Ferrum metallicum [Ferr]:

-Jan Scholten
I will be very brief about Ferrum metallicum, because the remedy is well known. It contains all the basic characteristics of Ferrum.

Concepts

Ferrum Single

Firm All or nothing

Standing one's ground Disconnected

Perseverance No integration

Beatings

Irritability

Case

One of my patients had a beautiful description of the Ferrum state: she always had the feeling that she had to do everything correctly from the very beginning. She was afraid that other people would be stronger than her, that they would push her aside, that she wouldn't count. That is why she always wanted to keep an eye on everything, as that way she knew where she was and what she had to do. Her sensitivity to sound was connected to her feeling of having to be alert, having to be ready for action.

This attitude had started in her childhood, when she had to help look after 8 brothers and sisters. Being the eldest child she was a sort of second mother. But it was chaos at home and she found it very difficult to keep everything in order. If she did something wrong she would get a beating, but she never knew when. Sometimes she would get praise and at another time a smack. Hence the feeling 'I have got to get it right first time, otherwise...'.

A brief picture of Ferrum metallicum

Essence: The idea that they have to stand firm for the things they have chosen for themselves.

Mind: Firm, brave, persevering.

Irritability (<) contradiction and opposition. Angry if other people overstep their boundaries. Fear of criticism and beatings. Jumpy Sensitive to sounds. General characteristics: Location: right sided. Temperature: cold. Desires: tomatoes, meat. Aversion: eggs. Menses: copious. Physical: (>) slow movement.

Complaints:

Anaemia, low and high blood pressure.

Red cheeks (<) wine. Vertigo (<) wine, (<) getting up. Headache. Pain in shoulders. DD: Ferrums, Arn, Kali's, Sulph. a Ferrum muriaticum [Ferr-m] Ferrum muriaticum is not very well known. The only characteristic symptom which has been mentioned about it is the pain in the right shoulder. In my opinion it is more likely that the pain is in the left shoulder, because of the affinity of the Chlorum element with the left side of the body. Concepts Ferrum Muriaticum Firm Self pity Standing one's ground Nurturing Perseverance Mother Beatings Attention Irritability Self-awareness Group analysis Ferr-m greatly resembles Kali-m in its mental symptoms. In quite a few Ferrum cases I first gave Kali-m with partial success. But I had to keep repeating Kali-m because some of the complaints kept coming back, until I discovered that Ferr-m was the real simillimum. Both remedies have the feeling that they have to be a good mother. And there is often a common childhood history of being the eldest child and having to help their mother. The aggravation at 3 am is also a common symptom, which is why we sometimes get confused between these two remedies. But what are the essential differences? Ferr-m has the feeling of being forced or forcing themselves, whilst Kali-m lacks this compulsive element. In Kali-m the feeling is one of duty, steadily carrying on with their task. Because Ferr-m is more forced in their activities there is a greater chance of irritability. They are easily irritated by their children because they feel that they have to be brave and grown up. A variation on this theme is the situation where they have a mother who is very 'firm'. This mother is a person who knows what she wants and if the children don't obey they can get a smack. Or they may have a mother who has her own career and who doesn't have so much time for the children. But she doesn't want to hear any complaints from them about that, she doesn't allow any 'fuss'. This is a Ferr-m situation, both for the mother as well as for the children. Case A 35 year old woman suffers from tiredness. She has three children who have had many illnesses during the past years, but now that they are doing quite well she feels that she herself is about to break down. She feels anaemic, tired and slow in everything she undertakes. She can't be cheerful anymore and she thinks she might need some psychotherapy but she has an aversion to it. She doesn't sleep well, wakes up many times, mostly around 3am. The disturbed sleeping pattern started when she had to get up every night because one of her daughters suffered from nightmares. She used to wake up in anticipation of her daughter calling out. She also suffers from tiredness and irritability during menses, something she never had in the past. Six months ago she decided she didn't want to have any more children and since that time she suddenly find her menses very tiresome. When she was pregnant she used to be anaemic. Her head and cheeks are often flushed, with stitching pains. General characteristics: Desires: meat, beef (3), fish. Aversion: eggs, wine. She feels drunk after one glass of beer. Mind: She used to be a 'good' girl. Her family lived in a small village and she was the eldest of 7 children. She had to help in the house, which was heavy work. She also helped in her uncle's house during the holidays when she was 14, because her aunt had to go to hospital. She is afraid of criticism. When she was at secondary school she used to get notes that her work was not up to standard. These notes had to be signed by her parents but she always waited until the last minute and used to spend the whole weekend worrying about it. She is still rather afraid of people, particularly when they stare at her. She immediately thinks: 'What have I done wrong?'. It is difficult for her to accept psychotherapy; even homeopathy makes her nervous. She is very sympathetic to children. She studied child psychology and has worked in this field, too. She likes the challenge of making contact with problem children, and she usually succeeds. Analysis There are some obvious Ferrum symptoms: red cheeks, tiredness with anaemia, dizziness after alcohol, (<) 3 h., aversion eggs and wine. On the mental plane we find the Ferrum traits of perseverance and the fear of criticism or punishment. However, Ferrum metallicum doesn't quite cover the case, because there are a few Muriaticum symptoms in this case too. For instance, on the physical level the desire for fish, but even more on the mental level: the love for and the desire to have contact with children, as well as the past history of taking care of the entire household. Finally we have a very strong Ferr-m theme: the feeling that she has to remain strong in order to take good care of her children, to be a good mother to them. As soon as she felt that they didn't need her care as much as before, she broke down. Reaction After Ferr-m 200 she felt very tired for two days. Then she started to feel better: she was more cheerful and she felt like doing things with the children again. She also started to look for a part time job. Her sleep improved and her dreams came back, particularly dreams which were meaningful to her. Picture of Ferrum muriaticum Essence: they feel that they have to remain strong in order to be able to take good care of the children. Mind: they are bold and resolute. They feel they have to be because they must be able to take care of others. As a child they often had to help, being the eldest child. They really like to have children and to look after them well. They may even make it their profession, for instance by becoming a school teacher. They can't tolerate opposition or criticism very well, they might even get extremely irritable. They are also easily frightened. General characteristics: Location: left sided. Temperature: slightly cold. Time: (<) 3 am. desires: tomatoes, fish. Aversion: eggs, tomatoes. menses: copious. Physical: (>) slow movement.

Complaints:

Anaemia, low and high blood pressure.

Red cheeks (<) wine. Dizziness (<) wine and getting up.

Headaches.

Pain in left shoulder.

DD: Ferrums, Muriaticums, Kali's, Puls, Carb-v, Rumex, Sang.

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