Aranea diadema
Alias: Aran., Aranea, Diadema
Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica, William Boericke
Papal-Cross Spider
All spider poisons powerfully affect the nervous system (See tarentula, Mygale, etc).
All symptoms of Aranea are characterized by periodicity, and coldness, and great susceptibility to dampness. It is the remedy for the constitution favorable to malarial poisoning, where every damp day or place favors chilliness. Patient feels cold to the very bones. Coldness not relieved by anything. Feeling as if parts were enlarged and heavier. Wake up at night with hands feeling twice their natural size. Spleen swollen. Hydrogenoid Constitution, i.e, Abnormal sensitiveness to damp and cold, inability to live near fresh water, lakes, rivers, etc, or in damp, chilly places (Nat. Sulph. Thuja).
Head.--Pain in right trifacial nerve from periphery inwards. Confusion; better by smoking in open air. Heat and flickering in eyes; worse in damp weather. Sudden violent pain in teeth at night immediately after lying down.
Female.--Menses too early, too copious. Distention of abdomen. Lumbo-abdominal neuralgia.
Chest.--Pain in intercostal nerve from nerve endings to spine. Bright red haemorrhage from lungs (Millefol; Ferr phos).
Stomach.--Cramps after eating a little; epigastrium painful to pressure.
Abdomen.--Enlarged spleen. Colic returns same hours. Heaviness in lower abdomen, as of a stone. Diarrhoea. Arms and legs feel as if asleep.
Extremities.--Bone-pains in extremities. Pain in os calcis. Sensation of swelling, and of parts going to sleep.
Sleep.--Restless and waking, as if hands and forearms were swollen and heavy.
Fever.--Coldness, with pain in long bones, and feeling of stone in abdomen at the same hour daily. Chilly day and night; always worse during rain.
Modalities.--Worse, damp weather; late in afternoon, and at midnight. Better, smoking tobacco.
Relationship.--Tela aranearum-Spider's web.--Cardiac sleeplessness, increased muscular energy. Excitement and nervous agitation in febrile states. Dry asthma, harassing coughs; periodic headaches with extreme nervous erethism. Obstinate intermittents. Acts immediately on arterial system, pulse full, strong, compressible.
Lowers pulse rate frequency. Masked periodical diseases, hectic, broken down patients. Symptoms come on suddenly with cool, clammy skin. Numbness of hands and legs when at rest. Continued chilliness.
Aranea Scinencia-Grey Spider--(constant twitching of under eyelids. Sleepiness. Worse in warm room).
Heloderma; Cedron; Arsenic.
Dose.--Tincture to thirtieth potency.
A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica, John Henry Clarke
The Cross Spider. N. O. Arachnida. Tincture.
Clinical.─Bones, affections of. Catalepsy. Chills. Dysmenorrhoea. Dyspepsia. Haemorrhages. Haemorrhagic diathesis. Headache. Hydrogenoid constitution. Intermittents. Malarial cachexia. Menstruation, irregularities of. Neuralgia. Punctured wounds. Scorbutic affections. Scurvy rickets. Spleen, affections of. Toothache.
Characteristics.─Grauvogl is our chief authority for the use of Aranea. It is one of the leading remedies for the hydrogenoid constitution as described by him, and for intermittent fevers and other intermittent affections. By hydrogenoid constitution he meant abnormal sensitiveness to damp and cold; and inability to live near fresh water, either rivers or lakes, or in damp, chilly places. This gives the < from bathing; from damp weather; damp localities, or habitations; < drawing in cold air. Chilliness followed by little or no fever. Chill and neuralgic attacks at the same hour every day, every other day, week, month, or regular period. Attacks are violent and sudden. Sensation of swelling in many parts, head, face, hands; of numbness; of coldness as if bones were made of ice. Haemorrhages from many parts; from wounds. Punctured wounds. Exhaustion. Pains like electric currents. Great desire to lie down; many symptoms > lying down. Toothache < night after lying down. On lying down in bed and touching bed-clothes, whether linen or wool, has a chill. Many symptoms occur on the right side. Chill not > by external warmth; no sweat with fevers.
Relations.─Compare: Mygale, Theridion, Tarentula, Ipec., Nux v., Ars. (intermittents and bone affections); Cedron (intermittents of hot climates; Aran., of cold climates chiefly). It antidotes: Chi., Quinine, Merc. Antidoted by: Smoking tobacco.
SYMPTOMS.
1. Mind.─Despondent; longs for death.
2. Head.─Headache (in the forehead), relieved by smoking tobacco and going out into the open air.─Confusion and pressure in the head, mitigated by supporting the head.─Vertigo and flickering before eyes, before headache; when sitting up; must lie down.─Confusion of head; after retiring; evening when studying; with pressure as if in bones of r. temple, > by pressure and sweating.─Headache > entirely in open air.─Headache, with burning eyes and heat of face.─Burning heat in forehead and face.
3. Eyes.─Glimmering and glittering before eyes; preceding headache.─Burning; stinging; shooting in eyes.
7. Teeth.─Painfulness of all the teeth as soon as he goes to bed in the evening.─Sharp sensation of cold in the teeth (incisive) every day at the same hour.─Sensitive, cold sensation in r. lower incisors, esp. on drawing in air; came on again next day at same hour.─Sudden violent pains in teeth of whole upper and lower jaw, at night, immediately after lying down.
8. Mouth.─Instantly a painful sensation, as though arising from several points, darted along the tongue, painfully affecting tongue, jaws, and head; the effect was instantaneous, like a shock from an electric battery.─Tongue seemed almost paralysed, utterance thick and heavy, and the pains at root of tongue and in lower jaw, esp. at joint, most excruciating.─Bitter taste, with coated tongue; relieved by smoking.
11. Stomach.─Thirst during the fever and during the greater part of the other sufferings.─Dejection and lassitude, with thirst.─Coryza, with thirst.─Eating causes headache and spasms.─Vomiting, with fever.─Epigastrium painful to pressure.
12. Abdomen.─Swelling of the spleen (after intermittent fever was suppressed by Quinine).─Enlarged spleen with chilliness.─Fulness and heaviness in the abdomen as from a stone, with sensation of sinking in the epigastrium.─Borborygmi in the abdomen, and heaviness in the thighs, every day at the same hour.─Colic, with shuddering towards evening.
13. Stool.─Diarrhoea; arms and legs as if asleep.─Stools watery, with great rumbling in bowels as if of fermentation.─Liquid, difficult evacuation, with colic, which is ameliorated by friction on the abdomen.
16. Female Sexual Organs.─Dysmenia, spasms commencing in stomach.─Catamenia too early, too frequent, too profuse, of too long duration.─Periods eight days too early, too strong, and too copious.─Metrorrhagia; bright-coloured blood.─Discharge of viscid mucus from the vagina.─Viscous leucorrhoea.
17. Respiratory Organs.─Haemoptysis.─Violent haemoptysis in anaemic and debilitated subjects.
22. Upper Limbs.─Numbness of parts supplied by ulnar nerve.─Dull, penetrating pains in the bones and in all parts of the body, esp. in the humerus and the forearm.─At night a sensation as if the hands and forearms were larger and heavier.─Sensation on the ring and little fingers as if they were asleep.
23. Lower Limbs.─Boring and digging in the r. tibia and os calcis, continuing on moving the foot, and disappearing by continuing the motion.─Ulcer on the l. heel.
24. Generalities.─Haemorrhages from all the organs.─Neuralgic pains, most on r. side, > by hard pressure, < at menstrual period, esp. before, but still during whole cycle; < 12 at night, unbearable, driving her out of bed; < 3 to 8 p.m.; aggravations recurring like clockwork; menses every three weeks.─Great exhaustion and lassitude.─Desires to keep constantly moving when sitting.─Subsultus tendinum.─Catalepsy; periodic headache; < in damp weather.
26. Sleep.─As soon as he lies down at night a violent pain in all his teeth.─Restless sleep with frequent waking.─Restless; on awaking, some part of the body feels as if it were swollen.
27. Fever.─Before chill: cutting cramp in stomach; vomiting; backache.─Cold all the time, cannot get warm; chilly as if bones made of ice even in summer; < during rain.─Chilliness after being in water.─Chill with clock-like regularity; as clock strikes four daily.─Thirst, fever and sweat may be absent.─Chill every other day at precisely the same hour.─During chill: pains in head, stomach, knees.─Afterwards: vomiting.─During heat: headache (but less violent than during chill), with drowsiness.─After heat: vomiting and prostration; lies as if dead; stinging in eyes.─Sweat absent; sweat without thirst; sweat with thirst.
Leaders In Homoeopathic Therapeutics, Eugene Beauharnais Nash
Another spider which Grauvogl classed with his so-called hydrogenoid remedies, i. e., the patient always suffered, with whatever she had, most in wet weather. It is well to remember such positive modalities, for it may narrow down the case to a few remedies from which our curative must be chosen; for instance – Aranea, Natrum sulphuricum, Dulcamara, Nux moschata, Rhus toxicodendron, Rhododendron- all have these wet weather aggravations, and we will be apt to find our remedy there if the patient is characteristically worse in wet weather.