Lac maternum, Sweet, sweet Mother's Milk

Case
Kevin is a boy of eleven years of age when he comes for consultation the 16th of January 2001 with a recently diagnosed juvenile diabetes. He now uses 13 units of insulin in the morning and 7 in the evening. He checks his blood sugar himself 7 times a day.
Ten days ago he developed extreme thirst, lost weight, had to get up at night to urinate. In December 2000 his brother had flu for ten days with high temperature, headache etc. Kevin had some abdominal pain on waking in the morning, some nausea and no appetite for breakfast. Once he had to vomit in the night. There was some stress at school where his teacher, a woman to whom he was very attached, became ill and was replaced by another teacher with whom he could not get along at all. He felt very sorry for his old teacher and repeatedly asked his mother when she would come back again. He reacted also quite angrily that his old teacher was gone, became impossible to handle, and called the new teacher Miss Piggy.
When he is refused something he cannot accept this, throws a chair, destroys things, uses foul language. When he wants something he must have it now and on the spot, otherwise he explodes. These tempers were quite outspoken and more pronounced than usual the last month.
But on the other hand he can be very affectionate and loving, and like an angel.

Past (homeopathic) History
I saw Kevin for the first time when he was about one year old with colds and recurrent bouts of bronchitis with coughing. He was a very easy baby, loved to be cuddle, was breast-fed for 6 months. He had his first bronchitis at 7 weeks. When the feeding bottle is empty, he throws the bottle away and throws himself on the ground and is very angry. The same behavior when he is taken out of the bath.
Has curly hair, blond, blue sclerae and sleeps the first part of the night in the knee-chest position. He is always short of food and gets angry then. He consumes half a liter of milk a day. Worse from 23.00 - 24.00 (restless, cough)
With Tuberculinum aviare he gets better.

Pregnancy - birth
Mother had an aversion to coffee in pregnancy (indicative of cow's milk allergy).
Birth itself was no problem, but two hours after birth mother suffered severe abdominal pain and blood-loss with very high pulse-rate, and that was the beginning of months of misery, weakness, and chronic anemia that didn't react to allopathic medication. She felt more than once quite guilty towards the baby for not giving him the full attention that she wanted to give. After Ferrum metallicum 200 there was a dramatic amelioration.

Then in 1994 I see Kevin again. There is no more respiratory or ear trouble. But now he has all of a sudden eye problems: hypermetropia left 4+ and right 2+. Last month also the temper tantrums came back (like he had as a baby). He is so angry then, throws things, you cannot touch him, but all of a sudden everything is over. There are always eating problems, he always has something else to do, dinner gets cold, doesn't want to sit at the table, says he doesn't like the food, but afterwards he eats everything with relish. What he detests one day he loves the next. He is very changeable in moods.
After a temper tantrum he doesn't show any remorse: he looks the other way, it all seems not to get through to him. For instance his older brother played "dead" on the floor, Kevin jumps on him with his knees on top, his brother had a few bruised ribs but Kevin’s only reaction is: "when are we going to eat?" and then eats with relish.
He doesn't tell anything about school. If you ask him he says: "I don't know anymore." Especially when something happened at school in which he played a part - one time he had bitten another child (he said later: "I was so angry, I was totally confused").
He is afraid in the dark, dreams of witches who are after him, doesn't want to sleep alone, he still wets the bed. He is left-handed. He is quite clever at school, but also quite hyper.
At kindergarten he cried when his mother left (for three months) and at the new school (next level) the same problem was repeated.
These last weeks his mother is not allowed to go to work, he throws himself in front of her, keeps the door shut. He sings a lot and can play the clown of the family. When eating an ice cream he gets a pain in his lower back.
The Tuberculinum is repeated and again acts satisfactorily.
And then 6 years later I see him again now with his diabetes

Analysis
Back in 1990 when I first saw Kevin as a one-year-old the remedy I gave now was not in general use or even properly proved. Nowadays it is one of the best-proved remedies (but not yet published).
Lac maternum is the remedy I gave now because of
- His reactions as a baby to food: never enough and temper tantrums when no more food (in our
proving of Lac humanum we had a lot of dreams about food)
- Probable bonding problems because of illness of the mother after birth
- bonding problems with mother figures at school
- Insensitivity/hard-heartedness
- Diabetes, a food/sugar related illness, where all Lac's are important remedies

I also stopped diary products for the following reasons:
1 If Lac maternum is the remedy then there is bound to be a sensitivity to milk
2 When we look at the rubric diabetes there are a lot of milk-derivatives in the rubric (Lac-ac, lac-c, lac-d, lac-v, Natrium lacticum) indicating a possibly causal relationship between milk-consumption and diabetes
3 Mother had an aversion to coffee in the pregnancy, which is associated in a significant degree with cow's-milk allergy in the child
4 Also a kinesiology test indicated a sensitivity to cow's milk

Follow-up
12-3-01: After Lac maternum 200K (one dose)
After one day he could cut one unit of insulin off his evening dose, and after one week he was using half of his usual insulin (morning and evening dose). From 7 February onwards (so three weeks after his first Lac maternum) he was off the insulin. He still keeps to his diet and is also without cows-milk products.
He had a nightmare in which people ordered him to open the front door, but he said they could not come in because his mother was not at home and then they threatened to kill him. Dreams in which bikes played a role, of a beauty contest which he is joining in.
At school there are no problems anymore (though the old teacher is still not back). His mother says he has been changing the last weeks, is more understanding, could be so hardhearted and insensitive when he could not get his way. For instance on a Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago he insisted on going to the barber: just phone him, phone him. Then the barber had just closed and then he gets angry and scolds his mother: you promised, you never keep your promises, you are a cunt (it was mentioned as a possibility earlier in the week to go to the barber). Now it was possible to get through to him (after a 2 hour talk) and explain that he hurts people saying things like that, and if it gets through you can see him change, relax and sigh saying: "yes, it’s not your fault that the barber’s closed."
He always wants to be with the whole family, always asks at what time his mother is coming home when she has left for work. He can't stand his mother crying; he never cries himself.
Lately his mother hears him saying he feels pity for some boy (never felt pity before for someone), or shows sympathy with hungry children on television (used to laugh it away). For Valentine’s Day he made a beautiful heart for his parents and said: "I love you very much" (has never done that).
His looks are very important to him: he often stands in front of the mirror or does a dance-step looking at himself in a window glass (doesn't notice/mind if someone sees it).
On the 19th of February he had a one-off glucose-level of 19 (normal 4-7), but he had a cold that day, and it returned to normal without a remedy.
Rx: Lac maternum 10M

Follow up 6-4-01
After Lac maternum 10M he had a dream that he checked his blood and the glucose was at 1.8 (without using insulin). His parents were with him and all were amazed.
One time he came home crying from school because he was not allowed to practice his playback act. This never happened before otherwise he would have only been very angry and scolding.
For 4 days now his glucose-level is at 7-8, he has a cold and he twisted his knee playing soccer.
Rx: repeat Lac maternum 10M

Follow up 27-4-01
Immediately after the repetition of the remedy the cold symptoms vanished, blood-glucose returned to normal and also his knee symptoms improved right away. The first week after the remedy he was sent out of the classroom every day, as the teacher was not able to get into contact with him in any way.
Dream: he could not do his goal keeping because of his injured knee and they tried to find somebody to replace him (he now wants to be a mid-field player instead of goalkeeper)
Dream: in a sweetshop a man is sharing sweets, and Kevin takes one without realizing he is not allowed to have sweets. Then he realizes (too late), the taste of the candy is too sweet and sour, he doesn't like it.
Dream: Kevin's brother with the mother of a friend is chasing Kevin and his mother.
Twice he had a major fight with his brother, full of cursing and hate.
On 18-4 he had a tennis match and he got into a quarrel with his opponent about a ball being in or out. He got so angry that he didn't want to play anymore, he walked out and could not initially be reasoned with. After a lot of persuasion he continued the game, which he lost in the end. He refused to shake hands with his opponent as he was still angry. In the afternoon he had to play a second match and this time he is totally different, cozily chats with his opponent, doesn't fuss about balls being in or out. After the match he decided to shake hands with his first opponent too.
Since that day he is a totally different child, affectionate, sweet, full of understanding, other children come and contact him, he has a certain attractive charm to them. Yesterday even two girls came to his house to ask if he wanted to play with them (never happened before).

Follow up 2-7-01
Tempers come back a little - when his behavior is worse also the blood sugar is above 7.
Rx: Lac maternum 50M

Follow up 1-9-01
Everything still OK.

Epilogue
Follow up time is not enough to draw any definite conclusions from this case. The pediatrician when confronted with this data says that this phenomenon can be quite normal. In 5% of these juvenile diabetes cases you see a honeymoon period in which the diabetes goes into remission. This period can even last for 22 months (according to literature). The pediatrician warns Kevin and his parents that the diabetes will surely come back. Kevin believes and feels that he is cured.
For homeopathy this honeymoon period can be an entrance into the allopathic fortress, for if you say you can cure juvenile diabetes you are not taken seriously beforehand. But if we show that you can induce (and possibly protract) a honeymoon period we stay within the framework and belief system of our allopathic colleagues and they might show some interest.


Astrological and Jungian data
Kevin's astrological characteristics can be seen as confirmative to the remedy (I think):
Moon on the ascendant (12th house) in Cancer
Moon is mother, feeling, food, receptivity, changeability, caring (the muriaticum in homeopathy). Moon on the ascendant makes the Moon one of the most dominant planets in his chart.
Cancer is the sign where moon characteristics (bad and good) are intensified because cancer can have similar characteristics. They redraw with emotional upheavals (in self-pity). They are easily manipulated, their family is very important.
He has a Libra sun conjunct Mars and Mars square Moon, which account for the temper tantrums.
In terms of the elements he is stuck in fire (mars) and water (moon, cancer).
The dominant archetypal complex in this case has to do with Mother (moon, food, bonding, witch, food-related disease: diabetes)

Some thoughts on the "perfect" simillimum
Criteria for the perfect simillimum:
1 It must be unique to the individual
2 It must reflect or mirror the deepest pathology
3 It must be given at the right time and in a form that can be dealt with

This perfect simillimum is within everybody's reach, in fact it is given to us everyday and every night; it is life itself - which takes a unique form in every one of us, which mirrors exactly (by means of projection) the unresolved stuff, the unfinished business within us - everyday, in every person and in every situation we meet we are confronted with our projections and every night this confrontation takes place in our dreams. Life itself is our unique and perfect simillimum in mother tincture and homeopathy is there when we get stuck in the initial aggravation of it.