A 46-year-old woman, she has a stocky build, calm and serene, with understanding eyes. She speaks with a slight lisp. For two years now, she has been experiencing various health issues since contracting COVID-19. At first, she experienced loss of smell and taste, pressure on her head, as if someone had hit her, and the pain spread to her temple. It was also as if she could hear less, she had tingling and numbness on her left side. She tired quickly. After a month, she experienced severe vertigo, with nausea and vomiting, and she could no longer walk on her own, but this slowly subsided over three months. After that, she developed persistent symptoms: noise sensitivity, or “hyperacusis.” She is particularly bothered by specific sounds, such as screaming children, excavators on construction sites, and certain types of music. She became very forgetful, her thinking slowed down, and she started forgetting names. She was also under a lot of pressure at work, where she provides social care and assists people with mental and physical disabilities in their daily lives. Last year, she stopped doing this because she couldn't manage it anymore; having conversations was too tiring. After a conversation, she felt mentally exhausted, her head was full, she had pressure in her head, headaches, and stress in her body: her stomach felt hard, and she felt agitated. Now she does administrative work, which she can manage if she takes plenty of breaks. She still feels exhausted, which is related to her emotions. She needs to clear up things from the past; she is working on her self-esteem. In the past, she neglected herself, easily conformed, and sometimes did things she didn't want to do. She had a dominant mother, which still weighs on her mind. Now is the time to address it. She is a very sensitive person and is influenced by things from the past, things that have been said, things that affect you. She is now working with positive affirmations. Mother: She made the decisions; if she liked something, her mother would list all the reasons why she shouldn't do it, and then she would withdraw. Her father was very much in the background, timid, and didn't interfere. She uses Euthyrox; she already suffered from fatigue in her youth, and during pregnancy, they found antibodies in her blood. She used to get pain in her lower back when she was stressed. She gets headaches when she experiences pressure, when she is very stressed. Her relationship at home has not been good for a year or two. At first, she did not want to work, but wanted to take care of her child. Social care appealed to her five years ago: she always wanted to help other people and be socially active. Her sensitivity: she almost feels the pain of someone who is telling her something, and she takes things to heart. At work, she can keep it professional. She sleeps well, but her dreams are unpleasant, busy, flying from one thing to another, after which she wakes up feeling tense. Hobbies: painting, being outdoors, swimming. She is a perfectionist, finds it difficult when something is not finished, which creates extra work pressure. She has always put herself last, she withdraws. She has always been bothered by bright light, and she wears tinted glasses. She has spots on her neck when she has exams and is stressed. She always gives too much, also at work.
AnalysisSeries 4: Her sensitivity and her reaction to COVID-19 are reminiscent of
Series 5 and 6. But what stands out is that she remains practical, hands-on, work is important to her, she wants to be able to care for others, to do something. Fatigue is her primary complaint, along with many abdominal complaints, which suggests
Fabales. Many characteristics of a subclass (here
Fabales) can be extrapolated to the entire class (here the
Fabidae). Relationship problems: think of
Rosales. Her problems after the coronavirus infection coincide with the period when her relationship is not going well.
Rosales: relationship and love problems, concentration problems, things that are close to your heart (involvement with patients). Spots on the neck. Mental fatigue, to less attention.
Spiraea ulmaria: hyperacusis.
Phase 6: Parents, she received no appreciation, and there was no room for her own choices. Fatigue.
Self-esteem, lack thereof, is a theme. Giving a lot.
Phase 2: timid, withdrawing, retreating into your shell, effacing yourself.
We see many
Rosales characteristics; via the Subphase you arrive at the
Spiroideae. Spiraea ulmaria is placed at
Stage 15, which fits with the restlessness, the difficulty with pressure.
Prescription: 1 Spiraea ulmaria MK
Follow upAfter a few days, she had more energy and felt much stronger. She can tolerate more noise. The pressure on her head is gone, but she still has difficulty thinking and remembering names, and she is still doing adapted work. After two months, the improvement is still there.
Stress: it is as if the stress system is turned on, finding peace and deep breathing helps, but it takes half an hour. Still busy with meditation, ‘contentment in daily life’, also dealing with pain. Pain from not being able to do things, also grief and death, not being able to make her own choices. Energy is still low. Avoiding emotions: previously always adapted, avoiding discussions, and there is a bit of fear, not wanting to fail. The dominant people around her knew very well how to tell her what they wanted, so she just adapted. After two months the energy relapsed. Repeating Spiraea ulmaria after four months brings another brief improvement. The improvement is not yet sustained, a reason to look further.
Analysis 2The fatigue, the slowness in her thinking and actions, are still there, and are more consistent with
Stage 14: it seems promising, but as soon as she does or undertakes more, her energy levels drop again. Hopeless. Giving up. Avoiding.
Prescription: 2
Spiraea tomentosa C30
Follow-up in six weeksThings are going much better, despite many worries at home about the children. She is already working many hours again, which is stressful, but things are going better than expected; they had already given up on her. Within a few days, she started to feel more energetic, and she can now express herself more easily, both at home and at work. Her thinking is clearer, she is taking a course, and she has started doing much more. She is sleeping much better now. Sensitivity to stimuli: She is still very bothered by sharp noises from crockery, but conversations are going better, she no longer needs recovery time, and the others are now more bothered than she is. She can now focus well. She has started exercising. She is better at dealing with people and is better at indicating when something is not right. After six months she developed painful menses, with the vertigo as she had during Covid. Agraphis nutans helped.