Category: Materia Medica Hans-Heinrich Reckeweg

The mother tincture is prepared from the fresh root collected in autumn of the plant Phytolacca decandra L., a native of North America, where it grows on fertile, sunny soil, and cultivated in many places in Southern Europe and North Africa, and also frequently found growing in the wild. N.O. Phytolaccaceae.

The main indications are:

Tonsillitis. Violent inflammation of the whole pharyngeal area. Throat swollen and dark red. Diphtheria. Vincent’s angina. Sciatic pain along the outside of the thigh. Mastitis with breast “heavy as a stone”. Breast tumours.

The German Monograph-Preparation Commission for the Homoeopathic Field of Therapy has, under the Preparation Monograph for Phytolacca americana, pub- lished the following indication(s) in the German Bundesanzeiger (German Federal Gazette) for phytolacca: extremely feverish infections; mucosal inflammations, es- pecially of the respiratory organs; mastitis and other diseases of the mammary glands; the field of rheumatic diseases.

The attenuations are prepared from yellow Phosphorus, P, AW: 30.97.

The liquid potencies obtained from the solution of white phosphorus in alcohol are used in numerous complaints and diseases which are typical of Phosphorus, the whole remedy being permeated by a characteristic hypersensitivity and excitability with a general aggravation from emotions.

As with Nux Vomica, cold aggravates the complaints; however, it ameliorates the head, stomach and spinal symptoms.

Phosphorus works well in morning diarrhoea, whilst most of the complaints are worse towards evening. The Phosphorus patient feels worse after meals and lying on the left side, although the latter symptom does not hold good in all cases.

Emotionally there is a general excitability and irritability, laughing alternating with crying. There are timidity and fearfulness at twilight and above all during thun- derstorms; the patient fears to be alone, and is hypersensitive to light, noises, music and the scent of flowers, as with Nux Vomica. There is a general tremulous weak- ness with vertigo and possibly headache, which is ameliorated by cool air and wash- ing in cold water.

Thus Phosphorus is indicated in alcoholic tremor. This symptom which occurs during withdrawal treatment, might otherwise provide the incentive to start drinking alcohol again and so prejudice the success of the treatment.

There may be black spots dancing in front of the eyes, or the patient may see as if through a mist with momentary states of blindness. There may also be impaired hearing of the frequencies of human speech sounds. Exhaustion occurs, particularly after emotional states, over-work, acute illness, loss of vital fluids and sexual ex-

cesses. Phosphorus does excellent work particularly in states of exhaustion follow- ing acute illnesses (e.g. diphtheria) linked with sleeplessness. This Phosphorus symptom is also seen in the withdrawal symptoms of alcoholism.

Necrosis of the lower jaw is typical of Phosphorus, as is a grey, mucous coating of the tongue with brown and black patches. There is ravenous hunger and a feeling of faintness with nervousness, worse around 10:00–11:00 a.m. The patient wakes at night feeling hungry; he must eat something, desires cold food, which may then be vomited.

Generally there is a predominant sensation of emptiness and weakness in the ab- domen. The stools are painless, with a sensation as if the anus were open.

In many cases there is a high degree of sexual excitement with accompanying physical weakness and seminal emissions at night. The menses are mostly scanty.

Phosphorus displays characteristic catarrh and cold symptoms, particularly hoarseness with coughing and roughness of the larynx, worse in the evening, the lar- ynx being so sensitive to touch that the patient cannot speak for the pain. In the chest there is a tense, constricting sensation with air-hunger, such as occurs in pneumonia. Lobar pneumonia is a strict indication for Phosphorus, also coughing with mucous, blood-streaked, rusty-coloured and possibly salty sputum. Phosphorus must not be given in low potency in tuberculosis. Indications include stabbing in the left side of the chest and pains in the back as if it were going to break, with tearing pains in the left shoulder, worse at night. There is congestion of blood, possibly with hot flushes, fear and burning in the face and hands and between the shoulder-blades. The patient cannot sleep for internal dry heat. All pains are of a burning nature (as in Sulphur and Arsenicum).

Phosphorus is also an effective haemorrhage remedy. Small wounds, especially, bleed profusely. Thus Phosphorus is also indicated in purpura, bruises, petechiae and haematoma.

The Phosphorus patient is said to feel better after a massage.

Typical of Phosphorus is the stooping posture in patients who are lean, slim and asthenic, have grown too fast, are usually blond and in need of the Alexander Tech- nique.

However, Phosphorus is frequently also effective in gastric illnesses with chronic dyspepsia, ravenous hunger and vomiting. It is a remedy for the glands, and is indi- cated in bronchial pneumonia, in colds which proceed from the nose downwards into the trachea and bronchi, and in tuberculosis, as well as in chronic diarrhoea. However, only higher potencies must be used where there is a haemorrhagic tenden- cy (especially in tuberculosis). Phosphorus is indicated in hepatitis with jaundice, and in other kinds of impregnation and degeneration phases, e.g. myocardial dam- age, endocarditis and fatty degeneration of the heart, typhoid anaemia, osteomyelitis with fistulae, and also in suppurations of connective tissues and glands.

Clear states of exhaustion require Phosphorus in low potency. Phosphorus has al- ways proved its worth in pneumonia, (orally or injected, in the potencies 10X, 30X, 200X and 1000X).

If the symptoms of Phosphorus are presented schematically, the result is a many- sided remedy-picture as follows:

1. General fearfulness, especially in thunderstorms. Fear of solitude.
2. Vertigo, especially on rising or on changing position quickly.
3. General weakness with trembling of the limbs or as soon as something is picked up. (Withdrawal symptoms in alcoholism. Delirium tremens.)
4. Diseases of the bones, especially of the spine and the lower jaw (after dental ex- traction). Burning between the scapulae.
5. Haemorrhagic tendency. Purpura. Bleeding haemorrhoids. Protracted haemor- rhages generally, also haematoma without obvious injuries. Thrombocytopaenia.
6. Frequent need to eat, especially at night. Subsequent amelioration – if only tem- porary. Dyspepsia. Catarrhs and glandular inflammations, e.g. laryngitis with hoarseness, worse in cold air. Sore, raw feeling under the sternum. Specific for lobar pneumonia. Liver damage. Myocardial damage. Damage to the parenchyma of the kidneys with albuminuria. Nephrosis.
7. Rapid fatigue during coitus with heightened libido and subsequent weakness.
8. Sweating during first sleep and burning heat between the scapulae and in the hands. In tall, slim people who have shot up, asthenic types who tire quickly but soon recover. (Alexander Technique.)

The German Monograph-Preparation Commission for the Homoeopathic Field of Therapy has, under the Preparation Monograph for Phosphorus, published the fol- lowing indication(s) in the German Bundesanzeiger (German Federal Gazette) for phosphorus: inflammations of the respiratory, digestive, urinary, and reproductive organs; severe infectious diseases; disorders in convalescence and conditions of ex- haustion, cardiac insufficiency; cardiac pain; circulatory disorders; haemorrhages; blood diseases; vascular diseases; rheumatism; spinal complaints; osteitis and bone decalcification; neuralgia; headaches; paralysis; abnormal growth or development among children; hypersensitivity of the sensory organs; eye diseases; abnormal be- haviour, emotional discord or upset.

The attenuations are prepared from diluted Phosphoric acid, H₃ PO₄ , MW: 98.0.

The main characteristics of Phosphoric Acid are weakness, apathy, indifference and sluggishness of mind and body. Complaints are aggravated by cold and amelio- rated by warmth. The patient may lie there in a state of unconsciousness or as if drugged, without being aware of what is going on around him. However, on waking he is fully conscious (Nash).

However, Phosphoric Acid is not only indicated in typhoid conditions, but the de- pression of the senses may also be due to personal problems and emotional burdens of external origin, rather similar to Ignatia, but substantially deeper-rooted, the pa- tient appearing to be paralysed by grief or other problems. A crushing pressure is often present in the vertex, with pains in the occiput or neck.

In contrast to Calcium Carbonicum patients, who are mostly pyknic, Phosphoric Acid patients grow too quickly. We then find headaches, especially in school pupils when they have grown too fast.

The abdominal symptoms include flatulent distension, rumbling and gurgling and noises as of water, and a colourless painless diarrhoea without any noteworthy weakness or exhaustion. This is in strong contrast to China. Both this remedy and Phosphoric Acid are good remedies for the consequences of masturbation.

There is a characteristic sleeplessness at night, with debilitating sweats and wak- ing with ravenous hunger and a craving for cold milk or beer. After meals the patient complains of great exhaustion and possibly sour eructations or a taste as of rotten eggs. After drinking water there is heartburn, or vomiting of sour mucus, which makes the teeth feel blunt.

The weakness which runs through the whole remedy also finds expression in the respiratory organs. Here the patient is so short of breath that he cannot talk for long on account of weakness in the chest. Spasmodic painful constriction of the chest may also occur, and coughing with tickling in the larynx. There is chronic laryngeal and bronchial catarrh, with a tendency to bleeding, dryness and roughness in the throat. A nasal voice is also typical.

A typical genito-urinary symptom is an escape of prostatic fluid (prostatorrhoea) before urination, and frequent urination at night. The urine may have a red sediment and a greasy layer on the surface. The urine is generally very copious and light- coloured, watery or milky. Headache is ameliorated by copious urination (cf. Gelsemium.)

There is impotence in males, with failure to maintain the erection during coitus, and without seminal discharge. This can frequently be a consequence of coitus in- terruptus or masturbation. There is an itching of the scrotum, anus or vagina.

The menses arrive late and are scanty. There is leucorrhoea with large lumps and an unbearable odour.

Summing up the main symptoms of Phosphoric Acid, we have the following typi- cal remedy-picture:

1. Mental exhaustion. Weakness of memory. Consequences of personal problems, over-work and sexual excesses. Reluctance to talk. Sleepiness.
2. Aggravation from cold, amelioration from keeping warm.
3. Sleepiness during the day and sleeplessness at night, with exhausting sweats. Twitching and movement of limbs during sleep. Worrying or lascivious dreams with seminal emissions. Refreshed by a short sleep. Waking with ravenous hunger.
4. Gums bleed easily. Scurvy. Dryness of the oral mucosa. Tongue coated white or yellow. Aversion to rye-bread, craving for milk or beer. Taste as of rotten eggs.

Vomiting of sweet or sour mucus. Chronic painless diarrhoea which does not ex- haust the patient.

• Irritable conditions of the bladder. Prostatorrhoea before urination. Frequent uri- nation at night. Burning or cutting pains during urination. Retention of urine. Urine has red sediment and greasy layer on the surface.
• Impotence. Seminal emissions. Failure to maintain erection during coitus, with seminal discharge lacking. Menses late and scanty. Leucorrhoea with large lumps, offensive.
• 7.   Itching of the anus vagina and scrotum.
• Chronic catarrh of the larynx and air passages.

The German Monograph-Preparation Commission for the Homoeopathic Field of Therapy has, under the Preparation Monograph for Acidum phosphoricum, pub- lished the following indication(s) in the German Bundesanzeiger (German Federal Gazette) for phosphoricum acidum: exhaustion of the mental and physical activity, disturbances of the calcium metabolism, diarrhoea.

The attenuations are prepared from the glycoside, Phlorizine, C₂₁H₂₄O₁₀ · 2H₂O, MW: 427.4, which occurs in the bark of root and trunk and in the branches and leaves of various members of the Rosaceae family, e.g. apple, cherry, and plum trees.

When small quantities of Phlorizine are taken or, better, injected subcutaneously, this precipitates a severe glycosuria which occurs without any preceding hypergly- caemia and continues even when the blood-sugar level becomes low. This effect comes about because the kidney has become permeable to lower levels of blood-glu- cose.

In kidney diseases, glycosuria occurs late, minimally or not at all. Thus it seemed obvious and consistent with the Law of Similars and the Reversal effect (Arndt- Schulz) to use Phlorizine in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. However, this was not attended by spectacular success, probably because in most cases of diabetes mellitus we are dealing with degeneration phases or genetically determined phases which, being cellular phases, are on the right of the Biological Division, and are therefore, as Hahnemann remarked in the Organon, no longer fully accessible to cure with single homoeopathic remedies in most cases, being manifestations of Psora.

A doctor who is working in a biological way and is not achieving results with sin- gle remedies along the lines of classical homoeopathy enlists a number of curative possibilities which can be realised throug E. Bürgi’s synergistic principle, i.e. com- bination-remedies, especially if these are used parenterally and thus come into close contact with the body’s Greater Defensive System directly and possibly undiluted.

The mother tincture is prepared from the whole fresh plant, gathered when coming into flower, of Petroselinum crispum [Mill.] Nym. ssp. crispum, a native of Southern Europe and cultivated in many places as a culinary herb and for the production of the essential oil. N.O. Umbelliferae.

The main indications are:

Bladder problems. Sudden, irresistible urging to urinate. Itching in the urethra (which may cause impotence owing to a persistent disorder resulting from the im- pregnation effects of retoxic treatment of gonorrhoea).

The German Monograph-Preparation Commission for the Homoeopathic Field of Therapy has, under the Preparation Monograph for Petroselinum crispum, published the following indication(s) in the German Bundesanzeiger (German Federal Gazette) for petroselinum: inflammations of the urinary tract; irritable urinary bladder.

The attenuations are prepared by retification of naturally-occurring rock oil, a clear colourless liquid boiling between 180 and 220 °C.

Nash describes Petroleum as one of our best antipsoric remedies, its skin eruptions being very similar to those of Graphites, occurring in the creases of joints and in folds of skin, e.g. behind the ears, on the scrotum, on the female genitalia, and on hands, feet and legs. The characteristic leading symptom is the aggravation in win- ter, the hands become cracked, chapped and bleeding, covered in eczema during winter-time and typically healing up in summer. Thus Petroleum is also a good rem- edy for chilblains and, like Hepar Sulphuris, shows an aggravation in cold weather or cold air. The slightest injury or abrasion of the skin suppurates just as in Hepar Sulphuris also.

A further important symptom of Petroleum is nausea and vertigo while travelling, so that it can be used for sea-sickness and train-sickness.

Nash also mentions a particular kind of headache in the occiput, which feels as heavy as lead with a dizzy sensation.

Cracking in the joints can also respond favourably to Petroleum, as it does to Causticum, and there is a pain in the stomach, ameliorated by eating, and diarrhoea and dysentery which are aggravated during the daytime.

Thus Nash includes Petroleum among the main antipsorics, such as Sulphur, Graphites, Causticum and Lycopodium.

Mention must also be made of the nervous irritability which is found in Petroleum patients, also restless sleep with great excitement and internal heat and tossing about in bed (similar to Sulphur), starting up in fear with anxious dreams and phantasies, and also with palpitation and trembling in the limbs; during the day there is sleepiness and fatigue, the patient possibly falling asleep unexpectedly while sitting quietly. There may be restlessness and discontent, an excited manner, easily aroused to out- bursts of temper and displaying strong feelings. The patient can be angry, but may also be gloomy, despondent and anxious, finally becoming dispirited. There may also be forgetfulness and disinclination for mental exertion, with weakness of intellect, and also vertigo, heaviness and swimming in the head, and tinnitus, associated with dull, drawing headaches.

The skin conditions of Petroleum may extend to the mucosa of the eyes, with dacry- ocystitis, lachrymation, easy tiredness of the eyes, weakness of vision and floaters.

Otitis externa with chronic inflammatory discharge, associated with tinnitus and hearing impairment also responds to Petroleum, as does epistaxis with ulcerations of the nasal mucosa.

Also particularly characteristic are the dislocated pains in the shoulder, elbow, hand and finger joints; the lower jaw is also easily dislocated and there may be stiffness in all joints and cramps in the thighs, calves and feet which is intensified during the day. Petroleum can likewise be used to good effect in stomach complaints as part of the duodenal syndrome; there is then often offensive mouth-odour with ulcerative stom-

atitis and a white, mucous coating of the tongue, and accompanying tonsillitis. There may also be flatulent abdominal distension, watery vomiting and large quantities of foetid diarrhoea. Defaecation is often followed by a sensation of great weakness and itching in the anus with burning and stinging in the rectum.

In addition to pruritus of the male and female genitalia with a tendency to eczema, there is also neuralgia of the spermatic cord and testes and burning irritation in the urethra, and in women there is vaginal discharge like egg-white.

Typical of Petroleum is always the aggravation from travelling and in winter, espe- cially of skin complaints, or also from vexation.

If the main symptoms are summed up, the result is the following typical remedy- picture:

1. Chronic rheumatism. Arthritis and arthroses with cracking and grating in the joints. Habitual subluxation of the mandible. Aggravation in winter.
2. Tendency to catch colds easily. Fatigue and shivering. Swimming in the head after mental exertion. Depressive mood.
3. Skin eruptions with moist, sore eczemas in the creases of the joints and behind the ear. Scrotal eczema. Chapped, cracked hands, chilblains. Rhagades. Foetid sweat in the axillae, on head, hands and genitalia. Stubborn ulcers on the toes.
4. 4.   Dandruff on the head. Lachrymation. Fistulae. Ototis externa. Purulent inflamma- tions of the nasal mucosa.
5. Vertigo and nausea when travelling. Sea-sickness. Nausea and vomiting (also in pregnancy).
6. Duodenal syndrome with diarrhoea and consequent weakness. Ravenous hunger with rapid satiety.

The German Monograph-Preparation Commission for the Homoeopathic Field of Therapy has, under the Preparation Monograph for Petroleum rectificatum, published the following indication(s) in the German Bundesanzeiger (German Federal Gazette) for petroleum: various skin diseases; inflammations of the respiratory passages, the gastrointestinal tract, and the urinary organs; rheumatism; vertigo.

The attenuations of this nosode are prepared from pertussis immunoglobulins.

The main indications are:

In whooping cough (pertussis) and all types of cough. Also in emphysema, bronchial asthma with attacks of coughing. According to Julian also in neurological diseases of childhood with convulsions; also in tetany, epilepsy and imbecility, should whooping cough appear in the medical history.

The attenuations are prepared from Benzylpenicillin potassium, C₁₆H₁₇KN₂O₄S, MW: 327.5 (Potentised allopathic compound).

The main indications are:

Iatrogenic damage during or after treatment with antibiotics, sulphonamides etc. General exhaustion, only feels well when lying down. Eczemas. Urticaria. Warts. Stinging pains in various places, aggravated by movement (cf. Bryonia). Supra-orbital neuralgia, also behind the right eyeball (cf. Chelidonium, Sanguinaria, Belladonna). Restless sleep. Waking around 2:00 a.m. Conjunctivitis. Blepharitis. Protracted colds. Eczema of the auditory canal. Tinnitus. Cardiac asthma. Dry, hoarse cough.

Pains under the sternum with palpitations, tachycardia. Angina pectoris. Paraes- thesias in the extremities.

Bleeding of the gums. Imprints of the teeth show on the tongue, which is coated yellowish-brown. Aphthous stomatitis. Constipation with umbilical pain and disten- sion. Renal pains. Albuminuria and oedema. Leucorrhoea. Pains in the joints and muscles.

Aggravation from movement, damp cold, and at 4:00 p.m. Amelioration from rest, and in warm dry weather.

Julian (of Paris) recommends the preparation proved by Guermonprez in 1954/55 in chronic reticuloendotheliosis (Letterer-Siwe disease).

The German Monograph-Preparation Commission for the Homoeopathic Field of Therapy has, under the Preparation Monograph for Benzylpenicillinum-Kalium, published the following indication(s) in the German Bundesanzeiger (German Fed- eral Gazette) for penicillin: chronic inflammations of the skin and mucosae.

The mother tincture is prepared from the fresh aerial parts of the plant, Passiflora incarnata L., a native of South America and the East Indies, and cultivated in many places for decoration. N.O. Passifloraceae.

The main indications are:

Nervous sleeplessness. States of restlessness. Addictions.

The German Monograph-Preparation Commission for the Homoeopathic Field of Therapy has, under the Preparation Monograph for Passiflora incarnata, published

the following indication(s) in the German Bundesanzeiger (German Federal Gazette) for passiflora incarnata: insomnia; spasmodic conditions; conditions of restlessness.

The attenuations of this sarcode are prepared from the fresh parotid gland removed from a healthy pig (Sus scrofa domesticus).

The main indications are:

Follow-up treatment for mumps. Cysts and secretory disorders of the parotid gland.