Getting an acute illness or infections never convenient, is it? Colds, coughs, sore throats and so on have an annoying habit of occurring just as we are preparing to deliver an important speech, sit an exam or take part in a socially important event Or we are simply too busy at work 'to be ill'.  Recently, I attended an important (to me) opening night for an exhibition of paintings by my great grandfather, a painter of the Düsseldorf School of Painting, and, all things considered, it was a big family event. The evening went very well. It was considered a great success and we all talked a great deal; public, museum directors, city officials and family all mingled and chatted whilst viewing the paintings and I found myself talking even more that I usually do ;) Next morning I woke up and couldn't speak - or rather , I found myself squeaking and rasping when trying to vocalise anything - which might have been fine had I not been with a part of my family who I hadn't seen for ages and with whom I wished to communicate and exchange news. My dilemma, too, was that I hadn't packed any homeopathic remedies for my short visit abroad and was uncertain where the nearest pharmacy stocking homeopathic remedies might be situated...as it turned out, I popped into a dispensary round the corner from where I was staying (in Düsseldorf, Germany), and they ordered Phosphorus and Causticum at my request, for delivery in 3 hours. Saved! Or so I thought. I figured that Causticum might help me, as I had had exposure to a cold wind, had a slightly raw throat and a lot of difficult-to-expectorate mucus. I was hoarse, coughed a bit, and 'yucky, phlegmy bits' seemed stuck, so basically, I couldn't speak at all. These are all in the symptom picture for this remedy, but 'as insurance' I additionally considered Phosphorus, as I'd remembered that this too is a useful remedy for laryngitis. It's worse for cold air, especially when there've been weather changes - as had been the case - and the voice is badly affected by talking and laughing, which was also true in my case. Additionally, I was tired by the effort of talking (although this could easily have been down to having had a late night!). I bought both of the remedies at around midday. I decided that I should alternate taking them, every two hours or so. Later that evening the symptoms had eased up and I was pleased. The next day, I felt slightly better, continuing to sound hoarse, but I could communicate, even though I sounded slightly strange. I had a slightly dodgy tummy though nothing hurt; my trips to the loo to facilitate some distinctly loose, greenish stool passing I 'took on the chin' so to speak, thinking it was commensurate with my unusually high consumption of cake and coffee (a German afternoon 'habit' which I was temporarily and greedily enjoying), and alcohol. I knew that I'd resume normal healthy life on my return to London, so what harm was being done? ...except that my symptoms persisted for another day or so, and when I got home I decided to use the repertory to analyse my symptoms slightly more thoroughly. I tried to think of the symptoms as some else's, in other words to try and think of all the contributors to my loss of voice. The huge (abnormal for me) sugar intake, the alcohol (more sugar), the thick mucus stuck in my throat, my green spinach-like diarrhoea (with hugely offensive smell) all pointed to another remedy which I hadn't thought of: Argentum Nitricum.And guess what, after taking a single dose of 30c, my symptoms subsided dramatically. The following morning I took another dose and discovered that my voice was practically restored to normal, so much so that when I talked with my family by phone that evening, they'd forgotten all about it.