Triticum vulgare:
Widely used in Substance, little known in Dilution

By Judy Coldicott

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As homeopaths, it is important that we have a number of tools in our homeopathic resource box so that we can meet the needs of the varied patients we see and help them on the road to improved health. As we know, each case is different and requires an individualized approach. Some patients do not initially give us symptoms at the deep level suited to more in-depth approaches to prescribing. This can be because the process of homeopathy is new to them, or sometimes the range of physical symptoms is like a ‘fog’ that we need to work our way through.

Over the last 10 years or so, I have successfully used the remedy Wheat or Triticum vulgare to deal with a wide range of complaints in my practice. Initially, this arose when I encountered an increasing number of clients, often with allergy-like symptoms and fatigue, who did not seem to fully respond to a well-indicated remedy. Often, they could not explain deeper symptoms or sensations but were depleted and debilitated at some level. (I later came to recognize it as the lethargy and flatness of mood often seen when people are reacting to wheat in the diet.) My conclusion was that the patients had some sort of maintaining cause. I perceived this to be the modern “overloaded-with-processed-food” diet. In many cases, there was a specific sensitivity to wheat or dairy, but often just a combination of too much of both of these foods, and others, which insidiously creep into all processed items. Even when this diet was improved the symptoms might persist. Sometimes, I saw patients who had already been diagnosed with celiac disease (wheat intolerance) who, even on a strict diet, were debilitated by a range of often severe symptoms.

Throughout the Organon, Hahnemann refers to the need to look at and treat fundamental causes and obstacles to cure with the appropriate homoeopathic remedy.

§ 3

If the physician clearly perceives what is to be cured in diseases, that is to say, in every individual case of disease (knowledge of disease, indication), if he clearly perceives what is curative in medicines, that is to say, in each individual medicine (knowledge of medical powers), and if he knows how to adapt, according to clearly defined principles, what is curative in medicines to what he has discovered to be undoubtedly morbid in the patient, so that the recovery must ensue – to adapt it, as well in respect to the suitability of the medicine most appropriate according to its mode of action to the case before him (choice of the remedy, the medicine indicated), as also in respect to the exact mode of preparation and quantity of it required (proper dose), and the proper period for repeating the dose; – if, finally, he knows the obstacles to recovery in each case and is aware how to remove them, so that the restoration may be permanent, then he understands how to treat judiciously and rationally, and he is a true practitioner of the healing art.

§ 5

Useful to the physician in assisting him to cure are the particulars of the most probable exciting cause of the acute disease, as also the most significant points in the whole history of the chronic disease, to enable him to discover its fundamental cause, which is generally due to a chronic miasm. In these investigations, the ascertainable physical constitution of the patient (especially when the disease is chronic), his moral and intellectual character, his occupation, mode of living and habits, his social and domestic relations, his age, sexual function, etc., are to be taken into consideration.

This got me thinking…

What would Hahnemann say about our modern diet if he could see the supermarket shelves lined with cardboard boxes, most with wheat and thickeners added? How does food affect our ‘mode of living’ compared to 18th-century life – it needed much less consideration than as most foods were in their simple form, yet it was still a strong focus for Hahnemann. How would he modify his treatment if he were practicing today? Is ‘poisoning’ with overuse of refined foods becoming a layer that needs treatment in our clients? I began to ponder the idea of a ‘food miasm’.

Previous modern practitioners (Sankaran/ Murphy/ Assilem/ Fraser & others) have suggested the idea of contemporary miasms – miasms from the modern world: synthetic hormones, recreational drug use, AIDS miasm, electromagnetic radiation, and others. It made sense to look at the abuse of some of these refined foods (wheat especially) in the same vein.

I began to give potentised wheat (Triticum vulgare) to patients who were not fully responding to other well-indicated remedies, some who had celiac disease and still had severe symptoms despite an improved diet and homeopathic treatment. Over time, I observed that just the removal of the grain was not enough and that a prescription of Triticum vulgare was needed as a way of addressing many of the remaining symptoms. I was surprised at the results patients experienced and began to build a profile of a remedy which, until then, I could find no homeopathic information on. What follows is a list of symptoms that I have seen resolve in patients, when they have taken Triticum vulgare (usually 30c), while concurrently removing the grain from their diet.

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Mental /Emotional

  • Oversensitivity esp. to criticism, easy indignation
  • Depression – varying degrees – usually with low confidence, weeping, and tiredness
  • Mood swings/irritability/emotionally irrational
  • Lack of motivation, poor concentration and memory, feeling as if drugged or sleepy
  • Short-tempered/internal restlessness/dissatisfaction
  • Lack of confidence – desire to be alone

Generals

  • Lethargy/tiredness
  • Weakness of limbs, generalized aching
  • Heaviness of body/limbs
  • Physical restlessness
  • Lack of coordination, stumbling, many accidents

Head/Face

  • Headaches – varying locations – often described as a ‘hangover’ headache, dull, woolly, head in a fog, etc.
  • Sinusitis/post nasal drip/increased catarrh
  • Poor sense of smell/chronic nasal congestion/obstruction
  • Bad acne/singular pimples erupting
  • Increased prevalence of ear/nose and throat infections – tonsillitis, glue ear, hardness of hearing/blocked ears/tickling, itching ears
  • Classic dark rings under eyes/paleness OR flushing of face
  • Unexplained feeling of swelling or lump in the throat, sometimes even with choking

Digestion

  • Bloating/distension usually intermittent or < as the day goes on
  • Cramps/wind/griping or sharp pains, sometimes with vomiting/nausea
  • Diarrhea or constipation or alternation of both eg constipation followed by diarrhea, severe cases mucus and bleeding
  • Gurgling or rumbling
  • Hungry/never satisfied feeling, then bloated after eating

Musculo-skeletal

  • Aching anywhere in the body – muscles and joints
  • Unable to raise limbs esp. shoulders
  • Lack of strength in muscles
  • Swelling of joints
  • Tendonitis, excessive pain in muscles

Skin

  • Itching (with or without eruption)
  • Dry flakey skin, eczema
  • Blotchy or hive-like, urticarial eruptions
  • Pimples occurring anywhere on the body

Female

  • Increased menstrual pain
  • Mood changes (PMT) worse than normal, exacerbated peri-menopausally
  • Diarrhea and bowel pain increased pre-menstrually and during menses
  • Vaginal itching (thrush)
  • Increased vaginal discharge (varying colours)

Urinary

  • Urinary tract infections more common or unexplained
  • Increased frequency/desire to urinate, or the opposite: unable to pass urine easily
  • Incontinence (little warning or control) enuresis
  • Frequent urination at night

Sleep

  • Sleepy during the day
  • Insomnia at night – restless sleep, difficulty getting to sleep
  • Waking after midnight (commonly around 2am) unable to get back to sleep
  • Waking un-refreshed or exhausted
  • Anxiety at night preventing sleep

Respiratory

  • Increased mucus production, constant hawking
  • Dry incessant cough
  • Constant clearing of the throat or needing to hawk up mucus
  • Loss of voice, often for several weeks on end – (no apparent cause after extensive diagnostic testing)

Many of these symptoms are common to our perception of allergic response or substance intolerance but many are more general.

In practice, I have treated patients who seem to do well on this remedy alone (a smaller percentage) when a range of symptoms clearly fit. Other patients do well on this remedy followed by subsequent individualized prescriptions for their remaining symptoms. Most will improve quicker with Triticum vulgare, while at the same time cutting processed foodstuffs from their diet. This gives them a clean platform from which to start, so they can become more aware of which foods they can tolerate in their diets, and how much. They often find they are able to tolerate spelt flour or breads made by the fermentation process (sourdough). In today’s world, most people find it too difficult to adhere to a strict elimination diet long term and this is one practical way we can assist them to cope using a safe, gentle mechanism. It is also empowering for the patient to see this for themselves so clearly and take control of the balance of food-related symptoms, seeking help when they need it.

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