That is a strong Belladonna feature. Patients sometimes in their inability to describe their feelings will say,
“Doctor, I feel a clutching in there.”
This constriction that comes in the sore throat occurs just in the act of swallowing fluids or solids, and that action will force the food and fluids up into the nose, and sometimes out of the nose.
Some remedies have it as a paralytic condition, because the muscles of deglutition are paralyzed and they do not favor the natural contracting actions to force the food down the oesophagus, and in that way the food is forced up into the nose and causes strangling.
In Belladonna, in its acute states, its inflammatory conditions and its spasms would distinguish it from Lachesis, where it occurs as a paralytic condition after diphtheria, and from Alumina, which has a spasm of the oesophagus.
These are slow in coming on Belladonna is early. The early part of the fever is the time of its irritation. The latter part of the fever is the time of its relaxation. Rapidly forming aphthous patches upon the tonsils.
With the sore throat such as we have described you will nearly always find an enlargement and inflammation, or soreness of the glands, under the jaws about the neck. Tenderness along with a Belladonna sore throat is a natural concomitant.
A strange feature running through the Belladonna fevers of all sorts is an unconquerable craving for lemons, and lemon-juice. Lemonade seems to agree sometimes. In acute diseases when they crave lemon it is good for them.
They often crave things to eat. You must not be so violently temperate and in favor of prohibition that if a patient longs for beer in acute sufferings you will not give it.
“Thirst for water changed into thirst for beer.”
Thirst for things that could not be endorsed in health, even.
“Excessive thirst for cold water.”
In the stomach and bowels we have inflammatory conditions which can all be grouped as one. Pain, burning, distress, distension; sensitive to a jar, and to the slightest motion, and to the slightest pressure.
Sensitive to a jar, and sensitive to motion.
“Pain in the stomach extending through to the spine.”
Inflammation of the stomach from becoming chilled, with intense heat; with much burning. It has violent colic, intense cramping pain in children. Face red and hot; pain relieved only by bending forward.
There are exceptional in stances where it has been relieved by bending backward, when it is similar to Dioscorea. The mother finds that by holding the child on her hand it will relieve the colic.
That is like Colocynth; but Colocynth is without much fever, without much thirst, a pain in one spot, an intense colic in the abdomen ameliorated by doubling up, ameliorated by bending across something hard, is Colocynth.
In that instance Colocynth can be prescribed on that one group of symptoms.
“Great pain in the ileo-coecal region; cannot bear the slightest touch, even the bed clothes.”
There are instances where Belladonna is the remedy in appendicitis.
Stools: Belladonna has dysenteric troubles. Diarrhoea, with scanty fluid stool; marked straining, but with it the face is flushed.
Heat, redness and burning in the face and head. Cold extremities, with hot head. Much straining, but passes scanty stool.
“Spasmodic constriction of sphincter ani; with hemorrhoids.”
Hemorrhoids that are violently painful, that are intensely red, that are greatly swollen and inflamed, a high grade of inflammation; cannot be touched; must lie with limbs wide apart, the hemorrhoids are painful and there is much burning.
Bladder: No remedy has a greater irritation in the bladder and along the urinary tract than Belladonna The urging to urinate is constant.
The urine dribbles, and it burns intensely along the whole length of the urethra. The whole urinary tract is in a state of irritation.
Belladonna has cured inflammation of the bladder. With the irritation and the congestion there is all the sensitiveness to pressure we find in any other part where Belladonna is indicated; sensitive to a jar. irritable state of the mind, irritable state of the whole nervous system.
“Tenesmus of the bladder. After passing urine sits and strains,” in torment.
The urine is diminished, bloody, sometimes pure blood, or little blood clots. A considerable quantity of blood in the bladder comes away in little clots.
“The urine looks as if mixed with brick dust, or streaks. Strongly acid.”
There is a spasmodic retention of urine and. there is involuntary passing of urine. Dribbling of urine in brain troubles. During sleep, dribbling of urine.
Dreams that he is passing urine, and involuntarily passed it. Retention of urine after shock, or from congestion of the brain, or after confinement. Bladder full; great pain; great sensitiveness.
Involuntary dribbling while standing and walking; or sometimes from mere motion the urine spurts. The urging is violent and sudden. When a little urine has collected in the bladder he has a sudden, painful urging.
Much of the trouble is at the neck of the bladder, and it is spasmodic. He feels the spasmodic clutching. At the time of the urging, and at other times, he has spasm of the neck of the bladder, from shock, from cold, from anxiety, from mental disturbances.
When becoming old, or chilled, or in very cold air, women lose their urine, like Dulcamara and Causticum. Starts in sleep, and wets bed.
Dreams of a fright, which causes a starting, and she wets the bed. On going to sleep, a sudden electric shock goes through the whole body, and she wets the bed.
Belladonna is rich with such strange little peculiarities; but it only shows the general spasmodic condition and the general irritability of the whole Belladonna constitution.
We see those strange conditions and states, the irritability in all parts of the body, especially where there are sphincters, where there are circular fibres clutching in thy neck of the bladder; clutching at the mouth of the vagina; constriction of tubes. Constriction of the uterus.
Here we see a special marked feature of it, in the neck of the bladder. It has more troubles in the woman than in the man; that is in the symptoms and conditions in relation to the female sexual organs, and to parturition, and to the breasts, and during the period of gestation there are many conditions where Belladonna will be needed. It is really an important remedy for the nervous sensitive woman, the woman of irritable fiber.
Genitals: In the male genitals we have scarcely any important symptoms; but with the female there are many, and some very distressing ones.
They have symptoms of great suffering, of great excitability, The parts are sensitive; the uterus and ovaries are congested, sore to touch, sensitive to jar. Irritable uterus, until it has become enlarged and painful, and sore to the touch.
Sometimes it remains in this state after parturition. Or, after every menstrual period it is a little larger, and remains. It does not return to its normal state, but remains congested, and the woman feels all through the interim as if she was menstruating.
Bruised feeling; sensitive to a jar. The flow is copious and clotted. But the most striking feature here is the uterine haemorrhage. Uterine haemorrhage from congestion, with spasms, with great sensitiveness.
The uterus contracts with violence, hence, a spasmodic contraction. Great soreness, with a copious flow of bright red fluid mixed with clots, is the characteristic of the Belladonna flow.
It is like Sabina in that respect. Those two medicines have that in a high grade. The uterus fills with a clot, and then comes a contraction like a labor pain and expels it; for a while a copious flow of fluid; and then contractions like labor pains come on again, expelling the clots, and then comes the flow.
The blood clots soon, and the haemorrhage is attended with great exhaustion. Now this occurs almost without any provocation. This haemorrhage occurs also in connection with abortion, Belladonna is a great remedy to check the haemorrhage in connection with abortion or from any cause whatever where the symptoms of sensitiveness are present.
Sensitive to touch, sensitive to a jar; the patient herself is in that state of irritable sensitiveness, great nervous excitement manifested both when awake and in sleep, often with fever. Haemorrhage, with febrile conditions, but usually the haemorrhage takes the place of the fever, and commonly if there is haemorrhage it will relieve the fever.
It is also a great remedy for haemorrhage after confinement. The blood feels hot. Haemorrhage, with hour-glass contraction. It is not an uncommon thing for the placenta to be grasped in its middle by a, contraction like an hour-glass tearing it loose here and there, and from below comes the bleeding; a copious flow of blood. Belladonna relieves this hour-glass contraction.
It has also the most violent dysmenorrhoea. Pains like labor-pains. Spasmodic labor-pains. Circular contractions are the commonest forms in Belladonna
All of the fibers should take part uniformly and do their work uniformly, and thereby gradually bring to bear a tightening upon the contents. In Belladonna it is just like a cord going around the body of the uterus, tightening it and it interferes with labor.
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.
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