Carcinosin

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I need to control this chaos inside me

Inner State of Chaos (going many directions)

Lack of Identity, Amorphous feeling
Sensitive to Reprimand
Trying to be Perfect (to avoid reprimand)
Pathological Organizer (to quiet chaos)
Anxious in anticipation
Huge Capacity (I can make my world what I want)
Passionate, Sympathetic (dont hurt them)
Push and Pull Symptoms (all over the board)
History of Cancer or Diabetes
Lump in throat, Cough, Chest
Generally no themes
1. Anger would amount to stubbornness, dig my heels in when dominated one to many times, real anger would be chaos
2. First internalize and suppress
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Warm remedy (usual Val says)

General worse at 5-6 pm
Generally better in evening, or after short nap
Amel. At the sea (though sometimes aggravated)
Past history of cancer or family history of cancer or diabetes
Illness develops at the time of puberty
caf au lait hue or Dark, earthy or dusky complexion.May have dark moles
Bluish hue to the sclera (whites of eyes), especially in children
Headache deep inside the brain
Lump in throat, worse on empty swallowing, worse at night or on waking, worse from heat and better from cold, Clears
throat before speaking
11. Sleeps in the knee-chest position (Med) or on the right side
12. Craves: Salt, Fat, Eggs, Fruit, Milk, Sweets, Spicy foods, Chocolate, Onions and Garlic, Ham fat, Meat, Butter VS. Aversion: Fat
Carc: must have both craving and aversion, craving for eggs and aversion to eggs
1. Sex drive increased, Too frequent or early masturbation
2. Itch worse undressing, cough worse undressing
Fears (of what is going to happen), Anticipatory Fears
Afraid of exams, tests, Of crowds
Fear of health, death, disease
(Laurie D)
Wanting to do it for the harmony
If not then there will be chaos
Usually some sort of chaos in the family home
(KB)
Canceris the penalty for an unlived life
Did not allow themselves to feel the feeling associated with this event

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(JA)
The Carcinosin sadness is that of a separation caused by a closed door; mother
or father may be on the other side of the door, and the panic ensues. Or dropping the child off at school and the child stands in the window shrieking, the
Ignatia amara child would silently weep, act in a morose manner. There is an
animal-like aggressiveness and meanness to Carcinosin that is absent in Ignatia
amara. Ignatia amara has a kind of defenselessness (as seen in plants). Also,
Carcinosin has this sudden intrusive quality whereas Ignatia amara has a sudden hysterical quality.

Wants to fit in
Wants to be the best
To do the impossible
They grew up in a chaotic family, but kept under very careful
control
Only after time will reveal that father was an alcoholic, mother had an affair
But you wont know initially
I had a great childhood
Might get some kind of depressive episode out of the blue
Boundariness
Some force that cannot be contained
This case: a little boy that they could not shut the door when he came into consultation room
If door was shut, it made him so anxious
He was being contained
He needed to know what is going oninside and outside
Their job to keep things functioning
Make it look like nothing is happening to outside world
Smoothly and perfectly w/o a skip in step
You arent aware of what is going on inside of the household
You work with perfect person, that does everything right
Can look like Nat-murailments form disappointment
And StaphIm not angry (smile)
They had to take care of skitziod brother
VERY HIDDEN
Ive got to maintain control
Very anxious when works with boss
At childrens conferences where they might be caught off guard
They want a script or a plan
Her children can not be sick
How do I need to give this remedy?
Will call againI forgot to mention they are always questioning
There is not a lot of trust of anyone in authority
Have to check and double check
Anything out of routine brings up pathology
being in control
Her son has acne, she feels its because she gave vaccine
She comes undone about this
There is no way to control their diet
She is constantly inserting herself, to keep chaos at bay
In cancer casesIm fine, stage 4 cancerclearly not fine

Carcinosin

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Person really needs performance metal

A person really in control
Major opposition within the remedy
Mom is calm and collectedcompletely in control
Child is wild out of control
Has ARS fastidiousness
A lot of anxiety at night before a big eventtremendous fear
ACID traitsdrained, burned out, depleted
Call Friday nightanxious to be alone w/family on weekend
Anything closes them in
Then Monday calls with some thing completely different
They dont need youI took care of it myself
She looks so strongleading fortune 500
Then this bad weekdepressed state comes out
They dont want to admit any weaknesswont say is claustrophobic
They want to belongthey cant or wont if cant keep up
If anyone finds out who they are they will be ruined
They try to fix everything
They were trained to be fixers
Takes 12 remedies and then calls you
Everyone around her has cancer
I wont get it because I am taking this green herb
(Caseschildren)
(o) shy, clinging to mother. Mom does most talking
After school, 20 minutes by herself, then on bike and gone
Fights thru it, At bedtime, finally allowed herself to stop, strong, she will fight thru it
Competitive, gets upset when doesnt win
Panicked when forgot her routine (in Skating), next day didnt want to go out, was sobbing
More bad dreams than sister, pitter patter, runs down hall
Doesnt like to be alone on floor of house, just want to know someone else is around
Wouldnt want hand held, our little monkey climbing things
Very close to father
Competitiveness, like dad, insightful like me
Goes w/flow, if not as expected, shell say thats okay
If sister is acting out, she will hold hands over ears, or goes and hides
When I had cancer, doesnt want to talk about it, scary time
(Case)
Timid, quiet. Difficult to get her to open up. Deep tears. Scared when cried. I felt bad when
asked her something that made her sad.
CC: Scared to be alone, panics when cant get dad or mom on phone
Call dad every night, just to talk to him, to know hes okay
Think hes hurt or something has happened to him
If I hit him he hits back, over-reacts for attention
Tells mom or dad
I get in trouble
Parents get mad at me

Carcinosin
I dont yell back, I walk away
No one supported her, except her mom and dad
Shes strong
No friends in HS, everyone was jealous how she could sing
I dont like staying home alone
Scary part, get bad feeling in stomach
Not having them there
Afraid they wont come back to me
I have the choice, I can go with them or stay at home
Used to want to be a lawyer, now want to be a farmer, Dad has a farm
Hunt with him
Be really safe, have to know where he is at all times
Hes proud of me when he shoots
(Mom)
She has a lot of anxiety
Wont stay home alone
If tried to call, panic, that he is dead
Surge of anxiety
Otherwise, easy going, even temperament
Still sucks her thumb, a blanket with her at all times
Doesnt do anything wrong, doesnt get in trouble
Cried every time I left her at school, this year first time not crying
(LD)
Every aspect is about control and chaos
Every aspect of the persons life
All you see is that theme
When the same story comes up
Has to leave her environment to find her identity when going off to exercise
She participates in creating the chaos
Then attempts to control it (VO)
(Laurie)
All case revolves around one point
All these thoughts
That she cannot control
Fear will hurt someone else
(Sankaran)
The pillar of family, balancing everything
In dreams: things out of control, she has to put them back
Observation: very well mannered, always speaks softly
Hardly complain
State symptoms clearly
She herself, always patient, always accepting
Speak calmly and clearly, without a single complaint
With no impatience (anyone else would have lost their head)
Everyone in family relies on her
She is shoulder to cry on in business
Her mind is constantly busy with thoughts, but meeting her always calm on exterior

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Carcinosin

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Resp: strong
Fastidious
Sympathetic
Desires sweet and salty
CARC
Insomnia in young children
Need to be a model of perfection
Very sensitive to every sphere of life
Dream: dogs form like a club, all black dogs, all other dogs pouncing on
one dog, one child, wounded so many things happening at the same time how to manage the
situation
In dream: feeling multiple things to do

Themes
Push and Pull Symptoms (all over the board)
History of Cancer or Diabetes
Lump in throat, Cough, Chest
Generally no themes
General
Amel. At the sea (though sometimes aggravated)
Past history of cancer or family history of cancer or diabetes
General aggravation at 5 to 6 p.m.
General amel in the evening
General amel from short naps
Illness develops at the time of puberty
Frequent colds and acute illness, sinus problems
General aggravation since mononucleosis or pertussis
Appearance: Dark, earthy or dusky complexion or caf au lait hue. Many times the patient has dark moles
Head
Bluish hue to the sclera (whites of eyes), especially in children
Headache deep inside the brain
Twitches, tics, or frequent blinking of eyes
Lump in throat, worse on empty swallowing, worse at night or on waking, worse from heat and better from
cold
Clears throat before speaking
Respiratory/Chest
Asthma and recurring bronchitis
Cough, worse talking, laughing, yawning, worse undressing or dressing, worse cold air
Oppression of the chest
Swelling and tenderness of the breasts before menses
Other
Sleeps in the knee-chest position (Med) or on the right side
Insomnia

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Sleeplessness in children, amel. From being rocked to sleep

Waking early or at 4 a.m.
Itch worse from undressing
Acne on face, back, and chest
Ecchymosis

Abdomen
Craves: Salt, Fat, Eggs, Fruit, Milk, Sweets, Spicy foods, Chocolate, Onions
and Garlic, Hamfat, Meat, Butter
Aversion: Fat
Desires cold drinks
Desires alcoholic drinks
Abdominal pains, worse 4 to 6 p.m.
Abdominal pain, ameliorated by pressure and bending forward, better from hot drinks
Dry, hard stool
Burning pain in the ascending colon, like fire
Reproductive
Sex drive increased
Too frequent or early masturbation
Ovarian Cysts
Menses early

Cases
(Val)
Conflicting doctor opinions, this creates more chaos
Harder for them to process
Diff Ars and Carc
Carc about control and chaos
Ars about loss, insecurity, things are going to be taken from them, insecure in their own ability to protect
themselves, fastidious is cleanliness
In Carc fastidiousness is so it all looks in order, it looks peaceful and harmonious
Ars really want cleanliness but thats how things will get them
Carc not fastidious, things will be chaotic, things out of control, if I dont do it no one will do it
The Cycle of Carcinosin (Link to webpage)
FEAR
LET THEMSELVES BE TAKEN CARE OF
INWARDNESS
RESENTMENT
FRENETIC BREAKING OUT
BREAKDOWN/WEAKNESS
FEAR.
In this part of the cycle the Carcinosin patient is fearful. They have fear of being alone, of animals, of
the future, of insects, mirrors, and spiders. They have fears about their health, riding fast. They have

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ailments from anticipation.

This fear is really about their ability to make their way in the world. If they
cant affect change in their own life, literally everything seems threatening, uncontrollable. Consciously or unconsciously they choose a strategy for survival
which pushes them to the next part of the cycle.
LET THEMSELVES BE TAKEN CARE OF
If you have a fear about your own ability to make your way in the world, the easiest thing is to
let someone else do it for you. You let them take care of you. Often this is a pattern developed in
childhood. An overbearing parent may train the patient to be dependent, by not encouraging them to
make their own decisions, by constantly doing things for them, or by giving them the message that
they are not capable of doing things for themselves.
So the symptoms that fit this portion of the cycle are: company ameliorates, loves affection, affectionate, propensity for caresses, smiling, desires to be carried, resignation, desire for rocking, and sociability.
Also included in this segment are the myriad of things that tend to take care of them i.e. ameliorate
them. Seaside air amel., pain lower limbs warmth of bed amel., music amel., throat pain warm drinks
amel., everything seems to ameliorate them. They are letting themselves be taken care of. They take
whatever they are given and it makes them feel better.
They even desire foods which are comfort oriented: butter, chocolate, delicacies, eggs, fruit, milk,
sweets, sugar. You can almost imagine their mother giving them all their favorite comfort foods.
Later on in life, they still need to be taken care of and still find comfort in the same foods.
INWARDNESS
As Herscu explains in his theory of overreaction, you often get what you want but the intensity makes
it insupportable. For example, Pulsatilla desires consolation, desires to be carried and rocked and
loved up, to be smothered by others and yet they develop a fear of suffocation.
Likewise, because Carsinosin wants to be taken care of, they have to submit their will to the will of the
person who is doing the caretaking. They begin the process of losing their sense of self, not
really knowing themselves as much as they should, not being a solid individual. They hear
only the vague voice of who they really are, who they were meant to be. I think this is the
famed keynote symptom for the remedy. It is not just suppression from the parent, but rather
the loss of self that results from that suppression. Here they may be mistaken for Staphysagria or
Natrum muriaticum. So they are quiet and inward. They tend to hold on to their feelings in this phase,
to suppress them. They dont speak out. Things dwell and swell up inside of them.
A telltale symptom is: abdominal pain, bending double ameliorates. They bend over and take whatever they are given in order to feel better. Or sleep position on knees with face forced into the pillow.
This pretty much describes the passivity. Yet its more than just passivity. Its the next step. The overattention or being taken care of is beginning to close in on them. Its beginning to grate, be cloying.
But they cant say anything. They just keep it in and swell up.
Other specific symptoms include : cautious, reserved, responsive without interest, taciturn, sup-

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presses his desires, aversion to company, anger with silent grief, suppressed
grief, and answers in monosyllables.
Physical symptoms which reflect the same idea are: styes of eyes, stiffness of
lower jaw, abdomen constriction, rectum constriction, constriction of the heart,
chest swelling of mammae before menses, extremity pain, motion agg. They
are held in, constricted, cant move, swollen, and so are their physical symptoms. They can only take this holding on for so long before they move to the
next segment.
RESENTMENT
They get resentful. They cant hold it in completely any more. They become contradictory.
Three symptoms which reveal this idea are: delusions she has suffered wrong, unhappiness due to
influence of others, and delusions arms do not belong to her. She cant do what it is she wants. Her
arms, which she uses to accomplish things, cant be used to do what she wants. She is at the mercy
of someone else and she resents it.
Other symptoms include: contradictory states, capricious, intolerance of contradiction, disobedience,
quarrelsome, ailments from domination, ailments from reproaches, discontented, disgust, anger at his
mistakes, remorse, sensitive to reprimands, dreams of murder, conversation aggravates.
Anything that makes them feel closed in bothers them. They have fear in narrow places or riding in a
carriage (closed in). At this phase, everything that looks like consolation or affection makes them
worse: consolation aggravates and seaside air aggravates. Eggs, fruit, and milk were comfort foods.
Now they either are averse to, or aggravated by them.
We see that the cycle explains the divergent aggravations ad ameloriations by the same modalities.
During the letting themselves be taken care of segment of the cycle, these things make them feel
better. In the resentment segment of the cycle they make the patient feel worse.
FRENETIC BREAKING OUT
Finally they have to break out. They are excitable, sexually intense, love to move. They are on
their own. They finally can take care of themselves. Symptoms include: Dancing, desire for travel,
restlessness, blueness of the sclera, runs about, disposition to masturbate, cheerful when it thunders
and lightnings, extremity pain motion ameliorates. They are finally alive.
But the excitability increases. You have the symptoms: starting from noise, talking in sleep, shrieking
at night, weeping, weeping at trifles, tics, twitching of eyelids, sleeplessness, destructiveness in children, biting fingers, and tearing himself.
They start taking care of others. These rubrics include: Caring for others, too much of a sense of duty,
anxiety about family, full of cares for others, anxiety for others. They do many things for others, here
looking like Phosphorus or Causticum.
Cancerous affectations are found here as the cells lose cancer suppressing ability and proliferate with
all the energy possible-with so much vitality that it can kill the rest of the body. It is in a way a reaction
to having been suppressed for so long before. In the struggle for freedom, for growth and individuality,
the person overshoots and creates too much, just as what happened with the personality.

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Finally it is just too much activity. They move to the next segment of the cycle.
BREAKDOWN
They break down and are weak, sad. Symptoms of the breakdown are:
schizophrenia, suicidal disposition, mouth aphthae, ulcerations, and bleeding.
The effects of cancer can be found here.
The weakness is seen with the following symptoms: mind development arrested, retardation, dullness, concentration difficult, want of self confidence,
sadness, weakness of eyes, rectum prolapse, sexual desire diminished, extremities, weakness thigh.
Too weak to walk, or to talk.
Expending so much energy has left a hole in them, has weakened them so much so that they
can feel sensitive to the outside world. So much so that they resemble Phosphorus or Pulsatilla or occasionally Medorrhinum. They feel others pains, but others beauty as well. Just as
Phosphorus feels the music, sees the colors so vibrantly, so too doesCarcinosin. But it is a
sensitivity that can come from weakness and from being too open.
And so, the breakdown and weakness push them back into being fearful, and the cycle is back to the
beginning and starts around one more time.
SUMMARY
So looking at the cycle of Carcinosin explains a few things. First, as mentioned above, it explains why
at one segment of the cycle certain symptoms ameliorate and, at another segment of the cycle, the
same modalities aggravate. Similarly, it explains why, at one segment they desire a certain food, at
another segment they are averse to the same food. Compare the modalities and food cravings of the
let themselves be taken care of segment with those of the resentment segment.
Second, it allows us to see how Carcinosin can look like other remedies. During the inward part of
the cycle they can easily look like Natrum muriaticum. During the frenetic part of the cycle they can
look like Phosphorus, Tuberculinum, or Lachesis. During the inwardness, holding on and
resentment parts of the cycle they can look like Staphysagria. Taking other parts of the cycle they
can look like other remedies. The beauty of looking at remedies through the cycles and segments is
that you can see how it fits together to form a coherent picture of Carcinosin.
Third, you can easily see how the many descriptions of Carcinosin have come into the literature. It depends on the portion of the cycle the patient was in when the homeopath treated them, and on what
the homeopath focused on.
Fourth, the confusion in the literature does not mean that we should not give this remedy, but that we
should work our way through it and find the real issues underlying this remedy. While I do not think we
should be prescribing it every day, we also should not discard it.
As you read through the cases in this issue of the Journal, see if you can identify which segment or
segments the patient described to the homeopath. For example, in Dr. Lugtens case, see page __,
the description of the patients pathology was on the frenetic, breaking out and then break down,
weakness phases of the cycle. If you take all the cases together, you can see how they fit into various
portions of the cycle, and how taken all together they create a full picture of the cycle of Carcinosin.

Carcinosin Mental State

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Sensitive to Reprimand
Have to go very gentle

Lacking Inner Peace

They are already trying to be really perfect

and one little reprimand sets them off

Inner State of Chaos

As a kids they grow up trying to be exactly

what their parents wants them to be
Can be very passive, after criticism

An amorphous feeling to this remedy

(often conflicting areas - a problem)

About survival
Chaos means death to them

They can have several kinds of reactions, several kinds of expression

Frantic
Achieve things that are almost impossible

Cant stand up for what they want

So worried about hurting feelings

Repressed people
Easily wounded
Easily repressed

Wont get their way in a group situation

Very sympathetic
They never want their feelings hurt,
therefore wont want other peoples
feeling hurt
(can look like Phos.) can look plant
Because they dont have sense of
identity, they can connect

take on other peoples stuff

Hard for them to know that they want
something different

Highly Anxious
Anticipatory, out of fear of critique and
reprimand
Anxious before exams

Get more organized

Fears (of what is going to happen)

Anticipatory Fears
Afraid of exams, tests
Of crowds
Fear of health, death, disease
Go berserk if you take away mother
(like cancer)

pathological
organizer

They have the planners, lists, they

have everything figured out
And theyll figure it out for you, if you
dont have it figured out
Being timely, on time, keeping things
in order so life doesnt get out of control
(will go to bed to meet their 10 pm bed time)

Frantic Feeling

Not organized within

Many different directions they are trying to go,

often... in conflict
Inability to differentiate

Perfectionists
Have to have everything right in all areas

Persnickety, neat freak,

obstinate, rebellious

Have huge capacity

Lack of Identity

Capable of running an organization

Between kid and parent, bond is too

close too long
As if in the process of growing up, they
do not become independent

The active ones are proactive people

Make their world into what they want,
(Even though they dont know what
they want)

Confusion of identity
Hard time taking on their own identity.
A kid, 17, comes in, like two peas in a
pod, mother will do all talking, kid will
sit their nodding, as if parent and kids
are in agreement about this.

Remaining enmeshed too long

Lack of boundaries
If there is a person around them with an
identity, they tend to repress themselves
(pushed down so far they are not even
aware of it sometime)
Mothering aspect from breast cancer
Why they tend to be so connected to mom
Lack of uniqueness

Run right through mother to daughter

for generations
As if they areSet up on a pattern...

Never am I my own person

As if dominant person living through them
Deep suppression

Deep bonds within the family

Feeling the whole family is glued

Tight connection, mom, grandmother, etc.
You as a practitioners, must control without criticizing

Huge Stubborn (less anger)

Dig in their heals

A resistant sort of anger

Love and hate of same food

Set up to push themselves at a

super human level

People think they are great
Can be good bosses, can be bad
Can be sympathetic, or complaining
Its all coming out of chaos inside
Looking to you for an answer
Something to put them in order
Dont want anything like a reprimand

Capable of Manipulation
Want things perfect, all about getting
things they way they want it

Going around people, work outside of rules, manipulate others into doing what they want in order to get things done right
They will disrupt your office

Strong Passionate Personality

Loves music and dance, travel

High sex drive
All this fire in them
Excited, hard workers, go for it people,
do everything perfect
Super-human effort to survive
Can come in full of energy,
red faced
Having strong passion and desires that
you might see in teenagers

Really attractive to others

Adults somewhat child-like (a little)
not finding themselves in middle of life
Pretty easy going
can seem like that