In most cases the spasms attacked the patient without previous unpleasant symptoms, and if no remission followed the patient died on the third day. The spasms changed often from clonic to tonic, even to tetanus and trismus. The spasms generally occurred in the forenoon, lasted a longer or shorter time, were always followed by great weakness, sometimes by complete stiffness of the neck; the patient was relieved by rubbing and stretching the limbs; every emotional excitement caused a new attack. The spasms occurred two or three times a day; during the interval great weakness, contractions of the lower extremities, so that at times the patient could walk only on the toes, numbness of the limbs, especially of the fingers and toes. The spasms lasted usually two to four hours, sometimes twenty-four hours, and ended with profuse perspiration. Sudden vertigo and blindness; the patients were deprived wholly or in part of their senses, fell to the ground, and suffered the most violent contractions of the joints, twitching of the limbs, trembling, and violent ineffectual efforts to vomit; the elbows were pressed against the chest, the wrists flexed, the fingers doubled into the hands, the heels drawn upward toward the tendo Achillis, the toes bent under the sole of the foot, and frequently two strong men could not stretch out the limbs. After the spasms there were often distortion of the limbs, dilated pupils, loss of consciousness, delirium, weakness of mind or a certain insensibility, in which she seemed to be lost, staring at any one who spoke to her and answering nothing, as if she did not understand; others seemed paralyzed, were unable to stand or walk. Violent trembling form every effort, even on stretching out the tongue. General trembling.
Trembling, weakness, and paralyzed, benumbed sensation.
Trembling. Irregular movements of the whole body, especially of the limbs. Unsteadiness of the whole body. Painful stretching.
Transient twitching. Violent jerking preceded the sensation of crawling, and was associated with most violent pains; these spasms were accompanied by constant trembling of all the muscles, and the spasms at first clonic became after a time tonic, and developed into a truly tetanic character. Numerous jerking movements of the voluntary muscles. Jerkings like electric shocks, almost as in tetanus. Jerking and spasms. Jerkings.
Slight jerking and visible movements under the skin. Complete paralysis. Paralysis, so that the patient could no longer walk, with weakness in the small of the back and trembling of the feet.
Loss of sensation and paralysis of the parts previously affected by spasms. Muscular inertia so great that he could scarcely move the fingers, and had great difficulty in either writing or walking (after one hour). Paralytic symptoms. Lost all voluntary motion, and even the power of utterance. The vital forces were gradually exhausted and paralysis occurred; the skin of the affected parts began to desquamate; erysipelatous vesicles appeared over the whole body; the fingers and toes became gangrenous, with separation of the soft parts; the stools were thin, involuntary, followed by apoplexy and death. Restlessness (sixth day). Great restlessness. Restlessness, with frequent wailing or screaming cries. Extreme debility. Extreme debility, numbness (occasionally of complete insensibility of the extremities). Feeling of complete prostration and vertigo on walking across the room. Great depressing of strength and temperature of the body. Great prostration, accompanied with a slow feeble pulse (second and third days). Great prostration (second, fourth and seventh days). Prostration; (after one hour); (eighth day). Faintness. Exhaustion. Great exhaustion, having no power to move the lower extremities, and but very little control over the upper. Great exhaustion after sleep. Long-continued indolence, with stupefaction, coldness, and insensibility of the limbs, followed by gangrene. Languor during the whole day (second day). Great languor and lassitude (after half an hour). Extreme languor. General languor and lassitude. General lassitude (after one hour). Great weakness. Weakness. Weakness and dizziness (after two hours). Very weak; cannot move herself in bed (third day). Loss of strength. Loss of strength, caused by exhausting diarrhoeas. Weariness. Rapid sinking of strength. In-disposition to move or speak; becomes very much exhausted when doing either (eleventh day). Great sensitiveness to cold. The parts affected by spasms became somewhat insensible. After the spasms ceased, loss of sensation, the fingers and hands became numb and the lips pale; the spasms mostly returned on the ninth day. Rigidity, loss of all sensation, and most violent pains, aggravated by warm air or by the warmth of the bed, somewhat relieved in the cold, but in its place there was a sensation of most intolerable cold in all the limbs and over the whole body. General discomfort; (after two hours); (after three-quarters of an hour). General heaviness.
General soreness all over the body; could not lie with ease in any position, and could not be moved without taking hold of her hands (second day); soreness of body not diminished (third day).
Tetanic cramps for several days, and considerable stiffness of the limbs remained, so that she frequently fell in walking.
Tetanic cramps. Sudden intense pain, so that he cried aloud and ran about as if mad. Gnawing-boring pains in the flesh, worse at night, permitting no sleep. Tearing pains and intolerable crawling sensation in the limbs, pain;in the head and back, anxiety, and some insensibility in the arms and feet. Wandering pains over the whole body, especially in the back and small of the back. Obstinate periodical pains. Pains recurring every ten or twenty minutes, with slow contraction of the limbs. Pains causing screams. Transient sticking tearing moving from place to place, at times with, at times without cramps. Sensation of burning, as if sparks of fire were falling upon different parts.
Drawing and crawling, changing sometimes, rapidly, sometimes slowly, into violent pains and spasms; the limbs were flexed and the skin covered with sweat. Twitching tremulous sensation in single muscular fibres and in whole muscles, in the face and hands. On awaking, in the morning, she had a peculiar tingling sensation all over the body, sometimes merely a slight creeping feel, and at others the symptoms increased even to painfulness.
Heat applied to any part of the body aggravated his pains; his extreme aversion to warmth was very remarkable, and if on any cold day any additional covering was laid upon him while sleeping, he awakened almost instantly and threw it off; he was generally found in the coldest weather lying in bed with only an old cloak thrown over him. The symptoms increased for four days.
All the symptoms are aggravated on the appearance of the menses.
Sleep
Drowsiness and inclination to sopor (fourth day). Drowsiness (sixth, eighth and ninth days). Strong desire to sleep (after one hour); the sleep the following night was disturbed by anxious dreams. Great sleepiness. Sleepiness. Great inclination to sleep.
Inclination to sopor (first day). Stupefied slumber, for days.
Deep and long-continued sleep. Almost complete sleep (in one hour). Somnolency. Slept an hour and a half in the night, the first she had enjoyed during her illness (second night). Sleep restless, interrupted by anxious dreams. Passed a restless, feverish, and sleepless night, in a state of great nervous agitation. Sleep very restless. Sleep restless, with heavy dreams. Little sleep (first night). Sudden waking from sleep, with a wild staring look (tenth day). Sudden waking from sleep and looking wild, as if frightened, followed by palpitation of the heart (ninth day). Entire absence of sleep (second and third days).
Fever
Chilliness. Extremely violent chill, followed by burning heat, especially affecting internal parts, and associated with violent anxiety, so that many lose their reason, with violent, almost unquenchable thirst. Violent chill, followed by violent burning heat, with unquenchable thirst.` A chill came on, followed immediately by nausea, sharp pain in the head, with dizziness and partial blindness. Rigors, with cutis anserina. Rigors, followed by heat and violent thirst (first day). Shaking chill. Creeping chill over the extremities (after one hour); chilliness over the whole body (after three hours). General sensation of coldness in different parts of the body, as from cold water or from snow.
Sensation of cold (after one hour). Coldness of the surface of the body, and particularly the extremities. Diminished temperature of the body. Cold skin; (after three-quarters of an hour). Skin cold, particularly that of the face. Temperature of skin low, with free perspiration (after two hours). Skin cool.
Shivering. Sudden shuddering. Face cold and pale. Shivering in the limbs (after one hour). Temperature beneath tongue 98 0 Fahr.
Sensation of great coldness over the back and abdomen. Heat.
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.