Homeopathic Materia Medica

Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica, James Tyler Kent

This remedy is of interest because of its convulsive tendency. It puts the whole nervous system in such a state of increased irritability that pressure on a part causes convulsions. The convulsions extend from center to circumference; the head, face and eyes are first affected.

Convulsions: An aura in the stomach gives warning of the convulsion. Some complaints spread from the chest, especially from the heart; the rigors and chills begin in the chest; and there is a sensation of coldness about the heart; and from there it extends to other parts.

Convulsions often begin about the head and throat and extend downward. The whole body is in such a state of tension that, after excitement, a fire rages throughout the economy and causes convulsions. Any irritation in the throat or oesophagus will cause violent convulsions in this region.

On swallowing a fish bone, instead of only a pricking sensation as would occur in phlegmatic individuals, the irritation is so great that a spasm commences and spreads to other parts. It was the old remedy for tetanus and spasms caused by splinters in the skin or under the nails, competing with Bell. At the present day we find the most frequently indicated remedies for injuries to nerves are Led. and Hyper.

Catalepsy: A peculiar feature about some of the symptoms is that they resemble catalepsy. The cataleptic condition may be present or a condition very similar to it. He recollects nothing that took place or that he said during a certain period. He knows nobody, and lies without recognizing anyone, but when asked questions he answers correctly, and subsequently he has no recollection of what took place.

It is a cerebo-spinal irritant; the head is drawn back opisthotonos all the limbs are convulsed and rigid. It has cured traumatic tetanus lockjaw, epilepsy, epileptiform convulsions.

With severe pains in the bowels come convulsive movements and convulsions. if the stomach is disordered or chilled, or if he has fear or other mental conditions, convulsions come on. He is extremely sensitive to touch, and touch arid drafts bring on convulsions.

The convulsions spread from above downwards, and thus it is the opposite of Cuprum. The convulsions of Cupr. spread from the extremities to the centre; i.e., the little convulsions, merely cramps, are first felt in the fingers and then in the hands and later in the chest and whole body.

In Cicuta the little convulsions of the head, eyes and throat spread down the back to the extremities with violent contortions. The convulsions of Secale sometimes begin in the face.

At times he knows no one, but when touched and spoken to he answers correctly. Suddenly consciousness returns and he remembers nothing of what has occurred. He confuses the present with the past. He imagines himself a young child. Everything is confused and strange. He does not know where he is.

The faces of old friends look strange; he looks at them and wonders if they are the same persons he used to know. His house and familiar places look strange. Voices sound strange. The senses of sight and smell and all the other special senses are disturbed and confused. He is confused as to himself, his age and circumstances. A woman on coming out of the cataleptic attacks often takes on childish behavior.

A man thinks that he is a child and acts like one; silly laughter, playing with toys, and other acts of childish behavior. He feels as if he were in a strange place, and this causes fear. Thinks of the future with anxiety. Mental torpor; loss of ideas and sensation extending over a certain period. Memory a blank for hours or days with or without convulsions.

Convulsions generally take the place of the ecstatic or cataleptic condition. Natr. m. is somewhat similar to the mental condition of this remedy, as the Natr. m. patient goes about doing all her household work and other functions and next day knows nothing about it. Nux mos. is another remedy that has such a complete blank when going about doing things, a complete abstraction of mind.

Desires: This patient has strange desires; desires to eat coal and many other strange articles, because he is unable to distinguish between things edible and things unfit to be eaten; eats coal and raw potatoes.

Mind: Wants to be alone; dislike to society. Singing, shouting, dancing; likes toys, jumps about like a child. Lies in bed lamenting and wailing. Great agitation; child grasps at one's clothing in a frightened manner.

This is likely to occur before the convulsion, great horror in the, countenance, yet he has no recollection of the horror when be comes out of the convulsion. That state of anxiety and fear comes after the attack has begun, though the convulsions have not yet come on.

Between the convulsions the patient is mild, gentle, placid and yielding, which distinguishes it from Strych. and Nux v. convulsions. The Nux convulsions are all over the body and are worse from touch and draft, blueness and purple color of the body, but between the convulsions the patient is very irritable.

Of course, when they go out of one convulsion into another you cannot see this, but when out of the convulsion the Nux patient is very irritable. The Cicuta patient, out of the convulsion, is full of sadness, anxiety, and darkness, borrows trouble from the future, is affected by sad stories, is pessimistic.

He is afraid of society, afraid of company, and wants to be alone. He is suspicious and shuns people; despises others; over-estimation of himself. In this it approximates Plat. but there is no further resemblance between the two remedies.

Full of fear; fright will bring on convulsions, like Op., Ign., and Acon.

Vertigo: Full of vertigo. The whole sensorium is violently excited. Things turn around in a circle. Vertigo on walking, glassy eyes, etc. Complaints brought on from injuries to the skull, from blows on the head. Many times there is no trouble in the region of the injury; there may be compression and yet all the pains be in distant parts; drawing of the muscles and cramps.

Concussion of the brain and chronic injuries therefrom, especially spasms. Semi-lateral headaches forcing the patient to sit still erect.

Head: Headache as if the brain were loose on walking. When thinking of the exact nature of the pain it ceased. It has cured cerebro-spinal meningitis when there were convulsions and the convulsions were aggravated from touch, with fever and even spotted mottled skin. Mind and head symptoms after injuries. On going into a cerebro-spinal meningitis the patient sits in a chair talking as if nothing were wrong, when, quick as a flash, he passes into another state in which be knows no one; he falls over limp, he is put to bed, and though he answers questions he remains in a semi conscious state, knowing no one.

This may change into a spasm. The head is bent back in spasms; jerking back of the head; spasms begin in the head and go downward. Violent shocks in the head, arms and legs. Head hot and extremities cold, like Bell. in its convulsions. Sweat on the scalp when sleeping. Child rolls head from side to side. Hot head.

Eyes: Convulsive action about the eyes; pupils dilated and insensible patient lies fixed in one place, with starting, fixed, glassy, upturned eyes, like Cupr.

Strabismus may be the only spasm the child is subject to from cerebral irritation. Every time the child is frightened it has strabismus; when touched or when it has cold, or after a fall biting the head, or coming periodically, it has strabismus.

Nose: The nose is sensitive to touch. Touch and jarring bring on complaints, and hence it was so useful in, and was the first remedy for, the result of injuries and irritability and over-sensibility.

It has troubles from shaving; it is useful in such eruptions as come in the whiskers; barber's itch; a solid crop of eruptions all over the face wherever the whiskers grow. Eruptions on the cheek like eczema. Swelling of the submaxillary glands. Erysipelatous eruptions.

It is closely related to Conium about the lips and lids, in that a small amount of pressure causes induration. It has cured epithelioma of the lips.

Throat: The throat troubles are mostly spasmodic. After swallowing a fish bone or stick which lodges in the throat a spasm comes on. After Cicuta the spasms will cease and it can be taken out. It is useful in cases of injury, accompanied with violent choking, so that be cannot allow an examination to be made.

Chest: Cold sensation in the chest. Spasms of the chest.

Feels as if the heart stopped beating. Spasmodic symptoms of the back.

Opisthotonos. All conditions of the limbs are of a spasmodic character.

A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica, John Henry Clarke

Cow-bane. Water Hemlock. N. O. Umbelliferae. Tincture of fresh root gathered at time of flowering.

Clinical.─Bladder, paralysis of. Cancer. Catalepsy. Cerebro-spinal meningitis. Coccygodynia. Concussions. Convulsions. Eczema. Epilepsy. Epithelioma. Eyes, inflammation of. Face, eruption on. Hiccough. Hysteria. Impetigo. Meningitis. Myelitis. Numbness. Oesophagus, stricture of. Paralysis. Psoriasis. Puerperal convulsions. Screaming. Strabismus. Stuttering. Tetanus. Trismus. Waking, weeping on. Worm complaints.

Characteristics.─Cicuta v. is one of the most active of the poisonous Umbelliferae. Its chief influence is excited on the medulla oblongata, the gastro-intestinal tract, and the skin. Twitching and spasmodic jerks are a keynote of Cicuta. "Bending the head backward" is very characteristic. The remedy has cured many cases of cerebro-spinal meningitis, the opisthotonos being the leading indication. Violence is a leading feature: violent spasms; moans and howls; great agitation; makes gesticulations; odd motions; strange desires, as to eat coal. "Head turned or twisted to one side" is no less indicative of the drug in convulsions of children or adults. (See cases referred to below.) It corresponds to falls and the effects of concussions. Utter prostration follows the convulsive attacks; sudden rigidity, then jerks and violent distortions; then prostration. "jerking of the left arm all day" is a very characteristic symptom. Tremor when touched. Trembling palpitation. Convergent strabismus; from fall or blow. Soporous sleep, weeps on being roused, distorts facial muscles and stares vacantly. Pupils dilated. Shocks from head down body. Face bluish. Froths at mouth. Jaws locked. Bites tongue. Hiccough. Hungry immediately after a meal. Tearing, jerking in coccyx. Cicuta has a marked action on the skin: eruption of pustules which run together with yellowish honey-coloured scabs, especially about mouth, and matting the whiskers. Nash cured eczema capitis in a young woman with Cic. v.─whole scalp was covered as with a solid cap. Epithelioma, growths covered with honey-coloured scabs. Suited to old people and children. Teste places Cicuta in the Sulphur group. He regards it as antipsoric, and considers that as its eruptions are mostly found in the head and face, so its symptoms, when repercussion of skin eruptions occur, are chiefly felt in the brain. Bovista and Aethusa are like Cic. v. in this. Teste mentions the case of a lady of fifty-eight who ceased to menstruate at thirty in consequence of a fright, and who was "of robust constitution, irritable, nervous, and excessively fanciful and odd." She had a chronic swelling of the left ovary. Cic. v. had a remarkably quieting effect for several weeks, and during that time the swelling diminished considerably. The patient had to leave Paris, so the treatment could not be followed up. The two following cases illustrate the action of Cicuta in a striking way. The first, a case of acute meningitis, is quoted from N. A. J. H. by Amer. Hom. of January 1, 1898: Dr. H. von Musits treated J. N. R., aet. 43; male; married; a user of alcohol and tobacco; bookkeeper. After the intense summer heat, these symptoms developed: Convulsion; distortion of limbs; head turned backward. Trismus. Froth from mouth. Biting of the tongue. Oppression of breathing. Entire loss of consciousness and of power of swallowing. Convulsions, followed by complete exhaustion. Stupor. Swelling of face. Inability to move the tongue. The whole body seems to be of enormous size. The patient had three attacks of convulsions during twenty-four hours, followed by the swelling of the tongue and body. Extreme trembling of the hands. Articulation difficult. Next day profuse watery diarrhoea stools < by any noise, sudden entrance of any person into the room or loud talking. > By rest and in a dark room. Several times previously he had had symptoms of nervous exhaustion. His brother, a physician, died the previous spring from paresis in consequence of excessive use of alcohol and drugging. After two doses of Cicuta vir. 200 there were no more convulsions and the patient was perfectly cured in two weeks. There was no relapse. The next case, one of cholera, is quoted from the Indian Hom. Rev. by Amer. Hom., December 15, 1896. Banerjee records the case: "A lad, aged five years, had an attack of cholera three days before my visit. Had been treated by a homoeopath from beginning of attack. The patient was suffering from convulsions, when I first saw him on the fourth day. The convulsive fits were very severe since the third day of the attack of cholera. The symptoms were: eyes half turned, head drawn toward the left side, and the hands and feet of the same side were contracted. He was given Bell., Hyos., Cina, and Bryonia without effect. Cicuta virosa was then given. The first dose mitigated the severity of the fits, the second dose put the child to sleep, and thus he was saved from imminent death." The chief Conditions are: < From concussions, especially of brain and spine; from turning the head; from slightest touch (renews the spasms); from cold. > From warmth. Immediately after eating: bellyache and sleepiness. Immediately after commencing to eat: feels satisfied. Soon after a meal-great hunger.

Relations.─Antidoted by: Arn., Op. for massive doses, Tobacco. Antidote to: Opium. Compatible after: Lach; after Ars. and Con. (cancer of lip); Cupr. (aphasia ill chorea). Compare: Con., Aethus, Oenanth. croc.; Hyperic. (spinal concussion); Hyo. (twitchings); Helleb; Hydrocy. ac. (body thrown back, cramps in neck); Nux and Strychnia (tetanus; but with Nux there is not the utter prostration and great oppression of breathing of Cic., nor the loss of consciousness; Nux is less epileptiform and has more excitability).

SYMPTOMS.

1. Mind.─Strange desires, as desire to eat coal, etc.─Anxiety, and great tendency to be deeply affected by mournful stories.─Groans, complaints, and howling.─Discontent and ill-humour.─Suspicion and mistrust, with misanthropy.─Disposition to be frightened.─Mania, with dancing, laughing, and ridiculous gestures; with heat of the body and longing for wine.─Forgets his own name.─Dementia.─Giddiness and absence of mind.─He confounds the present with the past.─He thinks himself a young child.─Want of confidence in and dread of man, retires into solitude.

2. Head.─Vertigo, and staggering, to the extent of falling.─Giddiness, with falling forward.─Whirling vertigo on rising in the bed, with obscuration of sight.─Feeling as of intoxication.─Headache above the orbits.─Congestion of the brain with vomiting and purging.─Attacks of semi-lateral cephalalgia, with nausea.─Semi-lateral headache, as from congestion to the head; relieved when sitting erect.─Heaviness of the head with dizziness.─Compression from both sides of the head.─Stupefying pressure on the forehead.─Diminution of pain in the head on rising, and on passing flatus.─Affections of the brain, from concussion of the brain.─Headache, as from commotion of the brain.─Feeling of looseness of the brain, as if it were shaken in walking; early in the morning; disappearing when thinking of the pain intensely.─Severe headache in occiput, like a dull pressure; as with coryza.─Suppurating eruptions on the scalp, with burning pain.─Startings and spasmodic shocks in the head, with drawing backward of the head.─Staring at an object, the head inclines forward; is frequently bent back again, with twitching, trembling, and tension in the neck while moving it.─Jerking and twitching of head.

3. Eyes.─Burning pain in the eyes.─Pupils either much contracted or dilated.─Suspension of the sight, with vertigo, on walking.─Look fixed, sometimes from a sort of absence of mind.─Wavering of all objects before the sight.─Iris-like circles round candle.─Mobility of the characters on reading; the letters turn, and are surrounded with a coloured areola, the same as round the light.─Diplopia, or obscuration of the eyes, sometimes alternately with hardness of hearing.─The objects appear double and black.─Luminous and coloured circle around all objects.─Photophobia.─Nocturnal agglutination of the eyelids.─Twitching of the orbicularis muscle.

4. Ears.─Sensation of excoriation, and pain, as of contusion, behind the ears.─Purulent eruption before, behind, and on the ears.─Discharge of blood from the ears.─Hearing indistinct, sometimes alternating with obscuration of the eyes.─Detonation in r. ear when swallowing.

5. Nose.─Pains as of excoriation and of a bruise, in the (r.) ala nasi.─Scabs in the nostrils.─Yellowish discharge from the nose.─Obstruction of the nose, with abundant secretion of mucus.─Frequent sneezing, without coryza.

6. Face.─Pallor and coldness of the face, with coldness of the hands.─Cheeks pale, with eyes sunk, and surrounded by a livid circle.─Redness and swelling of the face and of the neck.─Eruption on the face, confluent, purulent, and of a deep red colour, with lenticular pimples on the forehead.─Burning scabs, with yellowish serum, on the upper lip, cheeks, and chin.─Thick, honey-coloured scurf on the chin, upper lip, and lower portion of the cheeks (milk crust), burning soreness and oozing, accompanied with swelling of the sub-maxillary glands, and insatiable appetite.─Painful ulcer on the lips.─Painful swelling of the sub-maxillary glands.─Trismus.─Disposition to grind the teeth.

8. Mouth.─Foam before and in the mouth.─Whitish pustules, painful on being touched, and ulcers on the edge of the tongue.─Swelling of the tongue; white, painful, burning ulcers on the edges of the tongue.─Speech embarrassed, with convulsive movements of the head (from before backwards) and of the arms at every word that is uttered.

9. Throat.─Throat dry.─Inability to swallow; the throat is, as it were, closed, and feels bruised when touched externally (with eructations).─Stricture of oesophagus.─Strangling on attempting to swallow.─Constriction after being hurt by swallowing a splinter of bone.

10. Appetite.─Want of appetite, caused by a sensation of dryness in the mouth.─Satiety, and aching in the stomach, after the first mouthful.─Great inclination to eat coal.─Continual hunger and appetite, even shortly after a meal.─Burning thirst, esp. during the cramps.─After a meal, colic, cuttings, pressure on the epigastrium, and drowsiness.

11. Stomach.─Violent and noisy hiccough; with crying.─Bitter and yellowish regurgitation on stooping, and followed by a burning sensation in the throat.─Nausea in the morning and during a meal, sometimes with headache.─Vomiting of blood.─Vomiting, alternately with tonic spasms in the muscles of the chest, and convulsive movements of the eyes; (the vomiting does not relieve the lock-jaw).─Burning pressure on the stomach and abdomen.─Pulsative pains in the epigastrium, which is much inflated.─Oppression and anxiety in the epigastric region.─Swelling and throbbing in the pit of the stomach.

12. Abdomen.─Colic, with convulsions (in children from worms).─Cuttings, immediately after a meal, with drowsiness.─Pinchings and borborygmi in the abdomen.─Accumulation of flatus, with anguish and ill-humour.─Distension and painfulness of the abdomen.─Pain, as from ulceration in the groins.

13. Stool and Anus.─Constipation.─Liquid and too frequent evacuations.─Itching in the rectum, with burning pain after friction.

14. Urinary Organs.─Retention of urine.─Frequent micturition; the urine is propelled with great force.─Involuntary urination as from paralysis of the bladder.

15. Male Sexual Organs.─Testes drawn up.─Sore drawing pain in urethra as far as glans, obliging one to urinate.─Stitches in fossa navicularis with nightly emissions.─Pollutions without lascivious dreams.─Strictures (spasmodic) sometimes after gonorrhoea.

16. Female Sexual Organs.─Menses delayed; spasmodic symptoms.─Tearing and drawing in coccyx during menses.─(Painful tumours of mammae.)

17. Respiratory Organs.─Hoarseness.─Difficult respiration, and want of breath.─Cough with copious expectoration.

18. Chest.─Tightness in the chest; she is scarcely able to breathe all day.─Pressure on the chest, as from a weight, with difficulty of respiration.─Sensation in chest and throat as though something the size of a fist were lodged there.─Tonic spasms in the muscles of the chest, alternately with vomiting.─Heat in the chest.─Pain, as from a bruise, and from excoriation, in the lower extremity of the sternum.─Burning pain in the nipples.─Burning in the chest.

19. Heart.─Trembling palpitation of heart.─Feels as if heart stopped beating; and sometimes faint feeling therewith.

20. Neck and Back.─Tension, as from a wound, in the muscles of the neck, on bending the head back.─Swelling of the neck.─Tonic spasms of the cervical muscles.─Neuralgia of neck with tendency to draw head backwards and dull occipital headache.─Tearing jerking in coccyx.─Coccygodynia coming on for first time during catamenia, after parturition.─Spasmodic bending backwards of the back, like an arch.─Tension above the shoulder-blades.─Pain of ulceration in the shoulder-blades.

21. Limbs.─Great weakness in arms and legs after slight exertion.─Trembling in limbs.─Spasmodic contortions and fearful jerking of limbs.

22. Upper Limbs.─Pain, as from a bruise, or of excoriation, in the joints of the shoulder, and in the forearms.─Sensation of heaviness and want of strength in the arms.─Jerking in the l. arm all day.─Startings and convulsive movements (involuntary) in the arms and in the fingers.─Deadness of the fingers.─The veins on the hands are enlarged.

23. Lower Limbs.─Involuntary starting of the lower limbs, jerks and twitches.─Painful stiffness of the legs.─Trembling of the legs.─Yielding of the feet, when walking; they turn inwards.

24. Generalities.─Pains, as from excoriation, or from a bruise, on various parts.─Trembling of the limbs.─Shocks, as from electric sparks, in the head, the arms, and the legs.─General convulsions, and fits of epilepsy, sometimes with cries, paleness or yellow colour of the face, pressing together of the jaws, numbness and distortion of the limbs, suspension of respiration, and foam at the mouth.─After the fit, the body remains insensible, and, as it were, dead.─State of insensibility and immobility, with loss of consciousness and of strength.─Attacks of catalepsy, with relaxation of all the muscles, and absence of respiration.─Tetanus.─Drawing pains in the limbs.─Affections of the r. side of the back.─Spasms during parturition; children have convulsions from worms.─Strictures after inflammation, sometimes after gonorrhoea.

25. Skin.─Burning itching over the whole body.─Purulent eruptions, with yellowish and burning scabs.─Lenticular pimples, of a deep red colour.─Long-lasting purulent eruptions, confluent, forming thick yellow crusts, with burning pain.

26. Sleep.─Sleeplessness and nocturnal sweat.─Half-sleep, with restless movements and confused dreams.─Frequent waking, with profuse sweat, which, however, alleviates.─Vivid dreams of the events of the day.─Vivid dreams which cannot be recollected.

27. Fever.─Pulse weak, slow, trembling.─Shivering, and perpetual desire to be near the fire.─The chilliness begins in the chest and extends down the legs and into the arms.─Coldness in the thighs, and in the arms, with fixedness of look.─Heat only internally.─Perspiration at night (in the morning hours), principally on the abdomen.─Worm fever with colic and convulsions.

Keynotes and Characteristics with Comparisons of Some of the Leading Remedies of the Materia Medica (Allen's Keynotes), Henry Clay Allen

Water Hemlock (Umbelliferae)

Women subject to epileptic and choreic convulsions; spasms of teething children, or from worms. Convulsions: violent, with frightful distortions of limbs and whole body; with loss of consciousness; opisthotonos; renewed from slightest touch, noise or jar. Puerperal convulsions: frequent suspension of breathing for a few moments, as if dead; upper part of the body most affected; continue after delivery. Epilepsy: with swelling of the stomach as from violent spasms of the diaphragm; screaming; red or bluish face; lockjaw, loss of consciousness and distortion of limbs; frequent during the night; recurring, first at short, then at long intervals. When reading, the letters seem to turn, go up or down or disappear (Coc.). During dentition, grinding of teeth or gums; compression of the jaws as in lockjaw. Abnormal appetite for chalk and indigestible things; for coal or charcoal; child eats them with apparent relish (Alum., Psor.). Suffer violent shocks through head, stomach, arms, legs, which cause jerkings of the parts; head hot. Injurious chronic effects from concussions of the brain and spine, especially spasms; trismus and tetanus from getting splinters into flesh (Hyper.). Pustules which run together, forming thick, yellow scabs, on head and face. Sycosis menti. Eczema: no itching; exudation forms into a hard lemon-colored crust. Brain disease from suppressed eruptions.

Relations. - Compare: Hydr. ac., Hyper., Nux, Strych.

Aggravation. - From tabacco smoke (Ign.); touch.

Leaders In Homoeopathic Therapeutics, Eugene Beauharnais Nash

Is another remedy which is characterized by its excessively violent convulsions. With this remedy the patient is thrown into all sorts of odd shapes and violent contortions, but one of the most invariable is the bending of the head, neck and spine backwards, opisthotonos. It is on this account that it was tried for cerebro-spinal meningitis. Dr. Baker, of Moravia, N. Y., cured, during an epidemic of this terrible disease, sixty cases of all degrees of malignancy without the loss of a single case. This is a wonderful record, and he thinks it is as near a specific for this disease as can be.

Cicuta is also one of our best remedies for convulsions during dentition or worms if Cina does not help. It is also a good remedy for the effects of concussion of the brain or spine, if spasms are in the train of chronic effects therefrom and Arnica does not relieve. In the affections for which Cicuta is useful the actions of the patient are as violent as are the spasms – moans and howls, makes gesticulations and odd motions, great agitation, etc.

All sorts of convulsions – tonic, clonic epileptic, cataleptic, worm, puerperal, etc.- if of a very violent character, should call to mind Cicuta.

It is also wonderful for skin affections, "pustules which run together, forming thick, yellow scabs on face, head and other parts of the body". I once had a case of eczema capitis in a young woman – it was of long standing- which covered the whole scalp, solid, like a cap. I gave her Cicuta 200th and cured her completely in a very short time. She had used many local applications without benefit.