It is a well-known fact that Homoeopathy treats the person
holistically. The homoeopathic physician takes a number of factors into
consideration before prescribing any medicine or suggesting any lifestyle
changes to restore you back to health.
One of the most important data in case-taking is the “NEVER WELL
SINCE” symptom. This is nothing but the causative factor that was operating in
the person’s life before the onset of his symptom. It is one of the most
decisive and fundamental aspect of the entire case and if found can help in
solving the case speedily. Many times
the person is not aware to link the NWS with the symptoms that are troubling
him and thus not revealing vital information to the physician. In allopathic
practice too causative factor are recognized, but only common ones are grouped
together as risk factors for such-and-such disease. E.g.: cholesterol and heart
disease. Even if it does recognize certain environmental factors, it has no
solutions for it other than giving symptomatic or suppressive measures for it.
E.g: Diarrhea in allopathy is treated by an anti-diarrheal, maybe with ORS
powder and a prebiotic/probiotic; an antibiotic may be given if the cause is
thought to be infective. But in homeopathy we have medicines for multiple
causative factors of diarrhea – Is it by eating contaminated food? Is it by
eating fish? Is it due to drinking milk? Is it due to some acute stress like
appearing for an exam? The remedies change according to the cause. There is no
fixed anti-diarrheal, we always treat the cause and effect.
Carrying this idea forward, I am presenting some hints and examples to
the reader of NWS to sensitize him/her to this important aspect of case-taking. It
will help to give better information to the doctor while case-taking so as to
derive better results. It is also important to note that this is not the only
method of case taking; there are many other factors which are taken into
consideration before selecting the medicine. Even if you are not able to give
this data, do not worry. The homeopathic physician has many methods to select
the correct medicine for you.
The NWS list given below is not exhaustive, but only a means to attract
your attention to such factors. You may find some are applicable in your case
which you have not reported to your homoeopathic physician. The causative
incident which has recently occurred and followed by the problem is easy to
correlate, but events happened long back may be difficult to trace to the onset
of symptoms. One way is to write down all the diseases you have suffered in the
past and also the major events in your life happened so far. Only then you
might strike some clue about the cause-effect correlation with the event and
disease. Again it is not always possible to do so, but whenever this data is
available it should be always brought to the attention of the treating
homoeopathic physician.
MIND
Anger
Anxiety
Bad News
Business Failure
Death of family Member
Disappointed Love
Argument between boss and employee
Fear
Excessive joy (Yes, even an excess of happiness can be bad)
Sudden shock
Suppressed anger, grief.
Worry
Examples:
Diarrhea due to fear of exam.
Hypertension after death of husband.
Diabetes after loss in business.
ENVIRONMENT
Weather – wet, dry, cold, hot, snow, wind
Heat/sun stroke
Seashore
Sun
Living in marshy area, damp places.
Examples:
Headache from sunlight.
Cough from sudden cold weather.
Itching skin from seawater.
Joint pains in Mumbai, but no complaints in Pune or Surat.
Cold cough in Mumbai, but no complaints in Delhi.
INJURY
Bleeding
Head injury
Cut, laceration
Fractures
Electric shock
Insect-bite
Over-lifting, overstraining
Examples:
Headache after head injury.
Neck pain after carrying heavy bag.
DIET
Coffee
Milk
Tea
Tobacco
Alcohol
Fried food
Any food or drink
Example:
Diarrhea after fried food.
Acidity from tea.
Skin rash from milk.
Abdomen pain from eating prawns.
MISCELLANEOUS
Loss of sleep
Antibiotics, drugs
Childhood diseases
Acute diseases
Vaccination
Surgery
Herpes Zoster
Liver disease.
Steroids
Childbirth
Suppressed sweat
Examples:
Migraine after loss of sleep due caring for sick relative.
Digestive problems after hepatitis.
Continuous weakness after fever, even when fever subsided many weeks
back.
Repeated respiratory infections after recovering from attack of
pneumonia.
Abdomen pain after surgery, but nothing seen on ultrasonography or
urine or blood tests.
