Aggravations. Morning, hot weather, or cool nights and hot days, eating, drinking, standing, walking, and during the autumn.
Ameliorations. Cold bathing of parts affected; passing of stool or flatus.
APOCYNUM CANNABINUM
dysmenorrhoea with general dropsy; flows begins with drowsiness and headache; great irritability of the stomach with vomiting; flow expelled with large clots, with bloating of the abdomen and general anasarca; general or local dropsy with profuse urination; oedema of the feet.
ARGENTUM NITRICUM
Menses too profuse and usually too long lasting; mental symptoms predominate; all mental symptoms aggravated during menses. Patient complains of palpitation of the heart; pulsation all over the body (Actea). Desire for open air (Pulsatilla); trembling all over the body; great fear when alone, with nervous trembling and palpitation of the heart; patient feels anxious; sensation of trembling internally; wants to eat or drink or do all things in a hurry, tremulous weakness with great general debility; much flatulence with rumbling of gas in the abdomen; great fear at night when she awakes; labor-like pains in abdomen at beginning of flow. Metrorrhagia at change of life or in young widows and those who have not borne children. She is always in a hurry, for time passes too slowly for her; great desire for sweets (Sulphur); stomach feels full of gas as if it would burst; great debility and weariness of the lower extremities.
Case. Profuse flow of menses, with cutting pains in small of back and groins; great nervous excitement and trembling all over the body; fears she will lose her mind; is afraid to be alone; time passes too slowly; is in a hurry to do everything; can’t wait for the nurse to bring her anything; retroversion of the uterus; dizzy, confused; head feels enlarged; much nervous sneezing and belching of gas; gas forms faster than she can belch it. (Asafoetida).
ANGUSTURA
Menses delayed, menses appeared with pressure in the right ovary and a sensation of swelling in the uterus; complains of lame feeling in sacrum; difficult to stoop down; all symptoms better when the flow appears, yellowish or milky-white leucorrhoea before menses appear (Kali carb.). Large pustules on labia; itching and tickling sensation on labia before menses, itching and swelling of the genitals, compelling her to scratch, better by cold bathing. This remedy was proven by Hahnemann, yet it is seldom used in practice.
Case. Weariness in lower limbs before the appearance of the flow; lame feeling in the sacrum; stiffness after sitting, like rhus tox. Milky leucorrhoea before menses, better by cold bathing; uterus feels swollen.
Aggravations. Before menses, and at 3 P.M. Leucorrhoea relieved by cold bathing (Alumina). Given some times after Pulsatilla
BARYTA CARBONICA
Menses scanty, too short, lasts but a day; preceded often by a toothache, and a pinching colic. Flow often resembles bloody mucus; the principle pain is described as a bruised pain in the back; sensation of weight over the public arch; heaviness in feet and lower extremities.
Case. Ella W., age 17, stout, thick-set, scrofulous; cervical glands enlarged and hard; always chilly; never warm enough; weak physically, although she appears very strong; very offensive foot sweat, only palliated by Psorinum; profuse leucorrhoea before menses, bloody mucus; great weariness of mind and body during the flow, with constant desire to lie down; toothache before and during menses; suitable to thick set dwarfish women.
BELLADONNA
Most Belladonna patients are pseudo-psoric or have a tubercular taint; menses are too soon and copious, or tardy and scanty; often indicated in congestive dysmenorrhoea in what appears to be typical Calcarea carb. patients. Flow is bright red, hot, with congestion to head; menses with acute febrile attacks and congestion; rush of blood to face and head. Menses begin often with high fever, congestive headaches, bearing down pains, pressing down in abdomen; very suitable to young, plethoric subjects. Pains are cutting, colicky, bearing and pressing down- ward in pelvis; pains paroxysmal, spasmodic, and severely acute. Pressing in genitals as if everything would be pressed out (Sepia); worse sitting, and better standing or walking; pains come and go quickly; back aches as if it would break, pains go straight through from front to back, reverse to Sabina (Sepia, Platina, Berberis, pains go around).
Concomitants, mental symptoms; nervous, anxious; tries to escape, laughs, cries, sings, tears clothing, bites, strikes; over-excitability of all her senses; starting as if frightened; face red, flushed, hot, glowing; just as she drops off to sleep starts up with a jerk (Ignatia), frightened, delirious, sings, shouts, talks incessantly in delirium of fever; drowsy, sleepy stupid in fever with twitchings of muscles and startings in sleep; pupils dilated, eyes glassy, sparkling bright; face red, hot; great dryness of mouth, desire for frequent sips of water during fever, often a dry spasmodic cough.
Case 1. Jessie L., age 15, inclined to be fleshy, had a severe chill followed by high fever and a severe congestive headache; face flushed, red, glowing, carotid throbbing, pulse very rapid, skin is dry and hot.
Case 2. Mary B., age 20, took cold from sitting in a cold schoolroom during menstrual period. She had a severe chill, accompanied with severe backache and suppression of flow followed with high fever and active delirium.
BORAX
This is a pseudo-psoric and anti-psoric remedy; menstruation premature and profuse; suppression with great nervousness. Patient is very anxious and nervous about trifling things; indescribable feeling within that is greatly aggravated by a downward motion, as descending an elevation, a stair or in an elevator; will walk down many flights of stairs rather than go in an elevator; even rocking produces a nervous excitable state (Nat. carb.). It has cured membranous dysmenorrhoea; sometimes it has violent labor-like pains during the flow. Pain extends sometimes from stomach to small of back or it has stitching pains in thighs. Pains keep up until membrane is expelled, which is often long after flow begins.
Concomitants : During menses, lassitude; throbbing in head and rushing in ears; very nervous, starts at least noise; dreads downward motion; menses followed by leucorrhoea like white of egg, or albuminous, starchy leucorrhoea. Leucorrhoea often midway between the menstrual periods, or about the time of ovulation. Sterility from leucorrhoea. Borax has as profound an action upon the female genital organs as Pulsatilla. It is a much neglected remedy, however, and is indicated in lax constitutions and sensitive nervous women.
Aggravations : Downward motion, rocking, sudden noises, cold damp weather, at menstruation.
Ameliorations : Pressure, holding the painful part.
Case : Mary L., age 30, has suffered with painful menstruation all during her menstrual nisus; passes shreds of membrane every other menstrual period, suffers great pain; always has a sore mouth during and before flow begins; extremely nervous during that time. I had given this patient a number of remedies with but little relief; finally, during one of her visits at my office, she spoke of dreading to go down the elevator unless some one held her steady, an indescribable feeling that came over her so that she could not enter the elevator car alone. Borax 1m cured in a few months.
BOVISTA
Syco-psoric as well as pseudo-psoric. Menstruation too often; every two weeks in some cases; too scanty; flow is generally clotted, dark, (small clots), like Crocus; in a few cases the flow is delayed and profuse, but it is usually too frequent, dark and clotted, and accompanied with much pain. It is one of those remedies that has a choleraic form of dysmenorrhoea (Veratrum alb., Cuprum, ars.). The flow often begins with diarrhoea, bearing down towards the genitals; hemorrhages or menstrual flow< at night or in the early morning.
Concomitants : Lassitude during flow; soreness in the mons veneris; diarrhoea, headache, sad, despondent, gloomy, sensitive, moody, and easily vexed. Nausea, vomiting with urging towards the genitals, much urging and tenesmus while moving; diarrhoea when flow begins; relieved when flow is well established. “Heart feels enormously enlarged with oppression of chest and palpitation after a meal or during menstruations.” (Farrington) (Croc., Verat, Trill, Secale, Ustil, all of which have uterine engorgement).
Case : Lila B., age 19, brunette, vivacious, lively, active, pleasant and agreeable disposition; unmarried; is perfectly well during the mouth, but suffers much during the menstrual flow; flow is dark, clotted, worse in the early morning; diarrhoea before the flow or as long as the uterine pains continue. Bovista c. m. a few doses given during the flow for four or five months produced a complete cure.
BERBERIS VULGARIS
Syco-psoric; menses scanty, intermittent, of too short duration, accompanied with labor-like pains beginning in lower uterine region; much chilliness; pain in the limbs and in region of the kidneys; severe pains in the sacrum and loins; menstrual flow often of a greyish color, bloody or slimy mucus. After the flow, great weariness; vagina hot, sensitive, dry; soreness of the labia, vagina often sore and painful. Leucorrhoea albuminous.
J.H. Allen was a student of H.C. Allen. He was the president of the IHA in 1900. Dr. Allen taught at the Hering Medical College in Chicago. Dr. Allen died August 1, 1925
Books by John Henry Allen:
Diseases and Therapeutics of the Skin 1902
The Chronic Miasms: Psora and Pseudo Psora 1908
The Chronic Miasms: Sycosis 1908