Page 16 - Winter 19-20

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With the theme of battle comes the delusion to need to fight ‘to protect his country’, especially when the people who are normally there to protect him (family) have become enemies.
Terrible fear of lacking security (money, health, home), hence a deep-seated need to make provisions, more provisions, and more provisions: this is the suffering of Bryonia. They may become hyperactive, obsessed with making provisions. They can fall into an egolytic situation, where they refuse to do anything and lose hope (or blame others). This is often the case in people, who work hard to accumulate; when they fall ill they find themselves with the typical acute symptoms of Bryonia. (The patient may say ‘I cannot afford the luxury to be ill.’)
In animals, this can be seen in cases of ‘hard working’ animals (work = depending on their breed), very worried about food, who look for security and do not want to be bothered. These may be classified as being tranquil forces but underlying is a fear of lacking in provisions.
Cases
Polyarthritis in a Charolais calf (J.F. Hayt, France)
A 3 week-old calf has very swollen carpal joints: left fore and left hind hock joint. His temperature is 39.8 C. He stays in a corner without moving. He does not take his mother’s milk, he does not urinate and he does not defecate. When the vet goes to palpate the left-fore carpal joint, the calf leans into this examination as if to ensure continued pressure.Bryonia 5C: 3 granules three times per day. In 12 hours he started drinking again and passed urine and faeces. It takes 4 days for the joints to fully heal.
Mastitis in a cow (J Millemann, France)
A Friesian cow, who is on her 5th lactation, had not been eating well for 2-3 days. She did not want to get up to be
milked. There is very little milk. When the vet arrives in the stable he notices she is drinking and keeps drinking for a long time. Her temperature is 39.7 C. There is very little rumen movement. The udder is red, warm and hard like a piece of wood. When the udder is touched it looks like she is going to kick, but doesn’t. But then the vet has to get away, because he pushes herself against the examining hand almost wanting to lie down on it.Bryonia 5C: three granules twice per day. The next day she is eating again and two days later she produces 15 litres of milk again.
Pacha is out of sorts (Nathalie Bethault, France)
A four-year-old poodle is taken to the consultation, because he does not want to get up or move and seems to have difficulties walking. The day before he was fine. In the consultation he appears to be very stiff, taking small steps with the back hunched up. The spinal muscles appear contracted. He is worse from the least touch but the deep examination on the table is tolerated. He is normally a very lively dog. Overnight, the weather has changed from mild to frosty this morning.
Based on: a normally lively dog that does not want to move. Pain on mild touch but fine on deep palpation. Change in weather with a rise in the barometer pressure. Bryonia 9C: twice per day. The next day he is back to normal.
Do not touch me! (Jean Pierre Simeon, France)
The farmer asks the vet to look at this freshly calved heifer in desperation, because she has already been seen twice by a colleague. She is a calm imposing animal, slight worried when the vet approaches her. Her udder is hard, swollen and produces not a drop of milk. She had already been given anti-inflammatory and diuretic treatment. When she is approached, she jumps away, when the udder is palpated, she aims to kick but once the pressure is
increased she allows the examination. The udder is as hard as a stone. The spouse of the farmer walks in and says: ‘Oh you managed to approach her, she normally always keeps herself apart.’
Aversion to being touched/Better from pressure/ Inflammation of the udder/Absence of milk. Bryonia 9C: 3 granules to be given...
‘’Two months later the farmer asks my colleague whether I am some sort of a magician because the heifer in question produced milk and had a normal udder 2 hrs after taking the Bryonia.’’
My cushion! (Edward De Beukelaer, UK)
A nine-year-old spayed female Chihuahua called Tina was seen in 2013. She belongs to one of the nurses; she was always an only dog. Now the owner is married and she has a baby. Tina growls at the child since it has started moving around in the flat. It appears serious: the nurse is worried she may bite the child one day and that Tina has to go. She had Tina as a pup. When the nurse left her home, the family wanted her to take Tina with her. She would growl at everybody when she sat on the nurse’s lap. She would even growl at the mother she normally loved.
In 2009 the nurse acquires a second dog: a crazy pug. She tries to play with Tina but Tina does not want to know. The pug does not care about the growling and snapping Tina does. She watches the owner when she is dealing with her baby. She cannot stand the baby. She is jealous. She is frightened of us in the surgery (I have emptied her anal glands a few times). She may snap when I do this. She rushes away and wants to go back to her sofa upstairs. She was always treated as a little princess. She is not interested in much apart from making sure she has her cushion on the sofa. She will growl at the husband as well, so he leaves her alone. She is hardly interested in walking. She is a bit podgy.
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