The
Organon in Practice – “The Exciting Cause”
By
Willa Keizer, CCH
Published in the June, 2002, issue of Homeopathy Today
Since
Hahnemann’s time, homeopaths have always been interested in “exciting
causes” of disease. As Hahnemann says in paragraph 5 of the Organon, “
He
(the physician) is likewise a sustainer of health if he knows of the things that
disturb health, that engender and maintain disease, and is aware of how to
remove them from healthy people.
And
in paragraph 5,
“It
will help the physician to bring about a cure if he can determine the most
probable exciting cause in an acute disease”…
In
other words, an “exciting cause” is the factor that triggers a person’s
decline from health into sickness. The homeopathic repertory (index of symptoms)
is full of “exciting causes”. Although not all cases have exciting causes,
understanding them when there is one can help us find the right remedy.
Exciting
causes can be physical, mental, or emotional. We can get sick from not taking
care of ourselves and getting too cold, hot, damp, or wet—just as grandma
always said! Lifestyle causes, such as eating or drinking too much, or not
getting enough sleep, can lead to disease. Vaccination can also cause problems,
which can respond well to homeopathic treatment. All of these physical stressors
are indications for certain homeopathic remedies, many of which have been used
for almost 200 years to heal ailments. A well-taken case will reveal whether or
not there is an exciting cause that should be considered in the selection of the
remedy.
Emotional
and mental causes can be crucial in remedy choice as well. We’ll find listings
for ailments from excitement, grief, jealousy, anger, and even excessive joy!
Too much of anything, even good things, can disrupt the harmony of the vital
force and lead to disease.
I
had a case recently that illustrates this concept of exciting cause. Julie was a
healthy, happy 5 year old girl. She was very sweet and sympathetic and loved to
play with other children. Her mom observed that when people say mean things,
even in movies, she falls apart. She wants everything to be fair.
One
day she went to a routine medical appointment and was given five vaccinations.
Four days after the vaccinations, she developed a bad rash at the vaccination
site which her mom attributed to a bite by a fire ant. Soon after, she started
developing some strange habits. She said to her mom, “Mommy, my butt has to
STRETCH!” and became restless and uncomfortable. Circle time at school became
difficult as it was hard for her to sit still with such discomfort. A twitch
would go up her back and cause her to throw her head back to relieve it. She
then began having a nervous tic of constantly clearing her throat and sniffing.
She would twitch all over in her sleep all night long as though a current were
going through her. She had even been complaining that she felt like bugs were
walking on her skin.
Of
course, her mother was very concerned, especially as
the girl’s maternal aunt has a severe tic disorder. It seemed that the vaccination may have been the exciting
cause that awakened an existing
hereditary predisposition to nervous disorders. In other words, her nervous
system took the hit from the trauma of the vaccination, which was causing these
peculiar and disturbing new behaviors and sensations.
When
I took her case, I also discovered that Julie has a fear of the dark. She said
that when it’s dark “I think there’s a ghost in there.” She loves
chocolate and sweets, as most children do. She had had a hyperactive gag reflex
as a baby and would throw up food if the texture didn’t agree. She would get
would get wound up at night and had a hard time falling asleep. This trait had
gotten worse when the neurological symptoms started. The gag reflex and the
being wound up at night also pointed to a touchy nervous system that could be
set off, given an exciting cause.
Her
acupuncturist, who knows some homeopathy, had given her Thuja,
the first remedy homeopaths think
of when vaccination is the exciting cause. The Thuja
had helped somewhat but wasn’t holding, so the child was referred to me. After
taking the case, I chose Causticum
based on the nervous tics, desire to stretch, restless legs, and the sensation
of bugs crawling (formication) as well as her sympathetic personality,
sensitivity to injustice, and fear of the dark and ghosts. Although Causticum is not listed in the vaccination rubric, it is listed in
“convulsions after vaccination”. Although she was not having full
convulsions, she was having strong neurological symptoms, and Causticum covered
those symptoms. It is also a remedy for stings of insects. The ant bite may have
contributed another trigger into this neurologically hyperactive state.
Her
mother reported the response to the remedy as “dramatic.” Within a week of
starting on a daily dose Causticum
LM2, the muscle twitching and throat clearing disappeared. She isn't as wound up
at night and falls asleep more easily. As of this writing, she has been on the
remedy for four months. As the symptoms began to return, although milder, and
the mother wished to not have to repeat the remedy so often, I gave her a dose
of Causticum 1M and had her stop the LM . She has been symptom - free for the past month, since taking the dose of Causticum
1M.
This
case illustrates how homeopathy is able to resolve symptoms after an exciting
cause, which in this case was apparently the vaccination, has triggered them.
However, giving the most common remedy for the exciting cause in a routine
fashion is not always going to work. The Thuja
was not able to resolve the symptoms completely the way a well-chosen remedy
did. As always in homeopathy, taking a complete and thorough case is the best
way to guarantee success.
In
addition to giving the remedy, I advised the mother to learn more about the
risks of vaccinations, so that she could make an informed decision about
pursuing them in the future.
As
Hahnemann says, we must know how to recognize what brings about disease, and how
to remove it. This is as much a part of homeopathic philosophy as our remedies
are. It’s important to stop doing whatever it was that caused the problem, in
addition to giving the remedy. Understanding all the concepts in the Organon, including the exciting cause, is key to the successful
practice of homeopathy. It’s exciting to see these principles in action, and
help a person return to a state of health!