I want to keep running: a case of Cadmium metallicum

Patient (P):  “I am a businessman; I am running two industries at the same time. In one, I am working for my boss, the other is my own factory.

“I am a very busy person. I always think about my factory, worrying how to get orders for my factory every month.

“I want to work all the time but because of a problem with my right leg I am not able to do anything. I am not able run or walk fast, I feel no energy in my legs.

“Sometimes, when it gets worse I drag my leg while walking, there is no energy at all. I walk like a drunkard, I feel some imbalance when I walk. My leg slips, there is no grip in my foot. I can’t run at all. I have consulted neurologists, they say it is a vertebral disc problem with some prolapse.

“I also have many gastric complaints, and chest pain along with indigestion.

“This lump in my abdomen hurts a lot, especially if I don’t eat. It is a pulling pain. My father has this problem of lumps in his abdomen, too, but for him it is painless, while I have so much pain. Sometimes my abdomen is numb, especially in the morning when I get up. I am also constipated.

“The evenings are the worst time for me, after six pm. I am fatigued as if I have no energy in my body. It is as if someone has beaten me.

“I am not able to have intercourse, I have no strength or stability like before.”

He then asked me to close the door and in low voice started talking about his habits. “I have no addiction, but sometimes, when I am stressed, I have a beer. I smoke one or two cigarettes daily. Whisky aggravates me, it gives me gastric complaints, so I usually avoid it.

“I have slow urination, it just dribbles and takes almost a minute to pass urine. I can’t pass urine standing, only while sitting.

“My only tension is about my work. I work hard from 8 in the morning to 6 in the evening. It is physical work, with a lot of walking. I need to run here and there, which is not possible due to my leg.”

Sadashivan Rangajaran (SR): Tell more about your work at the factory?

P: “My big problem is getting orders for my factory, I always think about how to bring more orders, how to approach customers, make preparations and maintain old orders, the production time, delivery time, etc. It is a continual stress.  

“With the gastric and abdominal pain, I wonder why all these things are happening to me. Is there some problem in my abdomen? The lump makes me anxious, I’m afraid it might be cancer. 

“When these things bother me, how can I concentrate on my work? I need to run my factory. These are my weaknesses, they do not allow me to perform well. I need to maintain both my body and my factory.”

SR: Dreams?

P: “I dream about the factory, that there are not enough orders and I am sitting and doing nothing. It makes me feel anxious.

“Then I worry about my father. Am I causing him to suffer? I discuss the factory a lot with him.”

“I am running, somebody is chasing me, and suddenly I am not able to run. I stop and wake up with fear and perspiration.”

 (When I try to explore other areas of his life, he comes back to “running” – it seems to be a central issue in his life.)

SR. Tell me about running.

P: “Running? To have the factory running is the most important thing, it should not stop. I have invested 25 lakh in it, if it stops I am gone. I won’t allow it to stop running, at any cost. It has to run, it must run…

“I feel the same thing about my leg; I love running and I fear losing my ability to run. I make a lot of efforts to maintain my ability, to recover my leg, my health, in order to perform well.

“I even avoid intercourse because I lose strength after the act. Since the last six months I hardly have had sexual relations. I need to hold and maintain what is there.”

Analysis

The main theme in this case is his anxiety around running: he should not stop running (physically, mentally, in his professional performance). He exerts a constant effort to maintain his running, his performance, running his factory.  

We need to select a remedy with the central theme of performance and maintaining his performance, anxiety about failure and fear to lose the ability to run.

His words and energy point towards the mineral kingdom and his anxiety about his performance brings him to 5^th Row and 12^th column. I further confirm this with the support of the repertory.

Rubrics considered :

Dreams of running

Dreams of running after someone

Dreams: unsuccessful efforts to do various things

Dreams: destination, not reaching her

About the remedy: keywords of the 12^th column: (from the book “Structure” by Rajan Sankaran)

Fear of structure getting damaged, getting finished and going down. (We see these expressions with respect to his anxiety about his factory stopping functioning, his leg complaints and his sexual relationship.)

They have constant alertness, they are restless. They fight constantly but not always successfully (unsuccessful efforts).

Cadmium: it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain their performance but they make constant efforts to maintain it anyway.

Prescription: Cadmium metallicum 200C

Follow up after three months:

He says he is 40% better. His walking is stable. Abdominal pains are better but the gastric complaints have increased. He feels mentally somewhat better but is still stressed.

Prescription:  Cadmium met 200 one dose

Follow up after six months

“My leg is completely fine, I can run. The stress is always there but these days I have stopped worrying. In business, I feel we need to be cool to achieve something.  

“The gastric problem is still there but the lump is reduced. When I press it, it does not hurt anymore.  

“My sexual interest has increased, I am about 80% less weak.”

Prescription: Placebo

Follow ups after one and a half years:

“The lump is still there but it is small now. I have no other complaints, no tension around the factory. I only have gastric complaints if I consume oily food. My sex life is fine, and I am happy.”

Prescription: Cadmium met 200 one dose (to help him with the remainder of his lump).

He has changed a lot mentally and physically during this time. His wife says he is not restless or hurried like before; he has calmed down a lot and is less angry. These days, he spends good time with her, whereas earlier he would only be at the factory and hardly ever at home. He is no longer so worried about the factory orders, saying that orders will come if he puts in the necessary effort.

Photo: Shutterstock
Running business man; ArtFamily