BRYONIA


BRYONIA symptoms of the homeopathy remedy from Homeopathic Drug Pictures by M.L. Tyler. What are the symptoms of BRYONIA? Keynote indications and personality traits of BRYONIA…


Introduction

      Bryonia is one of the priceless remedies of Homoeopathy, especially useful in acute diseases. Bryonia is also a remedy of very definite symptoms that can hardly be missed, therefore it is one of the easiest to prescribe with assurance. It was one of Hahnemann’s earliest provings-one of those “without which”, as Dudgeons says, “we might indeed shut up shop”

Hence Bryonia finds its way into every handbook of Homoeopathy, and into every domestic medicine chest. But-it behaves us to know when and how to use it, if we want to see the miracle work.

Guernsey says, of Bryonia, “The great characteristic of this drug is aggravation produced by any motion. The patient cannot bear a disturbance of any kind, either mental or physical. Can’t sit up in bed, as it makes the patient so sick and faint, even when rising to take a drink of water. Moving from one side of the bed to the other is not so bad, but the patient cannot sit up.”

Let us follow this out into the provings. This Worse from motion, with Bryonia, is such a constant symptom with sufferings in all parts of the body, as to have become a General.

Motion aggravates the vertigo and headache; the fullness in the forehead; (worse even from moving the eyes!) the severe pulsating pains in head; the shooting pains in head and eyes; the expanding headaches, etc.; the pains everywhere.

Worse for movement are: the vomiting; the fullness and pressure in stomach; the cutting and constricting pains in stomach; the burning and stitching in stomach; the excessive pain in stomach; the griping and cutting in intestines; the colic; the sticking and shooting pains in abdomen; the involuntary passing of urine; the after-pains; the pains of an inflamed breast.

Worse from motion are: the pains in lumbar region, the stiffness, tearing, tenderness there; the pains of sprained wrist, the pain and swelling of finger joints; the sticking pains there; the sciatic pains; the stiffness and stitches in knees; the pains in calf-in ankle-in joints; the sweats-the aching-the faintness-the chills; the soreness in periosteum, ligaments, etc., etc.

So we can add to the worse for movement of the everywhere- present Bryonia pains, their character-STITCHING AND STICKING.

Stitchings, deep in brain: in head: in eyes: deep in ear: in teeth: in throat: in stomach: in abdomen: in liver: in spleen: in chest: in intercostal spaces and sternum: in glands: in heart-region: between shoulder-blades, and under the left, extending to heart: in arms, elbow, wrist, fingers, knees, soles, big toe: in ALL SEROUS MEMBRANES, pericardium, pleura, meninges, linings of joints. And all these are also worse from motion.

And now, to complete the Bryonia picture, we must add to the WORSE FROM MOTION, and the characteristic STICKING PAINS, the RELIEF FROM PRESSURE. This is, of course, in part at least, a corollary of the worse from motion: because pressure tends to keep the suffering parts still.

And here Bryonia differs fundamentally from Belladonna (both inflammatory drugs) in regard to causation and to cure. Belladonna is intolerant of the slightest pressure, or increase of pressure. The throbbing pains of Belladonna-in a “felon”, for instance, are intensified with even the extra pressure of blood in the part from every heart-beat. And yet, when a student, I watched a fellow-student, a senior, with horror, as she applied a fomentation to a whitlow in the form of hot hard pad of wool, bandaged tightly on to one side of the finger! Students and doctors do the best work where they have themselves experienced the agonies they are treating. “Fancy bandaging” is supreme cruelty to a Belladonna patient; for it is difficult to do a really pretty piece of bandaging otherwise than firmly. During the war I used to be told that, at La Panne, the wounded dreaded being bandaged by a certain Queen who helped to nurse them: she bandaged too tightly.

A Belladonna pneumonia will never be found lying on the “sore side”. A Bryonia pneumonia will lie on the inflamed side, to keep it still, or on the back-never on the good side; for that would keep the useful side compressed and still, and inflict more active movements on the painful side of the chest.

Another leading characteristic of Bryonia is DRYNESS. The dry stage of pleurisy, where the inflamed surfaces rubbing together with every breath, produce the stitching pains. Dryness of inflamed serous membranes-pericardium-pleura-meninges of brain- linings of joints. Dryness also of lips, of tongue; of intestines, causing constipation with dry, hard, dark stools. Painful, dry, spasmodic cough, with pains as if the head would fly to pieces; with bursting pains in head and chest, needing support and pressure to limit their intensity.

Kali carb. has also these severe sticking pains in chest with pneumonia and pleurisy; but the pains of Bryonia are only with movement-with respiration; whereas those of Kali carb. come independently of respiration.

One remembers a striking Kali carb. case-a severe case of right- sided pleuro-pneumonia in December 1917, when pneumonias were common and severe.

Man, 65. Had been taken suddenly ill at his work. Brought into our Hospital on the fourth day of illness: had been unable to rest or to sleep for these three nights because of the pain.

On admission, temp. 104, respiration 39, “prune-juice” expectoration. Great pain, extorting cries. But these stabbing pains were found to be independent of respiration, and the pneumonia was, as said, right-sided. He was given Kali carb. 30 two-hourly, and in two hours the pain had stopped, and he had a good night. Next day the temperature was down two degrees, and on the third day its highest was 99-4, and that ended it. He made a good and rapid recovery.

And here is a little Bryonia case about the same time. A naval patient, aged 41, was sent in by the Admiralty, with pleuro- pneumonia; again right base, with a temp. of 103.4, respiration 44, and stained sputum. His symptoms suggested Bryonia, which was given in the 200th and then 1m potencies. On the second day temp. had dropped a degree, on the third day (the fourth day of his illness) it was already subnormal, with a small rise in the evening:- and that ended the case. He made a rapid and uninterrupted recovery.

With such, i.e. real, Homoeopathy, if the case is treated early, one sees again and that it is possible to abort pneumonia. I suppose many more cases of pleuro-pneumonia call for Bryonia than for any other medicine, even Phosphorus. One could produce a number from Hospital records, to the few that have demanded Kali carb, that is to say, whose symptoms have demanded Kali carb. But in Homoeopathy, one medicine will not do for another. Homoeopathy is individualization. It is not enough to diagnose pneumonia, and to give a pneumonia medicine. With Hahnemann we must diagnose “a kind Phosphorus kind-a Bryonia kind-a Kali carb. kind-a Natrum sulph. kind-a Mercurius kind-of pneumonia. It is the symptoms, always, that decide, if curative work is to be done. One may palliate, and the patient gets well, with perhaps less suffering; but that in not CURE.

Turning the pages yet further, one is tempted to give one other interesting case, about the same date, of broncho-pneumonia aborted in a child of three years.

She was seen in the out-patient department March 14th, 1918, Temperature at non was 100.4, resp. 40. Her mother had been up with her all night, she had been burning hot, crying and coughing. Refused food. She “had been burning hot at night for eight days”. The were” creps” at rt. base, and (?) left. She was given Bryonia 1M six-hourly. The result was “beautiful rest at night”; but as there were (the next day)” creps” at both bases and respiration was 48, she was admitted and given Bryonia 10m. (three doses). Next day the temperature was subnormal, respiration 29-36. the temperature did not rise again, and she made an uneventful recovery.

Broncho-pneumonia is elsewhere found a dangerous and lengthy disease for little children; the statistics of homoeopathy in this disease are excellent.

Different remedies pick out different organs or tissues. Bryonia especially selects serous membranes, to irritate, and therefore in fine dosage to stimulate and to heal. It has a tremendous effect on pleura and on lung,-and is one of the drugs that has produced pneumonia.

Bryonia’s time aggravation are3 a.m., when its delirium, its profuse night-sweats, and its toothache are worse. 9 p.m. is also one of Bryonia’s bad hours: and there is apt to be profuse urination from 6-7 p.m. Many of Bryonia’s symptom are worse in the morning, and many worse in the evening.

A queer Bryonia symptom is given by Hahnemann, “on slight mental emotion (on laughing) there suddenly occurs a shooting (itching) burning all over the body as if he had been whipped with nettles or had nettlerash, through nothing is to be seen on the skin; this burning came on afterwards by merely thinking of it, or when he got heated”.

Bryonia is a great East wind remedy. The “aetiology” o certain remedies is of great importance. For instance, the complaints of Dulcamara come on in cold DAMP weather-from the chill of a wetting-or a wetting when hot-or a chill when heated. Bryonia and a few others have acute sufferings that come on after exposure to cold, dry EAST wind. Such are Aconite, Asarum europaeum, Causticum, Hepar, Kali carb., Nux vomica, Sepia, Spongia, etc.

Margaret Lucy Tyler
Margaret Lucy Tyler, 1875 – 1943, was an English homeopath who was a student of James Tyler Kent. She qualified in medicine in 1903 at the age of 44 and served on the staff of the London Homeopathic Hospital until her death forty years later. Margaret Tyler became one of the most influential homeopaths of all time. Margaret Tyler wrote - How Not to Practice Homeopathy, Homeopathic Drug Pictures, Repertorising with Sir John Weir, Pointers to some Hayfever remedies, Pointers to Common Remedies.