Among its fears and suspicious, is the fear of poison-suspicious of being poisoned. This fear of poison, it shares with Lachesis and Rhus. Belladonna and Kali Bromium have also a fear of poison.
A queer Hyoscyamus symptoms “thought the saw a policeman come in”, led to its successful prescription in a bad case in pneumonia. (Kali brom. has also that symptom.)
KENT says (we will condense and epitomize): “Hyoscyamus is full of convulsions and contractions and trembling and quivering and jerking of muscles Chorieac motion, s but angular motions of the arms, etc. The intermingling of jerkings and quivering and tremblings and weakness and convulsive action of muscles are all striking features.
“The mental state is really the greatest part of Hyoscyamus delirium, and illusions and hallucinations all mingled together. Suspicious-of everybody; of his wife that she is going to poison him: that she is untrue: refuses medicine, because it is poisoned. He is pursued: people have all turned against him. Carries on conversations with imaginary people: really imagines that someone is sitting by his side, to whom he is talking. Talks to dead folk: calls up a dead sister or wife or husband, and enters into conversation as if they were here again on earth. Another freak in this mental state:-lies and looks at a queer paper on the wall and tries to turn the figures into rows imagines the things are worms, vermin, rats, cats, mice, and he is leading them as children lead round their toys one patient had a string of bedbugs going up the wall, and he had them tied with a string, and was irritated because he could not make the last one keep up Lies and picks things.”
Tongue “rattles in mouth, so dry”, looks like burnt leather. Muscles of throat-tongue-pharynx-oesophagus are stiff and paralysed so that swallowing is difficult. Fluids come out through nose (Gelsemium), or go down into larynx.
He compares Belladonna, Stramonium, Hyoscyamus In order of fever, Bell very hot: Stram, most violent and active, but usually only moderately hot: Hyoscyamus fever, not very high with its insanity.
In regard to violence of conduct, the order would be, Stramonium, Belladonna, Hyoscyamus- a more passive medicine: does not go into violence.
Then in regard to their reaction to water, and hydrophobia. Fear of water, of running water: all three. Stramonium: fear of water: of anything that might look like water” shining objects: fire, looking-glass, or that have the sound of fluids (Hydrophobinum). Hydrophobinum has cured involuntary urination, or discharge from bowels on hearing running water.
Kent explains the “wants to go naked” of Hyoscyamus thus:-He has such sensitive nerves all over the body in the skin that he cannot bear the clothing to touch the skin, and takes it off. He appears to be perfectly shameless: but has no thought of doing anything unusual: he does it from hyperaesthesia of the skin. One wonders how “nudists” would react to Hyoscyamus in potency! But besides this, the insanity of Hyoscyamus has obscenity: with violent excitement and nymphomania, and exposure of the person. lascivious mania. Especially where in the pure and good these things are merely a phase of sickness or insanity.
He is violent; beats people; strikes and bites; sings constantly and talks hastily. After convulsions, eye troubles, squinting, and disturbances of vision. “An object looked at jumps.” Both urine and stools are passed without his knowledge. Many complaints come on during sleep:- “sleepless, or constant sleep”. Suddenly sits up and lies down again:-keeps on doing that all night. Laughing during sleep.
BLACK LETTER SYMPTOMS.
Ravings: delirium: with restlessness: would not stay in bed.
Foolish laughter: talks more than usual: more animatedly: hurriedly.
Silly: smiling: laughs at everything: silly expression.
Comical alienation of mind: performs ludicrous actions like monkeys.
Makes ridiculous gestures like a dancing clown.
Strips himself naked: lies in bed and prattles.
Carphology. Picks at bedclothes: mutters and prattles.
Unable to think: cannot direct or control thoughts.
Answers no questions: cannot bear to be talked to.
Is violent, and beats people.
Jealousy with rage and delirium: with attempt to murder.
Lascivious mania: uncovers: sings amorous songs.
Suspicious. Fears: alone: of being poisoned (Lachesis, Rhus., etc.); of being injured. Wants to run away. Fears being bitten.
Wants to get up and attend to business, or go home (Bryonia).
Delirium: talks of business: of imaginary wrongs.
Pupils dilated: insensible.
Small objects seem very large (reverse of Platina).
Constant staring at surrounding objects. Self-forgetful.
Pressive squeezing on the root of the NOSE.
Deafness (from paralysis of auditory nerve.)
Swallowing difficult: inability to swallow.
Tongue red or brown: dry, cracked, hard, looks like burnt leather.
Or clean, parched; white, tremulous. From at mouth.
Sordes teeth and mouth. Grating the teeth.
Dread of water (Stramonium).
Hiccough.
Inflammation of stomach, or peritonitis with hiccough
Cutting low down in the abdomen. Pinching in abdomen.
Urging to stool. Stool passed involuntarily in bed.
No will to make water in childhood.
Puerperal spasms: shrieks: anguish: chest oppressed: unconscious.
Much in larynx and air passages, which makes voice and speech not clear.
Almost incessant cough while lying down: disappears when sitting up. Dry COUGH at night.
Cough at nigh: frequent cough at night, which always wakes him, after which he again falls asleep.
Angular motions: jerks of single muscles or sets of muscles.
Subsultus tendinum.
CONVULSIONS.
Suffocating spells and convulsions during labour.
Epilepsy: before attack, vertigo, sparks before eyes, ringing in ears, hungry gnawing: during attack face purple, eyes projecting, shrieks, grinds teeth, urination.
Epileptoid spasms. Epilepsy daily so violent it seemed as if spine or joints would be broken.
Very profound slumber.
Sleeplessness: long-continued sleeplessness: on account of quiet mental activity.
Unable to sleep the whole night: tried lying on one side and the other, yet unable to get quiet. (Arsenicum)
Starts from sleep as if in a fright.
Intense sleeplessness of irritable, excitable, persons, from business embarrassments-often imaginary.
Sleepless, or constant sleep, with muttering.
Long-continued sleeplessness.
Cannot bear to be talked, to or least noise during chill.
CURIOUS, OR CHARACTERISTIC SYMPTOMS
They babble out almost everything a sensible person would have kept quiet about all his life.
Fancies men are swine.
Ran against all objects that stool in their way, with wide-open wild eyes.
Ridiculously solemn acts in improper clothing, mixed with fury:
As “In a priest’s cassock, put on over nothing but a shirt, and in fur boots, he wishes to go to church, in order to preach and to perform clerical officers there, and furiously attacks those who try to prevent him.”
Rushes at people with knives: strikes and tries, to murder those he meets.
Peculiar fear of being bitten by beasts.
Reproaches himself and others: complains of the injustice that he imagines has been done to him. (Staphysagria)
In despair wishes to take his life, and throw himself into water.
Serious illness from jealousy and grief about a faithless lover.
Desires to be naked (hyperaesthesia of cutaneous nerves).
After a fit of passion and sudden fear: so timorous as to hide himself in every corner, to dread and run away from flies.
Continually counting.
Frequent looking at her hands hands because they seem too large.
Fingers feel too thick. Feels a if teeth would fall out.
Syphilomania.
Brain feels too loose: swashing, like water, in head.
Head shaken to and fro.
Objects look red (Belladonna, black, Stramonium).
Stupid expression. Muscles twitch, makes grimaces.
Bites the tongue when talking.
Paralysis of tongue.
After fright, loss of speech: motions of tongue impaired, with numbness and lameness.
Spasm; or constriction of throat: inability to swallow liquids.
Involuntary stool while urinating.
Paralysis of sphincters: involuntary stool and urine.
Frequent emission of urine clear as water.
Every muscle of the body twitches, from the eyes of the toes (in chorea, etc.). Clonic spasms.
Patients with fever throw the bedclothes off, not because they are too warm, by they will not remain covered.
