A case of Citrus nobilis

MK – Female age 14

CC: ovarian cyst, menstrual pain, acne and tinea versicolor.

MK is sullen looking and very made up, dark eyeliner, unresponsive and aloof- dressed with very low cut tight t-shirt. She comes to me at her mother’s insistence. She answers questions, but offers nothing. She has sharp ovary pain on both sides, like a knife and she is better for lying. She has had periods twice a month since August. Her mother had heparin injections for anti-phospholipid antibodies during pregnancy. She was born C-section at 28 weeks, weighing 3 pounds 9 ounces. She was hospitalized for 3 weeks and was slow to nurse. She was colicky from 5-12 weeks and was on formula, but she slept through the night from 12 weeks.

This last year MK changed from a Christian school with 20 kids to a large regional public high school and she hates it. She doesn’t like to read, it’s boring. She likes to do crafts and horseback riding.

Desires: Junk food, salad(3),Caesar dressing, ketchup, oranges, pineapple, granny smith apples.

When she has ovarian pain she gets dizzy & nauseated. She is on tetracycline for her acne which is raised and mottled on her face and chest.

MK got a punching bag for Christmas, “I want to be a horse trainer or a cop- so I can take my anger out.”

She talks to her father, but doesn’t open up to her mother who is the “heavy” in the family because dad is weak in his discipline and boundary setting. She tends to ignore her mother. She has a lot of friends. She has tactile sensitivities. She use to sleepwalk, but no nightmares. She fears monkeys, snakes and does not like being in the dark outside by herself. She likes sunshine, but it can give her headaches. She bites nails (3) and cracks her knuckles. She is perfectionistic. It is impossible for her to cry in front of anyone. She is not shy, except at a first meeting. She laughs easily. As a little one she loved the water. She likes horror movies -‘I like the tenseness’.

At school she doesn’t ask questions- “I know it already.” She is anxious to finish school and go out to work. Her favorite color is yellow.

“If I’m hurting someone, I’ll apologize”.

She is creative, she writes poetry, she creates art work and writes about random things.

“There were 18 kids in my other school, I changed schools because I wanted to play sports.”

Plan: Folliculinum 30c

First follow up: Ovarian pain slightly less- menses more regular.

She is not hungry much – craving oranges and pineapple; averse fish & chocolate.

“Other kids make fun of me – bully me. I tell them off and walk away, it makes me so angry.”

My conversation with her mother: “She hasn’t told you this, but most of the girls at school sort of shun her. I heard from a neighbor that M posted a picture of herself on Myspace in a very revealing bikini. I confronted her, but she had already taken it off the internet. She couldn’t tell me why she did it. I think she was pushing back at those girls who made fun of her after she put tanning lotion on and it turned her skin orange for 2 weeks. I had to drive her to school- they were name-calling and taunting her – calling her ‘Orangie.”

She stopped playing soccer; she only has one or two friends now and avoids the other group of girls.

Analysis:

The situation of being shunned by a group of girls, her recent craving for oranges, and the synchronous tanning episode conveniently indicated Citrus Nobilis. Having recently participated in the proving, her symptoms made this remedy an obvious choice.

Plan:

ORANGE - 12C DAILY

2 mo. Follow up: (Speaks directly to me…volunteers she wasn’t experiencing any burning pain in her ovaries.) “At first I was irritated a lot, impatient. No cramps except the first day of my period – not bad. No diarrhea or constipation.”

She is craving coffee and Crab Rangoon.

School was much better, there was no more bullying and she was doing more with friends. “I’d ignore the bullying if it came up again. I’m looking forward to next year.”

Her mother reports she’s happy and laughing. She has been coming into her room at bedtime and talking with her; actually hanging out together.

She is not angry and the tinea versicolor seems to have disappeared.

That was 2 years ago and she continues to do well.

Photos:
Wikimedia Commons: Orange Blossom Painting; Mary E. Eaton Photo;
Exclusion; Sally Williams