Rhus Toxicodendron



Stomach: Pain in the stomach and nausea.

His desires are also strange. Desires oysters, cold milk, and sweets. Aversion to meat. Rhus has nausea and vomiting; bilious vomiting and nausea from drinking cold water; nausea after eating, with sudden vomiting; inordinate appetite with inclination to vomit; worse at night and after eating.

Pulsation in the pit of the stomach; gnawing pain in the stomach fullness and heaviness in the stomach as from a load; pressure in the pit of the stomach as from a great weight; pain in the stomach and nausea, especially after cold things; pain in the stomach after ice cream; nausea after eating ice cream.

Liver and abdomen: In the liver there is swelling and tenderness on pressure, so that he cannot lie on the right lobe of the liver.

The soreness is increased on beginning to move; shooting pains in the region of the liver. In the abdomen we have many of the complaints of Rhus. Distended abdomen during typhoid fever; extreme soreness of the tissues of the abdomen to touch; cannot bear any pressure; sensitive to clothing.

Colic; pains and violent colic compelling him to lie on the back and draw up the limbs. Inflammation of any of the tissues of the abdomen; peritonitis; enteritis; typhlitis.

During these violent inflammatory conditions of the bowels, typhoid symptoms are likely to be present with involuntary stools. Inflammation and swelling of the glands of the abdomen and groin. With typhoid conditions there is diarrhoea, copious, watery, bloody stools or mushy stools involuntary stools; frothy stools. Diarrhea during typhoid fever the diarrhoea is worse during the night and better during the day time; involuntary stools with great exhaustion. It has cured cholera infantum of a low type and it is often useful in dysentery with bloody, mucous stools. Violent tenesmus; violent tearing, pinching pains in the abdomen; involuntary stools; dysenteric stools; dysenteric discharges that drive him out of bed in the morning sometimes as early as 4 o’clock.

Haemorrhage of black blood from the bowels. Shooting pains in the rectum. It has cured hemorrhoids when there is great soreness and when they are internal or protruding; protruding after stool with pressing in the rectum.

Urinary: Urging to urinate with tenesmus and pain in the region of the prostate gland causing urging to stool, ameliorated by moving about.

There are more or less tearing pains in the region of the kidneys. Albuminous urine; bloody urine; urine hot; muddy; white sediment, becoming turbid on standing; bloody drops of urine dribble away.

Violent tenesmus of the bladder with dribbling of blood; retention of urine; urine is voided slowly from paralytic weakness of the bladder. There is sometimes complete paralysis of the bladder with involuntary urination at night in bed.

Frequent urging to urinate day and night; weakness of the bladder in girls and women with frequent desire to urinate, especially in the women dribbling of the urine in cold air and on becoming very cold.

Men: In the male sexual organs we have inflammation erysipelatous in character.

Eczema of the genitals. The scrotum becomes thick and hard with intolerable itching; oedematous swelling of the genitals; erysipelas of the genitals; humid eruptions upon the genitals.

Women: In the female we have the same symptoms, especially erysipelatous swelling of the genitals and some eruptions.

The woman has prolapsus of the uterus from straining or lifting; weakness of all the pelvic muscles; labor-like pains in the abdomen from straining.

Copious menstrual flow; clotted blood with labor-like pains. The menstrual period comes too soon, is too profuse, and lasts too long. The flow is acrid, causing excoriation of the parts.

Every over-exertion brings on menorrhagia. Membranous tissue in the menstrual flow; suppressing of the menstrual flow from becoming wet; from getting the feet wet, or becoming chilled.

Similar complaints come on in pregnancy from overstraining and a tendency to abortion. The after-pains are very torturesome. The woman suffers from cellulitis such as occurs in milk-leg.

Typhoid symptoms come on and inflammation of the mammary glands. The milk vanishes.

Larynx: In the larynx many of the colds locate producing hoarseness, rawness, and roughness.

Soreness in the chest; muscular exhaustion of the larynx from loud and much exercise of the voice. Hoarseness on first beginning to sing; which wears off on singing a few notes or wears off after talking a little while; burning and rawness in the larynx.

Rhus is suitable in many cases of influenza, such as begin in the nose and extend into the larynx with hoarseness and with Rhus symptoms. Respiration is hurried; oppression of the chest; very difficult and hard breathing, especially in pneumonia and bronchitis and in colds that settle in the chest.

Cough: Rhus gets out of breath on exertion.

The cough of Rhus is very tormenting; teasing cough; paroxysms of almost any kind; tormenting, dry, teasing cough before and during chill.

He knows that the chill is coming because of the dry, teasing cough; cough with taste of blood in the mouth; dry, hoarse, racking, rheumatic cough. cough from rheumatic fever.

Chest: Inflammation of the lungs; inflammation of the pleura with stitching pains, much fever, progressing toward the typhoid state with aching in the bones; restlessness; general amelioration from motion; intense fever, marked thirst, great prostration; typhoid symptoms.

The pneumonia is of a low type; pneumonia such as would denominate typhoid. Rhus has expectoration of blood from the lungs and from the mucous membranes of the air passages; hemorrhage from the chest from overexertion; hemorrhage from blowing wind instruments; hemorrhage from the chest from violent mental excitement.

The heart is weak, tremulous with palpitation violent palpitation when sitting still; pulsations move the whole body anxious palpitation in the morning on waking; palpitation from exercise. It seems as if exertion had strained the muscles of the heart; hypertrophy of the heart from violent exercise; hypertrophy that comes on in athletes, in runners; organic diseases of the heart with sticking pains. Numbness and lameness of the left arm with heart disease.

Back: In the back, we have stiffness and lameness.

This is most noticeable on beginning to move, but wears off on moving about. Pains in the shoulder with stiffness; pains between the shoulders on swallowing food; rheumatic symptoms; painful tension between the shoulder blades.

The small of the back aches while sitting. Painful stiffness on rising from a seat; pain in the back as if bruised, sore and lame all over the back. The pain in the back is ameliorated by lying on something hard or from exercise.

There are violent pains in the back, especially in the lumbar region, as if the back were broken. It is a remedy for lumbago brought on from getting wet, from overlifting, from taking cold, and from suppressing the sweat. He is ameliorated from motion and from moving about; worse on beginning to move.

This remedy has many spinal symptoms with paralytic weakness either of the lower limbs or of one part of the body, Stiffness and lameness in the sacrum aggravated on resting after exercise. It might now be predicted that symptoms are to be found in the limbs from what has been said in general.

There are stitching pains, pressing pains, all sorts of rheumatic lameness, and these pains are ameliorated from motion and are worse from keeping still. They are brought on from cold air and from suppressing the sweat, and as these pains grow worse they became tearing down the limbs, drawing pains. Paralytic pains, benumbing pains, and these are relieved from motion; numbness throughout the limbs; numbness and aching in the arms from heart disease; numbness in the joints; jerking, tearing pains in the joints. Paralysis of the arms; erysipelas with much swelling in the limbs; swelling of the bands and arms.

When grasping anything a tingling and pricking is felt in the hands and fingers; crawling and numbness in the finger tips and fingers; swelling of the fingers; eruptions upon the hands and fingers. In the lower limbs, we find similar pains and similar modalities pain in the hip when lying upon it; tearing, drawing pains in the lower limbs; sciatica with tearing, drawing pains in the lower limbs, worse during rest and ameliorated from motion, brought on from becoming chilled, from cold damp weather, from exposure, and from suppressing the sweat.

In sprains such as occur in the ankles and in fact any of the joints, after Arnica has removed the first and most painful symptoms, Rhus becomes useful for weakness of tendons and muscular fibers such as always follows sprains.

It is a routine remedy for this weakness in joints following sprains. The pains rush in streaks down the limbs; restlessness in the lower limbs at night, but amelioration from motion; must keep the limbs in constant motion; paralysis of the lower limbs, great weariness and heaviness of the lower extremities; weakness of the lower limbs on going up stairs; swelling of the joints of the lower limbs; stiffness of the knees and feet. Paroxysmal pains in the legs from getting wet, especially when sweating; complaints from living in damp houses; rheumatism in the lower limbs from living in damp houses.

James Tyler Kent
James Tyler Kent (1849–1916) was an American physician. Prior to his involvement with homeopathy, Kent had practiced conventional medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. He discovered and "converted" to homeopathy as a result of his wife's recovery from a serious ailment using homeopathic methods.
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.