Homeopathic treatment of benign prostatic hypertrophy and prostatitis: Prescribing on the Sensation of the Chief Complaint

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  Dec, 2004  by Robert Ullman,  Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman

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The Patient

Lon was a 35 year-old mortgage broker from Portland, Oregon, who came to our office in late 2000 with chief complaints of vertigo and benign prostatic hypertrophy and prostatitis. Attired in a black leather jacket and pants with motorcycle helmet in hand, he appeared to be an intense and interesting character from the moment we met him. Lon munched on his children's Halloween candy as he spoke.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"I'm too young to have that condition, I've had an enlarged prostate since I was eighteen. The vertigo began two months ago. It makes riding my motorcycle a challenge. They say it's a virus. It's troublesome because I'm an adrenaline junkie. I like to be on my motorcycle or dirt bike. I was in the military for ten years. Desert Storm and other operations. I don't mean to be morbid, but anything that reminds me of my mortality is fun for me. I did sky diving for six years. I really enjoyed it. My wife forcibly retired me four years ago after our second child was born. It was the same time that I left the military.

"The prostate condition began when my wife and I became sexually active. I experienced pain at base of the penis and during ejaculation. The not-so-competent military doctors told me to slow down my sex life. There are times when it's better and times when it's worse. I'm also used to dealing with pain on a daily basis because of my surgically-reconstructed knees." We inquired about Lon's specific symptoms. "Urination is painful. I feel it at the base of my penis. Getting started urinating is slow. Like an old man. I have a normal stream, frequency, and urgency. The pain is hastened by caffeine, alcohol and spicy foods. It feels like a knife being jabbed in the bottom underside of my penis. At times the sensation can be quite severe. I have no history of STDs (sexually-transmitted diseases). My wife has been my only partner."

Lon was an excellent informant. He reported his symptoms so accurately and spontaneously, with little need for prompting. "The prostate swelling began a month or two after being sexually active with my wife. I am a caffeine addict. I used to down a pot of coffee before 10 a.m., sodas in the afternoon, and more coffee up to five minutes before going to sleep. It was a psychological dependence ... an addiction. I was married, in the military, going to school, making house payments. I was actually doing two other part-time jobs at the same time. I was on the go quite a bit, as was my wife. I had too many other things going on at the time when I was away from her, like ducking bullets, to notice if I had the prostate problem then. I would guess that sex would make it better. Kind of exercising the prostate. I am very active sexually."

We explored a bit more about Lon's life. "I'm the son of an alcoholic and a drug user. My parents were products of the sixties. My dad's discipline style was to hit, hard and often. I'm an athletic person--a three-letter sport guy in high school.

"My military background was more counterintelligence. Many of those things I still haven't told or can't tell anyone. I might have been exposed to some chemicals in Kuwait. If they were there, I was exposed to them. I was around the oil fires. Four of my colleagues came down with rashes and joint pain.

"I've had a number of knee surgeries. I inherited weak, gravelly knees from my father. I tore my ACL (anterior collateral ligament) in the service. Then I blew it out again playing basketball. There's a graft in there now. I also tore the MCL (medial collateral ligament) in same leg. I tore my other patellar tendon when I was ten and it was surgically repaired. Then I slid on a piece of glass while sliding into second base, and lacerated the tendon. You could call me accident-prone. I broke my nose four times and broke my knuckles countless times while boxing. Then there were two injuries to the third and fourth metatarsals on my right foot twice--while playing basketball and volleyball. I suffered a compound toe fracture at eight when my foot got wrapped up in the spokes of a bicycle.

"I was a very wild kid. At the age of four, my brother and I burned down our apartment. We were just curious what it would be like to look at a candle in the dark under the couch. Nobody got hurt, but the family lost nearly all of our possessions. Then there was the time we killed all of the goldfish in our pond because we tried to give them a bath with Tide. He and I once split a month's worth of our mom's birth control pills. The pediatrician told us we'll never get pregnant. We drank Drano when I was three and he was five. My brother had to spend some time in the hospital for that. I was always going a hundred miles an hour and giving 180% at whatever I did. I excelled in whatever sport I played. And on my bike.

"The first time I ever got shot was when I was seven. My grandfather was drunk on moonshine and fired two bullets over my head and one between my feet. I was in my underwear and leapt out of a second story window to get away. It was a very unusual upbringing."