Over lockdown I consulted a mum and her 12 year old son Adam, who was having trouble sleeping. A chat with mum described her son’s typical bedtime routine involved a million excuses before bedtime. Every night Adam would follow his mum everywhere upstairs, hardly entering his room and refusing to settle. There was also a fixation about certain items and furniture needing to be placed in a certain position before bedtime.
After much consoling, Adam would eventually fall asleep with his mum in his bed around 11pm only to wake up on throughout the night realising that mum was no longer there. This was occurring every night causing the whole family disrupted sleep and stress.
I chatted with Adam and he reluctantly shared that he was scared but didn’t know what of. Further gentle questions revealed that he was spooked years ago at school and always worries that an intruder will climb through his window. He had been scared of the dark for years and always needed the light on at night with his bedroom door open. I asked if Adam had suffered any unusual experiences as a younger child, and mum remembered an incident when they were trapped in a public toilet, mum recalls Adam being absolutely terrified. Ever since, they had noticed Adams dislike of closed small spaces. However what was more relevant now was how Adam’s fears and worries had intensified during the lockdown. Adam was so worried about the virus he refused to go out anywhere even to play in his own back garden.
Following the consultation with both mum & Adam it was clear that a ‘fright’ was at the start of a disturbed sleep pattern for Adam.
Often in homeopathy a timeline of the patient’s life is useful in discovering whether a certain event or trauma caused the disturbances. Here for Adam, the scare at school and the earlier experiences of being trapped were of importance to the case. The beauty of homeopathic remedies allow for earlier traumas to heal, releasing the body of those memories. I could see an indication for two remedies following the first consultation, that of Calc Carb and Stramoninum. I prescribed Stramoninum because of the deep rooted fears and the strong sleep disturbances.
Month 1
Mum reported that within 20 minutes of taking the remedy Adam fell asleep and slept all night. Adam didn’t need any music to fall asleep that night. Adam was also taking a weekly dose of a higher potency which I intended to help him on an even deeper level.
After taking Stramonium 1M, the first night Adam woke up and wasn’t sure why he woke up and went to sleep without much fuss. The following night was a little more dramatic as Adam seemed to be back to his ways of getting annoyed why he couldn’t sleep and saying he doesn’t know why he can’t sleep.
Occasionally an intensity of the symptoms can occur at the beginning of a treatment as the body almost endures a ‘healing crisis’ to eliminate the original feelings and emotions. Although these reactions seem concerning, if they are short and temporary they are in fact good signs that healing is taking place.
That weekend mum also reported that Adam asked if he could go shopping with mum, to which mum was so shocked as he had been terrified of the virus. He later went out bike riding with Dad and began playing in his garden again. This continued during the following weeks as Adam was now bike riding and playing in the park. At night time falling asleep was much quicker and mum could leave his room sooner. They had also noticed much less excuses at bedtime than before.
I was pleased to hear the challenges had decreased for Adam and for the whole family. Adam was further prescribed a remedy called Lycopodium to support him on a constitutional level. Constitutional remedies are often needed to support children overall and give them that boost both mentally & physically.
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