Itchy throat and plugged ear _{Page 3 of 6}

Please do not change the remedy.

Aggravation in a chronic case will usually peak at 4-5 days after the dose.

Improvement will be more noticeable at about 6-8 days.

The second week, once the dust settles down after aggravation, is the best time to begin deciding how appropriate the remedy has been for you.

A patient will not recognize they are on the simillimum during the aggravation, nor will the practitioner. This part of treatment requires patience and confidence in the choice (and in the practitioner).

I am sorry that I didn't get online to reassure you earlier. I had an intensely busy day with patients yesterday and did not get home until late (meaning I fell into bed from mental exhaustion lol).

What is your current state?

Ok still good - increase of discharges is often a good sign as well (assuming it doesn't create another problem of course). I often see patients get diarrhea, runny noses, rashes, sweats - all signs of detoxification (energetically as well as physically).

When a symptom has been too much in one direction, you will often get a swing to the other direction as the vital force tries to balance it out.

This is because when you take a medicine, it amplifies your symptoms in order to try and provoke your vital energy into pushing back the opposite way. By doing so it neutralizes the problem. This is the basic mechanism of homoeopathic cure.

Aggravation is usually only worst on the first dose of your remedy, after that there is less work today, and so less aggravation will occur (as long as the practitioner is still careful with his dosing).

Glad you are feeling better - let me know how the day progresses with all the little symptoms.

The state of Cocculus is one where a person devotes themselves to caring for others, and their symptoms arise from this neglect of their own health. Your urinary symptom still fits into this idea perfectly.

The most important thing here now is to observe the long term changes - you are going into the second week, and this is where improvement should be most noticeable.

It all sounds textbook perfect (so far). All we need to do is wait for the next set of signs to show themselves to know when to act (or if to act).

I will be extremely surprised if Cocc, a medicine which covers only the mental 'idea',(which I know David rates as most important), but does not cover the key peculiar symptoms of the case or the miasmatic state will cure. Even the bloody taste is NOT a Cocculus symptom. Any use of Cocc is as a similar here and not a simillimum, and the results will not last long.

Yes repeat the remedy once only, exactly as before but I want you to dilute it in 3/4 cup of water this time.

Is the taste new? Was there actual blood? Do you have new sores in the mouth?

I actually consider the general state most important, with the mentals as part of the generals. Ailments from nightwatching was not a mental symptom but a general one. The STATE of Cocculus is exhaustion after caring for others and ignoring one's own needs.

Obviously one dose would not be expected to completely cure most people, so a repeat at any stage is not unusual.

If the state that Cocculus covers was simply a recent one, and not the original chronic state, we will simply return you to the time before the children and need to look for the next remedy.

If you are Cocculus at your 'heart' so to speak then it will solve older problems. If you are not then we will look deeper and further.

There are over 5000 medicines, and each one has its own unique picture. Many of those are so poorly known that they may rarely be prescribed at all. Finding the right one is not simple, as you can imagine.

Ailments from cares and worries are there in Nit-ac as well (and in many others), so Cocculus is far from being the exclusive remedy which covers the general state here (I know you will go on about how this is different in Cocculus, but these are just 'clinical' theories not provings), and for me, the other peculiars, striking physical symptoms, and the miasmatic emphasis of the proving is much more important than theorizing about shades of 'fine' differences about 'core issues' which is how our materia medica was originally written.

The remedy being given here covers only the etiology and none of the other peculiar symptoms and you still have not answered my original question about why Nit-ac is not a closer fit given that it covers each and every symptom and miasmatic state of the case ?

PS: I don't want a lecture on 'core issues' and 'themes' of Nit-ac now. There should be a better argument out there.

Ailments from cares and worries is NOT the same as Ailments from nightwatching. You must understand all the subtle differences between the remedies and the rubrics to get the best results out of them.

Why am I having to defend every little decision I make. Has anyone been harmed by my prescriptions so far? No. Has anyone not improved in some way? No. Have I stepped outside the philosophy to make my prescriptions. No.

Really, what is this all about. I am not constantly interfering in your cases, even if the patient is not doing very well. Considering that you make wrong prescriptions yourself, why are you so critical of me? What is your agenda here? It certainly doesn't appear to be helping the patient, since I am doing that already. It seems to be some kind of personal grudge you have with me - no wonder you want to prescribe Nit-ac and Lachesis to nearly everyone.

Ailments from night-watching is also there in Nit-ac :)

I have no agenda other than saying that there is a better remedy which is being ignored and you still have no explanation for it.

I shall not post on this thread again.

Good luck.

Sameer

Thank you. There is a limit to how much I should have to explain myself to you. If a remedy is clearing not working then advice on what to do next is not a problem for me - I am quite willing to accept I can make mistakes.

Jumping in at every opportunity to tell patients that my prescription is wrong, that I am not addressing the miasm, that you know what the remedy should be, that I am not doing correctly or that you do not believe in my method of prescribing....this is hardly in a spirit of respect or cooperation is it?

I am not your rival here. You do not need to prove your knowledge and skill is better than mine. I am not interested in competing with you. I don't care who is the 'best'. I stay out of your cases when you have contracted with a patient to treat them, out of respect for you and the patient. I would appreciate you show me the same respect.

This kind of argument creates an inappropriate dynamic too. As a practitioner, I must not be attached to the remedy choice - I must not adopt remedies as favorites. Any remedy can cure any patient, and my only job is to listen for the clues that will lead to the remedy the patient needs.

Having to defend a remedy choice before I am even sure it is definitely correct, suddenly makes it not about the patient, but about me (and whoever is arguing with me). I am pushed into the Cocculus side, and someone else takes up the Nitric-acid side. This is a crazy situation and not at all in the best interests of the patient.

I can't predict what will happen. But it is not unheard of for homoeopathy to move people backwards though their complaints, allowing us to remove all the various layers of disease that have accumumlated over the years. Will this happen to you - there is no way to tell. But it is a good sign and simply requires further medicines to resolve it.

Homoeopathy is like counselling in many ways, it is a process that uncovers wounds and then heals them, removing the weaknesses that lead to more serious chronic problems further down the track.

Ok cool so this is yet another old symptom making an appearance. Again, this is a good sign and still shows that we are moving in the right direction.

Hi David,

My purpose was not to heckle, and I apologize if I came across like that.It is just that maybe my passion runs very high about homeopathy and especially when I see the remedy as very clear, I want the patient to take it very badly.

I will leave you with a few words from Kent about Nit-ac:

'Worse from night watching. Here it is like Cocculus, which has complaints from long night watching.'

Please keep it in mind strongly. It's my very sincere advise with only the patient's best interest in mind.

Best Wishes
Sameer

Another aggravation it sounds like. Dose might still be too strong - how much water did you use this time?

ok that is good to hear. All good signs that the remedy is working. Is the urinary frequency a normal or old symptom?

Next dose I would like you to use 250ml of water (for when we do it).

Sameer I appreciate you saying that - you and I are very different practitioners. We are going to have to learn to respect those differences. Because of those differences we are going to disagree over prescriptions in a lot of cases.

I respect that passion, and it is at least one thing we share (whatever our other differences).

Out of that respect I have avoided interfering in cases where patients have chosen to follow your advice. I don't mind comments in any case I am supervising, but please observe some boundaries around the contract I have made with the patient.

If we can agree to give each other space to do the work we have agreed to do then we can co-exist on the forum with a minimum of friction.

I am not one of the armchair homoeopaths that float around the internet making all sorts of crazy prescriptions. I have practiced for 17 years and seen thousands of patients. At least allow the possibility that I know what I am doing :) I will always allow for the possibility that at times I do not.

Ah Karina that is a great thing to hear - the periods may be starting to normalize. Very nice! This is a very important sign in a woman, when the menstrual disturbances start to correct themselves.