Generalities
Trembling; twitching of various muscles. Convulsions. Constantly changing position, especially at night. Pains shift about, mostly in small spots; pains are usually sharp, boring, or shooting, extending from within outward, sometimes in the opposite direction. Hysterical spasms. General aggravation from tea, coffee, tobacco and brandy; after dinner, in the evening after lying down, and in the morning immediately after waking. Amelioration, from lying on the back, or on the painful portion; and, in general, from change of position.
Note
The general keynote of Ignatia is a condition of contrariness; thus, a frontal headache is ameliorated by stooping; fever without thirst, etc.
Mind
Extreme sensitiveness and impatience; changeable mood; becomes angry on the slightest contradiction. Frightened mood, as if he had committed a crime. Dread of trifles. Hysterical mood; laughs and cries alternately.
Clinical. Especially useful for results of depressing emotions, such as grief, love.
Head
General heaviness. Headache, consisting of a pressing pain from within outward, usually in the forehead between the eyes; (>) bending the head forward on the table (sometimes (<) stooping). Pain as from something pressing hard on the brain, especially in the morning on waking; pain constantly shifts to other parts of the body; (>) coffee. Sharp, piercing pain, as from a nail being driven in the head, or like a boring. Headaches; sometimes (<) coughing or stimulants, always by noise and by odors. The head is sometimes bent excessively backward with the pain.
Eyes
Inflammation, with biting tears and agglutination at night. A feeling as if sand were under the upper lid. Inflammation of the upper part of the eyeball, which is covered by the lid. Convulsive movements of the muscles of the eyes. Zigzag flickerings before vision. Photophobia.
Ears
Roaring and ringing in the ears. Obstinate itching in the auditory canal.
Nose
Nasal catarrh, with crawling and itching in the nostrils, which are sore, sensitive or swollen.
Face
Alternately pale and red. Convulsive twitchings of the facial muscles (especially on attempting to talk). Always dry, cracked, bleeding.
Mouth
Inner surface of the lower lip seems raw. The whole interior of the mouth red and inflamed. One bites the inside of the cheek when chewing. Taste is sour; sometimes bitter, then sour.
Throat
Inflammation, with sharp sticking pains when not swallowing; usually (>) swallowing. Constriction in the esophagus as from a plug; worse when not swallowing.
Stomach
Hunger in the evening, which prevents falling asleep. Desire for different things, but when they are brought they are not relished. Aversion to the customary smoking. Aversion to meat and brandy. Thirst with the chill, but not during the fever. Eructations of a bitter taste. Hiccough after eating, drinking or smoking. Vomiting of food at night. Stitches in the region of the stomach. A feeling of weakness and emptiness as if the stomach hung down relaxed. Gastric symptoms, usually (>) eating.
Abdomen
Fulness and distention in the hypochondria; a feeling of hardness and swelling in the region of the spleen. Twisting around the navel. Localized distention here and there of the abdomen. Pulsating pains in the lower part of the abdomen. Pressing- outward pain in the pelvic region. Extreme flatulence, with hysteria.
Rectum
Prolapsus from slight straining at stool. Cutting and sharp pains in the rectum, as from contraction and soreness, especially after stools. Itching and crawling as from thread-worms in the anus. Ineffectual urging to stool, with protrusion of the rectum, felt particularly in the middle of the abdomen. Sensation of piles in the anus, with soreness and pain; usually better when walking. Sharp sticking pain in the anus, extending deep into the rectum.
Stool
Diarrhoea; thin, involuntary.
Clinical. Diarrhoea resulting from fright or emotional excitement, especially grief. Diarrhoea, with tenesmus. Desire for stool is felt in the abdomen, but is ineffectual. Alternate diarrhoea and constipation.
Urinary Organs
Frequent micturition of large quantities of pale urine. Constant micturition after coughing. Burning and smarting in the urethra when urinating.
Sexual Organs
Itching about the genitals in the evening; (>) scratching. Menstruation too early. Menstrual flow black, offensive, clotted.
Clinical. Dysmenorrhoea, with great pressure. Ovarian pains. Uterine Haemorrhages from grief or emotional excitement. During pregnancy, nausea, weakness, sinking in the stomach, ameliorated by eating. During labor, spasms amounting almost to convulsions.
Respiratory Organs
Hacking cough in the evening after lying down, seeming to come from the larynx; finally (>) forcibly suppressing the cough by will power. Dry cough as from feathers or dust in the pit of the throat; worse the longer he coughs. Dyspnoea, as from a load on the chest; expiration easy. Dry cough in the morning on waking, and from tickling near the pit of the stomach.
Heart and Pulse
Palpitation, especially at night; sometimes with stitches in the region of the heart.
Neck and Back
Stiffness in the nape of the neck. Spasmodic bending of backward. Cutting stitches extend from the small of the back down through the legs as from a knife. Pain in the sacrum in the morning when lying on the back.
Extremities
Convulsive jerkings and twitchings, especially on falling asleep. Pain in the shoulders as after violent effort. Twitching of the deltoid muscles. Twitching of the muscles of the forearm, especially in the evening after lying down. Cutting stitches in the hips and knees; when walking he involuntarily draws the knees up too high. Stitching pain in the soles of the feet. Burning in the heels at night, though they are cold to touch.
Skin
Itching, (>) scratching, but immediately appearing in another place. Itching from becoming heated in the open air. Skin very sensitive to the air. Itching nettle-rash over the whole body.
Sleep
Excessive, spasmodic yawning, which causes pain in the jaws as if they would be dislocated. Sleep sometimes deep; stupid; sometimes so light that one hears everything; generally with great restlessness and twitching of the limbs, especially on falling asleep. Dreams of one idea persistently.
Fever
Chilliness, with thirst, without relief from external warmth. Heat largely external, with internal shivering; in the afternoon, without thirst; with dry skin, but sweat on the face; external heat and redness; without thirst and without internal heat, with intolerance of external warmth.
Born in 1837in Westminster, Vermont. . He was an orthodox doctor who converted to homeopathy
Dr. Allen compiled the Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica over the course of 10 years.
In 1881 Allen published A Critical Revision of the Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica.