Belladonna
From Lectures on Homœopathic Materia Medica by James Tyler Kent, A.M., M.D. – Lecture 34 of 180
Source pages 670–754 of the Nalanda Digital Library edition (public domain)
Generalities and modalities: Belladonna is a remedy that takes hold of the system with great violence. It is especially suitable to plethoric, vigorous individual, and intellectual people brainy people have complaints coming on suddenly, providing they are in a substantial state of health, and are reasonably plethoric and vascular.
The complaints of Belladonna come on suddenly, run a regular course, and subside suddenly. The pains and suffering come on suddenly and with great violence, and subside suddenly.
Colds ultimate rapidly, run a sharp course, a course of great violence, and subside sudden. Belladonna especially affects the whole vascular system, the heart, lungs, brain and nervous system.
Among the earliest conditions to examine is the heat. It has inflammations of all the organs, especially the brain, lungs, and liver.
The intestines are also involved as well as the other organs. These inflammations are always attended by violent heat; the heat is some thing unusual.
It is more marked in Belladonna than in almost any other remedy. When you put your hand upon a Belladonna subject you will suddenly withdraw it, the heat is so intense.
The memory of the heat is carried in the hand and fingers for some time.
Pains, inflammations, and sufferings, nightly attacks of delirium, violent attacks inflammatory in character are attended with that kind of heat.
No matter where the inflammation is, there is that same intense heat, There are times, though, when that kind of heat is present, and it is not Bell., and that is when the fever is of the continued type.
Fever: Bell. has no continued fever in it. It is true the older books tell you about Bell. for this violent heat in typhoid and some other continued fevers, but if you examine Bell. from beginning to end you will find nothing continued in its fever.
Its fever is remittent. It never comes on in its complaints gradually like typhoid. It has not the gradual rise and the gradual fall like a continued fever.
I only mention that so that you will not be lost.
Our lamented Hering, one of the ablest teachers the world ever had, classes Bell. for typhoid fever when the delirium and the heat are somewhat like Bell., but let me tell you just what will take place.
When you give Bell. for the delirium in typhoid fever – for such a delirium as looks like Bell. – you may subdue the delirium, but other manifestations will rise in that fever.
You will not subdue the fever, but you will subdue the patient. The patient will be sick longer, will go into a greater state of prostration than if you had let that delirium alone.
But Stramonium fits perfectly Hering’s description of a case in which he says Bell. should be given.
The idea of that heat must be well fixed in the mind.
Heat, intense heat, violent heat.
There is another phase of Bell. that runs all through these inflammatory complaints and its fevers.
The inflamed parts, and very commonly the skin, are very red, and, as the inflammation advances, grow dusky; as the fever advances the face becomes mottled; but the first representation of Bell. is bright red, and the skin is shiny.
An inflamed part than can be seen will be red. In inflammation of glands the skin over the glands will be bright red in spots.
Hence red spots in the neck over inflamed glands. Inflammation of the parotid glands, inflammation of the sub-maxillary glands, inflammation of the glands of the neck, there will be a spot as red as fire over each.
The throat is as red as scarlet. The mucus membrane is inflamed, and red as scarlet. After a little it grows dusky, finally mottled; showing the character and direction of the Bell. constitution.
It travels gradually towards a zymotic state, such as we see in scarlet fever, in low inflammatory conditions; at first intense congestion, but vaso-motor paralysis follows.
Intense congestion and blueness, or purple and mottled.
Burning: Another grand feature of Bell. is present in its inflamed parts, and in its painful parts, whenever Bell. brings out anything like a decided action, it has burning; intense burning.
The burning in the throat with a Bell. sore throat is like a coal of fire. Inflammation of the tonsils, burning like fire.
The skin burns, and it is burning hot to the sensation of the patient, and intensely hot to the doctor. The skin burns in scarlet fever. He says,
“It burns so, doctor, it burns so;”
in bilious or remittent fever. In inflammation of an organ, the skin burns, there is a burning fever, and the part itself burns.
Inflammation of the bladder, with burning. Congestion of the brain, and the head burns. Congestion of the throat, and the throat burns.
It is hot locally, and it also burns subjectively. In gastritis there is burning.
In inflammation of the liver, the liver burns. Congestion of the liver with jaundice, and the liver burns. Now, we have three leading features; do not call them “key notes,” for that is not what I mean; heat, redness and burning.
We will see how they modify the whole feature of the sickness, how they permeate and ramify, and how they take meaning.
Swelling: But, that is not all. We have much swelling in Bell. The inflamed parts swell rapidly; are extremely sensitive to touch; are very painful, with the sensation as if they would burst, with pressive pains, stinging and burning.
There is heat, redness and burning in these inflamed parts, as well as swelling. Swelling, stinging, burning, throbbing. All over he throbs with all congestions and inflammations he throbs.
The part itself throbs, and his carotids throb. When children are sick in bed with congestion of the brain, they have an intensely hot head. If old enough to talk about it, they will say “it burns.”
But then we will notice the throbbing. The temporal arteries and the carotids pulsate, with great violence. A turmoil is going on. An earthquake is taking place. Everything is being shaken when the patient needs Bell.
It is one of the most painful of remedies. It is so sensitive to pain. So sensitive that be suffers more than ordinary people do from the pain.
And, remember, the pains comes suddenly, they re longer or shorter, and they go suddenly. They do this in neuralgia; they do this in inflammatory conditions, they do it in inflamed organs; they do it wherever they come.
Pains, tear, shoot, burn, and sting, and press, and smart, all at once. All of these characteristics are bundled up into one bundle, so that he suffers.
All of his pains are worse from motion, worse from light, worse from a jar, worse from cold. He wants to be wrapped up warmly, and is worse from any exposure or a draft.
The headaches are like many of die other pains; it feels as if the brain was going up and down, tearing and burning at every step he takes, and from every motion of the eyes, or turning the eyeballs, or going up stairs, rising from, his seat, or sitting down; all motion creates violent pains; feels as if the head would burst, as if the eyes would be pressed out. If he moves he starts the heart to pulsate on his sore parts and he calls them “hammering pains.”
Wherever that pain is he cannot have it touched. If it is touched it will throb. If uncovered it will become worse. If some one walks across the floor, the jar makes him worse.
The jar of the bed, if he is in bed, is a common aggravation of Bell. If he is so sick that he is in bed, the jar of the bed makes all of his complaints worse.
You go to the bedside of a patient suffering from, an inflamed liver, and he will not let you put your hand on the bed, for the jar makes him worse. If the pain is in the abdomen; if it is an inflamed uterus; if it is in confinement, it is the same.
This aggravation from the jar is such a marked feature that it is not always confined to inflammations. It is often a modified in a state of nervous hyperesthesia.
A woman in confinement, when there is no inflammation, and none threatening, is in such a state of hyperesthesia that she wants the windows closed to keep the air out; she does not want to be touched; she does not want the bed moved, any little jar aggravates; she is so sensitive to a jar, even when there is no sensitive part.
You go to such a case, and you will realize in time that you are going to have a difficult and painful labor, without Bell.
But with a dose of Bell. all of these complaints pass away quickly, so quick is the action of this medicine. The jar of the bed will often reveal to you the nature of the remedy. If you walk to the bedside of a patient suffering from gallstone colic, with violent pains, he cannot have the bed touched.
His face is red, his skin burns, he cannot be touched, he is in excruciating, agony, and he tells that before you have crossed the room, You see it all. He says,
“Don’t touch the bed, doctor.”
That is a special feature; the aggravation from a jar is marked.
Spasms: general spasms and local spasms. Spasms of little canals, of the circular fibers, of tubular organs, like that I have spoken of in the gallstone colic.
In the ductus communis choledochus there is a clutching – or it may be in the cystic duct that the circular fibers, clutch that little bit of stone and will not let it through.
The passage is large enough to admit it and it has started to go through – but the irritation of the part causes a spasm and it clutches, that little stone; you put a dose of Bell. on his tongue, the spasm lets up, stone passes on, and there is no more trouble; in fifteen minutes the gallstone colic is gone.
There is never a failure in homoeopathic prescribing in gallstone- colic. The symptoms are not always Bell., but in this instance, where that horrible sensitiveness is present, it is Bell.
“Convulsions in infants.”
They are violent and are usually associated with cerebral congestion. The skin is always in a state of fever. They are brought on from light, from a draft of cold air, from the infant becoming cold.
Nervous, brainy children, those with a good sized head, and plump, large-headed boys; boys especially, but also girls that have boys’ heads, when exposed to the cold have convulsions. Light, motion and cold will bring on these convulsion.
The Bell. subject as an individual, like Bry., is worse in all his complaints from motion.
Motion brings on convulsions, motion brings on pain; motion increases the action of the heart and brings on throbbing; motion brings on many complaints and increases the sufferings.
Now think of these generals whenever you come to Bell. This idea of Bell. must prevail. No matter how many little symptoms you accumulate, get at these first.
Mind: The mental symptoms of Bell. are delightful to study, but dreadful to look upon. The mental symptoms are such as come on in intense fevers, such as are observed in maniacal excitement, in delirium.
Excitement runs all through. Violence runs all through the mental symptoms. The mental symptoms are all active, never passive. There is no passive delirium in Bell. It is a wild state.
He is wild; striking, biting, tearing things; doing unusual things; doing strange things; doing unexpected things. He is in a state of excitability. These mental symptoms that come on during fevers, the delirium and excitement, are very commonly ameliorated by eating a little light food.
That is not generally known in Bell., but it is quite a strong feature. But remember the violence, and with it, if you go to the bedside where there is this violent delirium, keep in mind the heat, redness and burning.
Full of imaginations. Sees ghosts, and spirits, and officers, and wild things. In the early part of the fever the delirium is very violent and excitable; but as it passes on he goes into a sleep, a sort of half-slumber a semi-comatose state.
Apparently in a dream, and he screams out. Dreams horrible things. Sees in his dreams the things that he talks about. When he has real sleep, or resting, as near as it is for him to rest, he has violent dreams; night-mare.
Sees things on fire. He is in a delirium, and in torment. He becomes stupid at times, appears to lose consciousness. Loses the memory of all things and then becomes wild. His delirium goes ort when he appears to be sleeping.
These symptoms often occur with cerebral congestion, the violent cerebral congestion of the infant. If they are old enough to talk they will talk about the hammering in the head.
In Bell. the infant also commonly remains in a profound stupor, the profound stupor that goes with congestion of the brain pupils dilated; skin hot and dry; face red, throbbing carotids.
Finally the child becomes pale as the stupor increases and the neck is drawn back, because as it progresses the base of the brain and spine become involved, and the muscles of the neck contract; drawing the head -backwards; and he rolls the head; eyes staring, pupils dilated.
This mental state is associated with scarlet fever and with cerebro-spinal meningitis.
Again, these mental states take the form of acute mania, when the patient will bite the spoon; will bark like a dog; will do all sorts of violent things; even jump out of the window. He has to be restrained, put in a strait-jacket.
The face is red, and the skin is hot, and the patient at times says that he burns all over, or that the head burns, and the head is very hot.
During all this time the feet are cold. Head hot, feet cold, or feet and hands cold as ice. It seems all the blood is being hurried to the head. All sorts of delusions and hallucinations are mingled with the acute mania; ghosts; horrid monsters; strange things, and deformed subjects.
Fear of imaginary things, and wants to run away. In the delirium of Bell. he wants to jump out of the window, wants to run, wants to get away from his attendants. He thinks they are doing him injury.
Throughout the acute mania, and throughout the delirious state, all the manifestations partake of violence. Destructiveness.
The Bell. patient in the most acute state must be watched, controlled, handled, and sometimes tied. In the text it describes these states as “rage, fury.”
He wants to do violence.
“Moaning. Instead of eating, bit wooden spoon in two, gnawed plate, and growled and barked like a dog. A boy violently sick ran around the room laughing immoderately.”
It has an insane laughter. A loud, boisterous laughter.
“A piece of bread, which he took to be a stone, he threw far from him. He turns and rolls in bed in a perfect rage. Aversion to noise and company.”
Aversion to light; is better in the dark. At times a more passive state intervenes between these attacks of violence.
The active time is always that of violence; but there is sometimes a more passive state when the patient will sit or lie in bed and tear the bed clothing, or break anything that she can get her hands on. If it is a stick, she will break it up.
Running all through the complaints, whether delirium, fever, or pains, there is starting.
Starting in sleep like an electric shock. just as soon as he falls asleep a sensation like an electric shock throughout the body.
“Starts in fright at approach of others. Fear of imaginary things, wants to run away from them.”
“Great anxiety” runs through the remedy. As a patient comes out of these attacks of delirium, as he comes out of convulsions, fear is depicted upon the face.
The patient is in great excitement; the circulation is in a state of great excitement; the heart is in great excitement; motion and emotion increase the beating of the heart.
It may have been gleaned that Bell. is a remedy that is over sensitive; a state of hyperesthesia extreme irritability of tissues. This is said to be an increased irritability of the nerve centres.
This develops a state of increased ability to taste, and to smell and to feel; excitability of the sensorium.
Sensorium: Sensitive to impressions. Sensitive to light, to noise, to touch, to jar. The sensorium is violently excited.
Excessive nervous irritability stands out, perhaps, as one of the most prominent features of Bell. in contrast with medicines like Opium that deprive the patient of all sensitivity.
The more congestion there is in Bell. the more excitability. The more congestion there is in Opium the less excitability.
And yet they are very similar in many respects; very similar in aspect; in the appearance of the eyes and face; similar in pathological states. If I were to prescribe on the pathological state, the congestion of the brain, the appearance, without taking in the intensity of the one or other, I would not be able to distinguish between Opium and Bell.
They often antidote each other. But we do not prescribe on pathology, but upon symptoms, after careful individualization.
“Vertigo,” with this intense excitability. Turning in bed, or moving the head makes him dizzy.
“Things go round.”
“Vertigo with pulsations.”
Moving the head increases the pulsation, and the vertigo. The patient lies in bed; cannot hold the head up.
This increase sensitiveness especially applies to the scalp. We notice it particularly in the woman. She cannot have the hair bound up. It is often the case that Bell. patients will not have the hair combed or brushed.
“Lets the hair hang down the back;” so sensitive is the scalp.
“Hair feels as if pulled. Does not want the hair touched.”
There are some remedies that correspond to extreme irritation in very sensitive natures; like Hepar, where she faints with the pain; like Nitric acid, when cannot bear the noise of vehicles going along the street, because it creates such violent sufferings; like Coffea, where footsteps aggravate all the complaints; he was so sensitive to pain that the noise of one entering the door when he was on the third floor aggravated his sufferings intensely, though no one else could hear it.
In Nux vomica, even the sound of footsteps increases the pain all over the body. Bell. has in its nature all this sensitiveness to pain. It is a part of the general sensorium; the who bodily state is intensified.
The Chamomilla patient is oversensitive to pain, but we do not need to sympathize with the Chamomilla patient, he will fight it out himself. But you will pity the Belladonna patient, you will pity the Pulsatilla patient, and the Nitric acid patient.
A strange part of it also is the reactive excitability. The reaction to medicine is so quick and so sudden that I have many times heard a patient say, before I had turned my back away from the bed,
“That medicine has relieved me,” so quick is the reaction.
In many medicines reaction is slowed down, but in Bell. it is intensified. So it is in Nux vomica and in Zincum. When the case is very acute, but sometimes also when the case is somewhat chronic, this sensibility is marked.
Cuprum is so sensitive all over. It has sensitive warts; it has sensitive skin, sensitive polypi, everything sensitive; and it is so sensitive in its reaction that, when it is needed, partially indicated remedies will not work, because the patient is so oversensitive to everything that everything overacts.
The smallest dose, the mildest dose, the simplest dose overacts and everything aggravates. Odors aggravate; well selected remedies disturb instead of cure.
Cuprum tones down, relieves that sensitivity, and well-selected remedies will then act curatively and long. Cuprum lacks it in that high state of congestion – it is not like Bell. in that; Cuprum does not have that sensibility along with the active fever and congestion, the throbbing and disturbance of the circulation; but it has it in a chronic state.
Women and children are so sensitive that they get no sympathy and it is not suitable for hysterical ones either, but those that are not able to control themselves perfectly. Such is Cuprum.
We have medicines that are suitable to sensitive people, and especially sensitive women. Sensitive to odors, sensitive to every conceivable influence.
The doctor who will go out and take care of these poor sick little mortals, who understands their nature, perceives their quality, and relieves them of their suffering will command the whole community, in spite of the reputation of all the doctors that are there before him.
He must not be one who measures everybody by his own sensorium he may be a pachyderm, but he will find patients that are sensitive.
Head: This sensitivity is present in most of the Bell. headaches. There are stabbing pains, throbbing pains, shooting pains, all in connection with congestion.
They are all sensitive to motion, to every jar, to light, even to the winking of the eyes; sensitive to draft. Bell. will be indicated when the head is rolling – the patient rolling the head because the pain is so severe he cannot keep still, although the motion increases the headache.
A child lies and turns and tosses its head with congestion of the brain, screaming out with the brain cry, a sudden shriek. After awhile it wakes up and commences to toss the head, and every few minutes it shrieks with that brain cry; it is going into a stupor, the neck is drawn back, the face is flushed, it is now becoming pale.
There are times of stupor, and in that stupor the child cries out. In all brain troubles we must be careful about feeding much, or overloading the stomach, because the stomach is very feeble. It will not digest much, but the food should be well selected and light.
Great heaviness of the head. The head feels like a weight, and is drawn back. Sometimes we see the head drawn back from contraction of the muscles of the neck when the membranes of the upper portion of the spine are involved.
Again, we see the Bell. patient drawing the head back himself, because drawing the head back often ameliorates the violent headaches.
This amelioration is kept up so long as he holds the head back. Aggravated from bending the head forward when sitting, from bending the head forward when standing, or stooping. It feels as if the brain would fall out or push forward.
This in creases the headache so much that it sometimes turns into knife-like, or hammering pains. These are the expressions used.
Sensation of nails and hammers, jagging and tearing; but with all, pressure and throbbing. When rising from a seat these sensations are all intensified. Throbbing pulsation, like hammers hitting the inside of the sore skull, described by patients as if the inside of the skull was one continuous sore and was being pecked by hammers with every pulsation.
Some times it will settle down while sitting still, or while lying; but rising up from a chair will set that hammer going.
“Expansive” is an expression that is often used by the patient, and it was used by the provers. Expansive sensation, as if the head was enlarged; pressure from within out.
All these headaches are relieved by pressure upon the outside. Sudden touch or pressure will aggravate; but pressure that is gradually increased and brought to bear carefully upon the head will ameliorate, like the pressure of a bandage, or a tight-fitting cap.
Again, all of these headaches are brought on by exposure to the cold air; from standing in the cold air with the head uncovered. Sometimes a severe headache will come on from merely having the hair cut. Congestion of the head lasts for days, with throbbing and pulsating; from having the hair cut.
Ear troubles, chest complaints, rheumatic complaints come on from having the hair cut, or from standing in the cool air with the hat off; so sensitive is the head to cold.
It may be said of this remedy that complaints of various parts of the body come through the head and go downwards, Complaints in the lower extremities, rheumatic complaints of the joints, with great redness and swelling, come on from uncovering the head, from exposure of the head, or from getting the head wet, or from being caught in a shower.
There is one complaint which will puzzle you if you ever meet it and you do not know just what I am going to tell you.
The complaints of Bell. in a general way are ameliorated from rest, and aggravated from motion; but there is a kind of restlessness with tearing pain from the hips down, most troublesome to observe, that keeps the patient walking all of the time.
The instant there is rest the pains come on. They sometimes shoot downwards, they sometimes tear up and down the nerves; and this comes on from exposure of the head, and not from getting the feet wet.
Complaints of Aconit and Pulsatilla come on from getting the feet wet, and these complaints rise upwards, come on through the feet and go upwards and affect the head.
Bell. complaints come on from exposure of the head and go downwards; sometimes affect the head sometimes the chest sometimes the stomach, sometimes centre in the abdomen, sometimes centre in the uterus and ovaries.
Rhus has complaints from getting wet, but the complaints are in the parts that are wet. If he gets the legs wet he will have rheumatism in the legs.
There is a vast distinction, and this distinction has to be made in almost every prescription you will make. Homoeopathy is a matter of individualization as to how complaints spread. Some complaints begin on the right side of the body and spread to the left.
Some complaints begin in the top of the body and go downwards. That is the way this remedy acts. In some remedies the exposure of the feet to an ice cold draft mill bring on headache (Silic.); but in Bell, the exposure will bring on a headache, or neuralgia of the lower extremities. Now that pain that comes on from rest is an exception in Bell. That illustrates again the importance of distinguishing very decidedly between generals and particulars.
Without knowing “Generals” and “Particulars” you will never do accurate prescribing. The lower extremities here are the particulars. The patient and the general condition of the patient are ameliorated by rest; the symptoms of the patient are ameliorated by rest.
All of those symptoms that can be predicted of the patient himself are ameliorated by rest, but the pains of the lower limbs, as described, those neuralgic pains are ameliorated by motion, and come on in rest.
That does not mean that all the pains in the lower extremities are ameliorated by motion, because the pains in rheumatism are invariably ameliorated by rest, and aggravated by motion.
Those tearing pains, from the hips downwards, with no swelling, come on during rest. All remedies are full of freaks, and it is the figuring out of these peculiarities that enables us to do good prescribing.
With all the complaints of Bell. do not lose sight of the congestion upwards.
“Rush of blood to the head. Cold extremities.”
Cold feet, cold hands; hot head.
Eyes: Inflammatory conditions of the eyes.
“Glistening eyes. Dilated pupils. Flushed face. Intense redness of the inflamed part.”
Inflammation of all the tissues of the eyes, the lids, and all the parts of the eyeball, with most violent pain. Heat, redness, and burning.
These three strong features that run through the remedy will be found in the eye sufferings. Pulsation, tumefaction, lachrymation; intense pains; sufferings all worse from motion, and worse from light.
Most intense photophobia.
“Flashes of light and flickerings before the eyes,”
When reading, lines appear crooked.
“Dimness of vision, or actual blindness.”
Intense congestion and fullness of all the parts.
“Apoplexy of the retina. Half-opened, protruding, staring eyes.”
You will see that in the infant when the child lies in a stupor; eyes half open; congestion of the brain; face flushed and intensely hot; rolling the head from side to side; if it has been going on for several days the face will – later become pallid, and the neck drawn back.
In these congestive troubles, lying with the eyes half open; almost no winking.
“Orbital neuralgias. Protruding eyes, with dilated pupils. Inflammation of the optic nerve and retina. Eyes congested and red.”
Another feature belonging to the eye is strabismus. Not those cases coming on gradually, such as will, need the surgeon, but those that come on with congestion of the brain, with this state of congestion and dilated pupils and rolling the head from side to side, flushed face, throbbing carotids and intense heat.
After a day or two the eye begins to turn in, and the little one is cross-eyed. That is an additional indication for Bell. Sometimes, coming out of a severe congestion, the strabismus remains and Bell. is sometimes the suitable remedy.
All of these cases coming on from the circulatory, conditions should be cured with remedies. They should never be sent to the surgeon. Though they re some time, even months, they will be cured by well-selected remedies, while those that come on gradually, and those that are born so, will not be relieved by remedies.
Only those spasmodic ones mat are associated with, and come on from, congestion of the brain. In connection with congestion of the liver and duodenal catarrh there is yellowishness in the eyes.
Ears: In inflammations of the ear which go on to suppuration Bell. is rarely useful. We have to look to deep acting remedies.
We may have the pain, tenderness, over sensitiveness, all inflammatory conditions; but cases requiring Bell. rarely go on to suppuration.
Mucous: Now we come to the mucous membranes, the nose, mouth, throat, larynx, chest, the mucous membrane extending into the car through the Eustachian tube, and we have another strong feature of Bell. which characterizes most of its conditions.
Great dryness; a sensation of dryness.
Dryness in the nose; mouth; of the tongue; in the throat; in the chest, and such evidences as dry cough and spasmodic conditions.
These are so general. that with the nose symptoms, the coryza, the throat symptoms, the cough, this is intensified; dryness of mucous membranes will generally be found. It is that way with Phos.
When Phos. has a sore throat it will have dryness of the mouth, tongue and air passages.
This is general as to the respiratory tract. Then there is coryza with much sneezing,
“Pricking, burning in the nose.”
Hot sensation in the nose. The general states present Much redness of the face, much heat with the coryza; hot head, cold extremities; marked headache, because there is dryness.
The very dryness itself is sometimes causative of pain, because the natural flow from the mucous membranes is dried up.
Whenever we have checked secretions we have fever, and in Bell. this is marked. Checking of the discharge with fever, with heat, redness and burning; red face, burning face; heat in the face and head, and cold extremities. It says in the text,
“maddening headache, with suppressed catarrh.”
Now, in such a climate as this most people during winter and cold weather and the changes have more or less mucous flow from the nose, and eyes, and air passages.
They are better when this takes place. All at once it stops, and all the parts become dry; then look out.
An awful, maddening, throbbing headache comes on. It is not so suitable for those old catarrhs where there is a copious flow of thick, yellow mucus.
The catarrhal state wherein Bell. is useful is simply the exaggeration of the whitish mucous flow. Where it has been thick and yellow, and then stops suddenly from a cold, and a coryza comes on, Bell. is worthless.
Always bear in mind that you select for suppressed catarrh a medicine that is within the sphere of the symptoms that have been suppressed. Hence, the medicine for thick, yellowish-green discharges might be Merc., Sulphur, or Pulsatilla; then you are within the range of medicines capable of re-establishing the flow, and at the same time beginning a curative effect on the state of the tissue, leaving the patient in a much better state.
Face: Violent faceaches. Rending, tearing pains in the face; throbbing pains in the face. Pains in the face worse on the right side; worse from a jar; with much heat; throbbing carotids; hot head; brought on from exposure to cold wind, and riding in the cold wind.
Bell. has cured paralytic conditions, but Causticum is generally the remedy for paralysis of the face from riding in a cold wind. Spasms of the muscles of the face.
Extraordinary twitchings of the face. Erysipelas in the face; a bright red gradually becoming purple if there is a fever accompanying it. In the neuralgic pains there is always more or less congestion of the face with violent pains, and the face will be bright red.
With the zymotic state, as the febrile condition becomes more profound, and as the blood becomes more zymotic, the face grows from duskiness into a mottled state, as you will see in Baptisia, more marked in Baptisia than in Bell.
“Red face, with burning heat.”
The teeth are full of pains, congestions, and aches of a similar character. Very sensitive teeth.
The tongue should be a dry tongue, as that is general with its mucous membranes. Dry mouth; dry tongue; swollen tongue; protruding tongue, dry and hard, feels like leather.
Loss of sensation, loss of taste, loss of power of the tongue and loss of speech are all Bell. features.
“Paralytic weakness of the tongue; trembling of the tongue when it is protruded.”
It comes out weak, In a very few days the Bell. fever patient is greatly reduced, is greatly exhausted, has almost a paralytic weakness.
When he raises the hand and holds it a moment it trembles in the same way.
That which is found in the tongue is only a part of the general state. Trembling from congestion of the nerve centers. The papillae of the tongue are erect, and the tongue is bright red. Bright red tongue in scarlet fever. Bright red tongue in congestion of the brain, with the erect papillae.
When going over Arum triphyllum I told you it had been pronounced “strawberry tongue.”
It is the same with Bell. The tongue looks as red as a strawberry, and the papillae stick up like seeds.
“Red streak in the middle of the tongue, wide and broader towards the point. Tongue, white centre with red edges.”
White tongue with brain affections is not uncommon. It has thick, milk-white, delicate fur all over the tongue in brain troubles.
“Dryness of the mouth, with thirst.”
“Dryness of the mouth, with no thirst.”
Bell. is full of thirst, we will find when we come to study the stomach symptoms.
Stomach: Sometimes Bell. wants large quantities, sometimes water constantly to wet the mouth, like Ars.
It is a common feature in Bell., like Ars., to want water little and often, just enough to wet his parched tongue, mouth and throat.
Dryness in posterior nares, and the mucus that he drags down from the posterior nares is tough and stringy, and very scanty, and it is white, or, if changed at all from white, it is bloody.
Yet I have not said anything about this remedy for bloody discharges and for bleeding. We will find before we finish that it is a haemorrhagic remedy, that parts bleed easily.
There is bleeding from the eyes, bleeding from the nose, bleeding from the throat, bleeding from the larynx, bleeding from the chest, bleeding from the bladder, bleeding from the uterus.
Ulcers bleed. Little fine ulcers in the throat no bigger than a pinhead. Little aphthous patches bleed. An aphthous inflammation of the throat; but the most of the complaints of the throat are dry and red.
Great tumefaction. Extremely sensitive; much swelling; inability to swallow. Great pain on swallowing, with all the sensitivity of the surrounding parts, with the sore throat, and with the inflamed throat.
Inflammation and swelling of the tonsils, with red face, intense heat, throbbing carotids, high fever, coming on from cold. Fauces and pharynx deep red. Soft palate and tonsils swollen.
Swallowing painful, particularly of fluids. Speech thick.
“Feels like a lump in the throat” that is from the swollen tonsils.
Constant scraping and hawking in the throat. The pharynx and larynx are very commonly in a state of spasm; partly from dryness, partly from extreme sensitiveness of the nerves of the part. Clutching of the throat on going to sleep, clutching of throat on coughing. Spasms of the oesophagus.
“Spasmodic constriction of the throat.” Constrictions that are spasmodic.
Constrictions of the larynx, of the pharynx, of the throat. Bell. has constructive pains in parts that feel like the clutch of fingers. That sensation of clutching is felt in the uterus; it is a spasm. It is felt, in the liver; it is felt in the brain; it is felt in the throat. Jerking and twitching of muscles, with violent pain, in painful parts.
That is a strong Bell. 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 Bell., 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 Bell. 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 Bell. 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 Bell. 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 Bell. 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.
Bell. 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 Bell. 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.
Bell. 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. Bell. 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 Bell.
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 Bell. it is just like a cord going around the body of the uterus, tightening it and it interferes with labor.
That is the way it is in its dysmenorrhoea. Violent contraction of the circular fibers, and hence, a woman will often describe it as feeling as if the uterus was clutched with a string. As if it were tightened. Bell. is rich in spasmodic conditions, in haemorrhagic conditions, in states of irritation, and in soreness, and the parts are sensitive to pain, and the woman herself is dreadfully wrought up and shocked by pain.
In addition to that, pains in the ovary. Belladonna acts in many instances on the right side. It is common for the right ovary to be more painful than the left, or the right to be entirely affected and the left not at all, in Belladonna. So it is with the right side of the throat. So it is sometimes in the right side of the body.
“Pains in the ovaries with the appearance of the menses. Pains in the pelvic region, which come on suddenly, and cease as suddenly.”
The characteristic Belladonna pains come on suddenly, sometimes stay a few seconds, sometimes a few minutes, and leave suddenly. Pains from uterine congestion. Acute inflammation of the uterus.
“Enlargement of the uterus, and periodically spasmodic bearing down,”
It has a relaxation in the parts as well. The uterus has been congested and is enlarged, and heavy, and the little suspensory attachments have become relaxed, and tired, and weak, and have stretched and elongated, and the already distended and over weighted uterus keeps pulling on them, and this creates the sensation that women so often describe, a bearing down sensation as if the uterus would escape.
It is sometimes described as a funneling sensation. These are the expressions of women when they suffer from prolapsus. That relaxation is common in a great number that have been poisoned with Ergot.
The uterus comes down and is partly exposed between the labiae. Prolapsus as if the whole inner parts were coming out is a common feature, and with this she is worse from a jar.
There is a great sensitiveness in the parts. There is a great soreness in the uterus, and a sensation of heaviness. I have seen women sit with their limbs wide apart so sensitive is the neck of the uterus that is protruding from the vulva.
“Must sit; cannot lie down.”
Many of the Bell. cases cannot lie down, because of the stretching of the abdominal muscles. When they lie down they must draw up the limbs to relax those muscles.
Must sit, or take a flexed posture. Great sensitiveness in the parts. Pressing and urging towards the genitals.
There are all sorts of positions, and aggravations, and ameliorations in Belladonna, in accordance with what particular muscles are involved.
Some patients can lie better than they can sit. Almost all are worse standing. Some are made better by sitting with the limbs, wide apart. Most are aggravated by bending forward too much. Sitting in a chair she cannot bend forward too much, neither can she bend backwards without increasing the suffering.
So sensitive, and so much swelling in these parts. She is worse from motion, worse from jar, worse from excitement, worse from the slamming of the door, because that makes the muscles twitch.
All this illustrates how sensitive the irritated parts are. Then in the external and internal genitals and ovaries there is burning, and twitching, and much heat. Often tearing pains; the tearing pains are generally an exaggeration of those clutchings and constrictions, and such are known as spasms especially of the circular fibres.
Belladonna is well suited to pregnant women who are extremely sensitive, who are plethoric, who have congestion from taking cold, who have soreness, where there is threatened abortion, or during or after abortion when there are hemorrhages.
Then again Bell. is useful in red-faced plethoric, vigorous women who have married late in life and become pregnant, and when the day of delivery comes the muscular fibres are in a state of tension.
The uterus will not relax. She is flushed and has heat, and is in a state of excitement, sensitive to touch, sensitive to jar.
Relaxation will soon follow. It is not to be expected that she will have an easy labor, because women who marry at 28 or 30, or later, suffer from prolonged labor.
There is one strong feature of the hemorrhages and, of the discharges; the flow of blood feels hot. During confinement gushes of blood that feel hot. After abortion, gushes of blood that feel hot.
A lochial discharge that feels hot, along with the sensitiveness and soreness of the parts. Tenderness to pressure.
There are inflammatory conditions of the breasts accompanying confinement. Milk fever. When the breasts become red, extremely sensitive to touch.
She cannot turn over in bed; she cannot have the bed jarred, the face is flushed and the carotids are throbbing; there is fever; the sensitivity is aroused throughout the economy.
Great induration; hard as a stone. Bell. will stop the pain in the breast in a few hours. It will stop that congestion, and, will relieve all suffering.
When the mammary glands are inflamed without any general symptoms but merely an inflammation of the glands give Phytolacca.
Larynx: Inflammation of the larynx. There is that clutching again and choking. It begins with a-rawness in the throat a smarting, and scraping, and the formation of a little mucus. After much scraping and hawking, it extends up the throat a little but before, he begins to cough it is quite dry.
There is smarting, and loss of voice. As soon as he attempts to go into a sleep, that clutch comes on and wakes him up. Hoarseness and rawness and clutching in the throat.
Laryngitis with sensitiveness.
“Sudden attacks of hoarseness;” every motion, or the slightest attempt to talk, the slightest effort to move the larynx or to touch it causes suffering.
Moving the head backward, or moving the head from side to side, causes pain and cough. Swallowing aggravates. As the bolus goes down behind the larynx he feels a great big sore place, it is the larynx. The voice changes.
One minute it is one key, and in another it changes. Sometimes it is hoarse and sometimes it is squeaky. And then, there is complete loss of voice, unable to utter a sound.
“Croup-like spasms in the larynx. Spasms of the glottis. All the symptoms of croup,” but no membrane.
It is simply a dry, denuded larynx, with rawness and scraping; an inflamed condition. And this is the form of the acute laryngitis; it comes ort very suddenly. His respiration is short, rapid and painful. Often asthmatic.
Chest: Asthmatic condition, with spasmodic breathing. And again, these symptoms seem to involve the whole chest. Oppression of the chest. Asthma in hot damp weather.
The Belladonna cough comes on from clutching in the larynx. As it a little speck of something had crept into the larynx; a little dust, or a little food, or a drop of water had gotten into the larynx, and he coughs.
“Dry, spasmodic cough.”
An intense cough. Cough at night. Cough when lying down, more at night than in the daytime. The cough is spasmodic, barking, short. It is a remedy for whooping cough, with spasms of the larynx which cause the whoop and difficulty of breathing.
Finally after long coughing, the expectoration of a little blood, or a little thin white mucus, is the result of the violent turmoil going on in the air passages from coughing. The Belladonna cough is peculiar.
As soon as its great violence, and the great effort have raised a little mucus he gets peace for a little while, and stops coughing. But during the restful period the larynx and the trachea, and the air passages grow dryer and dryer, and finally they commence to tickle, and then comes on the spasm, as if all the air passages were taking part in it, and the whoop and the gagging, and sometimes vomiting.
Then he gets up a little mucus and the cough subsides. Another little interval and he has another spell. That is the way its goes on, like whooping cough, but during, all of the interim there is constant dryness. Hence the cough is called paroxysmal.
Tightness in the chest, Painfulness in the chest. Soreness in the chest. In Bell. the child will cry the instant it feels that urging to cough, because it knows what a great suffering is going to take place. The chest is so painful, the child dreads the cough and screams. By the child’s cry we know that it is going to have a coughing spell .
Just like, Bry.., Hepar and Phos., which have that feature more, than other remedies. There is burning in the chest; violent congestion in the chest; With all of these chest complaints there is that dry, harassing spasmodic cough; worse at night.
This remedy cures pneumonia and pleurisy. I am sure every one here could picture a Belladonna pneumonia, or a Belladonna pleurisy. I am sure you know the patient so well that I need not describe the patient, the head, the congestion, the red face, or the burning; but in pleurisy I will tell you its secret. Bell. prefers the right side.
Great pain; extreme soreness of the part; cannot lie on it; worse from the jar of the bed and you have the Bell. pleurisy.
Bry. also prefers the right side, but the Bry. patient must lie on that side; must have pressure, and is not so sensitive to a jar; he has not the intense heat, he has riot the great throbbing, and the burning.
Every kind of sickness that you go to you have to individualize in that way. There is no other way to practice Homoeopathy.
Remember, with all the inflammatory conditions there will be throbbing heat redness, burning, soreness to touch, and sensitiveness to a jar.
With Bell. it means he cannot lie on the inflamed part; while with Bry. he is ameliorated from lying on the inflamed part.
Throbbing in all the arteries. Great congestion. Vascular excitement. These are present with all the congestions, and inflammations.
Joints: Belladonna cures inflammatory rheumatism, when all the joints are swollen, or a great number of them, and they are hot, red, and burn.
We have in the rheumatism the heat, redness and burning running through; with the same sensitiveness of the whole patient, and a sensitiveness of the joints to the jar of the bed.
He wants to lie perfectly still is very much worse from motion and has considerable fever. Sometimes when the fever in inflammatory rheumatism runs pretty high there is delirium. But the striking features are the swelling of the joints with the redness, and great sensitiveness to motion and to a jar.
It is especially suitable to those that are very sensitive to cold, who cannot bear the least uncovering, cannot bear a draft, very sensitive to the motion, of the covers, and ameliorated by heat.
The very stamp and character of Bell. is in its rheumatic state, like it is in all of its other complaints. It is the patient that has given Bell. that character in provings; it is the patient that gives disease that character when he had it, and it is only the fulfillment of the Law of Similars when these come, together, and the remedy annihilates the sickness.
Inflammation of the joints, coming on from sudden exposure of that particular joint. Or from a severe attack of cold one joint becomes inflamed. A trouble that is localizing itself. It may be any joint- of the body, for Bell, affects all the joints.
The sudden exposure to cold in plethoric individuals, is one of the most prominent. causes of the Bell. sickness. In chronic cases the taking of cold generally, locates, or creates, a disturbance, and increases disorder, that manifests itself in the weakest place.
Vigorous people take cold in the nose, where they throw it off easily. You can often say to sickly patients that your cold now affects you in the weakest place. If you have liver trouble, “your cold will settle in the liver,” and so on; “but when you get well you will take cold like other people, in the nose.”
Absolutely healthy people seldom take cold, but we do not have many such, they are so rare that we do not often see them; and the snuffles, and sneezing, and the running at the nose are simply throwing off of the cold of ordinarily healthy people.
Limbs: In the limbs, again, we have convulsions, which is a part of the generals. In all the muscles in the limbs, and throughout the body, convulsions.
Children go into convulsions with head troubles, with congestion of the brain, with irritation of the brain. Convulsions from taking cold, in plethoric children, and the limbs are most, likely to show forth these convulsive efforts of the muscles.
Violent cramping. All the limbs are in a state of convulsive movements. Sometimes the spasms are clonic, and sometimes tonic. The convulsions in the limbs are sometimes such as draw them up, suddenly, throw them out suddenly; sometimes convulsions that throw the body backward, called opisthotonos, and sometimes throwing the body forward, called opisthotonos.
The most of the complaints in Bell. are ameliorated by keeping still. The drawing pains, the pulsations, the inflammatory conditions drive the patient into a desire for perfect rest, are aggravated from motion.
The disinclination and aversion to the slightest motion is common in Bell., and as strong in Bell. as in Bry. Bell. is so sensitive in parts that the motions of talking are painful; so sensitive that the conclusion of the voice is painful in the sore spots.
A person with a strong voice, a bass voice, hardly thinks of the concussion that takes place; and much less is that of the female voice, and yet I have seen that aggravation from motion, and that aggravation from jar so marked in the female that her voice was like the pounding of hammers. In inflammation of the uterus, and ovaries, and the bowels, she refrains from talking, because her voice creates a concussion in the sore parts.
That only illustrates the extremes of this great sensitiveness to motion and to jar. Jar is only an exaggerated form of motion, bringing out that sensitiveness.
If you will study the nerves you will find the greatest array of peculiar nervous manifestations, such as sensitiveness of the nerves, aggravated from shock; spasms; various disturbances of the whole nervous, system; twitching; jerking; trembling; subsultus tendinum, etc. Cramps, and spasms, and convulsions in children.
Convulsions: Convulsions come on, with great suddenness.
They come on entirely unexpected. In most instances of convulsions in the long acting remedies and medicines of the zymotic type, the patient has not been prospering in the last days of her gestation; but with Bell. she goes on part way through the labor, or finishes it, and little is expected.
Perhaps her face is a little too red, but she goes into a convulsion unexpectedly, a violent
one from head to foot.
Congestion of the brain, with excitement. Intense heat; everything is intense, violent, sudden and unexpected.
The pains sometimes leave in confinement suddenly, and a convulsion comes on. But look and see that all the sensitiveness that I have described runs through the patient.
The pains cease suddenly. The blood seems to mount to the head. The face becomes red. Congestions come on suddenly. Convulsions epileptiform in character.
Bell. is not suitable for those numerous recurrent complaints, even though the single attack should be mitigated with Bell. Take any of these attacks; whether they are convulsions or headaches, or congestion of the brain, they are running down and become excitable, take on congestive attacks of the head, go right to bed, and roll the head.
You treat those with Bell.; the attack is relieved. Take notice, I start out by saying this is only one of a series. You may not know it. This may be the first one.
You reduce that one, and when that same exposure comes again, that same attack comes back; but Bell. does less this time than it did before. After two or three attacks Bell. will do no more and you are worse off this time than you were before.
When it has broken the first one the physician should see that this is one of a series, and that Bell. is not suitable. Often it is a case that needs Calc., I say often, not always.
All the symptoms should be examined between the attacks, so that the child may be elevated above these attacks because the acute remedy will do no more than suit the first, or second, or third at most. It has not the depth of action, it has not the length of action. It does not affect the economy profoundly enough. It passes away after a few days; has to be frequently repeated.
The patient should be followed up and watched in all these recurrent spasmodic and periodical complaints. Bell. is not a good remedy for recurrent complaints for it lacks periodicity, just as it lacks continuance of complaints.
Even if the first attack looked like Bell.. the next attack would come back just the same. Belladonna is suitable in those complaints that if conquered have no tendency to recur; those complaints that end in death or recovery. It will only mitigate those complaints that are periodical.
Sleep: Its sleep is a congestive sleep, a stupor; full of dreams full of violence. Wake’s with fright from a horrible dream, a nightmare. Jerks and twitches in sleep.
“Restless sleep.”
Moaning and groaning in sleep. Doing all sorts of violence. Delirium in sleep.
“Starts in sleep as if frightened.”
In sleep sometimes the patient will commence to talk, will talk faster and louder, the head becomes hot, and the feet cold, and he ends with a shriek.
“Restless tossing in sleep. Feet becoming icy cold in sleep. Head getting hot, in sleep. Wakes up in a fever, and excitement.”
It has symptoms so much like a typical old-fashioned Sydenham scarlet fever that it has been useful in scarlet fever.
Perhaps it is one of the most frequently indicated medicines in that disease. In some seasons, at least it will run all through, and the majority of cases will be Bell. cases, with the bright red face and glossy appearance of the skin.
Bright red, intense heat, great congestion; after a short time if Bell. is not administered it will grow darker.
But running through all this are those three words, heat, redness and burning. Burning everywhere. The temperature I described among the generals as being so marked, so intense that you will carry it with you on the ends of your fingers for hours after you have touched a Bell. scarlet fever.
It differs wholly from the Apis case, which has a rough rash. Bell. is smooth and shining. Apis wants to be cool, wants to be uncovered; Bell. wants to be warm, wants a warm room; Apis has no thirst, to speak of; in Bell. it is the exception to have no thirst, generally very thirsty for water, little and often.
The intense dryness of the mucous membranes and skin. Coldness of the extremities with hot head. In Arum triphyllum there is a constant picking of the mouth, with suppressed or scanty urine; pale surface, only here and there a little rash; the itching of the fingers, toes, nose and lips will lead you to prescribe Arum.
You remember the Baptisia case, with that mental state where he is feeling all over the bed “to get the pieces together.”
On the other hand, where there is no rash to speak of, now and then a patch enough to make a diagnosis, or the diagnosis is made from the fact of some one else having the disease in the family, the child is swallowing ice water, but vomiting it up when it gets warm in the stomach, who would not give Phosphorus?
So it is at the bedside we pick out the distinguishing, things and see that these remedies are not at all alike.
Bell. stands out with its heat, its redness, its turmoil. Remember it has, not continued fever; it is not suitable in typhoid. Bell. in a night will bring down the fever, will allay the delirium; but how is it the next night?
On comes the fever, and the patient is worse than he was before. Simply because Bell. cannot hold what it starts with. It is not suitable.
It has not that continued feature in it. We are led to a medicine that corresponds to continuous fevers, and such must be selected when we go into the typhoid state.
Our earlier practitioners often only thought of what they saw at the time. It was only after our school had considerable experience that it was found that periodicity constitutes a symptom.
Every remedy has its pace, its times of aggravation and its, times of amelioration.
So it is with Bell. . Its time is 3 o’clock in the afternoon, commonly. Its complaints, are generally worse in the night. Its complaints commonly start about three o’clock in the afternoon, and run till three in the morning, or until after midnight.
So that during the night its fever is highest. The fever comes on, and rises rapidly, to a very high temperature, sometimes 104 ° or 105 °, and runs down again to almost normal; but not with a complete apyrexia.
It is not suitable in complaints with complete apyrexia, for that marks complete periodicity which Bell. has not.
Skin: The heat, the redness and the burning characterize most of the skin symptoms.
It has a fine rash; not the coarse rash, but the fine, scarlet red, smooth rash. It has inflammation of the skin, phlegmonous, a deep inflammation.
First bright red, gradually grows bluish or purple, or mottled; and in this there is the heat, redness and burning.
It is not suitable generally for the erysipelatous inflammation of the skin and deeper tissues, covered with vesicles, like Rhus.
Vesiculation is sometimes present, but it is the exception, while in Rhus it is the general character. Rhus begins with inflammation; it has heat, redness and burning; but whenever Rhus begins an inflammation, just that instant it throws out a great blister and it fills with serum.
Almost any Bell. surface that is inflamed is likely to throw out a red rash. In intense fevers, where there are not scarlet fever or any of the common rashes, a red, fine, glossy eruption is likely to come out.
It is not an uncommon thing in congestion of the brain, and in bilious fevers, for this rash to appear, and it sometimes deceives the physician into making a diagnosis of one of the eruptive diseases, whereas it is a mere hybrid.
The Bell. skin, while it turns red, has such a passive redness that you can write your name, almost, on the skin. As you take your finger and make a line on it, it leaves a white line behind your finger.
That was an old diagnostic phase of scarlet fever, and it shows that Bell. produces upon the surface that peculiar passive congestion very much like the scarlatina. So we have in the Bell. provings a symptom that is even a pathognomonic symptom of scarlatina.
But we do not prescribe on a symptom. Of late years no homoeopathic physician ever thinks of giving a medicine simply for the purpose of bringing the pulse down, or bringing the fever down.
He prescribes for the patient. It is true that the temperature does come down, if we get the right remedy; but to prescribe a remedy to bring the pulse down is going at it wrong end to.
One who thinks homoeopathically never prescribes to remove a symptom; but guided by the symptoms he selects the remedy, no matter what follows.
It is true the symptoms subside. Others might say he prescribed to remove the symptoms, because they subside.
Learn to keep the ideal of Homeopathy in mind, and think rationally; in order to do that you will have to rid yourselves of a tremendous amount of inheritance.
We have inherited the way to think wrong end to.
“Yellowness of the skin from congestion of the liver, and catarrh of the duodenum.”
When persons have been over-medicated with quinine until they take cold on every occasion, and a sudden attack of congestion of the liver comes on, with the great soreness, and the skin becomes yellow with all the sensitiveness of this remedy, Bell. will cure such cases.
There are conditions that follow Bell. that relate to its chronic state. Where Bell. has been suitable for the acute conditions, the congestions, but there is that periodicity that I have mentioned, it has its natural followers, and Calcarea is one of them.
In boys that are big-headed, plump, plethoric, precocious, that take cold easily, and come down, with headaches and congestion; school children that get headaches which Bell.
At first helped; very commonly if you look carefully into the case it will turn out to be a Calc. case.
It is so common for Calc. to relate in this way to Bell.
Now-a-days we frequently find the dry, backing cough in the hands of doctors who have given too much Lachesis.
Lachesis is commonly given to over-sensitive women, and it produces many of those conditions; it sometimes cures great troubles, but it leaves behind for weeks a dry, hacking cough that keeps her from sleeping.
Sometimes it comes on after the first sleep, which is commonly about ii o’clock; a dry, hacking cough from lying down.
Bell. will cure this old effect of Lach., the nervous state and excitability and the cough. Bell. will be suitable as an antidote for Lach., that is, for the acute symptoms.
Calc. is an antidote for the more chronic effects of Lach.
After the abuse of Bell., Calc. comes in as one of the natural antidotes.
Editorial notes
- “excibility of the” corrected to “excitability of the” (transcription error in the digital source text).
- “is yellowisness” corrected to “is yellowishness” (transcription error in the digital source text).
