Carol was in her mid-50s and worked shifts in customer service, which involved heavy lifting. She suffered from arthritis in her knuckles and fingers and had asthma. However, she came for treatment because of a pain in her right hip and hot flushes.

Tests showed inflammation in the hip joints. The doctor had recommended steroid injections and hormone replacement therapy. The pain in the hip radiated to the right leg and across the back and was worse on walking. Carol’s fingers were stiff and it was hard for her to get on with her work. She preferred summer and craved salt, chocolate and sugar.

When asked how she felt in herself, Carol said she was ‘not feeling healthy any more’; she was always tired. She had dreams of spiritual  things, dead people and angels, and cried if someone was nice to her. Financial pressures added to her stress.

After the first homeopathic prescription, Carol felt much better but she was still tired and the hot flushes continued. She surprised me by  saying that, previously, she had forgotten to tell me about a pain in the right side of her lower abdomen, which she’d had for a long time but  which had now disappeared.

At her third visit, the hip and knee pain and digestive troubles were gone but her knees ‘clicked’ when she climbed stairs. The hot flushes  were waking her up in the middle of the night and making her throw off the covers. There was also a bit of tightness in the chest.

This called for a change of medicine, to focus on the hot flushes, and after 15 days Carol told me she had never felt happier: ‘I am feeling cool and had to wear a jacket [for the first time in] a long time.’ She was happy and laughing, there was no more pain in her hip, knee or back, and she had started exercising.

ANKITA CHAVDA, professional homeopath, WA