"Bending over backwards to help": Cases of Bambusa arundinacea: by Linlee Jordan

“Bending over backwards to help”: Cases of Bambusa arundinacea: by Linlee Jordan
A wealth of clues about the remedy Bambusa arundinacea are gained from observation of the growth habits of bamboo. If we add these clues to the intriguing formation about bamboo from different cultures and the excellent proving conducted in 1994 by Bernd Schuster we gain a deep understanding of Bambusa arundinacea.
It could be said that in our western culture we see bamboo as a symbol of eastern elegance with its timeless appearance in artworks. In Australia, it is a part of the sustainability trend being used for: flooring; paper; cutlery; clothing etc. especially since it grows 3 times as fast as eucalyptus and can be harvested 4 times as much. In eastern culture, the “Bamboo mentality” reflects a state of mind which is highly appreciated in Japan – one gives in or yields but ultimately emerges from all troubles unbroken. As a variant of the Iron curtain, the Bamboo curtain refers to the impenetrable political barrier of Asiatic or Chinese communism.
Case #1 Female born 1957.
In the past, Ignatia “would always help.” After Staphysagria her husband would say things like “she’s half human now”. Berberis was fast acting and reliable for Urinary Tract Infections as an acute remedy. Sepia would lift her mood temporarily but never help with her back or long term urinary tract problems.
In 1999, Bambusa relieved her symptoms in the profound way we know homeopathy is capable of doing. Up until four years ago she had LM’s every now and then and in a recent phone call announced that she is still symptom free emotionally and physically and has been in a new non-abusive relationship for 2 years. Her debilitating depression has not returned and her ability to cope, to say what she really feels, and to not take on too big a workload means that she knows how to look after herself in a highly functional way. The migraines, backache, stiffness, eczema and urinary problems are >>>>.
Her summarized case is in chronological order. Her words are presented as written in the case notes and reveal much about the remedy. She had (mostly) successfully used homeopathy for many years and first came to my clinic in 1992.
“I’ve had three pregnancies, I bled heavily after each – one time nearly died – one of them was a cot death he was 4 months old. (Observation: she calls the baby “it”.) Before it died, the baby cried and I didn’t go straight to it, I deserve this suffering, I’ve always been judgemental, I was always suffering in my childhood, I’m helpless to it, I was the oldest, I looked after my sisters and brothers, I did all the work, I still do, I was beaten, it was torture, my childhood was torture, I didn’t cry after the baby died not at all, I’m very spiritual, there is an explanation for everything, it was meant to be, I have to learn from it, death is birth, I have an Eastern European background, all that weeping and wailing makes me sick, I’m afraid if I expressed my emotions there’s a lot of anger there – I have to work on it – I threw a carton of soymilk at my husbands head, one time a hot cup of tea – he works from home but meditates a lot, he’s spiritually advanced, I have to get over my anger because he’s sent to help me, it’s torture living with him but I have to do it and work through it – it’s only a reflection of my shit, I do everything else, the kids, the house – it’s unfair, he jokes and says it’s womens work but you know he really means it – I can learn from this.”
1993 “I went to jail for 2 days, had gotten lots of parking tickets over the years, I usually park wherever I feel like it – in jail it was torture, so cold, so much suffering in those girls, their stories – the dragging in my neck was so bad then and stiff and my eczema was torture and migraines – at one stage my breasts were just swollen all the time, most usually it’s just before my period, they ache as if I’m pregnant.”
1994 “My family is an obligation – maybe I’m not that brave – I have a façade – but if I wasn’t brave I’d run – I’m stuck, it’s hopeless but I want to stay, there’s a lesson here – housework is an obligation I only just do it – my husband just sits there, I threw a broom at him – he meditates all day on and off, while I do everything. I can hardly sweep the floor some days my back is so stiff. He works from home but not that many hours any more.”
From 1995 to 1997 She would sporadically come for treatment and Berberis and Sepia were at times very helpful. “My eczema is back, neck very stiff, cystitis has always come and gone and at moment it is hovering, I’m studying yoga.” Then there was a break for two years where she did not present until 1999.
1999 “My period is every 3 weeks, my breasts are really swollen before my period, occasionally I get night sweats, headaches were gone but are back again, dragging me down.” (I believe the Nat mur banished the headaches for years and I never repeated it because it made her depressed with new depression symptoms). “I’m so tired, my back and hips are getting stiffer even though I do yoga, I teach it now, my bladder is bad, stinging when I wee, there’s no bacteria, I’m overwhelmed, depressed, my husband has stopped work, he meditates all day, I’m earning the money, always worried that I’ll earn enough, I’ve taken it all on, too much, I still get angry but I’m working on it, I’m stuck here but I need to be, I’m being strong.” This time she is prescribed Bambusa 0/3 one dose only, then in a weeks time every second day for two weeks then occasional doses. The amelioration is on all levels, mood, energy, night sweats, breasts, headaches, UTI, neck and back etc.
Jan 2001 She has had occasional LM doses since 1999 but no remedy now for more than 8 months. The husband has moved out. It is a big change because she was the one who wanted him to go, she is working more, no support, finance worries, stinging after urinating, < night, can feel the sensation of infection in the bladder. “I’m aware of the bladder in my body”, cloudy urine on and off, can go 7 hours without a drink, stiffness despite the yoga. Bambusa 0/6 with immediate >>>> especially energy levels, a dose about once a week. From 2001 to 2006 occasional repeats of the remedy. From 2006 to 2010 doing well, no repeats needed.
Rubrics (from Roger van Zandvoort’s Repertory, 2008.)

• Delusion, blame for her partners bad mood, she is: Bamb-a
• Despair, destiny everything is controlled by: Bamb-a
• Despair, desires support: Bamb-a
• Dreams, about neglecting her child: Bamb-a. Lim-b-c. Olea.
• Responsibility; ailments from, agg: Aur. Bamb-a. Carc. Coch. Lim-b-c. Ros-b. Sep. Uran.
• Generalities, Conscious of body; internal organs, of: Bamb-a.

Comparison with Sepia
• Overworked feeling as if: Bamb-a Sep
• Laziness: Bamb-a Sep
• Industrious: Sep
• Stiffness neck: Bamb-a Sep
• Indifference: Bamb-a Sep
• Escape, desire to: Bamb-a. Sep.
• Swelling mammae before menses: Bamb-a
• Aversion to lactation: Bamb-a
• Aversion to children: Bamb-a. Sep.
• Irritability towards children: Bamb-a Sep
• Anger; violence: Bamb-a. Sep.
• Handle things anymore, cannot, overwhelmed by stress. Bamb-a. Sep.
• Helplessness: Bamb-a. Sep.
• Discontented; everything, with: Bamb-a. Sep.
• Complaints after delivery: Bamb-a. Sep.
Case # 2 Male born 1949.
In the past had been given Nat mur (he remembered a powerful aggravation with anger and no apparent amelioration of symptoms) and Phophorus with no change of symptoms.

• 1999 Summary: He drives a van and teaches a body therapy, he looks after his two children, his ex-wife is in another country, finances are a worry, takes on a lot, doesn’t have a social life, stuck in his situation, tired, no girlfriend for 10 years, doesn’t get angry. “All day, an assault on your system, torture, knocked around, driving the van. Usually can keep my back pretty good with the body therapy but had a fall playing sport just lately. Tightness starts in sacrum, goes to R buttock, then goes down back of the leg, as if in the bone when it’s bad, can feel it sitting down on my sitting bones” < on movement, almost hot, uncomfortable tingly down R leg, had chronic sciatica in past. When sitting there’s a tightness in sacrum, dead area, < standing, like a black hole, > with movement than standing still, >>>> lying down with pillows under knees, > cocoon of quilt round legs they’re cold, don’t want anybody near, > heat shower/ hot water bottle, < cold weather, < tight clothes, NOT < soccer and surfing, < massage, < pushing shopping trolley – in past has had x rays and many investigations, there is ? a problem with discs, he has had an operation to enlarge the hole through which the nerve runs, then after this the pain came back < than ever.
• Treatment: Rhus tox 200 then M
• 18 10 99 says Rhus tox might have helped a bit, is back playing soccer but is exhausted, the stiffness is back to the same as it was before the fall at soccer, Bambusa 0/3 once daily
• 4 11 99 Feel better all over, more energy, stiffness not so bad, Bambusa 0/3 BD
• 30 11 99 Slow but steady improvement, Bambusa 0/6 once daily
• 7 3 00 Took it daily for a month then twice a week. Ran out of remedy, Bambusa 0/12 The day after the 0/12 went to get in the van and bumped his head on the roof because he was standing much straighter etc he rang especially to tell me. Feeling happy, realises that in the past he’s actually been depressed.
• 6 5 00 Better all round took up music lessons. “First thing I’ve done for my self in years”. He is taking just one dose about every 3weeks.
• 6 10 00 Everything is fantastic has a dose about once a month and has a girlfriend now.
• Jan 2001 Girlfriend is living in, he continues every couple of months to take a dose.
• May 2001 Doing well, still on Bambusa 0/12 has taken two doses since Jan.
• 2001 through to 2009 occasional doses of LM’s this is the remedy he turns to (rarely needed and sometimes no dose for more than a year.) No further contact with the patient as he has moved away.

Rubrics

• Ailments, anger, suppressed: Bamb-a. Nat mur. Staph.
• Company, aversion to: Bamb-a. etc
• Extremities, pain, lower limbs, sciatica, < jarring: Bamb-a. Bell.
• lying on painful side: Bamb-a. Rhus-t.
• < riding cars: Bamb-a. Coc-c.
• accompanied by chilliness in legs: Bamb-a. Nux-v.
  pain nates tubera ischiadica (sitting bones): Bamb-a.

The nature of bamboo
Bamboo is actually a species of grass but grows like a tree. It is hollow inside but is very strong. In Asian countries bamboo is a part of daily life, used for water pipes to irrigate, scaffolding, food, raw material for paper and receptacles for food and drink. In Australia some regard it as something of a symbol of eastern mysticism. We feel it implies a meditative quality and music played on a bamboo flute can allow you to enter a trance. We are awed by the beauty of the drooping bamboo leaves portrayed in countless Japanese ink paintings and the eerie grace of giant bamboo stands in movies like “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”. This beauty makes it easy to forget that fast growing bamboo was used for torture and that some species of spreading bamboo are regarded as pests. It is known as the fastest growing plant on earth with one species able to grow an incredible 47 inches in a single day. The bamboo plant which was used for the proving is called “Giant thorny bamboo”, and it lives up to its name by creating an impenetrable wall of long hooked thorny branches.
In China people identify with bamboo as a symbol of desirable personality characteristics – it stands for elasticity, endurance and perseverance. The stem bends and does not break. In a storm the tall branches may bend so much that they seem almost to touch the ground. The leaves are moved by the wind but don’t easily fall. Bamboo yields to the storm and survives.
The remedy can be needed when a mother makes statements such as, “I feel as if my emotional foundations are lacking. I feel deserted and no one asks if they can help me. I would like to run away but I’m stuck. I am anxious about what’s in store for me over the next few years. There’s a huge mountain to overcome. I find too much closeness in a relationship to be suffocating so that I make a rod for my back. I need more support. I can’t handle my child.” The proving showed that there were two important themes for someone needing the remedy. Firstly was a search for support emotionally, especially in issues to do with looking after children when the father (or mother) was “not present enough.” Physically there was a need for support in the back with pain, sciatica, stiffness and changes to the spine along with a tendency to lean against things and to prop up the head.
It appears that the time after birth for mother or father may often give rise to a need for Bambusa. It is a time of high demands on the whole family. The family situation is turned upside down, accompanied by sleep deprivation, being always on call, breastfeeding and worry about the child’s wellbeing. The mother often feels stressed, strained, tortured, overwhelmed and underhelped. She feels trapped with her roots firmly in the ground, she stiffens up, she can only yield to the demands made of her and her energy goes into surviving. “Yield and survive.” The resulting ineffectual search for help and support is the central idea of Bambusa on the emotional level. The bamboo plant is often used as a foundation, providing structure and stability. Bamboo is hard, tough, indestructible, giving protection against typhoons and can help to support and stabilize the new mother. The remedy will work most effectively when support is encouraged from the partner, friends, chiropractic, counsellors and support groups. This is especially true since a major part of the action of the remedy is to allow the woman (or as illustrated in my case – the man) to finally ask for help, to take time out or more importantly to accept help when it is offered.