Gymnocladus canadensis: too tired to hold her head up

A seventy year old woman comes for kidneys problems. Her ureters are blocked by scar tissues after repeated infections. Seven years ago, two catheters have been inserted. She is on permanent antibiotic treatment and two times per year the catheters need to be replaced and the ureters cleaned. She experiences severe pain every day.

This complaint was treated with Equisetum 12 DH; this potency was originally prescribed because it was the only one available. The remedy seemed to work well: the pain decreased, antibiotics could be stopped, the scar tissue growth was reduced, and the catheters needed to be replaced only once a year, as a precautionary measure. Cystitis continued to occur and was only partially relieved by other homeopathic remedies; Sarsaparilla, Cantharis, Terbentina, Solidago, Senecio, and Berberis. Uva ursi was given as a herbal tincture and repeated doses of Equisetum were sufficient to keep the situation under control, although once or twice per year, antibiotics were still necessary.

History
Her husband died twenty years ago. She lives alone, above a franchise business, which is functioning well. Last year she had a heart attack. When the cleaning lady comes to help with household chores, she likes to work along with her, otherwise she just sits as she is tired most of the time. The pain is variable, she has days with pain and days without. The heart complaints, for which she receives Nitrobat, returned due to life-threatening situations with her grandchildren, which make her very tense. She feels as though she is ‘all nerves’. On the one hand, she feels that she needs to do all that she can for them, on the other hand, she is so tired that she often just wants to lie on the sofa. With a sigh, she says that she misses the courage to greet the day and that the pleasure in the little things of life is gone. She does not know if she will be strong enough to cope with all that needs to be done each day. She starts out each morning, does what she can, then finds that it is too much for her and she needs to lie down again. Yet from time to time, she manages to pull herself up and to enthusiastically and forcefully go about her tasks. She does not want to talk with her children about her worries or about her situation; she does not want to be a mother whose children have to worry about.  She talks in heaves and sighs, constantly leaning her head on her hands, with her elbows on the table. She looks like a frail and fragile little bird. She feels bone tired, right down to her hands and feet. She often needs to support her head due to pain in her neck. After many years of wavering, she has finally decided to move into a smaller home, simply because she could not manage anymore.

Analysis
Her attitude and the situation of the last years fit the theme of the Fabaceae: the overwhelming tiredness, the will to carry on despite being tired, her joyless situation, and the fact that she is loathe to ask for help, preferring to manage by herself. She finds it simply logical to look after herself financially and emotionally, and to organise her own life. She does not even think of accepting the limitations imposed by old age. The doubts about how to proceed, delaying the decisions, always stopping and starting, the changeability of the complaints, all these fit stage 5. The tiredness and the need to lean her head on her hands fit Gymnocladus.

Prescription: Gymnocladus Canadensis 200K, one dose

Follow-up
Her energy and her sense of peace increase dramatically. She makes the move without problems and has no more complaints of tiredness. The urinary tract infections are reduced and it is only four years later that I see her again, this time due to arthrosis. Between times I see her grandchildren, who have positive reports about her well-being. The arthrosis seems to be related to the infections, and this responds well to Pyrogenium. The bladder and kidney problems are kept under control as before, with Equisetum.