A Case of Crohn’s Disease, Arthritis, and Osteoporosis

Dolores was 66, a plain spoken and direct woman who loved to raise rhododendrons and drive her Miata sports convertible. She had chosen homeopathy because she reacted to conventional medicines badly and was afraid to take them. Dolores had been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, arthritis and osteoporosis. The osteoporosis was only on the left side, and an x-ray of her shoulder had confirmed her osteoarthritis.

Dolores’ Crohn’s disease had started in 1983, when she reacted to a newly installed rug in her home. It started with a backache, and was followed by an unbearable pain, which caused her to double up and lay on the floor for three days. Dolores experienced diarrhea, but felt constipated at the same time. Now when she had diarrhea, she took Metamucil for it, which would help.

The arthritis started after she retired. “My mother died. I went from the funeral to Yellowstone, and there the arthritis started in my hands. I love Yellowstone- the openness, the trees, the people in Montana and the good food. My hands are stuck in a contracted position after I hold onto something. My arthritis travels around from joint to joint. It visits my knees, hips, shoulders and hands, but not my elbow. I tend to drop things when my hands get stuck. My fingers feel tight, not swollen, not hot, not extreme. My finger joints get stuck if I try to do something. Driving is ok. If I grasp the cord of the drapes, though, they get stuck. I try to do everything as best I can without being waited on.”

“My husband’s ninety-three-year-old mother is driving us crazy, even though she is in assisted living. My mother died two years ago. She was nice. I feel sorry for my husband.”

“In 2002 to 2003, I had a horrible pain in my right wrist after seeing the chiropractor. Luckily it was gone the next day. I took Premarin and Provera. It was horrible to get off of it. You can’t just stop. I had hot flashes and was a crazy lady.”

“I have arthritis pains in my neck and shoulder. They are stiff and aching. Sitting hurts my sit bones. My hips hurt and my knees hurt occasionally. The pain is worse in warm weather, making me more stiff and aching. The pain can be unbearable, but it is better from a hot shower.

I can’t get up if I sit too long. My husband has to help me. Moving around is better-to a point.”
“I laugh a lot. It’s funny. No use worrying about it. I pull myself up as I can. I don’t cry or get angry at anybody. I do cry if a little pet gets hurt. My husband and I have been together since we were fourteen years old. I retired in 2001. I was an insurance secretary for twenty-one years. I left when I got bored because there wasn’t enough people contact.”

“I like to garden and cook. I’m making a cookbook. I also keep up with the relatives, and my kids are close by. We are active in the Miata club. We go on trips with the club in our Miatas. My husband loves cars. We’ve been in the same house for 30 years, just moving furniture and remodeling. I’m not bored there yet.”
“I don’t like to go shopping due to frequent diarrhea, every fifteen to thirty minutes. All of a sudden your energy is drained by the diarrhea. Sometimes I just have to lay down and nap. I only have one good day in a year without diarrhea. I write down all the food that I eat. I can eat Corn Chex, Rice Chex and oatmeal. I’m sensitive to sulfites which gives me abdominal pain. About three times a year I have vomiting and diarrhea all nigh. Now, about every two weeks, I spend all night in the bathroom with vomiting and diarrhea. Afterwards I have to sleep for one or two days. The last time was about a month ago. My diarrhea is loose, usually, but when it is all night it’s watery. In 1995, I had surgery which removed most of my small intestine.”

“On road trips I have to eat very carefully. I drink Boost, Ensure and Gatorade.”
If I have a good happy day when I’m over busy, then I get sick. If it’s a fun day, I totally forget what will happen next. Sometimes, two days before the vomiting and diarrhea starts, my vision gets worse and reading seems blurry. I tend to get sick five or six days after eating in a restaurant in the city. We have to go see his mother there. She’s the Queen of Sheba, but we’re learning to fight back. I get very tired for two to three days after we go there.”

“I like to eat peanuts in the shell and bananas. I make my own vegetable and fruit preserves. I can’t eat beans, and not much spicy food. I wish I could lose some weight.”

Stiff, Stuck, and Tight

After hearing Dolores’ case, what stood out were the sensations of stuck and stiff with regard to her arthritis, and the amount of debility that her Crohn’s symptoms caused her, making it very difficult for her to eat beyond a very limited diet, or to do the traveling by car which she loved. She was also quite cheerful, despite her infirmities.

The sensations of stuck, stiff and tight (which she did not mention) are the sensations of the Anacardiaceae family of plants, which include the remedies Anacardium (marking nut), Mangifera (mango), Comiphora (myrrh) and four remedies from the Rhus family, including the most famous, Rhus toxicodendron (poison ivy).
Rhus tox is well known for its ability to help arthritis and for its strong sensation of stiffness, worse from sitting and better from motion. Rhus tox is considered by Rajan Sankaran, who developed the schema of the plant sensations, to be in the typhoid miasm, with the feeling that if one just keeps going, (s)he can get through the particular ordeal and will recover. Rhus tox patients tend to be restless, good humored, even jovial, family oriented and very industrious. They tend to have anxiety that something will happen and they can be superstitious. Well-known is their tendency to poison ivy-like skin eruptions, but not so much emphasis has been given to their intestinal symptoms, which include inflammatory bowel disease with watery, bloody, mucous stools and violent abdominal pain, leading to great exhaustion after the diarrhea. It covers the vomiting in the case, but not as prominently as the diarrhea. These patients are characteristically worse from cloudy, damp and cold weather, getting wet, and overwork or excessive exercise.

Dolores was quite industrious, with a desire to tend to her husband, family, garden and house. She was quite good humored and had the characteristic sensations of Rhus tox . The remedy also matched her Crohn’s and arthritis symptoms symptoms quite well. Osteoporosis is not well-represented in the homeopathic literature, but Rhus tox is known in the treatment of injuries to the bones and fractures.

The Patient’s Response

The patient was given Rhus tox LM 1 in a daily dose. When she came back in six weeks she reported that the remedy had worked, the first week being the best. “I feel better the majority of the time. My pain was an eight and now it is a two. My hands can open better, but I still can’t close them in them morning. The shoulder pain is gone. It is just in my hips where I sit. I’m not dropping things anymore. My fingers are less tight. Only my hands are stiff in the morning. I can get up a lot better. I can go up and down stairs real easily now. I haven’t felt this good in twenty years! I haven’t had any vomiting and diarrhea, just a brief episode of a side ache.” Clearly better, we advised Delores to continue the Rhus tox daily.

Two months later Dolores reported that her hands were relaxing and becoming less stiff in the morning since taking the remedy. Twice her fingers locked up while gardening, but they released in only five minutes. Her hips, neck and shoulders were also better. She was still getting up easier and going up and down stairs more easily.

“I’m fine until the phone rings. You know it’s bad news. I had vomiting and diarrhea the day my daughter called, saying she was separating from her husband. My bowel problems are improved if I watch my diet and avoid beans, salsa and wheat. When I eat out, I’m very careful.
I was able to go on a Miata trip to Utah, and we ate out a lot then.”
After thee months, Dolores reported that she had a cold and cough, and that just before that her slegs had been aching a lot. “My stiffness in the hands have been better, except that last week, just one finger got stuck. About six weeks ago my hips hurt and my legs ached. I’ve only had one episode of vomiting and diarrhea, for no good reason. Maybe getting overtired triggered it.”

Due to the increase in symptoms, though not severe, her remedy was increased to Rhus tox LM 2, still taken daily. Dolores responded really well and had the best December in years. “Everything is perfect. I only stiffen up if I stand by the propane heater for too long, so I walk away. My hands are very good, and only occasionally lock My hips are fine if I don’t go overboard on activity. I even ate at Subway and a Christmas party without any problem afterwards. My bowels are fine.”

Three months later, Dolores told us, “I’ve never felt this good. Since December, that new bottle is like magic. I can eat anything. I don’t have any symptoms. I’m not stiff, I don’t have any locking. I’m so excited, I’m doing too much. I haven’t had a bad diarrhea episode in a year. I don’t have any new symptoms. All of a sudden my mind is creative, and I’m putting up new shelves and shades.”

Dolores continued the remedy, and four months later suffered a lot of stress when her son went to the emergency room, her daughter was stranded on a plane, and her other daughter had gall bladder surgery. This combination of stressors precipitated a relapse of diarrhea with urgent stool. We increased the potency of the medicine to Rhus tox LM 3 and her symptoms resolved well.

Dolores continued to do very well over the next two years, with no arthritis or vomiting and only occasional diarrhea from stress or errors of diet. “I can eat anything but wheat and dairy,” which she avoids. She continues to take Rhus tox LM 3 with good results. Her bone density has stabilized, with no worsening of her osteoporosis. She is able to enjoy her retirement life with her family, her rhododendron garden and her trips in the Miata, eating on the road with her husband of many years. Dolores’ case shows how many problems can respond beautifully and long term to a single homeopathic medicine- elegant, simple, and economical as compared to conventional medicine and to many styles of alternative medicine as well.