DULCAMARA
We have in Dulcamara, a remedy closely related to all the stages of sycotic disease from the first symptom of it, until it has demonstrated upon the organism, every expression of its progressive proving. It is more especially adapted to the second and third stages, or the chronic diseases of mucous membranes and its rheumatic element; often no more perfect picture of a sycotically diseased mucous membrane can be found than under this remedy. No other remedy except perhaps Rhus tox, is more sensitive to climatic or barometric changes than the bittersweet. It has the sycotic stools and catarrhal condition of the bowels so marked in children in their autumnal dysenteries, induced by chilling of the solar plexus when the nights are cold, following hot days during the summer or fall months. In this it like Arsenicum, Aloes, Croton tig., Chamomilla, and others. It touches more specifically the rheumatic affections that appear in the third stages of Sycosis and that are brought on by getting wet, or due to suppressed perspiration, induced by changing from a high to a low temperature, or from cold to hot weather. It is the great autumnal remedy for sycotic patients.
Mental Symptoms. Forgets words or cannot find the right word (Medorrhinum), cannot concentrate his thoughts, therefore there is much confusion in his mind. He is restless, impatient, easily angered, quarrelsome, and anxious about his future. All these symptoms are greatly aggravated by lowering barometer or change of weather. Psorinum is always cold, Mercury is better by cold, and Medorrhinum worse in cold or wet weather; dampness and falling barometer greatly aggravate all sycotic patients.
Urinary Organs. Kidney difficulties induced by Sycosis, exposure to cold and dampness; Bright’s disease also from these causes, especially in the acute stages of the disease, or Bright’s disease following scarlet or malarial fevers; swelling of the lower extremities with a waxy appearance of the skin like Apis.
Urination. Constant desire to urinate felt deep in abdomen. This constant urging often comes from getting wet or taking cold or when the body becomes chilled. Better on becoming warm.
Gonorrhoeal. Burning in the meatus while urinating. Painful pressure in bladder; urine scanty, offensive, turbid, with much mucus. Catarrh of bladder from taking cold; all the bladder symptoms are worse in cold, damp weather; when body becomes chilled, has urging and frequent desire to urinate.
Male Sexual Organs. Gonorrhoeal discharges, mucopus, yellowish- white, copious, offensive, catarrhal. Sometimes during the acute stage the discharge is bloody. `Herpes preputialis painful, red or pale red, round, small and scaly. Urticaria often accompanies the disease in which Dulcamara is indicated. It appears in large red or white wheals which burn and itch; they are worse from chilling the body or from a cold in any form. Often these patients have rheumatism alternating with diarrhoeas or sore and inflamed eyes. All the constitutional symptoms are worse in cold or damp weather. Colds, coryza, sore and inflamed eyelids, rheumatism, and diarrhoeas follow taking cold or dampness.
Aggravations. Evening, wet, cold and damp weather.
Ameliorations. Warmth, dry air, dry weather and motion.
Concomitants. Much restlessness and very impatient, easily angered and desires to scold during menses. Cannot find the right word in talking. Sleep uneasy and full of dreams. The urine, during menses is often fetid and turbid with constant desire to urinate.
Rheumatism. The proving of his great anti-sycotic remedy has shown forth the rheumatic element very clearly. It is full of pains and aches. The joints become suddenly inflamed red, sore, swollen and sensitive to touch. They come on from suppression of the perspiration or from working in water, getting wet and the pains are bettered by changing positions like Rhus tox.
EUPHRASIA
This is a very valuable remedy in the hay-fever expressions of Sycosis. It also palliates or relieves greatly, those tubercular expressions of hay-fever that come on about August the 10th or from the 10th to the 20th. These syco-tubercular expressions of hay-fever have a marked periodicity about them. I have frequently noticed that they would return annually on the very same day. On closely examining the tubercular make-up of the patient, you will readily see that there is blended in a sycotic element. Now if you will closely question these patients, you will find that in their youth they had some experiences with gonorrhoea, that was treated in the old orthodox way. If the patient is a child, you will find other marks of heredity. I now recall the case of a young school girl that I treated during the hay-fever period for three years, when she no longer had any symptoms. Of course, she had still many symptoms of Sycosis, but the hay-fever outbursts were manifest for two years symptoms of this remedy, but the third year the received Pulsatilla, which finished the cure. One dose of Euphrasia would usually relieve her when given in the c.m. potency.
The symptoms of Euphrasia are more particularly those of the head, eye, and nose, although it has in some cases marked laryngeal symptoms, and meets those cases described in the beginning of this work, where it was claimed that the colds of Sycosis began in the nose with a fluent mucous discharge, lasting a few days and followed by a laryngeal cough and sometimes asthmatic symptoms. Euphrasia follows this law, often to the let ter. First, headaches, blurring of the vision, stitching pains in the head, photophobia, then a profuse watery discharge from the nose and eyes, with sneezing, smarting and burning. The discharge is watery and acrid, causing burning of the septum of the nose, with a sensation as of dust or sand in the eyes, much itching with desire to rub them.
All the mucous surfaces about the throat, nose and eyes are involved; we have a copious lachrymation and coryza. Sometimes the discharges from the nose is bland, however, in the majority of cases the disease extends to the larynx and is followed with a sever cough and sometimes accomplished with asthma. The symptoms of this remedy are clear cut, fluent coryza, chilliness and fever, often alternating with photophobia, burning, but tears sneezing, headaches; sometimes a rash similar to measles will break out during an attack. The patients always complain of strange odors, as of pus or sweet odors, or odors which they cannot describe.
Aggravations. Morning, open air, cool air, the least draft, or moving about.
Amelioration. Warmth, being in the house, lying down, or keeping still.
FLUORIC ACID
Urinary Organs. Urine scanty, pungent, fetid often alkaline. Burning before and after urinating, with aching in the bladder. Urging, frequent and ineffectual; pain on the vertex after ineffectual efforts to urinate.
Male Sexual Organs. Satyriasis, strong sexual desire at night; violent desire to cohabit. Gonorrhoeal in old men with increased sexual desire, or sudden loss of sexual power. Penis curved, greatly swollen, with fullness a and pain in the spermatic cords. Chronic gonorrhoea, when only a single yellow drop appears in the morning (like Sepia).
Female Sexual Organs. Indicated in old women in deep seated chronic cases. Mind buoyant, self satisfied, fears nothing. Menses too soon, copious, thick, coagulated. Leucorrhoeal yellowish, corrosive.
General. Syphilis and Sycosis combined, chronic cases when Silica fails (Pruritis ani. Sycosis of the nose); passage always obstructed. Posterior nose feels expanded. Chronic, fluent, watery coryza. Chronic sycotic rhinitis. Mental symptoms; aversion to one’s own family, forgetful, loss of memory, feeling as if something dreadful would happen, dullness in the forehead.
GELSEMIUM
This remedy may be considered the Aconite of gonorrhoea. It is often called for in the acute or early state of the disease, especially where there is much pain or inflammation accompanied by fever. The fever comes on slowly and is accompanied with a slow, soft pulse, general malaise, muscular prostration, chilliness, no thirst, muscular soreness, general aching and drowsiness; pain at base of brain, and throughout the body. The aching and pains may be absent in gonorrhoea, but the febrile state of this remedy is often met with. It frequently aborts a case, if given early enough. It loses its effects in a few days, however, and has to be followed by some other remedy.
Urinary Organs. Pain, heat, redness and burning at the meatus; frequent urging with scanty omission of urine, and with more or less tenderness of the bladder. Other symptoms are trembling of the hands, despondency, muscular prostration with a dragging sensation in the testicles. Gonorrhoeal discharge whitish, mucous, scanty in the febrile, stage; copious after fever subsides. Urination often relieves the headache. Similar to Nux. vom. in its mucous discharge.
Case 1. Arthur B., 20, light complexion, was taken suddenly ill, without any apparent cause; temperature 103; face flushed slightly; generally prostrated with some aching in the extremities, and a dull headache at the base of the brain; he is irritable when spoken to, drowsy, wants to sleep; much burning at the meatus when urinating, which comes on about every hour. Acute symptoms were all relieved by this remedy. I learned within a day or so that he had taken a medicated injection which caused the discharge to cease. There was a copious mucous flow a few hours after taking the remedy.
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