Taking the Next Steps Seminar Follow-up

[Dr. Jeff]

Let's use this thread for follow-up questions and thoughts for the July intermediate homeopathy seminar.

It's Sunday am (here in CT) and we are loooking forward to a rousing day of symptom evaluation and analysis of your animals cases.
Let's start this thread with the sections of Dr. Kent's repertory that Dr. Christina presented yesterday.

This is important to help you to search for your pets symptom clues in any repertory that uses Kent's structure (as most modern repertories do):

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SECTIONS OF KENT’S REPERTORY


Mind; Head; Vertigo; Eye; Vision; Ear; Hearing; Nose; Face;

Mouth; Teeth; Throat; Stomach; Abdomen; Rectum; Stool;

Uro‑Genital (Bladder, Kidney; Prostate, Urethra, Urine);

Larynx/Trachea; Respiration; Cough; Expectoration; Chest;

Back; Extremities; Sleep; Chill; Fever; Perspiration;

Skin; Generalities


Organization within each Section of Kent’s Repertory

GENERAL (Ear itch - 291) (Extremities Pain - 1043)

SIDES (right, left, right to left, left to right)

TIME of day

DESCRIPTIONS, MODALITIES, CONDITIONS - alphabetically

EXTENSIONS (goes from here to there, like a pain)

Any of the above sub-rubrics can have sub-sub rubrics for:

SIDES

TIMES

MODALITIES, SPECIFICS, DESCRIPTIONS (Alphabetically)

EXTENSIONS



LOCATIONS (Head to toes, not in alphabetical order) (1047)

SIDES

TIMES

MODALITIES, SPECIFICS, DESCRIPTIONS (Alphabetically)

EXTENSIONS

SENSATION (1082) - Aching, burning, stinging, etc.

SIDES

TIMES

MODALITIES, SPECIFICS, DESCRIPTIONS (Alphabetically)

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Here's the overview of the process from the seminar toolkit:

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Review of Homeopathic Principles
Samuel Hahnemann, in the Organon, speaks to how homeopathy can help us achieve the life we want for our pets.

1. The goal is full health - a cure.

Parag raph 1:

The physician’s high and only mission is to restore the

sick to health, to cure, as it is termed.

Paragraph 2:

The highest ideal of cure is the rapid, gentle and

permanent restoration of health, the lifting and annihilation

of the disease in its whole extent, in the shortest, most reliable, and most harmless way, according to easily comprehensible principles.


2. Steps to achieve this cure.

Paragraph 3:

To be a genuine practitioner of the healing art, a physician [or you] must:

1. clearly realize what is to be cured...in every individual case of disease (knowledge of disease)
2. clearly perceive what is curative in each individual medicine (knowledge of medicinal powers)
3. be aware of how to adapt what is curative in medicines to what he has discovered to be undoubtedly diseased in the patient, In this way, recovery must ensue
4. Adapting what is curative in medicines to what is diseased in patients requires that the physician be able to:
   1. adapt the most appropriate medicine, according to its mode of action to the case before him (choice of the remedy)
   2. prepare the medicine exactly as required
   3. give the medicine in the exact amount required (proper dose)
   4. properly time the repetition of the doses...
   5. ...must know the obstacles to recovery in each case and

how to remove them, so that the restoration of health

may be permanent.

3. Impediments to health

Paragraph 4:

He is likewise a preserver of health if he knows the

things that derange health and cause disease, and how to

remove them from persons in health.

Overview of the Homeopathic Process
The basic steps that Dr. Hahnemann addressed in paragraph 3 are:

• List all the symptoms (collected from case taking)
  • Decide which are most important to your pet right now
  • What is the “genius” of your pet; who is this wonderful being?
• Find your pet’s symptoms in the index of symptoms (repertory)
  • Decide which rubrics (symptoms plus applicable medicine) are most accurate for your pet.
• Narrow the choice of medicines using case analysis
• Read about them in the materia medica books to find the one you think is the closest match.
• Decide what potency to give, how often and how to administer it (posology).
• Evaluate your pet’s response and repeat the process as needed.

Case Taking

Overview of case taking

Case taking is collecting the symptoms of your animal, both current and past. This is a way to see who your pet is as a unique individual, right now and including any past information. Is this a problem that has its roots in the past or a completely new problem?

Steps to case taking

1. Have paper and pen (or computer) ready to record everything
2. What is your current concern? (chief complaint)
3. Collect all possible symptoms
   1. Do an exam
   2. Look back over records
   3. Ask family and friends
   4. Look for modalities, concomitants, strange things about each symptom (SRP)
   5. Quantify each symptom
4. Evaluate the symptoms in the context of your animal
5. End with a timeline of your pet’s life and a master symptom list

If you are working with a professional homeopath these steps will give them important information both to finding the similimum and evaluating the response to the homeopathic medicine.

Case taking is helpful when you are choosing non-homeopathic treatments as well. Having a clear and quantified symptom list will help with evaluating how your pet is responding to those treatments.

 

[Keely Parr]

Hi Dr. Jeff:

Where would I find the "toolkit" that was referred to in the seminar over the weekend?

Thank you,
Keely D. Parr

 

[jenniferleadulin8]

would love to know that also xx

 

[Carol L.]

I would love to know that also!

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Thanks for asking Keely, Jennifer, and Carol.

The full toolkit link will be sent in my next email, but in the meantime, here's another excerpt from it:

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TECHNIQUES TO MAKE THE REPERTORY MOST USEFUL

You have very important work to do when you leave the course.
The very few people who have taken me up on this challenge say that they now have a book that is very accessible and user friendly.

Go through every section (omit hearing, vision, chill, fever, perspiration, and sleep as they rarely apply to animals) and write down a list of the rubrics that you would use in animals, along with any subrubrics that you think you might not find later. No remedies. No human only rubrics (like types of pain).

In the mind section, you might begin with:

abandoned (see Forsaken)
absorbed
abstraction
affectionate
anger - ailments after anger, at absent persons, from caressing, etc.

Now it will be much faster for you to look up a symptom in your typed, abbreviated rubric list than by leafing through all the pages in a section.

List the body parts covered in a section - maybe right on the title page for each section. Face includes: outside of nose, corner of mouth, jaw, lips, chin, glands, etc. (You would not have been sure if lips were under mouth or face, for instance, but this short list on one sheet or at the front of each section will speed the process for you.

Write all the additions from this notebook into your repertory.

A few additional techniques:

Read a few pages before sleeping and in the bathroom

Put the repertory under your pillow

Look up each remedy abbreviation you do not know

Pick a rubric each day and see how your pets, and other people’s pets demonstrate it.

Look up any words you do not know in Yasgur's Dictionary, an old medical dictionary or on-line.

As you read the materia medica, see if you can find the rubric.

 

[Dr. Christina]

And to really learn the repertory, work your way steadily through the book Karen Allen and I wrote - A Tutorial and Workbook for the Homeopathic Repertory. Do the practice cases and exercises.

Ed DeBeukelaer's book, Homeopathy:what to expect, has 101 cured cases. See if the rubrics you find have the remedy that was curative in them.

Post your questions here. I know this can be challenging. Practitioners spend 3-5 years in training!!

Dr. Christina

 

[KristyF]

Thank you so much for the energy put in to creating the toolkit after a lovely seminar.

 

[jenniferleadulin8]

yes yes yes thank you, so grateful

 

[KristyF]

Thankful as I begin to examine more since the class.

Researching the remedy for anxiety with thunder. Veloce is our 5 year old female rescued Greyhound. We have had her since she was almost two and "retired" for being too slow. She ran fast into our hearts!

Last summer, a very powerful bolt hit outside our home in the area that is near where our Greyhound rests in her crate. We were all home when the thunder struck. It was very loud and strong but it did not hit the house it hit the ground near us. We did not over react yet the greyhound was troubled. Prior to the storm she was never bothered by thunder. She was and is still okay with fireworks. When we may get a storm or in fact do get Thunder, she now responds with rapid breathing and lays down on her left side in a certain spot in the kitchen that allows her to nestle in an 'L' shaped area of the cabinets/counter.

This will begin as a mind rubric in anxiety. There is one listed for anxiety, storm, during a thunder. A rubric with a few choices.

When I expand to include the rubric of laying on the left side it does include the same suggestion. Both include Phos. I did not find anything to address the rapid breathing in the mind section for anxiety. Intuitively I felt that was fine.

Dosing will be my next research now that I have located the remedy.
How is everyone else doing? I learned SO much, one step at a time. A step a day is progress.

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Thanks so much for the kind words Jennifer, Kristy and everyone who came last weekend!

It was awe-some to see in person and streaming seminar participants exploring their repertories and learning more about helping your pets using their symptoms.

Kristy, did you read about Aconite for Veloce?

 

[KristyF]

Thanks so much for the kind words Jennifer, Kristy and everyone who came last weekend!

It was awe-some to see in person and streaming seminar participants exploring their repertories and learning more about helping your pets using their symptoms.

Kristy, did you read about Aconite for Veloce?

I did not, but I did noticce that mentioned this morning in the thread from firework noises posted around July 4th so I will read up on that today. Thank you!

 

[Dr. Jeff]

You're welcome Kristy.

Search the main site and forum libraries and you should find lots of info about Aconite.

In fact, I just made a post about it here.

 

[Dr. Christina]

Very often, even if a lot of other symptoms do not fit, Aconite (often in a fairly high dose) is indicated when "never well since being terrified". I think that really applies here. It is fine to begin with that, as Dr. Jeff did with Archie, then wait a bit to watch for changes. If it does not help, then move to a remedy that covers more of the symptoms.

In general, even though Phosphorus is listed in fear of thunderstorms, it often, in my experience, does not work unless there are a lot of other indications.

What were you thinking about, Kristy, for potency?
Dr. Christina

 

[Keely Parr]

Good afternoon and thank you for the seminar - It was amazing. When I ordered the Organon and Murphy's Materia Medica from Narayana Verlag (thank you for this Dr Jeff what an amazing company) I came across this book entitled Kidneys and Bladder - Basis of Self-Realization. I bought the book as my cat has kidney disease and most of the issues in the book in reference to the energy and conflict associated with the kidneys show up in my life!!! I am still mesmerized that everything related to the kidneys in this book are my deep core issues that I am wrestling with including stability and security. Amazing connection between me and my beloved cat Karma!

Back to a homeopathic question please. I am using the New World Veterinary Repertory and looking at kidneys. There are different types of kidney diseases listed such as hydronephrosis, inflammation, etc. In Don Hamilton's book he states that most cats have chronic interstitial kidney disease but how can one be sure without a biopsy? When I look at all of my cat's symptoms he appears to have renal tubular acidosis type 4. (I have been researching the different types of kidney disease for days) How does this translate into a repertory? Especially since the terminology used then is different now. For instance, Kent uses the word "dropsy" which is no longer used. Or do I have to disregard "kidneys" and look at the symptoms? I would like to still use possible remedies from "Kidneys" but need the type of kidney disease to narrow it down. I am not going to treat him without doing a consult with you Dr. Jeff; I am using this as a learning experience. I would love to come up with a few remedies and you can tell me how I did!!!

Thank you for starting Holistic Actions!
Keely

 

[Dr. Jeff]

You're welcome Keely, and I'm so glad that your enjoying the interesting books from Narayana.

To answer your questions:

1. We usually don't have a specific kidney diagnosis but rather base it on experience and lab work.

For example, typical abnormalities like elevated BUN and creatinine are usually due to chronic nephritis and general inflammatory changes within the kidneys.

For these, this rubric applies, but is too big to be very useful by itself:

KIDNEYS - INFLAMMATION: (225) Acon. adon. aeth. All-c. alum. alum-p. am-be. am-c. am-caust. am-val. ant-t. APIS apoc. Arg-n. arge. arist-cl. ARN. ars. ars-br. ars-s-f. arum-t. arund. Asc-c. atro. Aur. Aur-m. aur-m-n. bals-p. Baros. BELL. BENZ-AC. Berb. BISM. borx. Brach. Brom. Bry. cact. calad. calc. calc-ar. calc-p. calc-s. camph. cann-i. Cann-s. Cann-xyz. CANTH. Caps. Carb-ac. carc. caust. Chel. Chim. chin. chinin-ar. chinin-fcit. Chinin-s. cic. coc-c. cocc. Colch. coli. coll. Con. conv. cop. cortiso. crot-c. crot-h. cub. Cupr-ar. dig. diph-t-tpt. Dulc. eberth. epig. equis-h. Ery-a. eucal. Euon. eup-per. Eup-pur. fab. ferr. Ferr-ar. ferr-cit. ferr-i. Ferr-m. ferr-p. form. form-ac. fuch. gaul. Gels. Glon. hecla Hell. Helon. Hep. hippoz. hydr. hydr-ac. Hydrang. hydrc. hydrin-m. hydrin-s. hyos. ilx-v. indg. Iod. irid-met. juni-c. Kali-ar. kali-bi. Kali-c. KALI-CHL. kali-cit. Kali-i. kali-m. kali-n. kali-p. kali-s. kali-sula. kalm. lach. lil-t. lith-be. lith-c. lon-c. loxo-lae. LYC. lycps-v. lyss. mang-act. med. Merc. Merc-c. merc-cy. merc-d. methyl. morg-g. Morph. myrt-c. naphtin. nat-hchls. Nat-i. nat-m. nat-s. NIT-AC. nit-s-d. Nux-v. OCI. oci-sa. Ol-sant. Op. pareir. ph-ac. Phos. phys. Phyt. pic-ac. Pilo. Pipe. pitu-gl. plb. plb-act. Plb-c. Plb-i. Plb-m. plb-xyz. podo. Polyg-h. polyg-xyz. prun. Puls. pyrog. rad-br. ren. Rhus-t. Sabin. samb. sang. saroth. Sars. scarl. sec. Senec. sep. ser-ang. Sil. solid. Solin. spartin. spartin-s. Squil. stigm. Stram. streptoc. Stront-c. sul-ac. sul-i. sulfa. SULPH. syc. tarent. TER. terebe. Thuj. titan. Tritic. tub. Tub-k. uran-met. uran-n. urea uva vac. Verat. Verat-v. Vesi. Wies. zinc. zinc-pic. zing.

On the other hand, massive protein, usually albumin, loss with minimal creatinine and BUN elevations are more typical of glomerular dis-ease so these (big) rubrics apply:

URINE - ALBUMINOUS: (231) absin. acetan. acon. adon. alco. all-c. all-s. allox. alum. alum-p. alumn. am-be. Am-c. am-caust. ant-c. Ant-t. antip. APIS apoc. arg-met. Arg-n. arist-cl. ARS. Ars-i. ars-s-f. asc-c. asc-t. astac. Atro. Aur. aur-ar. aur-i. AUR-M. Aur-m-n. aur-s. bapt. bar-m. bell. benz-ac. berb. bism. borx. Brach. bry. cact. cain. Calc. CALC-AR. calc-i. calc-p. cann-i. Cann-s. cann-xyz. Canth. Carb-ac. Carb-v. Carbn-s. carc. caul. Cedr. chel. Chim. Chin. Chinin-ar. chinin-s. chir-fl. chlol. cinnb. cob. coc-c. coch. Colch. Con. conv. cop. cortiso. Crot-c. Crot-h. cub. Cupr. cupr-act. cupr-ar. cupr-s. Dig. diph-t-tpt. Dulc. equis-h. Euon. euon-a. euonin. eup-pur. faec. Ferr. Ferr-ar. Ferr-i. Ferr-m. ferr-p. ferr-pic. form. fuch. Gels. GLON. HELL. helo. Helon. Hep. Hippoz. ind. Iod. kali-ar. Kali-bi. kali-br. Kali-c. Kali-chl. Kali-i. kali-m. kali-n. kali-p. kali-s. Kalm. kiss. kreos. LAC-D. lac-v. Lach. lat-h. lat-m. lec. led. Leptos-ih. lith-c. lon-x. loxo-lae. LYC. lycps-v. mag-m. mang-act. med. mela. Merc. MERC-C. Merc-cy. Merc-i-r. methyl. mez. morph. mur-ac. myric. naphtin. NAT-AR. NAT-C. nat-f. nat-hchls. Nat-m. NAT-P. Nat-s. nat-sal. Nit-ac. nux-v. oci. oena. ol-j. ol-sant. op. osm. osm-ac. ourl. Petr. PH-AC. phase-xyz. Phos. Phyt. Pic-ac. pilo. pip-m. pitu-p. PLB. Plb-c. polyg-h. puls. Pyrog. rad-br. rad-met. RHUS-T. ric. Sabin. sal-ac. samb-c. sars. scarl. Sec. senec. SEP. Ser-ang. sil. solid. spartin-s. squil. stann. stigm. Stram. Stroph-h. strych-g. sul-ac. sul-i. sulfon. Sulph. Syc. tab. Tarent. tax. TER. thal-xyz. thlas. thuj. thymol. thyr. tub. tub-m. uran-met. Uran-n. urea vac. valer. vanad. Verat-v. vesi. visc. zinc. zinc-p. zing.

KIDNEYS - NEPHROTIC SYNDROME: (48) apis apoc. aran. arg-n. Ars. Aur. aur-m. Aur-m-n. Calc-ar. cann-s. Canth. Carb-ac. carb-v. chinin-s. cortiso. Dig. Ferr. ferr-ar. ferr-i. ferr-p. Form. gels. hell. helon. kali-bi. Kali-c. Kali-chl. Kali-i. kali-m. Lyc. merc. merc-c. merc-i-r. Nat-ar. Nat-c. nat-m. Nat-s. nit-ac. nux-v. Phos. Plb. rhus-t. Sec. Sulph. Syc. tarent. Ter. urea

2. Although Karma may have acidosis, as many kidney patients do, I don't think he has renal tubular acidosis Type 4.

3. Now you're on the right track! Don't disregard the kidney dis-ease altogether, but focus instead on the specific subjective and objective (external and internal) symptoms.

Notice that the first glomerulonephritis rubric I posted is not a diagnosis but rather, the objective symptom of albumin in the urine.

Focus on other symptoms, especially if they are in other parts of the body.

Modalities are especially useful.

Yes, it's perfect for you to find a useful set of symptoms, characterize them further and find a few homeopathic medicines that correspond to the most characteristic (4 P) symptoms.

Post your thoughts and further questions below or in a separate thread devoted just to this great discussion.

 

[Dr. Christina]

Great to notice the connection between yourself and your cat, Keely.

As you read many different books on homeopathy from different authors, remember that there are many different approaches to healing. Some homeopaths prescribe more on "disease" and some use high potencies only and some follow Hahnemann more carefully.

All the books are useful, just take them in context.

You are on the right track when you say that it may be more important to focus on the symptoms, not merely the disease.

As described above:

1. Collect all possible symptoms
   1. Do an exam
   2. Look back over records
   3. Ask family and friends
   4. Look for modalities, concomitants, strange things about each symptom (SRP)
   5. Quantify each symptom
2. Evaluate the symptoms in the context of your animal

Do you have a master symptom list for Karma, and a timeline? Focus especially on the symptoms just before the kidney dis-ease was diagnosed. Then let us know the rubrics you find for those symptoms.

Dr. Christina

 

[Keely Parr]

Thank you Dr. Jeff and Dr. Christina for your very helpful comments.

I used the New World Repertory with the following symptoms:

Kidneys; Inflammation; uremia, with; vomiting, with
Stomach, nausea, vomiting, foamy, frothy
Urinary, urination, profuse
Stool, agg., while eating
Stool, odor, like bad eggs

The only remedy that fit this whole picture was Arsenicum Album. I read the Materia medica in Murphy's and it fits, especially in regard to the following: Anemia, Colitis, Kidney, diseases, Gastroenteritis , nausea, nephritis, uremia, vomiting, loss of appetite with thirst with nausea. Karma had colitis as a kitten and his stomach definitely bothers him because he sometimes sits on his haunches as he is waiting for his food so I think the gastroenteritis is applicable.

I have a caveat please that I would like to raise. I was working with a homeopathic vet before I found this forum and Dr. Jeff. Arsenicum album was one of the remedies given, first at 30c and then at 200c. In addition, the gastrointestinal issues that Karma has, e.g. the vomiting, smelly stool, etc. were treated as IBD without regard to the kidney disease. So my question is could the remedies which were changed almost monthly made the kidney disease worse? Karma's kidney values based on his blood tests were significantly worse after the homeopathy than before.

I would be comfortable with perhaps dosing Karma with arsenicum album 6c but I will wait for your comments. It is hard for me to assess how Karma did on the Arsenicum Album previously because the doses may have been too high and different remedies were prescribed in close proximity to each other.

Both Karma and I thank you,
Keely