Generalities: Aloe, much like Aesculus, has a peculiar engorgement of the veins, causing stiffness and fullness throughout the body, but the greatest disturbance is in the veins of the portal system, with great fullness in the region of the liver, and abdominal, rectal and intestinal fullness.
This is associated with hemorrhoids. It has abdominal pains that drive him to stool like Nux vomica, cutting, cramping pains around the navel.
Pains about the navel that shoot down towards the rectum, cutting like knives. Dysenteric and diarrheic troubles. In the attacks of diarrhea there is gushing of thin, yellow, offensive, excoriating feces, which burn like fire, and the anus is sore.
Stools: He holds the stool with difficulty, does not dare take his mind off the sphincter because as soon as he does so the stool will escape. He cannot let the least quantity of flatus escape, because with it there will be a rush of faeces.
With the Aloe diarrhea the abdomen is distended with gas, causing a feeling of fullness and tightness, and he must go often to stool. Little ones, soon after they begin to walk, will drop all over the carpet, involuntarily, little yellow drops of mucus and faeces. The mother sometimes punishes the little ones, but they cannot help it, they cannot hold the stool, as it is passed involuntarily.
There is a lack of control of the sphincter. This state is not always confined to diarrhea, because sometimes children will go around dropping, involuntarily, little, hard, round marble-like pieces of stool. They do not even know the stool has passed. There is relaxation about the rectum and protrusion of the anus, with bleeding piles. Every mouthful of food hurries him to stool; drinking water will often hurry him to stool.
Diarrhoea from eating oysters out of season. You might be disposed to give Lycopodium because in the text books poisoning from oysters is laid down under Lyc. I do not know that you would be justified in saying poisoning from oysters in season is Lycopodium, and out of season is Aloe, but there is a tremous poisoning effect about oysters in the hot weather and in the breeding season that is not found at any other time.
A great many people become nauseated, bloat up, purge tremendously, vomit everything for several days after eating oysters.
Now, when that group of symptoms is present Lycopodium will cure it and will remove the tendency to get sick from oysters.
But if you notice those who get sick have a cholera-like trouble from eating oysters in the hot season, you will find that that is where Aloe is the remedy.
Relations: This remedy is not well proved, hence I have first referred to the things it is used for clinically. It is more nearly related to Sulphur in its venous condition than to any other remedy. If you study together, side by side, Kali bichromicum, Sulphur and Aloe, you will be astonished at their wonderful relation to the stomach and bowels.
Mind: Among the few mental symptoms we notice,
“She knew she would die in a week.”
“Life is a burden.”
“Disinclined to move.”
Very little is brought out by which we can distinguish it; only a few things common to many remedies are given.
The Aloe patient is extremely excitable when under the influence of pain, and the pains are generally in the abdomen. Colic-like pains, flatulent pains in the abdomen, that drive to despair; be becomes extremely irritable and excited in his attacks of colic.
A little symptom that is somewhat striking is, “Hates people, repels everyone.”
Head: The head congestion, which occurs during the bowel disturbance, is a sort of venous stasis such as is found in the portal system.
“Headache across forehead.”
“Headaches aggravated from heat, ameliorated from cold applications.”
Aggravation from heat and relief from cold runs through Aloe.
He wants to be in a cool room; feels hot and flushed; the skin is often hot and dry; he wants to be uncovered at night in bed; burning of the extremities, hot hands and cold feet, or cold bands and hot feet; these alternate. The head feels hot and he wants something cool upon it. This is from the heat of the surface, not fever.
Sensation of heat in the surface, feeling of congestion and fullness of the surface of the body; fullness and engorged veins all over the body. Bleedings are common in this remedy, venous oozings from the nose, the bowels, the bladder; bleeding in general. The veins become varicose and the skin is hot.
Much heat in the orifices of the body; the eyes, mouth and throat are hot and burn. There is a sensation of dryness, burning and excoriation about the anus.
In 1881, Kent accepted a position as professor of anatomy at the Homeopathic College of Missouri, an institution with which he remained affiliated until 1888. In 1890, Kent moved to Pennsylvania to take a position as Dean of Professors at the Post-Graduate Homeopathic Medical School of Philadelphia. In 1897 Kent published his magnum opus, Repertory of the Homœopathic Materia Medica. Kent moved to Chicago in 1903, where he taught at Hahnemann Medical College.