(Cedron-cedrus, cedar.).
Introduction
The seeds of this tree, which is native of the Republic of Colombia, were first proved by Dr. Teste, of France.
Allen, in the Handbook, says: “Too little is positively known,” about this remedy, “to enable one to judge of its general sphere of action, but it seems to produce well-marked symptoms of intermittent neuralgia, and, indeed, of regularly recurring febrile attacks. It has proved curative in marsh malaria characterized by severe pains recurring periodically.”.
Symptoms
Periodicity of the symptoms, clock-like regularity of the return of its aches and pains, is its great characteristic.
For the first ten years of my medical life I looked upon Cedron as of little or no value; then I prescribed it, for the first time, on the following case and found that I had entertained an entirely erroneous view of the remedy.
Headache, r.-sided, coming on every day at 9 A.M. The pain was severe and lasted until noon, or a little past.
The patient commented upon the regularity of its return. She felt all right in the early morning but at nine o’clock the pain would begin and she would have to drop everything and go to bed. As soon as the pain was over she felt like herself again until nine the next morning.
This had lasted for a week, when she was given Cedron 3d. The next day the headache was much less severe, and the following day there was none.
The r. side is especially apt to be affected in Cedron, and it is a useful remedy in ciliary (75), supra-orbital (76) and facial neuralgias (80), either or all coming on regularly (79) at about 9 A.M. and lasting a few hours.
These neuralgias may (104) or may not be associated with a malarial paroxysm.
With the ciliary neuralgia, we have pains shooting into the nose, causing flow of scalding water from eyes and nose. We may find ciliary neuralgia after sewing on black dress goods.
In intermittent fever, besides the regular recurrence of the paroxysm and the headache or neuralgia preceding (104), we have numbness or a dead feeling in the limbs, or with the headache simply, the whole body may feel numb.
“The chill or chilliness of the paroxysm predominates (121) but no stage of the paroxysm is `clear-cut’ or well marked” (H. C. Allen). The majority of the pathogenetic symptoms give 6 P.M. as the time for the onset of the chill; H. C. Allen gives 3 P.M. as more characteristic.
I use Cedron 6th.
