughter to Bombay.
She could not cry in presence of anybody, and would go to toilet to ventilate her feelings. The frustration of her life continued even later in life. Her children never listened to her. She used to get very tensed when her children would not study. Her son was a big spendthrift and had a girlfriend from another community.
Findings on examination:Weight: 66 Kg
BP: 130/78 mm hg
Joints: Swelling ++
Arthritic nodosities ++
Deposit of cholesterol around eyes+
Dark circles around eyes
Based on the above history, she was prescribed Magnesium Carbonicum 200. About a week later, she reported feeling about 50% better already. The treatment was continued further and she started feeling more and more better. Another 6 weeks later, she was more than 95% better in her pains. Her treatment was continued for some more time after which it was concluded, as she no longer had any complaints.
|