The cough of chamomilla is mainly of a sympathetic kind- associated with indigestion, dentition, earache, pyrexia or an ordinary “cold” It is a hard, dry cough, is worse at night and during sleep, it does not always waken the patient if a child. The nocturnal aggravation is chiefly before midnight, and 9 p.m. is a favourite hour; an attack may be brought on by anger. If associated with fever, that may be worse at nine in the morning.
Headaches have similar modalities, worse from 9 to 12 p.m., in nervous, sensitive people; the pain, often one-sided, is of a throbbing or bursting character and is said to be worse when thinking about it, i.e., is relieved by some distracting occupation. While toothache and earache are liable to be worse from heat, headache is relieved by it. The scalp often perspirates in chamomilla headaches-warm sweat.
Digestive symptoms.- Colicky, griping pains, coming in spells, relieved by heat, with desire for stool and accompanied by evacuating of foetid flatus (or “like rotten eggs”) which does not always relieve, are typical of this drug. Thirst is likely to be conspicuous in many of these cases. Appetite is poor, but sometimes on eating it returns. Eating may produce nausea, distension, flatulent colic, heat and sweat on the face, and toothache. Numbness is a feature not seldom present with the rheumatic or neuralgia pains of chamomilla: it causes a paralysed, restless feeling, which is relieved by walking about.
Chamomilla antidotes ailments resulting from excessive coffee drinking, and vomiting coming on as an after effect of taking morphia.
LEADING INDICATIONS.
Where local lesions and indications are lacking, some of the following general symptoms must be present to warrant the prescription of chamomilla.
(1) Mind and Disposition.-The patient is oversensitive to pains. They seem intolerable, and make the sufferer frantic, so that he may lose control of himself. He is of a contrary disposition and is upset by every small opposition: either he becomes morose and silent, or (more often) he is irritable, rude and snappish; children do not know what they want, are fretful and petulant, scream and refuse what they asked for, strike their attendants, etc. “Bad temper” and its effects may indicate chamomilla.
(2) The patient is usually of the chilly type, cold himself, sensitive to cold air and strong winds, which annoy him and aggravate his condition.
(3) Pains.-Notable local exceptions exist to the aggravation from cold-viz., toothache, earache, facial and other neuralgias and rheumatic pains are worse from warm applications and in a warm room. Headache, however, and usually abdominal pains (colic) are relieved by warmth. The pains are paroxysmal, and worse from 9 p.m. to midnight.
(4) Restlessness is notable in cases of pain and fever. A child is soothed by being carried about, but moans and whines even when quiet, or it has fits of screaming; an adult tosses about or is driven from bed and must walk about his room, though this does not necessarily relieve his pain.
(5) Outbursts of anger, or the effort to restrain them, bring on various ailments; coffee drinking may do the same or may aggravate complaints present.
(6) Reflexes are too active, and cough, convulsions, pains, &c., are readily excited.
(7) Sleep is disturbed by pain or restlessness; patient is sleepy, but cannot sleep. Morning, starting and twitching, and talking during sleep.
(8) Local flushings occur, such as heat and redness of one cheek, the other pale or cold. (The red cheek must not be a temporary flush from lying on that side.) Hot, burning feet (soles) make the patient put his feet out of bed (sulph., puls.).
(9) Numbness and paralysed feeling with pains, or in alternation with them (platinum, cocculus).
(10) Named complaints for which the drug is useful, provided the modalities and temperament are amongst the above-named indications: (a) Dentition; (b) toothache and rheumatic and neuralgic pains: (c) diarrhoea, especially of infants; (d) dysmenorrhoea and menorrhagia; (e) excessive and irregular labour-pains, rigid os uteri, and “after-pains”; (f) intestinal colic (infants); (g)cough, chiefly reflex; (h) earache and headache; (i) colic and gastralgia; (j) mammary pains and tenderness (mother or child).
(11) Type of patient most amenable to chamomilla- hyperaesthetic, excitable persons, with light complexion and hair. Infants specially susceptible.
AGGRAVATIONS:
Cold, damp and windy weather, warmth (facial neuralgia, toothache), 9-12 p.m., before menses (irritable temper), anger, coffee, eructations (stomach pain).
AMELIORATIONS:
Walking (headache and rheumatic pains), being carried about, warmth (headache), warm wet weather, warmth (general), cold water in mouth (toothache).
Edwin Awdas Neatby founded the Missionary School of Homeopathy and the London Homeopathic Hospital in 1903, and run by the British Homeopathic Association. He died in East Grinstead, Sussex, on the 1st December 1933. Edwin Awdas Neatby wrote The place of operation in the treatment of uterine fibroids, Modern developments in medicine, Pleural effusions in children, Manual of Homoeo Therapeutics,