Oxalicum Acidum ox-ac.

Boger's Synoptic Key — Materia Medica

C. M. Boger · Boger's Synoptic Key — Materia Medica · A Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica, 1915 — the Materia Medica half

Region

Digestive tract. Navel. Nerves: Cord. Heart. Left side; Lung.

Worse

Thinking of it. Cold. Touch. Shaving. Mental exertion.

Better

After stool.

General

Weak, cold, livid and numb all over; < lower limbs. Violent pains; in streaks, like lightning, in spots, burning, etc. Neuralgia.

Particulars

Nervous and sleepless. Swimming vertigo. Band-like sensation about head. Numb prickling in occiput and back. Sour taste. Gnawing emptiness. Colicky urging about navel or involuntary, muddy-brown stools, < lying. Oxaluria. Testes throb or feel crushed. Low voice. Paroxysmal, jerking breathing. Nightly dyspnœa. Pain from lower (l), chest to epigastrium. Palpitation, < lying. Fixed chest. Angina pectoris. Back feels too weak to hold body. Cold creeps up spine. Weak trembling hands and feet.

Related

Related: Ars. Pic-ac.

Homœopathic Materia Medica

William Boericke · Homœopathic Materia Medica · 9th edition

Common name

Sorrel Acid

General

Although certain oxalates are constant constituents of vegetable food and of the human body, the acid itself is a violent poison when taken internally, producing gastro-enteritis, motor paralysis, collapse, stupor and death. Influences the spinal cord, and produces motor paralysis. Pains very violent, in spots (Kali bich) worse, motion, and thinking of them. Periodical remissions. Spasmodic symptoms of throat and chest. Rheumatism of left side. Neurasthenia. Tuberculosis.

Head

Sense of heat. Confusion and vertigo. Headache, before and during stool.

Eyes

Severe pain in eyes; feel expanded. Hyperæsthesia of retina.

Stomach

Violent pain in epigastrium, discharge of flatus relieves. Gastralgia, pyrosis, sensation of coldness below epigastrium. Burning pain, extending upwards; slightest touch causes excruciating pain. Bitter and sour eructation, worse at night. Cannot eat strawberries.

Abdomen

Pain in upper part and region of navel two hours after eating, with much flatulence. Stitches in liver. Colic. Burning in small spots in abdomen. Diarrhœa from coffee.

Male

Terrible neuralgic pains in spermatic cord. Testicles feel contused and heavy. Seminal vesiculitis.

Urinary

Frequent and copious. Burning in urethra and pain in glans when urinating. Must urinate when thinking of it. Urine contains oxalates.

Respiratory

Nervous aphonia with cardiac derangement (Coca; Hydrocy ac). Burning sensation from throat down. Breathing spasmodic, with constriction of larynx and chest. Hoarseness. Left lung painful. Aphonia. Paralysis of the tensors of vocal cord. Dyspnœa; short, jerking inspirations. Sharp pain through lower region of left lung, extending down to epigastrium.

Heart

Palpitation and dyspnœa in organic heart disease; worse, when thinking of it. Pulse feeble. Heart symptoms alternate with aphonia, angina pectoris; sharp, lancinating pain in left lung coming on suddenly, depriving of breath. Præcordial pains which dart to the left shoulder. Aortic insufficiency.

Extremities

Numb, weak, tingling. Pains start from spine and extend through extremities. Drawing and lancinating pains shooting down extremities. Backache; numb, weak, Myelitis. Muscular prostration. Wrist painful, as if sprained (Ulmus). Lower extremities blue, cold, insensible. Sensation of numbness. Multiple cerebral and posterior spinal sclerosis. Lancinating pains in various parts; jerking pains.

Skin

Sensitive, smarting and soreness, worse shaving; mottled, marbled in circular patches. Perspires easily.

Modalities

Worse, left side; slightest touch; light; shaving. Aroused about 3 am with gastric and abdominal pain. All conditions made worse by thinking about self.

Relationship

Compare: Ars; Colch; Arg; Pic ac; Cicer arietinum-Chick-pea--(Lithiasis, jaundice, liver affections; diuretic). Scolopendra-Centipede--(terrible pains in back and loins, extending down limbs; return periodically, commencing in head, to toes. Angina pectoris. Inflammation, pain and gangrene. Pustules and abscesses). Cæsium--(Pain in lumber region and testicle. Headache, darting through temples. Diarrhœa and colic. Languor).

Lime Water-Antidote to poisoning of Oxal acid.

Dose

Sixth to thirtieth potency.

Leaders in Homoeopathic Therapeutics

E. B. Nash · Leaders in Homoeopathic Therapeutics · homeoint.org / Médi-T HTML text (Nash d. 1917; public domain)

Leaders

Complaints < when thinking of them. (Helon., Calc. phos.)

Text Book of Materia Medica

Adolph Lippe · Text Book of Materia Medica · homeoint.org / Médi-T HTML text (Lippe d. 1888; public domain)

Mind and Disposition

Great cheerfulness and clearness of mind. Thinking of his ailments aggravates them. A version to talk ; with headache, fulness in the face.

Head

Vertigo, with weakness and thirst ; anxiety ; headache and perspiration. Vertigo while looking out of the window ; when rising from a seat. Vertigo, like swimming, on lying down. Sensation of emptiness in the head. Dulness in the forehead (morning). Pain in the forehead and vertex ; on the left side of the forehead, on waking. Pressing pain on small spots. Pressing, like screwing behind both ears. Headache after lying down, after sleeping, and on rising. Headache relieved after stool. Head affected by drinking wine.

Eyes

Pain in the balls of the eyes ; worse in the left. Inclination to close the eyes. Small, especially linear, objects appear larger ; they are thought to be more distant than they really are. Vanishing of sight, with giddiness and perspiration ; with bleeding of the nose.

Nose

Stitches in the right nostril on taking a long inspiration. Pimples in the right side of the nose ; the wing of the nose is swollen. Sneezing, with chilliness. Red, shining swelling of the right side of the nose, beginning at the tip of the nose and from there extending.

Face

Face red, swollen, feeling full ; hot or cold ; covered by cold perspiration. Face pale and livid, with open mouth and unconsciousness. Pale color, with sunken eyes.

Mouth and Throat

Pain in decayed molar teeth. The gums bleed, and are painful in spots. Small ulcers on the gums. Tongue swollen, sensitive, red, dry, burning. Tongue swollen, with a thick white coating. Tongue coated white, with nausea, thirst and loss of taste. Sour taste in the mouth. Heartburn. In the mouth, pain, accumulation of saliva, water, or mucus. In the throat, scraping, increased accumulation of mucus. Dryness in the throat (in the morning) after diarrhœa. Painful deglutition, especially in the morning. Difficult deglutition, with sour eructations.

Stomach and Abdomen

Appetite increased. Appetite wanting, with loss of taste, thirst and nausea. Thirst, with vertigo, loss of appetite, nausea, colic. The pain in the stomach is relieved by eating ; soup is pleasant when there is gnawing at the stomach. After eating, eructations, nausea, pains at the navel, colic, rumbling in the abdomen, urging, to stool, weakness. Eructations empty, sour. Sudden hiccough ; with eructations. Nausea and thirst with colic, after diarrhœa. Sensation of emptiness in the stomach, compelling one to eat. Burning in the stomach and throat. Stomach sensitive to the touch. Violent colic, waking one at night. Continuous pain in the left hypochondrium, as if bruised ; stitches. Stitches in the liver relieved by taking a deep breath. Colic, rambling (evening and night). Incarcerated flatulence (in the left hypochondrium). Colic pain around the navel, as if bruised ; stitches, with pressing and discharge of flatulence ; worse on moving, better when at rest. Burning in small spots in the abdomen. Cutting pain in the abdomen.

Stool and Anus

Morning diarrhœa ; stools soft or watery, with colic around the navel and pressing in the rectum ; returning as soon as one lies down again. Stool of mucus and blood. Before the stool and from the pain with the stool, headache. During the stool micturition (fainting, vomiting). After the stool nausea and tension in the calves ; dryness in the throat ; relief of the pain in the small of the back. Diarrhœa as soon as one drinks coffee. Constipation ; no stool. Pressing and straining in the rectum ; tenesmus.

Urinary Organs

Pain in the region of the kidneys. Frequent micturition and profuse discharge of urine. Burning in the urethra, as from acrid drops. When urinating pain in the glans penis.

Sexual Organs

Sexual desire increased. Erections (forenoon). Sensation of contusion in the testicles ; worse in the left testicle. Heaviness of the testicles, with drawing pain, extending into the spermatic cords.

Respiratory Organs

Hoarseness ; the larynx feels swollen, contracted, raw, with tickling in it. Dry cough on taking violent exercise. Mucous secretion in the throat increased. Mucus in small lumps, or bard or thick, yellowish-white phlegm, with black lumps in the centre of it. Difficulty of breathing, with oppression of the chest (right side), when moving, about in the evening. Difficulty of breathing, with constrictive pain in the larynx and wheezing. When breathing, stitches in the chest and pain above the hip. Sudden lancinating pain in the left lung, depriving him of breath. Dull, heavy, sore pain in the chest. Pain in the middle of the chest, extending through to the back. Pain in the heart ; soreness, stitches from behind forward or from upwards downwards. Palpitation of the heart, after lying down at night. The beats of the heart intermit when thinking of it.

Back and Neck

Pain in the back, under the point of the shoulder-blade, between the shoulders, extending from the shoulders to the loins. Pain in the back, extending to the thighs. Numbness, pricking, causing a sensation of coldness and weakness in the back ; the back is too weak to support the body. Pain in the small of the back, sensation of numbness, or as if broken. Stitches extending from the chest into the shoulders.

Extremities

Upper. Pain first in the left, later in the right deltoid muscle, with inclination to move. The right wrist feels sprained, with inclination to stretch it and stitches in the ulnar region ; cannot bold any thing. Pain in the (right) metacarpus and fleshy part of the right thumb, with sensation of fulness, heat and numbness. Heaviness of the hand ; can move the fingers but slowly. Hands are cold, as if dead. Arthritic pains in the fingers ; the fingers are drawn in. Twitching of the fingers. Dark nails. Lower. Restlessness in the legs. The knees feel tired. Weakness of the lower extremities ; they are gone to sleep ; paralysis, stiffness. Pain in the limbs, with weakness and numbness.

Generalities

The pains appear on small longitudinal spots. The pains come on periodically. Trembling, convulsions. Paralysis of the left side.

Sleep

Frequent yawning ; sleepiness during the day. Dreams, with fright and fear ; sits up and looks around.

Fever

Pulse more rapid in the morning ; slower, irregular, weak. Chilliness, ascending from below upwards. Chilliness, with sneezing (evening). Chill after diarrhœa (afternoon). Shaking chill, with red face (evening). Heat from every exertion. Heat, especially in the face or on the hands. Heat with perspiration. Perspiration with weakness, or with giddiness. Night-sweat clammy and cold.

Skin

Skin very sensitive while shaving. Marbled skin. Itching on the neck or fingers. Itching eruption with redness. Warts.

Conditions

Aggravation of the pains or ailments when thinking of them. Motion and exercise increase the pains. Sugar aggravates the pains in the stomach, and wine the headache.

A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica

John Henry Clarke · A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica · 1st edition (1900-02, three volumes); homeoint.org / Médi-T HTML digitization

General

Oxalic Acid. Hydrogen Oxalate. C 2 H 2 O 4 2 H 2 O. Trituration. Tincture.

Clinical

Angina pectoris. Back, pain in. Chest, affections of . Cholera infantum. Convulsions. Deltoid rheumatism. Enuresis. Eyes, affections of. Gastrodynia. Gout. Gravel . Hernia. Indigestion. Meningitis. Myelitis . Nails, blue. Neuralgia. Neurasthenia. Nose, affections of. Numbness. Oxaluria. Paralysis . Pregnancy, sickness of. Side, pain in . Spasms. Spermatic cord, neuralgia of. Stomach, affections of . Tetanus. Testicles, induration of; pains in. Tongue, affections of. Urine, abnormal. Voice, altered .

Characteristics

If Opium is the painless remedy, Oxal. ac . may be considered its antithesis: it causes pains excruciating beyond description, and it has this grand keynote distinction, that its pains are all < when the patient thinks of them. And not only that, thinking of pains and conditions will bring them on when they are not actually present. If the patient thinks about urinating he must go instantly and relieve the bladder. Full doses of the poison cause corrosion of the passages, excruciating agony in back, chest, stomach, and abdomen, destruction of mucous membrane, bloody vomit and stool, and death by exhaustion, consciousness being generally retained to the end, though sense of sight may be lost. Coldness of surface, numbness, mottled skin, blue nails, are present in all degrees of the drug's action, and are leading notes for its use. The excruciating pain in lower back and loss of power in the lower limbs shows an unmistakable action on the spinal cord and its meninges. These symptoms are better seen in less severe cases of poisoning. I take two cases from C. D. P . ( 1 ) A middle-aged shoemaker, a hard drinker, took 1/4 oz. of Oxal. ac . in crystals. Prepared chalk was given freely. Symptoms: Severe burning sensation in mouth and throat with great thirst and difficulty in swallowing; excruciating pain in epigastrium, and cold, clammy perspiration; numbness and tingling in extremities, legs drawn up towards abdomen; pulse was just perceptible; breathing slightly spasmodic; features anxious, pallid. At 8 p.m. (nine hours after observer's first visit) hot feeling in throat and tingling in extremities continued. Voice altered ; instead of a remarkably deep bass it was reduced to a very low key, like one talking in an undertone. This lasted a month, during which period the legs used to "go to sleep" several times a day. After nine weeks the voice, though stronger, was still "a complete old man's voice." ( 2 ) A woman took three drachms in three ounces of water. Most of it was evacuated within fifteen minutes by stomach-pump. Symptoms: Convulsions; spastic contraction of jaws and limbs; forcible closure of mouth and drawing down of its angles. Dilated alæ nasi, corrugated brows, twitching of facial muscles and insensibility. Great cerebral excitement afterwards occurred with dry coldness of surface and imperceptible pulse. Symptoms were less marked during intermission of tetanic spasms, and declined in three hours. In animals poisoned with Oxal. ac . the first symptom is stiffness of hind limbs. Farrington sums up the indications of Oxal. ac . in spinal affections: Weak loins, hips, legs, numb back; numb limbs. Limbs blue and cold; weak and numb; < going up stairs. Limbs stiff ; paroxysm of dyspnœa (as in spinal meningitis). [The mottled purpuric surface of meningitis gives another indication. ─ J. H. C.] Pains in small spots [especially linear spots]. Pains < when thinking of them. Erections with dulness in occiput. In a case of paraplegia, affecting first right then left leg, of a year's duration, in an American lady, mother of four children, W. M. Butler ( N. A. J. H ., i. 797) gave great relief with Oxal. ac . 3. In a few weeks the motory symptoms were better, then the sensory. Sensation to heat and cold was restored, general tactile sensibility was improved. Some control was gained over bladder and rectum. ─ The involuntary muscles are affected by Oxal. ac . no less than the voluntary. There is frequent ineffectual urging to stool, preceded by a sick, distressing feeling from navel downwards, < when thinking of it, < from drinking coffee. Sugar < pain in stomach. Wine = headache. Faintness and vomiting during stool. After stool > of pain in back. The heart may be paralysed in a few minutes if the dose of the poison is very large, and then it is found flaccid or distended with blood. In an interesting study of Oxal. ac ., J. W. Ellis ( J. B. H. S ., vii. 285) cites a fatal case of poisoning recorded by Boericke ( Med. Cent ., August, 1894) through exposure of the hands to a saturated solution used for chemical purposes. The symptoms were: Intense pains in head. Hyperæsthesia, especially to light. Spasms of pain down extremities, along throat muscles, and through spermatic cord. Sensitive spots on spine. De Noë Walker told me of a case of his in which the patient, an elderly, gouty man, was suddenly seized with congestion of spinal meninges with great coldness, blueness, and numbness; complete prostration of strength. Oxal. ac . 6 rapidly cured. A patient of mine who used Oxal. ac . in his work suffered from: " Rheumatism of left side . Starting on falling asleep. When actually at work, acidity." This left-side rheumatism is noteworthy, for Oxal. ac . is a very left-sided remedy. But it has one special region of the left side, as Burnett has graphically illustrated, in which it is supreme. Sharp pains through the lower lobe of the left lung. It matters not what the name of the disease may be ─ pleurisy, pneumonia, phthisis ─ when that pain is present Oxal. ac . will do its work. The provings give: Sharp shooting pain in left lung and heart, extending down to epigastrium, and lasting some seconds. ─ In afternoon, stitches several times in left lung. ─ Sharp, lancinating pain in left lung, coming on so suddenly that it deprives him of breath for a few seconds. Sore sticking in chest extending back to between scapulæ." Oxal. ac . has cured many cases of angina pectoris, with symptoms recalling these. A powerful action is developed on the kidneys in the poisoning cases, albumen, blood, and oxalate crystals being found in the urine. Oxal. ac . in the attenuations has given good results in cases of oxaluria in which some of the leading symptoms of the remedy, as the backache, numbness, &c., were present. ─ Enuresis has also been cured ( H. P ., vi. 232) with Oxal. ac . 6 in a blonde boy of six. The guiding symptom was: "Sharp shooting pain in left chest, close to sternum and parallel to it. Ellis suggests that Oxal. ac . corresponds to many cases of neurasthenia. It is a favourite remedy with S. A. Jones in cardiac trouble, occurring in highly "nervous" patients ( H. R ., v. 13). [Hale cured a case of palpitation with action of heart irregular in force and rhythm, alternating with aphonia, with Oxal. ac . 6 ( Org ., ii. 222).] Jones's remarks just quoted are made in reference to a case reported by " C. F. M ." ( H. R ., iv. 257), and described by the reporter as "lumbago," but considered (in my opinion, correctly) by Jones to be spinal meningitis. This is the case: Mrs. S., 55, suffered for several days with: Terrible pain in lumbar region, extending down thigh and over region of both kidneys. Extremely anxious to change position frequently, but slightest movement, assisted or unassisted, caused her to shriek out in agony. Frequent desire to pass large amounts of urine, but the pain on moving was so great that she would shrink from the attempt. Legs numb and very weak and cold. Pulse rapid. Short, distressed breathing in general, though there were intervals of easier breathing. Appetite normal, though swallowing was difficult and painful. Oxal. ac . 30, every half-hour, was given. In two hours she could be placed on the vessel with very little pain. In twelve hours she sat up. In twenty-four hours was entirely relieved. Banergee ( H. P ., xiii. 157) cured a case of strangulated hernia of left side with Oxal. ac . 6 trit. He had no definite indication. John Moore reports the case ( H. W ., xv. 53) of a sea captain who suffered much from indigestion. Two years before Moore saw him he had had to undergo operation for strangulated hernia. Ever since he had been subject to these symptoms: Pain in region of navel coming on two hours after eating, accompanied by much flatulence and bitter and sour eructations. Pain < in night, arousing the patient 3 a.m., and keeping him awake. Burning sensation from throat downwards to the region of the pain. The patient had always had a weak digestion, and had met with many severe accidents at sea. Oxal. ac . 3, two drops, an hour after meals. He was a little better the first night, and after that slept the night through, and said he had not had so much comfort for years. Oxal. ac ., the chief constituent of Sorrel ( Rumex Acetosa ) and Wood Sorrel ( Oxalis acetosella ), exists in plants that are ordinarily deemed anti-scorbutic and are remarkable for the grateful acidity of their herbage. Inspissated solutions of sorrel have been used successfully as local applications for epithelioma, and with a solution of Oxal. ac . and of Tannic acid , applied locally, Cooper removed a large patch of erythematous lupus on the cheek. With a solution of 5 gr. to two drachms of water Cooper has often removed troublesome small nævi in infants upon the face and elsewhere, using it perseveringly for weeks or even months. From this it would appear, taking into account that Oxal. ac . produces wart-like growths, that, well diluted, it may be regarded as having a beneficial influence, locally and probably internally as well, upon epithelial proliferations of the cuticle. Ox. ac . is said to enter largely into the inspissated juice of the Clover ( Trifol. pratense ) which formed Thomson's "cancer plaster," and which is strongly escharotic. Among the Peculiar Sensations are: jerking pains, like short stitches, confined to small spots, lasting only a few seconds. Sensation as if all blood had left the brain. As if blood in head was coursing upward and outward. As from a screw behind each ear. Hypogastrium as if bound. Back as if broken or bruised. Wrist as if sprained. Hands as if dead. During shaving as from chafing. Symptoms are < by touch (small spots on head); slightest touch = excruciating pain. < Shaving. Eating > pain in stomach. Soup > gnawing in stomach. Sugar, coffee, wine < . After eating: pains at navel, colic, rumbling in abdomen, urging to stool, weakness. Motion and exercise < . Rest < colic. Lying down = swimming sensation; palpitation; erections; return of colic and diarrhœa; < headache; > pain in left lung. Change of position > pain in back. Slightest exertion = heat. < Evening, night, and early morning. Walking in open air = tickling in larynx. Shaving < (skin of face). After stool: headache and backache > .

Relations

Antidoted by: Carbonates of Lime and Magnesia. Compare: Kali ox. In cholera infantum, Ars., Ip., Ver. In gastralgia, Colch. Gastric symptoms, Kre. In spinal disease, Pic. ac. (Pic. ac. more heaviness; Ox. ac. more numbness, blueness; and pains in small spots), Arg. m., Phos. ac. Induration of testicles, Puls. Headache < from wine, Zn. Faintness during scanty stools, Crot. t., Dulc., Pet., Sars., Sul. (stools not scanty, Apis, Nux m., Pul., Spi., Ver.). Pain lower lobe left lung, Sul. < From sugar, Arg. n. Backache, Variol., Ant. t. < Shaving, Carb. an., Ant. c. < Thinking of ailments, Oxytr., Piper meth. ( > thinking of them, Camph.).

Causation

Coffee.

Mind

Diminished power to concentrate ideas. ─ Great cheerfulness and clearness of mind. ─ Very much exhilarated; quicker thought and action. ─ Thinking of his ailments < them. ─ As soon as he thinks about the pains they return. ─ Mania. ─ Aversion to talk; with headache, fulness in face.

Head

Vertigo: with darkness before eyes and sweat; with weakness and thirst; anxiety; headache and perspiration. ─ Vertigo while looking out of the window; when rising from a seat. ─ Vertigo; swimming sensation on lying down. ─ Sensation of emptiness in head; faint feeling, as if all the blood had left the brain. ─ Dulness in forehead (morning). ─ Pain in forehead and vertex (dull, heavy headache); on l. side of the forehead on waking. ─ Pressing pain or, small spots. ─ Pressing, like screwing, behind both ears. ─ Headache < after lying down, after sleeping, and on rising; > after stool. ─ Head affected by drinking wine. ─ Small spots on head painful to touch.

Eyes

Pain in the balls of the eyes; < in the l. ─ Pain in both orbits, < l. ─ Inclination to close the eyes. ─ Type blurs when reading. ─ Small, esp. linear, objects appear larger; they are thought to be more distant than they really are. ─ Vanishing of sight, with giddiness and perspiration; with bleeding of nose.

Nose

Sneezing; watery coryza. ─ Sneezing, with chilliness. ─ Stitches in r. nostril on taking a long inspiration. ─ Pimples in r. side of nose; wing of nose swollen. ─ Red, shining swelling of r. side of nose, beginning at tip and from there extending.

Face

Face pale and livid, with open mouth and unconsciousness. ─ Pale colour, with sunken eyes. ─ Face red, swollen, feeling full; hot or cold; covered by cold perspiration.

Teeth

Pain in decayed molar teeth. ─ Gums bleed and are painful in spots. ─ Small ulcers on gums.

Mouth

Tongue swollen, sensitive, red, dry, burning; swollen, with thick, white coating. ─ Tongue coated white, with nausea, thirst, and loss of taste. ─ Sour taste in mouth. ─ In mouth, pain, accumulation of saliva, water, or mucus.

Throat

Burning in throat and stomach (heartburn). ─ In the throat, scraping (rawness), increased accumulation of thick mucus. ─ Dryness in throat (in morning) after diarrhœa. ─ Painful deglutition, esp. in morning. ─ Difficult deglutition, with sour eructations.

Appetite

Appetite: increased; absent, with loss of taste. ─ Thirst, with vertigo, loss of appetite, nausea, colic. ─ Unquenchable thirst.

Stomach

Pain in stomach is > by eating; soup is pleasant when there is gnawing at stomach. ─ Empty feeling, compelling one to eat. ─ After eating, eructations, nausea, pains at navel, colic, rumbling in abdomen, urging to stool, weakness. ─ Heartburn; < evenings. ─ Empty or sour eructations; of tasteless wind, after each meal. ─ Sudden hiccough, with eructations; frequent hiccough. ─ Nausea and thirst with colic; after diarrhœa. ─ Nausea and frequent vomiting. ─ Stomach sensitive; slightest touch causes excruciating pain. ─ Violent pressive pain at pit of stomach. ─ Burning at pit of stomach.

Abdomen

Violent colic, waking one at night. ─ Colic, rumbling evening and night). ─ Colic pain around navel, as if bruised; stitches, with pressing and discharge of flatulence; < on moving, > when at, rest. ─ Difficult emission of flatus. ─ Continuous pain in l. hypochondrium as if bruised; stitches. ─ Incarcerated flatulence (in l. hypochondrium). ─ Stitches in liver > by taking a deep breath. ─ Burning in small spots in abdomen. ─ Cutting pain in abdomen.

Stool and Rectum

Morning diarrhœa; stools soft or watery, with colic around navel and pressing in rectum returning as soon as one lies down again. ─ Stools: dark, muddy, copious mucus and blood. ─ Before stool, and from pain with stool, headache. ─ During stool: micturition; fainting; vomiting. ─ After stool: nausea and tension in calves; dryness in throat; > of pain in small, of back. ─ Diarrhœa as soon as one drinks coffee. ─ Pressing and straining in rectum; tenesmus. ─ Constipation; no stool.

Urinary Organs

Thinking of urinating = necessity to urinate. ─ Nocturnal incontinence; sharp, shooting pain in l. chest, close to sternum and parallel to it. ─ Pain in region of kidneys. ─ Frequent and copious urination, which is clear, straw-coloured; oxaluria. ─ Albuminuria. ─ Burning in urethra, as from acrid drops. ─ Pain in glans penis when urinating.

Male Sexual Organs

Great increase of sexual desire. ─ Red points on glans without itching or soreness. ─ Erections (forenoon). ─ Erections with dulness in occiput. ─ Sensation of heaviness and contusion in testicles; < l. ─ (During a walk) heaviness of testicles, with drawing pain, extending into (shooting along) the spermatic cords. ─ Terrible neuralgic pain in cords, < from slightest motion. ─ Emissions at night with lascivious dreams. ─ (After taking rhubarb tart, boys with long foreskins often get balanitis from deposit of oxalate of lime crystals.)

Female Sexual Organs

Much burning pain in genital organs. ─ During pregnancy, nausea and painful vomiting, a tormenting, cramp-like feeling between pit of stomach and navel; sour taste, heartburn, and waterbrash.

Respiratory Organs

Hoarseness; larynx feels swollen, contracted, raw, with tickling in it (sensation of mucus during talking). ─ Voice completely altered from a deep bass to a very low key, like one talking in an undertone; later, though improved, still "a complete old man's voice.". ─ Constant dry cough on violent exertion. ─ Mucous secretion in throat increased. ─ Mucus in small lumps, or hard or thick, yellowish-white phlegm, with black lumps in centre of it. ─ Difficulty of breathing, with oppression of chest (r. side) when moving about in evening. ─ Difficulty of breathing, with constrictive pain in the larynx and wheezing (angina pectoris). ─ Spasmodic breathing. ─ Paroxysms of short, hurried breathing, with intervals of ease.

Chest

Sharp, shooting pain in l. lung and hepatic region. ─ Congestion localised base of l. lung. ─ Dull, heavy, sore pain in chest. ─ When breathing, stitches in chest and pain above the hip. ─ Pain in the middle of chest, extending through to back. ─ Sudden lancinating pain in l. lung, depriving him of breath. ─ Stitches in l. breast; < during walking.

Heart and Pulse

Pain in heart; soreness, stitches from behind forward or from above downwards. ─ Sharp darting in heart and l. lung, extending to epigastrium. ─ Pain commencing in præcordial region, extending up sternum and darting out across chest, esp. towards l. side; must keep perfectly quiet (angina pectoris). ─ Palpitation of heart after lying, down at night; heart in a continual fluttering palpitation. ─ Beats of heart intermit when thinking of it. ─ Pulse increased in frequency, almost imperceptible; with coldness, clammy sweat, &c.

Back

Pain in back, under point of shoulder-blade, between shoulders, extending from shoulders to loins; bruised sensation, < beneath tip of l. scapula, with stiffness. ─ Stitches from chest into scapulæ. ─ Acute pain in back, gradually extending down thighs, with great torture; seeks relief in change of posture. ─ Numbness, pricking, causing a sensation of coldness and weakness in back; weakness in loins and hips, extending down to lower extremities; back feels too weak to support body.

Limbs

Strange sensation of numbness in limbs. ─ Pains in rheumatic gout < from sweets.

Upper Limbs

Pain first in l., later in r. deltoid muscle, with inclination to move. ─ Sharp, lancinating pains in arms; angina pectoris. ─ R. wrist feels sprained, with inclination to stretch it, and stitches in ulnar region; cannot hold anything. ─ Numbness of shoulders to tips of fingers. ─ Numbness of finger-tips. ─ Pain in (r.) metacarpus and fleshy part of r. thumb, with sensation of fulness, heat, and numbness. ─ Heaviness of hand; can move fingers but slowly. ─ Hands are cold, as if dead. ─ Arthritic pains in fingers; they are drawn in. ─ Twitching of fingers. ─ Fingers and nails livid.

Lower Limbs

Blueness, coldness, and almost complete immobility of lower limbs. ─ Numbness and tickling or pricking in thighs. ─ Numbness, pain, and weariness in lower limbs, making it difficult to ascend stairs. ─ Restlessness in legs. ─ Knees feel tired. ─ Violent contracting pain in external tendon of l. knee. ─ Weariness of lower extremities; they are gone to sleep; paralysis, stiffness.

Generalities

Pains appear on small longitudinal (circumscribed) spots. ─ Jerking pains, like short stitches, confined to small spots, lasting only a few seconds. ─ Pains come on periodically. ─ Peculiar numbness, approaching to palsy. ─ Paralysis of l. side. ─ Symptoms recur in paroxysms; intermit for hours or a day. ─ Blood coagulates very slowly.

Skin

Skin very sensitive, sensation during shaving as from chafing. ─ Marbled skin (mottled in circular patches). ─ Skin of face, head, chest, and nates covered with red spots or petechiæ, appearing as if bespattered with blood. ─ Itching on neck or fingers. ─ Itching eruption with redness. ─ Warts.

Sleep

Frequent yawning; sleepiness during day. ─ Starts when falling asleep. ─ Awakens at night with palpitation. ─ Dreams, with fright and fear; sits up and looks around.

Fever

Pulse more rapid in morning; slower, irregular, weak. ─ Chilliness, ascending from below upwards. ─ Creeping chill up spine. ─ Chilliness with sneezing (evening). ─ Chill after diarrhœa (afternoon). ─ Shaking chill, with red face (evening). ─ Heat from every exertion. ─ Heat, esp. in the face or on hands. ─ Flushes of heat, with perspiration. ─ Perspiration with weakness, or with giddiness. ─ Night-sweat clammy and cold.

The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica

Constantine Hering · The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica · 1879–91

Mind

Diminished power to concentrate ideas.
Very much exhilarated ; quicker thought and action.
As soon as he thinks about the pains they return.
Mania.
Aversion to talk ; with headache, fulness in face.

Sensorium

Vertigo : with darkness before eyes and sweat ; weakness and thirst ; anxiety, headache and sweat ; when looking out of window ; when rising from a seat ; a swimming sensation, when lying down.
Sensation of emptiness in head, faint feeling, as if all blood had left brain.
Upper part of body, particularly head, feels as if blood were coursing upward and outward.

Inner head

Dulness in forehead in morning.
Dull headache of vertex and forehead, heaviness.
Burning sensation at forehead.
Headache in spots ; pressing pain on small spots.
Compression in head, as from a screw behind each ear.
Pain at a spot between vertex and occiput, pressing inwardly.
Headache < after wine, lying down, after sleep and on rising ; > after stool.

Outer head

Small spots on head painful to touch.

Sight and eyes

Type blurs when reading.
Vanishing of sight, with giddiness and sweat ; with nosebleed.
Small, especially linear objects appear larger and more distant.
Pain in both orbits, < in left.
Bleared eyes.

Smell and nose

Sneezing, with chilliness ; with watery coryza.
Red, shining swelling of right side of nose, beginning at tip and spreading.
Stitches in right nostril on taking a long inspiration.
Pimples in right side of nose ; wing of nose swollen.
Epistaxis, with vanishing of sight.

Upper face

Face pale and livid.
Pale color with sunken eyes.
Feeling of heat in face.
Feeling of fulness in face ; face redder.
Face covered with cold sweat.

Lower face

Drawing pain, with rigidity near angle of lower jaw, first and longest in left then in right side.

Teeth and gums

Pain in decayed molar.
Gums bleed, are painful in spots.
Small ulcers on gums.

Taste, speech, tongue

Sour taste.
Tongue : swollen, sensitive ; red, dry, burning ; swollen, with a thick, white coating ; coated white, with nausea, thirst and loss of taste.

Inner mouth

Watery saliva or mucus in mouth.
Aphthæ.

Palate and throat

Dryness in throat (morning) after diarrhœa.
Scraping in throat, thick mucus accumulates.
Deglutition : especially painful mornings ; difficult, with sour eructations.
Mucous secretion in throat increased.
Chronic sore throat.
Angina.

Appetite, thirst. desires, aversions

Appetite : increased ; wanting, with loss of taste.
Thirst, with vertigo, loss of appetite, nausea, colic.

Eating and drinking

Pain in stomach, > after eating ; soup relieves gnawing at stomach.
After eating, eructations, nausea, pains at navel, colic, rumbling in abdomen, urging to stool, weakness.
Sugar aggravates pain in stomach ; and wine headache.
Sugar, coffee and wine disagree.

Hiccough, belching, nausea and vomiting

Sudden hiccough, with eructations.
Heartburn < in evening.
Eructations : empty or sour ; of tasteless wind after each meal.
Nausea : and frequent vomiting ; during pregnancy ; thirst and colic after diarrhœa.

Scrobiculum and stomach

Empty feeling, compelling one to eat.
Burning pain in stomach and throat.
Awakens at night with violent pressive pain, like a heavy weight, coming and going at intervals ; flatulent discharge relieves.
Stomach sensitive ; slightest touch causes excruciating pain.
Gastritis ; gastro-enteritis.

Hypochondria

Stitches in liver relieved by a deep breath.
Continuous pain in left hypochondrium, as if bruised ; stitches ; incarcerated flatus.

Abdomen and loins

Colic : cutting in abdomen ; rumbling (evening and night) ; with tenesmus ; < at night, accompanied by vomiting ; pains seem to occupy a small spot and radiate therefrom ; < from motion ; from eating sugar.
Burning and pain in abdomen ; in umbilical region.
Burning in small spots in abdomen, return when thinking of them.
Frequent pain and soreness about navel.
Colic about navel, as if bruised, with stitches and difficult emissions of flatus ; < on moving, > when at rest ; < evening and night.
Man suffering for a long time from indigestion, was operated on for strangulated hernia two years ago ; ever since subject to pain in umbilical region, coming on two hours after food, accompanied by much flatus and bitter, sour eructations ; pain < at night, is roused
by it about 3 A. M. and kept awake by it ; burning sensation from throat downward to region of pain.
Enteritis ; chronic inflammation of bowels.

Stools and rectum

Difficult discharge of flatus.
Frequent ineffectual urging to stool, preceded by a sick, distressed feeling from navel downward ; < when thinking of it ; at times profuse watery, gushing diarrhœa.
Suddenly seized with distressing feeling in whole abdomen, twisting around navel, bearing down ; dark, muddy, copious evacuations, 6 A. M.
Morning diarrhœa ; stools soft or watery, with colic around navel and pressing in rectum ; returning as soon as one lies down again. θ Phthisis.
Stool : of mucus and blood ; involuntary.
Diarrhœa : as soon as one drinks coffee ; lying down causes return.
Before stool : headache ; twisting colic around navel.
During stool : micturition ; (fainting, vomiting) ; colic about navel ; violent urging-griping pains in anus, so severe as to cause headache and heat in head.
After stool : nausea and cramp in calves ; dryness in throat ; relief of pain in small of back.
Constipation.
Pressing and straining in rectum ; tenesmus.

Urinary organs

Pain in region of kidneys.
Irritation of genito-urinary tract with diuresis.
Frequent and copius urination, which is profuse, clear, straw-colored.
Burning in urethra, as from acrid drops.
When urinating, pain in glans penis.
Thinking of urinating causes necessity to urinate.
Nocturnal incontinence of urine ; sharp, shooting pain in left chest, close to sternum and parallel to it.

Male sexual organs

Great increase of sexual desire.
On lying down, erections without any cause, afterwards testicles and cords pain.
Sexual debility ; spermatorrhœa.
Terrible neuralgic pains in spermatic cords, < from slightest motion.
Testicles feel contused and heavy ; bruised pain in small of back.
During a walk, pain and heaviness in testicles, shooting along cords.

Pregnancy. parturition. lactation

Nausea and painful vomiting ; a tormenting, cramplike feeling between pit of stomach and navel ; sour taste, heartburn and waterbrash.

Voice and larynx. trachea and bronchia

Nervous aphonia, with cardiac derangement, violent palpitation and irregular action ; change of voice, which becomes weak and hoarse ; no soreness.
Hoarseness ; larynx feels swollen, contracted, raw, with tickling in it.
Hoarseness and sensation of mucus in larynx during talking.
Alteration of voice.

Respiration

Great oppression of breath ; slightly spasmodic.
Difficulty of breathing, with constrictive pain in larynx and wheezing ; oppression more towards right side. θ Angina pectoris.
Jerking inspiration and sudden, forced expiration, as though he made a sudden effort to relieve intense pain by expelling air from lungs. θ Angina
pectoris.
Paroxysms of short, hurried breathing, with intervals of ease.

Cough

Cough : from tickling in larynx while walking in open air ; larynx feels swollen ; dry, on taking violent exercise ; with soreness, stinging, tearing pain in sternum.
Mucus hawked up, thick, yellow white, with central black lump of size of pea.

Inner chest and lungs

Sharp shooting pain in left lung and hepatic region.
Sudden lancinating in left lung, depriving him of breath.
Rheumatic pains in left lung ; > lying down.
When breathing, stitches in chest and above hip.
Dull, heavy, sore pain in chest.
Pain in middle of chest, through to back.
Congestion or inflammation, localized at base of left lung.
Phthisis pulmonalis.

Heart, pulse and circulation

Pain in heart ; soreness, stitches from behind forward, or from above downward.
Sharp darting in heart and left lung, extending to epigastrium. θ Angina pectoris.
Pain commencing in precordial region, extending up sternum and darting out across chest, particularly towards left side ; sharp stitches or lancinating pains through chest, compelling him to keep perfectly quiet in one position, arms folded across chest ; face haggard ;
trunk bolt upright in chair, and whole manner and appearance indicative of intense suffering ; cramps in muscles of extremities ; short, sharp cutting pains in extremities, especially arms and deltoid portion of shoulders ; sense of suffocation ; dyspnœa manifested in
short, jerking inspirations, quantity of air inspired being less and less at each successive effort, until at greatest intensity of paroxysm function seemed to be entirely suspended ; paroxysms lasted about one minute, with intervals of about two minutes, during which there was almost
perfect relief from pain ; pulse accelerated, somewhat irregular in rhythm ; strong conviction that he will die in next paroxysm ; makes feeble effort to rise from chair, saying, "now I must go ;" this expression being repeated twice or thrice during each
paroxysm ; has been troubled with ascarides nearly all his life, now more than usual ; paralysis of lower extremities, lasting throughout attack ; sharp, stitching pain in deltoid confined to a small space ; costiveness ; great prostration ; pains mostly on
right side ; pains excited or < by motion ; jerking pains like short stitches, confined to a small space and lasting but a few seconds ; jerking inspiration and forced expiration, as though he made a sudden effort to relieve himself of intense pain by expelling air from
lungs. θ Angina pectoris.
Heart in a continual flutter.
Palpitation : with action of heart irregular in force and rhythm, alternating with aphonia ; for half an hour after lying down in bed at night ; when thinking of it ; from rheumatic affection.
Occasional omission of one beat of heart, felt as "a stopping," causing patient to fear heart disease and sudden death ; after an attack of cholera, cured by Quinine, this omission appeared as soon as he was talking or thinking of it.
Endocarditis ; pericarditis ; valvular insufficiency.
Pulse : increased in frequency, almost imperceptible, coldness, clammy sweats, livid nails ; more rapid in morning, slower, irregular, weak.

Neck and back

Pain under point of scapula, between shoulders, extending to loins.
Stitches from chest into scapulæ.
Acute pain in back gradually extending down thighs, with great torture ; seeks relief in change of posture.
Pain in small of back, sensation of numbness, or as if broken or bruised.
Numbness, pricking, causing a cold sensation ; back feels too weak to support body. θ Angina pectoris.
Weakness in loins and hips, extending to lower extremities.
Tongue and mouth sore ; at times pain in right side of head, occiput, small of back and calves ; what distresses him most are cold chills across lower part of back and in calves of legs, beginning in spine just above sacrum ; the chills are diurnal, being supplanted
at night by heat as if there were warm water between flesh and bones ; pains shoot up to occiput and head.
Aching pain in low part of back for three months ; pain between shoulders ; pain and tenderness along cervical vertebræ ; pain in occiput, vertex and forehead off and on for weeks ; all these pains are brought on or made < by any kind of movement or
exertion. θ Cerebrospinal pains.
Intense inflammatory pains all through back ; meningitis.
Paralysis from inflammation of spinal cord, limbs stiff ; paroxysms of dyspnœa.

Upper limbs

Twitch first in left, later in right deltoid, with inclination to move.
Numbness from shoulders to tips of fingers.
Sharp lancinating pains in arms. θ Angina pectoris.
Right wrist constantly painful, as if sprained or dislocated.
Right wrist feels sprained, wants to stretch it ; cannot hold anything.
Pain in (r.) metacarpus and fleshy part of right thumb, with sensation of fulness, heat and numbness.
Hands feel heavy, can move fingers but slowly.
Hands cold, as if dead.
Arthritic pains in fingers, which are flexed.
Twitching of fingers.
Fingers and nails livid ; dark nails.

Lower limbs

Restlessness in legs.
Lameness and stiffness in lower extremities.
Legs stiff, numb, weak.
Legs cold, powerless. θ Angina pectoris.
Blueness, coldness and almost complete immobility of lower extremities.
Knees feel tired.
Very violent ; contracting pain in external tendon of l. knee.

Limbs in general

Extremities heavy, powerless, numb, weak. θ Myelitis acuta.
Burning in hands and feet.
Articular rheumatism.

Rest. position. motion

Motion and exercise increase the pains.
Rest : colic <.
Lying down : swimming sensations ; < headache ; colic and diarrhœa return ; erections ; pain in left lung > ; palpitation.
Arms folded across chest, trunk bolt upright in a chair ; angina pectoris.
Wants to stretch wrist.
Change of position ; pains in back >.
Motion : colic ; terrible pains in spermatic cords < ; pains <.
Inclination to move : with twitches in deltoid.
Rising from a seat : vertigo ; headache <.
Can move fingers but slowly : heaviness.
Slightest exertion : heat.

Nerves

Muscular twitchings. θ Myelitis acuta.
Trembling convulsions.
Numbness of whole body ; crawling.
Peculiar numbness approaching to palsy. θ Angina pectoris.
Loss of motory power.
Paralysis of left side.
Paralysis from inflammation of spinal cord ; limbs stiff ; paroxysms of dyspnœa.

Sleep

Yawning ; sleepy during day.
Awakens at night : with palpitation ; with a violent pressing pain, like a heavy weight, coming and going at intervals ; > from emission of flatus.
Dreams, with fright and fear ; sits up and looks around.

Time

Morning : dulness in forehead ; dryness in throat ; deglutition painful ; diarrhœa ; pulse more rapid ; flying heat and sweat.
At 3 A. M. : roused by pain in bowels.
At 6 A. M. : evacuations.
Forenoon : heat in face.
During day : sleepy ; chill.
Afternoon : diarrhœa.
Evening : heartburn < ; rumbling in abdomen ; colic < ; sneezing ; shaking chill with red face.
Night : violent pain in stomach ; rumbling in abdomen ; colic < ; palpitation ; heat ; sweat clammy and cold.

Temperature and weather

Open air : while walking tickling in larynx.

Fever

Extremities cold, nails livid.
Chilliness : with sneezing (evening) ; after diarrhœa (afternoon).
Shaking chill, with red face (evening).
Creeping chill up spine.
Chill all day long, but heat from even slightest exertion.
Shaking chill in evening, with small contracted pulse, red face and a feeling of heat without external warmth, hands cold, as if dead.
Heat : from every exertion ; especially in face and on hands ; first in face, afterwards in left leg.
Flushes of heat, with sweat.
Sensation of an inward heat, most in face, forenoon.
Flying heat and sweat in morning, with pain in forehead and vertex.
Sweat : clammy, with weakness ; with giddiness ; at night, clammy and cold.
Cold sweat covers face, hands and feet, tongue cool.
Typhoid fever, with delirium and involuntary diarrheic stools.

Attacks, periodicity

Symptoms recur in paroxysms ; intermit for hours or a day.
Alternately : palpitation and aphonia.
Last about one minute, with intervals of about two minutes.
Paroxysms of pain in angina pectoris.
For half an hour after lying down at night : palpitation.
Two hours after food : pain in umbilical region.
For three months : pain in back.

Locality and direction

Pains appear in small longitudinal spots, or occupy a spot an inch or less in circumference.
Right : swelling of side of nose ; stitches in nostrils ; pimples in side of nose ; oppression < on side ; pains < on side ; pain on side of head ; wrist feels sprained ; sprain in thumb.
Left : pain in orbit ; pain in hypochondrium ; sharp shooting pain in chest ; lancinating in lung ; rheumatic pain in lung ; inflammation at base of lung ; very violent pain in tendon of knee ; paralysis of side ; heat in leg.
First left then right : drawing pain in jaw ; twitch in deltoid.
From behind forward : stitches in heart.
From above downward : stitches in heart.
Inwardly : pains in head.

Sensations

Jerking pains, like short stitches, confined to small spots, lasting only a few seconds.
Pains : greatly aggravated by thinking of them.
As if all blood had left brain ; as if blood in head was coursing upward and outward ; as from a screw behind each ear ; as of a heavy weight in stomach ; hypochondrium as if bruised ; navel as if bruised ; back as if broken or bruised ; wrist as if
sprained ; hands as if dead ; during shaving as from chafing.
Pain : between vertex and occiput ; in both orbits ; in decayed molar ; in stomach ; at navel ; in left hypochondrium ; in abdomen about navel ; in region of kidneys ; in glans penis ; in testicles and cords ; in middle of
chest ; through to back ; in heart ; in precordial region ; up sternum and out across chest ; under point of scapula, extending to loins ; in small of back ; in right side of head, occiput, small of back and calves ; between shoulders ; along
cervical vertebræ ; in right metacarpus and fleshy part of thumb.
Violent contracting pain : in external tendon of left knee.
Intense inflammatory pains : all through back.
Acute pain : in back, then down thighs.
Terrible neuralgic pains : in spermatic cords.
Sharp darting : in heart and left lung.
Lancinating : in left lung ; through chest ; in arms.
Sharp stitching pain : in deltoid.
Cutting : in abdomen ; in extremities.
Tearing pain : in sternum.
Shooting pain : in left chest ; along spermatic cords ; in left lung and hepatic region.
Stitches : in right nostril ; in liver ; in chest and above hip ; in heart ; through chest ; from chest into scapulæ.
Constrictive pain : in larynx.
Twisting colic : around navel.
Griping pains : in anus.
Cramp : in calves ; in muscles of extremities.
Tormenting cramplike feeling : between pit of stomach and navel.
Bruised pain : in small of back.
Rheumatic pain : in left lung.
Arthritic pains : in fingers.
Drawing pain : near angle of lower jaw.
Aching : in vertex and forehead ; in lower part of back.
Pressing pain : on small spots in head ; in stomach.
Dull, heavy, sore pain : in chest.
Stinging : in sternum.
Pricking : in back.
Soreness : in sternum ; in heart ; of tongue and mouth ; about navel.
Burning : in forehead ; in stomach and throat ; in abdomen ; in umbilical region ; from throat to umbilical region ; in urethra ; in hands and feet.
Heat : in face ; in right thumb.
Pressing : in rectum.
Fulness : in face ; in right thumb.
Dulness : in forehead.
Scraping : in throat.
Sick, distressed feeling : from navel downward.
Tickling : in larynx.
Dryness : in throat.
Stiffness : of lower extremities.
Lameness : of lower extremities.
Emptiness : in head.
Numbness : in back from shoulders to tips of fingers ; in r. thumb ; of legs ; of whole body.
Cold sensation : in back.
Coldness : of hands ; of legs.
Itching : on neck and fingers.

Touch. passive motion. injuries

Touch : small spots on head painful ; slightest, causes excruciating pain.
Shaving : skin sensitive.

Skin

Sensitive during shaving, as from chafing.
Exceedingly sensitive skin, with vesicular eruption ; < from sweats.
Itching : on neck or fingers ; eruption, with redness.
Smarting and soreness.
Skin mottled in circular patches ; marbled skin.
Warts.

Stage of life, constitution

Child, æt. 5 ; chronic inflammation of bowels.
Boy, æt. 10, fair complexion, blue eyes, has been under all sorts of treatment and taken much patent medicine for several years ; incontinence of urine.
Ann W., æt. 16, suffering several months ; cerebro-spinal pains.
Man, æt. 36, laborer, three years ago had hygroma of patella, brought on by much kneeling at work, has never felt the "same man" since this was backed by local applications ; cerebro-spinal pains.
Man, æt. 45, carpenter, spare built, nervous bilious temperament, of good health generally, temperate in all his habits ; angina pectoris.
Woman, æt. 50 ; congestion of left lung ; later pneumonia.
Man, æt. 50, fleshy ; irregular action of heart.
Man suffering a long time from indigestion, operated on for strangulated hernia two years ago, since then suffering ; pain in umbilical region.
Mr. F., wealthy man ; omission of heartbeat.

Relations

Antidoted by : Carbonates of Lime and Magnesia.
Compare : Arsen., Ipec . and Veratr . in cholera infantum ; Colchic . in gastralgia ; Kreosot . in gastric symptoms ; Argent.
met., Phos. ac . and Picric ac . in spinal disease.

Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica

James Tyler Kent · Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica · homeoint.org / Séror HTML text (Kent d. 1916; public domain)

Generals

This remedy has been greatly neglected.

It will cure many heart complaints that are treated with vague, crude, unproved remedies with indifferent results. The violent action upon the heart racks the whole system. Trembling, convulsions, loss of sensation; numbness of the body and limbs; blueness of the lower limbs, fingers and lips; paralysis of the limbs are symptoms showing how violently this remedy takes hold of the body, affecting the heart, spinal cord and brain. Symptoms are worse from exertion and motion. The patient is sensitive to cold air. Symptoms come on in paroxysms. Palpitation alternates with loss of voice.

Pains

No remedy produces more violent pains; cutting, shooting, stitching, tearing pains in many parts; sores and bruises all over the body; burning in forehead, stomach, abdomen, throat, urethra, hands and feet; painful spots on the scalp, sore to, touch, also in other places.

The body is mottled in places. Complaints come on from eating sour fruits, such as strawberries, cranberries, apples, rhubarb, tomatoes, grapes; also from eating sugar and starchy foods. Wine and coffee disagree.

The symptoms, and especially the pains, come on or are worse when thinking about them. At times there is great excitement and exhilaration again there is loss of memory and dejection; maniacal conduct; aversion to conversation. Fainting during stool. There is marked hyperemia of the brain and surging of blood from body to head; flashes of heat mount upward; he becomes dizzy and there is vanishing of sight.

Head

The head feels empty; dull aching in the head; in forehead and vertex; the brain burns; headache in spots; pressing pain in small spots; pressing pain behind ear; the headaches are worse from wine, lying, after sleep, and on rising and better after stool.

Sore tender spots on the scalp. Type blurs when reading; vanishing of sight; small, especially linear objects seem larger and more distant; pain eyes, especially the left; bleared eyes.

Epistaxis with vanishing of sight.

Face is pale and blue; sunken expression; heat in face; face covered with cold sweat; drawing pain with rigidity near the angle of lower jaw-first in left, then in right.

Ulcers on gums; gums bleed and are painful in spots; sour taste in the mouth; tongue sore, red, dry, burning, swollen, with white coating; there is loss of taste; aphthae in the mouth; much thick mucus compels him to constantly clear the throat; swallowing is painful in the morning; pain in throat; chronic sore throat.

Stomach

Appetite increased; wanting, with loss of taste; thirst.

Pain in stomach better after eating; gnawing in stomach better after taking soup. After eating, eructations, nausea, pains at the navel, colic, rumbling in bowels, urging to stool, weakness. Sugar increases the pain in stomach; wine makes headache worse; coffee acts violently on the heart and causes diarrhea; heartburn worse in the evening; eructation, sour, tasteless, after eating. Nausea and vomiting; nausea during pregnancy; thirst and colic after diarrhea; nausea and cramp in calves after stool.

Abdomen

Paroxysmal pains in abdomen in the night, relieved by passing flatus; burning in stomach and throat; extreme tenderness of stomach; inflammation of stomach and intestines; empty feeling relieved by eating.

Cramping pains in abdomen. Burning in the abdomen. Stitching pains in abdomen and in the liver. Great pain in the region of the umbilicus, worse evening and night; worse from motion. Sore pains about the navel. The pains in abdomen come on or are worse when thinking of them. Obstructed flatus in the splenic flexure of the colon, causing pain in left hypochondrium. Stitching pains in liver, relieved by deep breathing.

Cramping pains in abdomen, worse at night with vomiting; worse from motion and from eating sugar. Chronic inflammation of the bowels. Extreme tenderness of the abdomen; chronic morning diarrhea with cramping about the navel; tenesmus, renewed urging on lying down. Coffee brings on diarrhea; stools watery; of mucus and blood; stools involuntary. The tenesmus during stool causes pain in head; constipation with difficult stool and the straining causes headache.

Kidneys

The renal region is painful and tender. Frequent urination; copious; urine containing oxalate of lime; soreness of whole urinary tract; the urine causes soreness and burning of the urethra; when urinating there is pain in the glans penis; incontinence of urine in sleep; all the urinary symptoms are worse when thinking about them.

Tearing pains in the spermatic cords, worse from motion; marked tenderness in testes which become painful when walking. Strong, sexual desire and erections when in bed; seminal emissions and sexual weakness; shooting pains along the spermatic cords.

Loss of voice with cardiac complaints; palpitation alternating with loss of voice; larynx sore, raw, with tickling and clutching; mucus forms in the larynx when talking; must constantly clear the larynx when talking; white mucus in the larynx; hawks up thick yellow and white mucus.

In complaints of the heart there is most difficult breathing. In feeble, nervous women there is paroxysmal breathing; violent rapid respiration with intervals of normal breathing; jerking inspiration and sudden, forced expiration in angina pectoris; dyspnoea with constriction in the larynx that is very painful; with wheezing and oppression of chest worse thinking of it.

Cardiac cough on slight exertion; choking feeling in larynx; tickling in larynx while walking in cold air.

Sharp, shooting pains in left lung, heart and left hypochondrium. With inability to breathe during perfect rest; soreness in chest; pain in middle of chest through to the back. Dullness in lower part of left lung.

Stitching tearing pains behind the sternum going to shoulders and arms; worse on left side; with blueness of nails and lips; cold sweat paralysis of lower limbs; spasmodic respiration (compare Latrodeatus mactans).

Violent palpitation in rheumatic subjects, worse when thinking about it. Pulse irregular, intermittent, fast; cold sweat, blue nails, great weakness. It cures many cardiac complaints endocarditis, pericarditis, valvular insufficiency, etc. Fluttering heart.

Pain under point of scapula, between shoulders, extending downward to small of back; stitches in chest, extending to scapula; violent aching pain in back, and down the thighs, relieved by change of position.

This symptom is an exception as the pains are generally worse from motion., Benumbing pains in the small of back better after stool.

Numbness, pricking, causing a cold sensation with weakness in spine. Weakness in loins and hips extending to lower limbs; pains shoot up back to head.

Cold chills in lower part of back followed by evening fever, coming every day. Motion brings on many pains in spine with much drawing in muscles of back; paralysis from inflammation of spinal cord; limb stiff; paroxysms of dyspnoea.

Numbness in shoulders to finger tips; sharp lancinating pains in arms; right wrist feels sprained; pain in right metacarpus and fleshy part of right thumb with heat and numbness; hands almost helpless; hands cold as if dead ; fingers and nails blue in heart complaints; pains in the points of flexed fingers.

Twitching of muscles of shoulder; arm and fingers. The legs are stiff, numb and weak; lower limbs cold, blue and paralyzed. Violent pains in lower limbs. Burning in feet and hands. Rheumatism of joints.

Frightening dreams; wakens with palpitation, cold sweat and pain in limbs; sleepy during day but distressing sleep at night; feels better after passing flatus. Violent pains in stomach keep him awake.

Chilliness; shaking chill, cold body. Heat from slight exertion; flashes of heat then cold sweat; shaking chill in evening followed, by internal heat and external sweat, hands cold. Cold sweat of face, hands and feet.