Please help me figure out my son's constitutional _{Page 20 of 32}

Are you referring to it moving from his penis to chest? Is a suppressive direction always from lower organs to chest? I have to say I'm not entirely sure that we were dealing with another penis infection after all that. It seemed that way, but I couldn't be sure after we saw the doctor. It appears more as though the first course of antibiotics to treat the left sided ear infection didn't go deep enough, and then he contracted another virus (there are so many going around at the moment) which has re-aggravated his ear and gone straight to his chest. This is the first time he has ever had a chest infection. Of course I am only making assumptions, one can never know for sure exactly what happened, but as I myself am also sick at the moment, I suspect we caught the same virus.

I suppose I consider his symptoms severe whenever he gets a fever, since he gets one so very rarely.

The cough does sound quite bad, and I also have some trust in our family doctor as he does not give antibiotics for everything and has supported our decision not to use antibiotics in the past. So if he says we should, I am more inclined to trust his word than many other 'doctors' we have seen.

And I guess the other thing is that I am dubious about picking the correct remedy to treat an acute right now because his modalities and symptoms are so generalised. I can give them to you anyway, and see what comes up. Remember last winter when he caught a very bad flu and conjunctivitis, and we tried to treat with belladonna which would have been perfect (although his symptoms and modalities were very specific so it was relatively easy to pick), but we did not act fast enough and so our treatment was only partially successful, and it became quite severe and needed antibiotic drops. We only missed the mark by 12 hours but it was enough. This experience told me that with acutes we need to get the remedy right straightaway, and we have to administer it immediately (which means I need to have it on hand in the house).

So, current symptoms are as follows:

- Wet, chesty cough from chest infection
- Left ear inflamed
- Right ear partially inflamed
- Throat inflamed
- Mood, irritable and clingy, wants to be held and comforted.
- appetite decreasing
- high level of thirst

I really can't see any time or situation when the cough is better or worse, it just seems to be consistent all the time.

His fever is worse at night time, although it would take another night to know that for sure.

I also can't tell a particular time of day or night when he is definitely better, worse or aggravated. He is following very typical patterns for him which are that he is always worse at night time when he is sick because he is alone and has no distractions. He is always better with company and things to do/take his mind off his discomfort.

Temp has been up again for past couple of hours. Very hot, flushed cheeks. Body is very hot to touch all over. The fever does not come with chills, it is just hot and dry.

I have not started the antibiotics yet. Am waiting to hear from you, but please understand that my priority is to relieve my son's discomfort as quickly and gently as possible so the situation does not become any worse. While doing this, I am also trying to be sensitive and respectful of everyone else's feelings and opinions - yours, our family doctor's, my husband's and mine.

Out of those three remedies, bryonia is only one we have.

Can you just tell me quickly do you expect for us to see an improvement straightaway if this is the correct remedy?

1 teaspoon in how much water? 2 pellets?

ok, well I think we had a small improvement overnight, but I can't be sure.

We had to give him pain relief about 3 hours after the dose of bryonia because he was finding it impossible to sleep without coughing. He settled down around midnight and slept ok for a few hours, then was a bit restless and then slept for another few hours. So, like I said, a small improvement,

This morning he is still coughing a lot and the cough still sounds really bad. He is refusing to eat his breakfast. The mucus in his head sounds a lot looser this morning, although not really any more discharge than yesterday.

My husband thinks there has been no improvement and wants to start the antibiotics immediately. I have to say I'm inclined to agree, but I am very sick myself and I am finding it hard to be positive at the moment. What do you suggest?

So it should have been more obvious if it was working?

We don't have Nux V in the house, and I am way too sick to go all the way across town to get some in this weather. I'm really sorry. :(

Thanks a lot for your help Sameer. I hope I have made it clear just how much I appreciate all your time and effort.

I have the feeling that you are getting fed up with me and this case and are not happy with my decisions. It is hard to get everything across in an online environment and I know you don't have the time to type out detailed responses to everything I ask, so I may be mistaken, but that is the general feeling I am picking up on.

This is a difficult situation, and as a parent I cannot always make objective decisions about my son's health. Sometimes the thing I WANT to do is the very thing I CANNOT do for a number of reasons. I am not the only one making the decisions here either.

I understand enough about homeopathy now to realise that we have made decisions that have further complicated the case, but I am also not stupid enough to think that would be unusual in cases with children this age, especially when being treated in a online environment. If you could see/hear our son, you may have at times assessed things differently too.

I don't want to you think that I am trying to take the easy way out or that I do not trust you or your methods. I want you to know how much faith I have in homeopathy and eventually finding a solution for my son's health problems.

I do not know if you have children yourself, but if you do, I would hope you understand the constant struggle that it can be to make decisions that are in your child's best interest as well as considering the impact on your own life. It is especially hard when there is a difference of opinion between mother and father. Guilt is ALWAYS a factor. Sometimes I feel totally consumed by it. I know it's pretty common for mothers to feel that way. I just couldn't forgive myself (and my husband wouldn't either) if my son developed a more serious condition because I had 'ignored' the doctor's prescription, and I would be the one dealing with the fall out from that, both physically and emotionally. A friend of ours recently had her 2 year old admitted to hospital with pneumonia from an untreated chest infection.

In the end, I can only do what I can do, and not all my decisions are going to look as great in hindsight. But I do my best.

Today I have weighed up the fact that it is cold, wet and windy outside. In order to get to the dispensary I have to catch two buses with myself and my son. I have no-one to leave him with so I can go alone. It would take us nearly 4 hours to get there and back and neither of us are well enough to be out in that weather. I can't be a good mother and provide him with the right care if I get even sick myself.

I have never ignored your advice or gone against your instructions, and I hope that will at least give me some credit in your eyes.

Thank you for your understanding Sameer.

I think it is unfortunate that almost every allopathic health professional in this country sneers at homeopathy and considers those who practice/try it to be complete idiots. It has a massive impact in situations like this. It means that you cannot be honest with doctors about your choices/reasons. For example, if our son was to end up in hospital because the infection went too far and the remedies had not been effective enough, I would be frowned up and chastised by the doctor for being irresponsible with my son's health. As if the only 'right' treatment is antibiotics. I suffer the same thing with immunisations. As if the only correct thing to do is to immunise your children no matter what the state of their health is, and to not do so (no matter WHAT the reason is) is dangerous for others and you are seen as a neglecful and ignorant parent.

It really makes me very angry as a parent and a person who wants to make her own choices in life. I can only imagine how it must make homeopaths feel.

Hi Sameer. We gave him the last dose of antibiotics tonight.

The chest infection appears to have gone, but he is left with a cough that is aggravated with activity.

Although we had two relatively peaceful nights (Saturday and Sunday) once the antibiotics kicked in, we are now back to dealing with ear pain. Both sides are troubling him now. It would appear that the bacteria in his ears is remarkably resistant to antibiotics.

His bowels have been disturbed by the meds, and his movements are quite loose and messy. Hopefully that will right itself in a few days - we will be giving him probiotics for a couple of weeks now.

I'm wondering if the bryonia might have had any effect on him through all of that, and if that will have any bearing on what we do next. Also the fact that he took the silicea 30C last Monday, and then the Bryonia on Wednesday. I don't know where it leaves us.

One interesting thing we noticed was that for a couple of nights later in the week, he woke bathed in sweat. He didn't have a fever anymore, but he was wet all over (particularly on his head) and his pillow was soaked. I've never seen him sweat so much at night time, and his room wasn't hot.

He seems more sensitive to the cold than usual just this last week. I can see that because in the morning when I change him out of his pajamas, he seems quite upset about suddenly standing in the cold air and is fine once his clothes are back on. I don't see this same behaviour in the evening when we undress him.

I can't see any other changes since taking either of those remedies. His mood is relatively good. He is lively and chatty, but sensitive as usual. He is particularly unhappy about being dressed or undressed and having his finger and toenails cut, but they are not new things. He is very affectionate at the moment.

What do you think we should do next?

I think we are fast heading back down the path of screaming every night, next to no sleep and constant paracetamol use. :(

Thanks very much Sameer. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sameer, please have a look at this article. flu/ear-infection/news/20070918/drug-resistant-ear-infections-emerge" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/ear-infection/news/2007091... It might help give some clues as to what we are dealing with.

Really? Can I ask why?

(Please know that I'm not questioning you because I don't trust you, but simply because I want to understand what is happening and what your thinking is).

Ok fair enough. I am just wondering about the silicea. How do we know that it's not the right remedy when we hadn't gotten very far with the potency yet? Or would you have expected the 30C to have done more, despite the interruption of the antibiotics?

I have often thought that about his irritability on waking from sleep, since it is such a strong characteristic of his, and it is only something we have dealt with since his ear problem started, never before.

Interesting about the behaviour thing, this is also very characteristic of him. The carers at daycare never think there is anything wrong with him, and his mood always greatly improves when we go out and about, where there is heaps of distraction and activity.

He doesn't mind tomatoes as much these days. He will suck on a raw cherry tomato, but he won't eat pasta sauces with tomato in them or sliced tomato on a sandwich, or even tomato ketchup.

And even know, his vocabulary is so much more developed than it was a few months ago, but he still repeats himself a lot. He will often find a word or phrase that he likes and that will be THE word or phrase of the week, if you know what I mean. Then the next week there will be a new one. I really don't know if this is typical toddler behaviour or not.

Something else I have noticed in the last few days is a huge attachment to his dad. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I read that can be a lyco thing? He sometimes gets attached to me as well for a day or two at a time, but it's much more extreme with his dad, almost to the point where he doesn't even want to look at me, and he'll push me away if I get too close. He usually cries for his dad first when he wakes up at night time.

Will get hold of it in the next couple of days. Will get 12c too, and we already have 30c at home.