A Case of Menopause and Homeopathy: It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way

While all women experience some symptoms during peri-menopause and menopause, it is the degree to which symptoms can affect some women’s quality of life that can be astounding. The following case is not profound regarding the remedy that was chosen, however it is the degree to which a homeopathic remedy quickly alleviated the patient’s symptoms in so many areas that is worth telling.

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By Joanna Rogister

Case:

November 1, 2013

Female, age 49, care worn, wide, thick features, with chief complaints of PMS/Menopause symptoms, headaches, congested sinuses, vision complaints.

The woman sat down in my office, almost in tears, responding to my question of how I could help her by saying, “where do I start?” Her food cravings for chocolate, chips and dip and coffee seemed to control her some days and she couldn’t seem to do anything about them. She had also developed sensitivity to gluten that had forced her to eliminate it from her diet rather than experience the responses it created in her digestive system.

The worst symptoms that she was living with though were her mental/emotional issues. In particular she was extremely irritated with life in general; her health, her body, her work (which she really loved), people around her, etc. all irritated her. This was exacerbated by the fact that all symptoms, especially the irritation were much worse when her 7 year old son was around which also made her feel quite guilty that he irritated her so much.

The patient could feel surges of hormones/adrenaline coursing through her body that would cause her to feel irritable, impatient, and seething with anger. These would then follow with guilt for those feelings and more anger towards herself that she felt more irritated around her son.

Physical/Generals:

Sleep – night sweats would wake her at approximately 3 and 5 am each night accompanied by perspiration all over her body with a pungent odor; rubs her feet together before falling asleep.

Headaches – pressure above her eyebrows; can be an 8 out of 10 pain level; most days of the week.

Sinuses – any change in weather resulted in congestion followed by a worsening of the headache, limited but clear discharge; lasting for 2 – 3 days after weather change; issues began after birth of son.

Photophobia – began in the last year; any strong light causes issues although worse with indoor fluorescent light; lights cause a sensation of throbbing in her eyes; rubs her eyes a lot as she feels there is something in them; she feels her vision has worsened; eyes are tired and achy most of the time due to this issue; worse between 3 and 5 pm.

Stomach – burning in her stomach began approximately one year ago; has not been able to associate any foods with the sensation; not heartburn; constant.

Exercise – ameliorates all symptoms.

Urinary issues – incontinence when laughing or sneezing.

Menses – more frequent in the last year than previous; flow at start of menses and for the first part of the first 3 days is gushing and filled with dark red clots; PMS creates a worsening of all symptoms previously mentioned.

Bowels – regular – 1 – 2/day

Thirst – always thirsty; will gulp it down; prefers room temperature.

Body temp – warm although has cold hands.

Remedy:

Based on the following rubrics: Sepia 200CH – wet dose 3x3x1 7 days

Mind, Irritability – children, towards – own; his

Eye, Photophobia – headache – during

Generals, Heat – flushes of – perspiration – with

Generals, Food and Drinks – chocolate – desire

Generals, Weather – change of weather – agg.

Generals, Exertion; physical – amel.

Follow-up #1

December 10, 2013

Patient is thrilled with how well she felt within 2 – 3 days of starting the remedy. The results lasted about 3 weeks with the symptoms just starting to return although at a much reduced level.

Mind/mental attitude – feels much more relaxed lately, happy, better able to deal with situations as they arrive; more confident in herself.

Irritability – 50% better – no longer bothered by everyone and everything around her; still experiencing the sensation of a surge or hormones but the sensation itself is not as strong and the irritation, impatience, anger are much less. The strong irritation caused by her son is much better also.

Sleep – by the second week her night sweats had gone away although she has had one or two in the last couple of days; perspiration is much reduced and odor is not nearly as strong. No longer experiences an urge to rub her feet together when falling asleep. Most often will now sleep through the night.

Headaches – much less regularity; pain level is much less; about 75% improved.

Sinuses – still experiencing congestion with change in weather although this is not always followed by a headache. Duration is reduced to one day.

Menses – still as frequent however no longer quite as heavy with less clots and duration of heavy flow is shorter; PMS lessened – no more headaches, less irritability.

Photophobia – eyes are not nearly as itchy or bothered by the light – 75% better.

Appetite – cravings are still there however, not as strong as she is able to resist them throughout the day although still will eat chips and dip at night. No change in sensitivity to gluten.

Urinary issues – no longer has involuntary urination when sneezing or laughing.

Stomach – burning sensation was gone about day 6.

Body temperature – feels normal now for the most part – no longer feels as warm and hands are no longer as cold.

Remedy:

Based on the fact that the majority of symptoms were strongly reduced but had started to reoccur a few weeks later I recommended a repeat of the same remedy at the same potency for a slightly longer period of time.

Sepia 200CH – wet dose 7x7x1 10 days

Follow-up #2

April 7, 2014

Patient had not been able to make it back in for a follow-up in a more timely manner due to family issues. She was still thrilled with the outcome of our previous work.

Joanna Rogister is a Registered Homeopath and a Registered Holistic Nutritionist operating a practise in London, Ontario. Having graduated from the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition in 2011 Joanna went on to complete the Homeopathy and Health Sciences Diploma Program at the Canadian College of Homeopathic Medicine in Toronto in 2014. Within her practise at Life Stages Holistics, Joanna specializes in hormonal imbalances within both women and men including peri-menopause, menopause, andropause, PMS and post menopause imbalances. http://lifestagesholistics.com/