Thank you to our colleague, Dr Navneet Bidani for contributing this successful case of childhood epilepsy to the Aurum Project website. In India, Dr Bidani treats epilepsy using homeopathy and he shares this case of a very curious child with us.

Is it possible that homeopathy can help childhood epilepsy?

‘Ananya’, a girl of five years was brought to me by her mother for treatment of her epilepsy. The little girl is an average height, fair complexion and has thick curly hair. I noticed that despite it being a very cold day, the child arrived with a thin jacket, wearing a skirt and no socks or tights.

The mother begins: “About two year’s of age, this strange habit started to kick in. At least we thought it was a habit. Ananya started to close her eyes. At first, it looked like she only did it for fun. Later she started to develop many tics and then we reconsidered and started to see that the eye-closing was also a kind of tic. She was later diagnosed with epilepsy.

Also, Ananya has never slept peacefully; so we were not sure whether there had been epileptic episodes during sleep. One night, I found out by accident that she was ill, because I heard a thud. It was Ananya who had fallen out of bed. I saw how she was all rigid and the white of her eyes was visible. Later she did the same when she had a high fever.

She often falls out of bed and gets back in by herself. Things happen with her teeth too, she often bangs them into something or grinds them, or bites her lips or tongue... a while ago I became worried when I saw a blood stain on her pillow.”

I asked for more information about her sleeping patterns: “We have never been able to make her sleep with covers on, right from the time she was born.”

Observations during the consult by the Doctor

When the child was first brought into the clinic she was quite restless – she sat on every chair in the room. I asked the mother to leave her on her own and allow her to do what she wanted. She started to play with the books and furniture. The mother discussed her history while showing me the child's thick file. I found that the child hardly allowed her mother to speak to me. She kept interrupting our conversation and the mother was getting very annoyed. This went on for some time. I was trying to understand what was happening. I gradually realised what was happening. First the child would stop playing and ask the mother something. Because the mother was involved with talking to me, her reply to the child would be curt without really bothering what the child was actually asking about. This made the child angry. She would tug at her mother and shout in anger. The state of the child now in the clinic (and during her attacks) was that the child would get angry if her request was not understood.

The mother also added that Ananya is very intelligent and really inquisitive. I observed and confirmed that the child was much more curious that other children who come through the clinic. She had to have an explanation of how each and every single thing worked. Her mother then told me that she is afraid of nothing and does things just for the experience, with great curiosity - life is full of interest to her and she questions everything. This was what I was observing, within the last ten minutes she asked me about a dozen more questions. “What is this, Doctor? (pointing to an electric table calendar). Do you change the dates everyday or is it automatic? Where did you buy it? Mummy we’ll buy this for my table as well. Doctor how much did it cost?” etc etc. Her school teacher says that her IQ way above average, but she will only do things if she feels like doing it. She knows all the answers, but when asked, she will not reply. For example, she knows all the days of the week, but if you ask her what comes after Sunday, she will not answer.

On further questioning, her mother says that Ananya loves ghost stories and horror films. The books she likes to read are all about horror. Suddenly out of nowhere she planted a new question, “Doctor have you seen the movie ‘Raaj’ in which ‘Bipasha Basu’ acted very well, but the movie was not really a horror film. I didn’t feel any sort of fear while watching that movie, in fact ‘The Ring’ was much better than that”. I noticed that even though it looked like she was just ruffling through different books in the book shelf, she was actually paying full attention to what her mother was saying to me.

She loves to travel, loves the sea, and prefers cold drinks, bread & butter but avoids eggs. She is very talkative, friendly and jolly; she made me laugh many times during the consultation but whenever I asked some question like “Who is your best friend?” etc., she never gave me a reply, instead she asked me a question thereby getting me to shut my mouth!

On reviewing the case I now saw that the most peculiar thing about this patient was her absolutely curious nature.

Homeopathic treatment plan for childhood epilepsy

I decided to prescribe Agaricus muscarius 200c, based on the reported symptoms and repertorising:

Mind- Inquisitive
Mind- Anger when not understood
Mind- Answering - aversion to answer - sings, talks, but will not answer questions
Mind- Loquacity - answers no questions, but
Mind- Fearless
Mind- Mischievous
Mind - Unconsciousness - twitching of limbs, with
Face - Distortion – Mouth
Generals - Convulsions - children, in
Generals - Convulsions - epileptic
Generals - Food and drinks - bread - desire - butter, and
Generals – Food and drinks - eggs - aversion

Follow Up: The mother phoned me a few days after the first drops had been taken, to tell me that her child had tonsillitis with a fever of about 38.4C, but that despite her temperature, she was very lively and refused to drink anything. I advised continuing the plan, and asked her to keep me informed. After a day, the fever episode resolved and the girl started to drink.

I saw Ananya again a month later. Her mother told me: “I am very enthusiastic. I don't know what you gave her, but two weeks ago she stopped making all those contorted faces.” In addition, her appetite has improved, and she sleeps peacefully.
I continued the treatment plan and advised the mother to call me again should something occur. The mother telephoned almost two months later, and told me that Ananya had again started to become restless in her sleep, and that she was developing her winking tics again. I gave her another dose of Agaricus 200 & advised her to continue the plan. This time, however, the remedy did not work, and I therefore raised the potency to 1M. After some days, Ananya again began to sleep peacefully and no longer winked.

After three more months I inquired about Ananya & the mother told me spontaneously: “Ananya is excellent, there are no more attacks since then. They used to be so frequent.” The mother added that the child sleeps very well & eats much more of her own accord, and that she has gained weight.

The patient was followed up. She was well without any further attacks of epilepsy. This is a case of childhood epilepsy which responded more rapidly than what we would expect, because homeopathy can often take more than a year. This might sound like a long time but it is not long considering the other options of long term modern medical treatment.

Homeopathic Agaricus is used for children who are extremely curious (amongst other things)

Here in this case, the thing which made me think of Agaricus was the extremely curious nature of little Ananya. Parents want their child to have this desirable personality trait and I don’t think you can find an intellectual giant who is not a curious person. Samuel Hahnemann, Constantine Hering, Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Columbus, they were all curious characters. Though when we see the curiosity as part of a bigger picture it is a key to finding the remedy and finding what needs to be treated. The thing that needs treatment is the thing that is out of balance.

What is that? Why is it made that way? When was it made? Who invented it? Where does it come from? How does it work? What, why, when, who, where, and how are the best friends of curious people.

While curiosity is a state commonly experienced by all people, it is also a trait which is much more typical of some people than others. Some events will be seen by some people as strange or peculiar while others will pass them by with little interest.

That is why in our Repertory there are only few medicines which are placed under the curious or inquisitive rubric & they include Agaricus, Carcinosin, Lachesis, Phosphorus, Lycopodium, Sepia, Sulphur.

What is the child curious about? What does the materia medica of homeopathic remedies include about curiosity?

Agaricus - their curiosity is very much towards super-natural things like Ghosts, dead people, things associated with dead people like coffins, UFO’s, planets etc etc. The child may be over-the-top curious, often asking questions about religious or metaphysical things in order to relieve these fears about life and death. Homeopathic remedies are made from the Agaricus mushroom.

Sulphur - these youngsters may commonly be found playing with two toys at the same time, or holding onto one while playing with another. Upon entering the reception area, the doctor may find the child speaking to the secretary, asking about the telephone or the computer, wanting to know how it works & what all the wires are for. The child touches everything, as it is her way of experiencing the environment. It is this sensual inquisitiveness that is partially to blame for the 'messiness' of the child. They quickly figure out the workings & functions of any toy, object, or game & then they go on to the next one, perhaps never finishing any activity or puzzle completely. She simply drops what she was working on and goes to the next fascination. Without any restraint, in ten minutes the office floor would be filled with most of the doctor’s possessions, tossed about in no particular order and the room would look like a disaster area. For another childhood epilepsy case treated by Sulphur click here.

Carcinosin - their curiosity is not by any means as chaotic as Sulphur, but carefully careful. One gets the impression, that they make themselves familiar with each article individually. They must hold everything in their hand, feel it, turn it over and then place it back in its respective place (unlike Sulphur). They are very interested in the subject of Geography. They would love to know more about different places & nature. They like to see the channel ‘Animal Planet’ and keep asking about different animals, their habitat and the way they live, survive etc. They also have an obsession with time and watches; they open up watches in order to learn how they are ticking.

Lachesis - Their curiosity is limited to materialistic things like jewelry, clothes and ornaments. Their clothes are the latest, upscale, fancy, colourful, and very stylish. Because of their curious nature they are very bright and very smart. Lachesis is often attracted to philosophical ideas and mystical traditions.

Tuberculinum - These children are curious about artistic & musical endeavours, whereas the Pulsatilla child loves visual beauty and is eager to learn about flowers, animals & nature & also the taste of her favourite food.

Phosphorus - In these children, curiosity is another expression of a combined natural excitability and extroversion. In the office they play all over the floor with their siblings or friends, touching everything and exploring one toy or game after another. This is done in a far neater fashion than Sulphur children exhibit. Phosphorus also lacks the destructiveness found in Tuberculinum, although they may tear apart toys & machines to find out how they work with a straight-forward curiosity. If they wish to know something, they will ask the doctor point blank, as shyness will not prevent inquisitiveness from manifesting for very long. The questioning will seem appropriate and not irritating.

Lycopodium - Curiosity for Lycopodium is a superficial curiosity; it is just to impress the other person. His main aim in life is to appear interesting enough to attract friends, a girl-friend, and a modicum of respect from other people. It is to these ends that he collects facts and tries to interest people in them.

Sepia - These children are attracted towards different types of music, dance and other physical activities which involve the experience of physical harmony. Sepia is always curious to learn visual arts and physical healing arts like yoga, massage & Shiatsu. A Sepia child loves television shows which show recycling, upcycling, crafts like weaving and basket-making etc.

Curiosity is essential in the development of higher-level thinking skills

Here are three reasons why curiosity is so important

1. It makes your mind active instead of passive. The mind is like a muscle which becomes stronger through continual exercise.
2. Without curiosity, new ideas pass right in front of you and you miss them because your mind is not prepared to recognize them.
3. The life of curious children is far from boring. They have no need of a handheld screen in the waiting room.

About the author: Dr Navneet Bidani completed the Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine & Surgery (BHMS) from DS Homoeopathic Medical College, Pune University. He also has a M.Sc in Psychology from CMJ University, Meghalaya. He is a respected, international teacher and is often asked to define homeopathy. He is an author on the topics of homeopathy how it works, childhood epilepsy symptoms, pediatrics, depression and anxiety. His articles have appeared in a wide variety of publications and newspapers, including the British Homoeopathic Journal, National Journal of Homoeopathy, The Homoeopathic Heritage etc. He is an editor for South Delhi Homoeopathic Association’s bimonthly homoeopathic journal – The SDHA Chronicle. His homeopathy clinic is in Haryana, India.  www.drbidani.com