Generalities
Gelsemium centres its action upon the MUSCLES and MOTOR NERVES. In muscles it causes overpowering ACHING; TIREDNESS; HEAVINESS; WEAKNESS AND SORENESS esp. felt in the muscles of the extremities. Affection of motor nerves produce all types of functional paralysis_of eyes, throat larynx, anus, bladder etc. or TREMORS or twitchings; of single muscles, face, chin, tongue etc. Circulation becomes sluggish causing passive arterial or venous congestion; with sense of fulness and heaviness in different organs; heart, liver etc. Catarrh of MUCOUS MEMBRANES cause watery discharges. General state of paresis, bodily and mental. Complete relaxation and prostration. Wants to lie down quietly; half reclined; wants to be held. Dullness; dizziness, drowsiness; eye or visual effects; tremors; and polyuria; one or two of these symptoms usually accompany most of the diseased conditions in which Gelsemium is indicated. Inco-ordination of muscles, which do not obey the will. Chorea of pregnancy. Convulsions; hysterical. Nervous affections of cigar makers. Body feels light in onanists or hysterical subjects. Influenza. Measles. Pellagra. Post diphtheritic paralysis. Paralysis agitans. Ill effects of fright, fear, depressing emotions, anger, bad news, unpleasant surprise. Masturbation, traumatic shock. Alternate pelvic organ symptoms with head symptoms. Weak, tired, delicate, timid, excitable, easy to anger persons, children and adolescents. Never well since the flu. Coma, and apoplexy; sub-arachnoid.
Mind
Confusion; acts as if crazy. Dazed. Apathetic. Desire to be quiet or left alone. Wants to throw himself from a height. DREAD; of falling, of ordeals, death, pain. Indifferent regarding his illness. Answers slowly. Cataleptic immobility, with dilated pupils, closed eyes but conscious. Child starts, grasps the nurse and screams as if afraid of falling. Discerning power slow. Effects of grief, cannot cry; broods over her loss.
Head
VERTIGO; spreads from occiput; as if drunk, with visual symptoms. Dull HEAVY or band-like headache; around the occiput; to over eyes; t tight cap; better shaking; lying with head high; after profuse urination. Swelled feeling in head. Meningitis_congestive stage; pain at the back of head and dilated pupils. Pressure pain from the vertex to shoulders. Pain in temples extending into ear, wing of nose and chin. Soreness of the scalp. Apoplexy; sub-arachnoid. Blood rushes from the occiput to the forehead. Hot, with cold limbs. Migraine beings at 2 or 3 a.m. t in the afternoon. Cannot hold erect. Fontanelle pulsate strongly.
Eyes
Pupils dilated. HEAVY DROOPING EYELIDS. Diplopia; when looking sideways, during pregnancy. Blind spells. Sight dim or swimming. Photomania. Affections of vision before migraine. Eyes; red sore aching, suffused. Detached retina; from injury, or myopia. Glaucoma. Orbital neuralgia with contraction and twitching of muscles. Amaurosis from masturbation. Hysterical amblyopia. Eye pains extend to occiput. Retinitis. Gauze before. Corrects discomfort in eyes even after accurately adjusted glasses. Vitreous hazy.
Ears
Sudden loss of hearing for a short time. Pain while swallowing. Impaired hearing from cold.
Nose
Stuffed. Coryza, with thin acrid watery discharge. Sensation as if hot water flowing from the nostrils. Summer cold. Sneezing, early morning.
Face
Hot, heavy, full, dusky red; besotted or expressionless. Chin quivers. Lower jaw dropped. Lower jaw wags sideways. Paralysis.
Mouth
Tongue; heavy, numb, partially paralysed; speech thick, as if drunk, he can hardly speak. Saliva coloured yellow as from blood. Tongue, numb, trembles while protruding. Thick yellow coating on tongue. Muscles around the mouth seem contracted.
Throat
Swallowing difficult. Paralytic dysphagia esp. worse from warm food. Swallowing causes pain into the ear. Feeling of a painful lump in throat that cannot be swallowed, in hysterical women. Pain from throat to the ear. Tonsillitis. Post-diphtheritic paralysis. Sore throat during menses. Paralytic dysphagia after cerebral apoplexy.
Stomach
Usually thirstless; but thirst with sweat. Little appetite but can take food or drink. Feeling of emptiness or weakness in the stomach, or bowels. Cramps in stomach, worse riding or sitting erect. Hiccough, worse evening.
Abdomen
Passive congestion of liver. Griping in the gall bladder. Periodical colic. Copious yellow stools. Diarrhoea; painless; in nervous persons; after sudden emotions as grief, fright, bad news anticipation of an unusual ordeal. Stools, cream coloured; tea- green. Paralysis of sphincter ani. Prolapse or rectal pains after labour. Involuntary stools.
Urinary
Profuse, clear, watery urine; with chill and trembling, better headache. Incontinence from excitement; from paralysis of sphincter. Alternate dysuria and enuresis. Flow intermittent. Retention. Constant urination; hysterical.
Male
Involuntary emissions without erections. Genitals cold, relaxed. Dragging pain in testes. Profuse warm sweat on scrotum. Sexual power exhausted, slightest caress causes an emission.
Female
Uterus heavy sore; feels as if squeezed (anteflexion). Dysmenorrhoea; with scanty flow; pains extend to back and hips. Labour pains go up; backward or down the thighs. Deep yellow leucorrhoea; with aching across lower part of the back. Os rigid. False labour pains. Threatened abortion from sudden depressing emotions. As of a wave from uterus to throat, with choking feeling,_impedes labour. Nervous chills_first stage of labour. Coition difficult from contraction of vaginal muscles. Epileptiform convulsions at menstrual period or from suppressed menses. Twitching of muscles of the whole body with drowsiness, before puerperal convulsions. Severe after pains.
Respiratory
Hoarseness; during menses; in hysteria or after depressing emotions. Tiresome, slow breathing. As of a lump behind the chest. Spasms of glottis; long crowing inspiration, sudden and forcible expiration. Dry cough, with sore chest and fluent coryza. Burning in larynx and chest, when coughing.
Heart
Sore. Feeling as if heart would stop beating, if she did not move about. Pulse slow, soft, weak, full and flowing. Weak slow pulse; of old age. Pain in heart on rising from seat.
Neck and Back
Neck feels bruised, unable to hold the head. Dull pain up and down in spine; better walking; with occipital pains. Pains under scapula.
Extremities
Hard aching in humerus (right). Hands; hot dry numb esp. palms. Wants hands in cool water. Cramps in muscles of the forearm. Professional neurosis. Writer’s cramp. Heavy lower limbs. Excessive trembling and weakness of limbs. Knees weak worse descending; tottering gait; cannot direct his legs. Coldness of wrists and hands. Feeling of partial luxation of patella when walking.
Sleep
DROWSINESS. Starts on falling to sleep. Heavy stupid sleep. Sleepiness of students. Sleeplessness from mental excitement; thinking or tobacco.
Fever
Chill with aching and languor; mixed with heat or alternating with heat; chill up and down back. Cold hands and feet. Heat_with drowsiness, THIRST ABSENT; with trembling. Cold sweat. Bilious remittent; malarial; typhoid; cerebro-spinal fevers. Measles. Nervous, shuddering, chill; preceded by visual disturbances.
Skin
Hot dry; moist; yellow.
Better
Profuse urination; sweating. Shaking. Alcoholic drinks. Mental efforts. Bending forwards. Continued motion. Afternoon. Reclining, with head held high.
Worse
EMOTIONS. DREAD Shocks. Ordeals. Motion. Surprise. Weather HUMID; SPRING; foggy. Heat of sun; summer. Periodically. Tobacco. Thunderstorms. Cold_damp weather. Dentition. When thinking of his ailments.
Complementary
Arg-n; Sepia
He was convinced about Homoeopathy while going through Sir William Osler's writings on 'History of Medicine' so switched over to an entirely Homoeopathic Practice in 1932. He also started working on Homoeopathic literature along with his Practice.
He has contributed immensely to homoeopathic literature. He was an ardent follower of Dr Boger. His Repertory is based on Boger's ''A Synoptic key to Materia Medica'.