Order of importance: a case of Veratrum album and Morgan pure

A young patient of 28 months was brought in for a consultation by the mother. The mother is a nurse in the Gastro-intestinal ward and was perplexed about her daughter’s, Ali, condition.

“It didn’t make sense to me.” For four months, Ali has had blood in her stool. At first, her mother thought there may have been a small tear from a large stool, but it changed quickly to unformed stringy stools, with much blood and mucus. There is no pain or loss of appetite. Her parents brought Ali to the hospital, where tests were run, but nothing came back positive. They thought she may have an atypical bacteria.

The doctors prescribed Pentasa 500mg daily, an anti-inflammatory medication which is used to treat mild to moderate ulcerative colitis and mild to moderate Crohn's disease.

It started working after 10 days; the stools were formed and there was no blood or mucus. However, Ali would say her belly hurt when she took the Pentasa. After one month, she had a flare up and her hemoglobin dropped significantly. She was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and given a course of prednisone and was also set up with a dietician. There seemed to be no changes in Ali’s condition with the food changes, so the mom started looking at a more holistic approach.

She took her to a naturopath who told her that  Ali had parasites, based on the information that Ali’s symptoms may have started when she fell into a kiddy pool that had some old standing water in it. So, they did a parasite cleanse, and she was given allergy tests. The Naturopath prescribed Silicea 30C and some supplements. She felt that Silicea was helping.

On Christmas day, Ali had another flare up. She was having three bowel movements a day; the stools were loose with mucus and blood. With every bowel movement, Ali’s bottom became more raw and painful with blistering. They tried Silicea 200C; no change. She was then referred to me by her naturopath.

So, after hearing this, I wanted to know a little more. I have had experience with these various gastro-intestinal conditions, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, but not in someone this young.

Ali was very petite, with fine features. She was dressed in a little black and white hounds tooth dress with black boots, a black coat and hat. She looked like a miniature grown up. The mom was casually dressed and said that Ali is very particular in what she wears, and picks her own cloths out. I also noticed that Ali was very intelligent. She would listen to us and add her little bits to clarify mom’s story. She was open to speaking with me and I very soon discovered that Ali had an extensive vocabulary and you could easily have an adult conversation with her.

Ali played quietly on the carpet with the felt doll board. She was very meticulous and organized, she even lined them up.

I discovered that Ali had the flu with diarrhea and vomiting for five days; it was hard on the mom because she was 39 weeks pregnant. Ali got the flu for the second time, three weeks later and has never been the same since.

When I asked about the sister, her mom says she loves her, but it was a little rough in the beginning.

After Ali’s mom had her sister, her father brought her to the hospital on the second day. As soon as she was introduced to her sister, Ali hit her. “We were so shocked. My husband is very reserved. It is such a weird feeling, looking at your child that is bigger hitting the other. She was shocked with our reaction, looking at us as if saying, ‘why are you doing discipling me?’ She didn’t understand why this was happening.” Ali continued to hit or pinch her little sister and the mom could never leave her unwatched when she was with her. Ali was very jealous of her sister regarding time spent with the parents and she was possessive with her toys.

This is how I put the case together:

It felt that this was clearly a case of Veratrum album due to Ali losing her position in the family. Veratrum is also a cholera remedy and fits the physical symptoms.                                                                                     

Prescription: Ali was treated with Veratrum album 30C once.

Follow-ups

After 2 weeks: Mom reported that there was a continual decrease of blood and mucus in the stool. After one week, mom stopped the Pentasa. Ali continued to do well, with intermittent blood and mucus in the stool.

The mom also reported that Ali offered her little sister a toy and shared freely; it was the first time she played with her sister or wanted to share with her. Since then, Ali places her chair next to her sister.

Ali was also becoming more emotional and clinging.

Prescription: repeat Veratrum album 30C single dose.

Ali continued to do well, but needed a dose of Veratrum album every other week. After 6 weeks, all her symptoms returned and her disposition also became worse, with tantrums and clinging.

The mother continued to talk about the presence of bacteria and had Ali tested for Clostridium difficille. At this point, I decided to treat with a bowel nosode. I choose Morgan pure even though there was no appearance of skin issues. There was clearly malabsorption. Patterson describes the remedy as a “Children’s Nosode” where there is a nutritional or metabolic disorder; “child who is all brain and no muscle.”

Ali certainly fit this; she was very precocious, but also very tiny for her age.

Prescription: Morgan pure 1M single dose was given and repeated twice over 2 months. I also gave Veratrum album 20X to be given daily. I felt that the mother did better when she was giving her daughter something on a daily basis. The mother felt Ali did better with a daily dose as well.

After 5 months: there is no blood or mucus in her stool. Her hemoglobin normalised. Her stools are regular and formed.

Ali is not as fastidious and her temper tantrums are also reduced greatly. She continued to do well with her sister and did not make an issue of toys and attention in daycare.

Mom is still a little over-anxious, but also doing better.

The mom mentioned she had stomach aches as a child and that she was now starting to develop the same symptoms as Ali. The mother chose to speak to her doctor about it and was also put on Pentasa. After a week on the medication, she decided to take a dose of Ali’s Morgan pure and to discontinue her medication.

After 11 months: Ali has not had any relapse of symptoms. She stopped Veratrum album after 6 months. She has grown and is very talkative and happy!

Photo: Wikimedia commons
Veratrum Album; Qwert1234