APIS MELLIFICA


APIS MELLIFICA homeopathic remedy signs and symptoms from the Key to the Homeopathic Materia Medica by Alfred Pulford. Find the common uses of APIS MELLIFICA…


IDENTIFICATION

      Sudden bee – stinglike pain worse heat, with oedema, the heat affecting both body and mind, and having a special aversion to heat, the heat of the bed being intolerable, better both cold and cold applications and motion.

ESSENTIAL

      Aggravation 5 p.m. Thirstless. Face pale and puffy, lips swollen. Restless and fidgety. Apathetic and indifferent. Joyless. Jealous. Urine scanty. Sensitive to touch. General bruised soreness, especially of abdominal and chest walls. Symptoms right sided, or right to left side. Tongue dry. sudden shrieks in brain troubles.

COMMENT.

Mind

      Awkward, laughs about it, especially nervous girls at puberty. The mind state is erysipelas, diphtheria and low fevers, is one of apathy and indifference, or even unconsciousness. Jealous (the queen bee is said to be the most jealous thing on earth).

Head

      Erysipelas, to face; burning pain, aggravation stooping; stitches in temples, amelioration cold. (L): Shrieking brain cry. Head pains almost universally amelioration pressure and aggravation motion. Extremely valuable when child bores its head back into pillow, is stupid and occasionally gives a piercing shriek. A hot bath in brain troubles will bring convulsions (Opi.). Hydrocephalus, child bores head back into pillow, rolls it from side to side, rouses from sleep with a piercing shriek; acute headache, before stage of exudation. Hydrocephaloid, when even the previously distended abdomen becomes shrunken, there is still the same intolerance to touch and pressure. Congestion to brain, meningitis, or cerebro-spinal meningitis, with opisthotonos, child gradually going into a state of unconsciousness, lies in a state of stupor, one side of body twitches, the other motionless, head drawn rigidly back, pupils either contracted or dilated, eyes very red, face flushed, stupid or unconscious, child decidedly deathlike if it is in a position to look into the fire or open grate. Head pain causes one to look down.

Eyes

      Eversion of lower lid; irritated by lamp light, while reading; lupus of lower lid; pressing pain, aggravation warm room; stitching in pannus. Styes, prevents recurrence. Lids smart, feel stiff, like Kalm. Affections of eyes characterized by serous exudation, oedema, sudden piercing pain, aggravation heat. Of great value in a variety of eyes troubles, lids swollen, oedematous, everted so that they actually roll over into cheek, conjunctiva inflamed, hot tears, photophobia, and violent bee – stinglike pains. In all the eyes troubles there is temporary amelioration from application of cold water. The burning is apt to be like fire and stings, aggravation from heat and looking into the fire, and amelioration cold applications and cold bathing. Eyes mucus membranes are apt to become enormously swollen, bulging out and looking like raw beef. Puffy under eyes, Kali-c., over. Inflamed eyes, erysipelatous in character, that leaves thickening of the mucus membrane and lids, like Argentum

Nose

      Tip of nose cold at beginning of sore throat.

Face

      Periodic erysipelas. Lips everted, stiff, swelling out of proportion to pain’s intensity. Hives that burn, sting and itch, especially in the Fall.

Mouth

      Tongue brown in center, sides moist, or yellow, bright, shiny, mouth red, tongue fiery. Tongue catches behind teeth, or trembles, like Lachesis Tongue in acute fevers is red and hot, even dry and hot; in low fevers, trembling; in scarlet fever, dry cracked sore and covered with blisters or ulcerated but rarely red and dry; in diphtheria swollen, but not heavily coated.

Throat

      Burning pain, amelioration cold drinks, reverse of Arsenicum Almost a specific for true diphtheria; always indicated by great swelling and oedema, severe stinging pains on attempting to swallow, great inertia or complete stupor. Extremely valuable in inflamed throat, with general stupor and prostration. Like Lachesis, the throat is aggravation warm drinks, but the trouble is on the opposite side. Must have cold drinks, the reverse of Lycopodium In advanced cases of dropsy, throat may become painless, but with more oedema than Baptisia

Stomach

      Eructations taste like food, aggravation drinking water. Thirstlessness is the rule, but may be overbalanced by the 5 p.m. aggravation. Thirst is never present during sweat.

Abdomen

      Dropsy, suffocating when lying on right side; numbness in right iliac fossa, amelioration lying on it; tension in inguinal region, on raising arm. Bruised sore feeling in abdomen walls, more acute than Arnica Abdomen walls in abdomen diseases are always tender, whether abdomen is swollen or not. In all forms of inflammatory complaints, as peritonitis, hepatitis, pelvic cellulitis, etc., there is great tension and tightness, not always general but local, compelling bending forward and bending limb.

Rectum

      Burning pain in prolapsed rectum. Cholera infantum with constant relapses, threatened brain trouble, abdomen shrunken, child gets stupid, starts suddenly, especially during dentition. The Apis constipation seems to be related to encephalitis, hydrocephalus, etc. The bruised sore abdominal walls are always present in diarrhoea and cholera infantum.

Stool

      Like chopped beets. Especially useful in children and infants with stool intermingled with blood, mucus and food, looking like tomato sauce.

Urinary

      Milky, in hydrocephalus, in small but frequent discharges, delirious and unconscious. As a rule in diphtheria, erysipelas, scarlet fever, etc., the urine is quite free and pale, even though the patient drinks little. The favorable action of Apis, like that of Arum, is shown by the increase in flow of the urine. Infants who go a long time without passing urine, scratching and carrying hands to the head, cry out in sleep and kick covers off. Urinary organs morbidly irritable, like Eup – purp.

Genitalia

      Abortion, early months (especially when stinging pains ensue in ovaries until labor comes on), urine scanty, thirstless, profuse flow; or at fourth month with flooding; congestion to ovaries, with suppressed menses; hardness, or bearing down in right ovary; pain amelioration lying on right side; burning in ovaries during abortion; drawing in ovaries on raising the arm. When the symptoms agree, Apis will stop abortion, especially first, second or third month, especially from overdosing with ergot. Girls at puberty, hysterical, dysmenorrhoeic, awkward, the kind of awkwardness that comes from muscular incoordination, face flushed.

Respiratory

      Irritation of or in passages, when overheated; difficult breathing, with eruptive diseases or from their suppression, when overheated; stertorous breathing, cries out from sharp pain.

Cough

      9 in the evening to 4 in the morning, cough lying at midnight, wakens one. Useful in cough of horses, Belladonna failing.

Chest

      Erythematous redness. (L): Erysipelas of breasts; oppression of chest, during chill, in warm room; burning pain in anterior part of chest; sore, bruised above clavicles. One of the best remedies to bring about absorption in pleuritic exudation. Erysipelas, inflammation, open cancer, or scirrhus tumor, of breasts, with burning stinging pains, aggravation heat. Apis and Sulph. will bring about absorption of fluid in most cases of pleuritic exudations.

Back

      Prickly heat, in lumbar region; erysipelas, across shoulders; pressing pain in coccyx, while sitting. (L): Inflamed card aggravation warm room; pulsating in cervical region, to shoulder.

Extremities

      Urticaria, in spots, on hand; felon, itches; feet heavy, p.m., on undressing; erysipelatous inflamed toe; boring pain in crural nerve; stitches, thigh to toe; feet stiff, at night; white swelling of upper limbs; swollen sense of toes; thrombosis of lower limbs. (L): Purple spots on legs; feet, enlarged; toes, burning pain, stiff; oedematous swelling of hand and lower limbs after scarlet fever, and of foot at night (Bryonia, p.m.); sense of swelling. Joints amelioration cold applications, like Ledum Awkward, drops things, like Agaricus One of the first remedies to be given at the beginning of a felon.

Chill

      Pernicious, begins in chest, violent congestion, suffocation in warm room. (L): Begins in chest; 3 to 5 p.m. Always thirst with 3 p.m. chill, but at no other time. Runs down back, reverse of Eup. Heat of stove intolerable reverse of Ignatia Deep sleep and urticaria after chill passes off; Hepar: urticaria before and during chill.

Heat

      5 a.m., in bed, shaking chill follows; heat of room intolerable during heat. Heat afternoon, with chilliness; heat, a.m.; chill absent 3 to 4 p.m. Chest oppressed as if one would smother, burns.

Skin

      Rash on changing air; urticaria and asthma; skin livid, from change of air or weather. (L): Carbuncle stings; urticaria at night, Erysipelas of rosy hue, right to left side, Rhus darker, left side to right. Abscess after vaccination, great thirst. Boils and swellings of all descriptions, with the characteristic burning beesting like pains. When scarlet fever is suspected, early stage, rash seen on hard palate, throat red and oedematous, great pain on swallowing, thirstless, eruption mottled. Scarlet fever, skin intensely hot, rash very red, or skin hot and cold in places, rash tardy, throat sore. Erysipelatous, tonsils very large and red with stinging pains on swallowing, eyes sensitive to bright light, but not so marked as with Belladonna, skin stings and itches causing restlessness, lamenting and weeping, urine scanty or suppressed, typhoid symptoms, and, if the eruption is delayed or repelled the most severe kind of sore throat occurs and ulcers form in it, face pale, aggravation heat and heat of room, wants covers off.

General

      Swollen parts sore, bruised, as if pounded, even more acutely than Arnica Apis is considered slow acting; its favorable action is shown by an increase in the flow of urine, like Arum, and it should not be repeated too often or too soon. The burning, like Secale, is aggravation heat, the reverse of Arsenicum Natr-m. is the chronic of Apis. Child unable to be near fire, like Ant -c. For the drugging with Apis give Cantharis; or, if women take cantharides to produce abortion give Apis. Complaints come on with a rush and great violence, like Aconite and Belladonna The dropsies of Apis are characterized by a waxy hue of the skin, like Ac-ac., whitish or yellowish, transparent, swelling of eyelids, baglike swelling under eyes, Kali-c. over, surface of body bruised or burning; ascites or anasarca, vomiting, diarrhoea, can only breathe when sitting up, even leaning back causes suffocation, urine scanty and dark, like coffee grounds, aggravation heat; the dropsies and oedemas are found mostly in the feet. In all the inflammatory states there is stinging and burning, at times burns like coals of fire, like Arsenicum but Arsenicum is amelioration heat, stings as from needles and pins sticking into it. Right sided drug, or, right to left side, like Lycopodium Aggravation heat of fire, while Ant-c. has whooping cough aggravation looking into fire, Apis is also aggravation after sleep like Lachesis, and from getting wet, like Rhus, but unlike Rhus, Apis is amelioration wetting or washing parts in cold water, like Ledum Is aggravation pressure, but it ameliorates the head.

Alfred Pulford
Alfred Pulford, M.D., M.H.S., F.A.C.T.S. 1863-1948 – American Homeopath and author who carried out provings of new remedies. Author of Key to the Homeopathic Materia Medica, Repertoroy of the Symptoms of Rheumatism, Sciatica etc., Homeopathic Materia Medica of Graphic Drug Pictures.