A ‘ Difficult Case ’ Report
Peter Berryman | MSc BMedSc PGDipHltSc BSc ND AdvDipHom DipAstPsych GradCertEd GAICD
Abstract
“ Never well since …” scenarios can become complicated over an individual ’ s lifetime when unresolved issues , including issues that may have been passed down through generations , accumulate into a complex chronic case . Such an illustrative “ difficult case ” is largely resolved with one homeopathic medicine over at least eight weeks of review , after many prior interventions had failed .
Introduction
I would like to discuss a patient who was considered a “ difficult case ” by the other practitioners whom she had consulted . Patients like her have become my clinical speciality over the last 35 years in my homeopathy practice . Since I was 14 years old I have focused on these special patients , as at that time someone I cared about was not able to be helped . That was when I made a life decision to become the best physician that I could be , someone who could try to help people like this woman . You may know people like her - people with complex chronic problems . They could be someone you love dearly , and you wonder “ who is going to help them ?” Perhaps it is the “ easy patients ” who get better with the aid of almost any practitioner . Famous for his wit , the French philosopher , Voltaire ( real name ,
François-Marie Arouet , 1694-1778 ) said , “ The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease .”
Patient Information
The patient was a 45-year-old female who had been using telehealth to try to find effective treatment for many years with the assistance of well-intentioned practitioners in many parts of the world . She was constantly exhausted with unrelenting pain everywhere in her body , perhaps like fibromyalgia . Every morning on waking , if she slept , she felt as if “ a truck had run over her ” and that she was always “ dragging an anchor ”. She described herself as being “ burnt out ”, like what she heard might happen to others who over-exercised at the gymnasium . She described all her bones as hurting , especially in the morning , as she thought they might were she 95 years old . Her alcoholic mother was unsympathetic and referred to her as a “ hypochondriac ”. Her alcoholic father had largely been absent from her life , as her parents divorced when she was young . She tried living with her maternal grandfather for several years , until he unfortunately passed away . Her family relatives have numerous mental health disorders and multiple female-specific cancers . Abnormal Pap tests resulted in a hysterectomy 10 years ago , though she continues to suffer from severe endometriosis . She had a tonsillectomy 17 years ago , as an attempted surgical intervention to address her reoccurring sore throats and bronchitis . Recent pathology tests had identified Chlamydia pneumonia . She described a constant
142 | vol28 | no3 | JATMS