In the many years of my medical practice, I have often had to treat allergic patients and have always been interested to find the cause of this pathology.

A great number of painstaking clinical trials of the past decades have shed light on many stages in the development of allergic conditions. There is little doubt, however, that the experience of a clinic addressing the human body as a whole is especially valuable for the resolution of health problems.

In 2004, I analyzed a total of 46 case histories of patients with atopic dermatitis – seven women and 39 children. As I studied their cases, I was struck by one thing that was common to them. All the seven women and the majority (35 out of 39) of the mothers of the allergic children had (or had had) a progesterone deficiency – a threat of miscarriage at various stages of pregnancy. Characteristically, the more marked the deficiency was in the mother, the more severe was the allergosis in the child. It was then that I first thought that progesterone deficiency in mothers caused corticosteroid deficiency in their children. I began looking for corroborating evidence in the literature and found reports about experimental studies on animals in the 1950s-1970s that showed a connection between progesterone deficiency in the mother and pathological changes in the adrenal cortex of the fetus – which, naturally, led to glucocorticoid deficiency of the child, a condition that is present in allergies.

I decided to try and treat allergies with potentiated progesterone and other homeopathic preparations known to successfully treat, if adequately prescribed, progesterone deficiency in expectant mothers.

In doing so, I expected positive effect to take place when the distinctive features of the pathogenesis of progesterone coincided with the constitutional symptoms of my female patients and the mothers of the children on treatment.

I started to prescribe Progesteronum 200CH first as a solution (1 granule dissolved in 1/5 glass of water, by one coffee spoon at an individual pace) and then in granules (1-3 at a time). Some patients showed positive effect even after a single dose, others required repeated administration.

Below are some examples of treatment for atopic dermatitis.

Case Study 1

In February 2004, Tymofiy, aged 5, was brought to me to be examined for possible causes of frequent recurrent ARD. The child was having right-sided otitis at the moment of examination.

Anamnesis, diseases, and phenes. Born after a first pregnancy during which the mother was, in her own opinion, very nervous and anemic. During his first year, the child was quite restless and slept little. He cried continuously the first six weeks. Pediatricians diagnosed rachitis and dysplastic hip joints. He had frequent ARD and severe otopyosis (twice) beginning from his first year, and was given antibacterial preparations repeatedly.

The boy resembled his mother, was very impressionable, and had a constant fear of punishment (even though no one in the family ever punished him) and tearful emotional outbreaks. Gentle. Not aggressive. Very caring toward his younger brother. Shy and had stage fright. Did not communicate with peers until three years old. Experienced difficulty integrating into a child care center. Had a normosthenic constitution, light eyes, and fair hair.

Family anamnesis. Parents: anemic mother and hypertensive father. Maternal grandmother has malignant uterine and thyroidal tumors and a marked postpartum varix in her lower extremities. Younger brother manifests hyperexcitability.

Examination showed no change in internal organs.

Pulsatilla 200 CH without antibacterial therapy was conducive to fast recovery from otitis, with no ARD or otitis in the new four months. In addition, Tymofiy became significantly bolder. His fear of punishment disappeared.

In June the same year, his mother decided to give him vitamins at her own initiative. After a few doses of Aevit, he developed a papular rash in his face, chest, abdomen and lower extremities. Aggression appeared concurrently: the child began to be rude to his mother and ill-treat his younger brother. After the very first taking of Progesteronum 200 CH (one granule only), the rash began to fade away and the itch and aggressiveness to disappear.

Case Study 2

Patient А., a woman 56 y.o., came to see me for grave dermatitis in March 2004. For four years running, the rash, localized to abdomen, back and extremities (especially palmoplantar areas), was accompanied by intensive itching.

1. linked the beginning of the disease to continuous negative emotions owing to working conditions in the past three years, which coincided with the beginning of the menopause. A year before the reception she had retired, but her skin condition did not improve. She treated herself with various liniments, among them glucocorticoids, after which she saw that the rash was spreading to the upper part of the body. Diprospan, a prolonged action glucocorticoid, was injected four times. The first two were effective, the last two brought no improvement.

Among the diseases she had had, the patient singled out bone tuberculosis at 16 years of age (right-sided gonitis).

In the family anamnesis: her daughter had an eczema up to three months when she was breastfed. At the time of the reception she suffered menstrual cycle disorders and uterine bleeding.

Details of sexual development: menses from 11 y.o., always very painful and long, with a marked premenstrual syndrome. Had two deliveries, both pregnancies endangered by miscarriage. Both times, lactation was poor and lasted up to 3 months only. Cessation of menses at 52 y.o. was accompanied with hot flushes and pain in heart area. The rash appeared at the same time.

Phenes. Emotionally unstable. Inadequate reactions to any stimuli. Permanent sense of guilt over every event in her life. Excessive soul-searching and self-denigration. Easily hurt. Loves warmth but cannot stand stuffy atmosphere; is in need of fresh air. Skin discomfort can be eased by cold water. Food preferences: fish, vegetables, fruit. Dislikes dairy, salty and spicy foods.

Inspection of skin showed extreme dryness, cracks, psoriatic-type plaques on lower extremities. Internal organs within normal.Treatment with

Progesteronum 200CH in solution (one granule in 1/5 glass of water) by one tsp. once in 3 days.

At the second reception 20 days after, the patient said that itching had disappeared from the very first dose and skin condition had begun to gradually improve. Examination showed that elements of the rash, plaques and cracks were gone, elasticity of skin increased, and callousness in palmoplantar areas almost disappeared. Progesterone in solution once a week was recommended.

Since that time there has been no recurrence of exacerbation which previously occurred every spring for four years. Once, an abrupt violation of food regime resulted in occasional rash elements, but they disappeared rapidly after the taking of potentiated progesterone. Four years later, in 2008, the patient brought her daughter to me to be examined for menstrual disorders. Before examining the daughter, I examined the mother and saw that her skin had regained its natural elasticity and had no cracks or plaques. The patient said that it had been so for a long time.

Comments. The above case is a classical picture of the development of an allergosis: preconditions – chronic stress and a period of acute hormonal instability, with progesterone deficiency symptoms that manifested themselves in both pregnancies. The daughter seems to have inherited steroid metabolism disorders from the mother.

Interestingly, potentiated progesterone had a strong and rapid effect even though the patient had taken glucocorticoids for a long time before that. The preparation may well prove very useful for “progesterone” patients during menopause.

As I began to treat allergic patients with progesterone, I had no knowledge about its pathogenesis – such data could not be found either in literature or in the Internet. I prescribed Progesteronum 200 CH exclusively on the basis of present progesterone deficiency during pregnancy in allergic women or the mothers of allergic children. It was purely experimental therapy.

In the course of treatment, some idiosyncrasies of progesterone-sensitive patients came to my attention. The most important of them were:

(1) asthenic or normosthenic constitution in childhood and youth; no manifest proneness to putting on weight in that period;

(2) prevailing hair color – fair or dark blond, eyes mostly light;

(3) psychoemotional traits: more often than not, they are inclined to introversion, hypersensitive to many ambient factors (for example, their head skin is hypersensitive to touch), anxious, easily hurt, weepy, over attached to mother; more often than not, increasingly active in the second half of the day; “owls” in their sleeping habits;

(4) food priorities: cultured milk foods, hard cheeses, chicken meat, salmon fishes, greens, fruit; low tolerance of baked products (stomach aches);

(5) optimal ambient temperature (more frequently) (+16)–(+25).

(6) diseases typical of the “progesterone personality”:

6.1. reproductive system: high risk of miscarriage at various stages; menstrual disorders; dysmenorrhea with serious pains, amenorrhea, infertility, deficiency or complete lack of milk;

6.2. skin: atopic dermatitis, neurodermatitis, rash after contact with contagious mollusk, papillomatosis, furunculosis; dermatitis most clearly manifesting itself in palmoplantar areas, the symptoms being hyperemia, dryness, callousness, cracks; skin prone to hyper reaction to insect bites;

6.3. the nervous system: cephalgia, neuroses, hypertonic disease in I–II stages;

6.4. the alimentary tract: gastroenterocolitis – pain, more often spastic, in the epigastric and umbilical regions, swirling sensation in stomach, imperative urge to defecate;

6.5. salivary gland: enlarged, painful in the left lobe;

6.6. organ of vision: left-sided blepharitis; and

6.7. predominantly left-sided pathology.

All these data were obtained in the course of my homeopathic practice.

There exists substantial clinical experience for progestins – a drug that has been tested on the global female population since the 1960s. Today, a staggering variety of side effects from their use on all body organs and systems is known. They are described in detail in instructions for drug use and in the Internet. These data, too, are part of the pathogenesis of progesterone.

The pathogenesis of progesterone according to R. Murphy includes many states in which it is possible to use potentiated progesterone, which follows from information on side effects of progestins and is, obviously, helpful in treatment. The psychoemotional aspects of the “progesterone personality” according to R. Murphy generally coincide with my observations. Unfortunately, I could not find any data on food preferences and temperature dependencies in such patients.

Based on the typical traits established in progesterone-sensitive patients, I later prescribed this preparation not only to patients with allergies but also with other pathologies. Overall, Progesteronum 200 CH was prescribed to 82 patients, and positive results were obtained in 64 of them. Below is one example.

Case Study 3

The first visit by this patient took place in April 2006. She was a rather full-bodied 50-year-old woman with auburn hair and sad gray eyes. She complained about frequent dizzying and intensive headaches usually accompanied with upsurges of arterial blood pressure up to 160/110 mm Hg, for which she had taken hypotensive drugs daily in the past year. She had many disturbing sensations: constricting and stabbing pain in the heart region; in the right-sided subcostal area; in the back and the joints; and in the right-sided lumbar region, when “sand” is passing. In addition, there was a history of exostoses, numerous papillomas, allergic rash on skin, frequent colds, and sleep disorders. Summing up, she said: “I feel much older than my 50 years.”

Anamnesis. The patient related some facts from her life that suggested a connection between most of her complaints and disturbances in the sexual sphere as well as treatment received. She began to feel worse after her first menses at 10.5 years of age, which turned into profuse bleeding every time. Loss of blood led to anemic states and required repeated blood transfusion. At 19 she had an abortion. Her second pregnancy ended in miscarriage at 6 weeks, and during her third there was a threat of miscarriage at 6 to 12 weeks. After progesterone injections, numerous papillomas appeared. Allergic skin rash first appeared postpartum. Uterine bleeding started again, for which she took Non-Ovlon for several months and put on 20 kg. The bleeding ceased for a time but reappeared at 39 y.o. This time she took Non-Ovlon for a year. While the drug was administered, the bleeding recurred, and in May 1996, the uterus was removed together with the ovaries, as during surgery a cyst in the left ovary was found. After the surgery the patient began to experience, in addition to excruciating hot flushes, cystitis at the least exposure to cold. Shooting pain in the lumbar region appeared. She began to pass “sand” and put on weight again. Apart from cardiovascular symptoms such as increase in arterial blood pressure and pains in the heart region, pain in the joints and exostoses appeared. It was after the surgery that the patient began to feel older than her age, sadder, and even more depressed than before. Alongside others, this case history is very indicative as far as the dependence of the functioning of various organs on the state of the reproductive system is concerned.

Diseases in the family. The same problems can be traced down the maternal line. At 40 y.o., her mother had her uterus and ovaries surgically removed owing to fibromyoma and cystic regeneration respectively, her blood pressure increasing following the operation. The patient’s daughter also has menstrual disorders. Besides, there is a history of oncological diseases and diabetes mellitus in the family.

Phenes. Sensitive, susceptible, “homebody,” prefers the company of close friends to noisy gatherings. An “owl.” Favorite pastimes include: sewing, embroidery, reading (detective stories). Food preferences: eggs, chicken meat, borsch; has a special liking for cottage cheese and apples. Optimal ambient temperature: +20º C.

Examination. A pleasant, mild-mannered person. She wishes she were not so plump (90 kg at 162 cm tall). Skin has pigment spots and numerous papillomas in the breast region, is rough on shoulders and hips. Excessive sweating. Pulse: rhythmic, 86 beats per minute. Arterial blood pressure: 160/110 mm Hg. Auscultation: moderate tachycardia, heart tones satisfactory. Examination showed no change in the lungs and organs in the abdominal cavity. There was a post-surgical scar on skin in the stomach region.

Diagnosis: stage 2 hypertension, cardiocerebral treatment; myocardial dystrophy, arthropathy, stage 3 obesity.

Treatment. In view of symptoms of progesterone metabolism disorders and the patient’s psycho-emotional idiosyncrasies, Progesteronum 200 CH in granules 2 times a week was prescribed. After 20 days, the patient said that the first taking of the preparation was followed by swirling sensation in the stomach for 6 hour, and the lower eyelid in her left eye hurt a few hours after a week (she had the sensation before). Throughout the time that she was taking the preparation, she had no increase in her blood pressure or any discomfort in the heart and lumbar regions. After two weeks from the administration of progesterone, she stopped taking hypotensive drugs. A papilloma on her left breast disappeared. She felt much stronger and more energetic, as well as much calmer in general.

I keep observing this patient even today. There have been periods when she also took Sulfur 200 CH, Acidum oxallicum 200 CH, and Lachesis 200 CH, but from time to time she returns to progesterone, as she believes that it is very good for her general state, including her mental health, and therefore for her headaches, which occur very rarely now.

Regarding acute states. During progesterone treatment, these were observed in ten out of 42 patients with atopic dermatitis in the form of rash in various degrees (seven out of ten had it over a small area only). One patient with atopic dermatitis had profuse rash of chicken pox type, pain in the umbilical region, and febrile temperatures for a few hours. Among the other 32 patients, five had acute conditions accompanied with moderate pain in the epigastric region, rumbling sensation, and an imperative urge to defecate, which might last a few hours.

Naturally, there are many other homeopathic preparations in addition to progesterone to level off progesterone deficiency. I, for example, have been very successful in treating bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome in children with Caulophyllum 200 CH.

This research shows the need to take a painstaking approach in assessing the state of women in pregnancy when planning treatment of the women themselves and/or their children. In treating allergic patients, it is necessary to look into all idiosyncrasies of the patient and take the mother’s state during pregnancy into account wherever possible. I firmly believe that this is topical for and extends to any pathology.

LITERATURE:

1. Pozmogova, I.A. Allergozy: obosnovaniye primeneniya potentsiirovanogo progesterona i drugikh preparatov “progesteronovoi napravlennosti” u vzroslykh i detei (Allergoses: Justification of Using Potentiated Progesterone and Other Progesterone-Type Preparations in Adults and Children) // Collection of reports at the First Congress of Ukrainian Homeopaths. – Кyiv: Avocado Publishers. – 2004. – P. 45-53.
2. Pozmogova, I.A. Allergozy:predposylki vozniknoveniya, gomeopaticheskaya terapiya (Allergoses: Preconditions of Emergence and Homeopathic Therapy). – Кyiv: Dukh I Litera Publishers, 2013. – 80 pp.
3. Tepperman J., Tepperman H. Fiziologiya metabolizma i endokrinnoi sistemy (Physiology of Metabolism and the Endocrine System). – Moscow, Mir Publishers. – 1989. – P. 220-274.
4. Materials on the website www.calciumd3.ru. The Concept of Gestosis in the Second Half of Pregnancy. Subsitution of Cortizol for Deficient Progesterone in Mother and Fetus. – 2004.
5. R. Murphy. Nature’s Materia Medica. – Kandern, Germany: Lotus Health, 2006.- p.1575-1576.