DEP/DUA/1/42/26 (Normalised version)

Isabel Henderson

(1787-1788)

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October. 10^th 1787. N^o1

Isabel Henderson at 25, a servant maid, is affected with fits which begin with sickness at stomach, a pain in the right jaw accompanied with an involuntary motion of the head to that side, palpitation at the heart & a sense of universal numbness. After these have continued for a few minutes she falls down insensible & remains in that situation sometimes for an hour or upwards during which time she is totally ignorant of everything that passes around her.

Upon recovering her senses, she is affected with severe headache & great stupidity which continues during the whole remainder of the day. These fits in general return every two or three weeks & for the most part she is seized with two fits one occurring soon after the other.

Her pulse is at present natural, about 70 in the minute, soft & equal. Appetite good, belly regular. But the menstrual discharge is irregular, sometimes it appears only once in six weeks, sometimes at the end of a fortnight or three weeks.

It is now four years since she first began to be affected with nervous symptoms, but they never increased to any violence or put on the present form till about twelve months ago. Since that time they have continued nearly in the present state.

She knowns no cause for the first commencement of her affection.

But she attributes its present violence to grief occasioned by the sudden death of her father.

None of her parents or near relations have been subjected to similar complaints.

When her health first began to be impaired about four years ago, she used some nervous medicines, by the advice of a physician from which she thought her complaints were at that time somewhat alleviated.

But she has used no remedies since that.

Cap. Pil. e Cupro. i. bis de die