Materia medica/ knowledge of medicinal powers

I aim to write about the medicines here as given in Materia Medica s, but would confine myself to only bite-size indications. Occasionally do I plan to provide a full meal😊. Most of what I would be posting here would be practical points that can be used in day-to-day practice.
How to perceive a patient’s symptoms and understand them in light of the language of Materia medica is what I plan to present. It will not be something out of the extraordinary but would be of importance, which is sometimes missed in the sea of symptoms in each medicine. I personally am very fond of a few authors and have been trying to follow them. They are Boenninghausen, Boger, Lippe, Pulford, Guernsey, Hering, Allen, Phatak, and the fountainhead Dr. Hahnemann, and most of what I plan to write would be from these. I would also try to give a reference for what I write. I still find myself learning every day and discovering new things; once a student always a student. I however wish to reduce this struggle for others.
Occasionally I will be sharing the drug picture for better understanding.

Hope you find it helpful.

CUBEBA- a snapshot

  • Urinary symptoms with respiratory affections.
  • Bilious temperament with tendency to constipation
  • Leucorrhea in little girls
  • Urinary symptoms
    • Pus like discharge from urethra (compare MERC which is agg at night and PULS which has thick yellow but bland discharge)
    • Urethritis with mucus
    • Pains after urination
    • Haematuria
  • Respiratory
    • Foul expectoration
    • Sore throat
    • Post nasal drip
  • Distended veins on forehead
  • Urticaria

Aude Sapere

CUBEBA- a snapshot Read More »

CEDRON- a snapshot

  • Voluptuous disposition with strong sexual desire
  • Periodicity
    • Complaints occur at the same hour
  • Complaints in warm marshy places
  • Lectrophobia (aversion to bed or lying down sp when sick)
  • Insect and snake bites
  • Neuralgias
  • Headaches
    • One sided
    • Pains around the eyes, shooting to root of nose
    • Severe lachrymation
    • Pains < at 9am
  • Limb pains
    • Severe from thumb to shoulder, and toes to knees
    • Causes her to drop to floor
  • Eyes burn like fire
  • Complaints after coition
    • Chorea in females, neuralgia in males
    • Stammering speech
  • Menses/ menstruation/ periods
    • Offensive breath during
    • Stammering and difficult speech
    • Tongue feels paralysed
    • Great thirst during
    • Convulsions during

(A remedy with marked periodicity with symptoms occurring same hour every day. Severe one-sided headaches with pain in eyes and congestion of nose very similar to cluster headaches sp in females with voluptuous disposition. Complaints are aggravated coition and there’s bad breath during menses.)

Aude Sapere

CEDRON- a snapshot Read More »

HELONIAS DIOICA- a snapshot

  • Fault finding, cannot bear contradiction
  • Profound melancholy (compare CYCLAMEN)
  • Females
    • Unduly exhausted by frequent pregnancies or abortions (compare SABINA, RATANHIA, CIMICIFUGA)
    • Spoiled by luxuries or worn out from mental or physical hard work
    • Overtaxed muscles, they ache.
    • Cannot sleep.
    • Distinct consciousness of womb (of heart- PYROGEN)
    • Dragging down sensation
  • Restless, constantly moves about
  • Pregnancy
    • Salivation during pregnancy
    • Albuminuria
    • Nephritis with severe tiredness during pregnancy
    • Vomiting of, severe, obstinate
  • Dropsy after uterine haemorrhage
  • Tiredness
    • Feels hot when tired
  • Soreness
  • Holding abdo >
  • Severe itching, vulvo vaginitis
  • Constant aching and tenderness over kidneys
  • Menses
    • Profuse
    • Passive, dark, offensive
    • Causing anaemia
    • Swollen breast and tender nipples (CONIUM, LAC CAN)
  • Diabetes
    • Thirsty
    • Emaciated and tired
  • Engaging mind ameliorates, she happy when someone visits her (CAL PHOS, OXALIC ACID)

(Think of a tired and anaemic female who has undergone multiple pregnancies, she’s sad melancholic and depressed. Company > her.)

HELONIAS DIOICA- a snapshot Read More »

AESCULUS HIPPOCASTANUM- a snapshot

A remedy acting mainly on throat, liver, rectum and back and has plethora of concomitants within each of these affected regions with each other.

  • Gloomy, easily angered (composure attained slowly only later)
  • Miserably cross
  • Body feels sore on getting up in the morning
  • Congestion and fullness everywhere
    • Heart, lung, brain, pelvis, stomach etc
    • Venous congestion
  • Mucous membranes raw, hot and dry
  • Haemorrhoids
    • Non bleeding, painful
    • Haemorrhoids in climacteric years
    • With cough (concomitant)
    • With heart complaints (concomitant)
  • Pain in rectum for hours after stools (ALOE, IGNATIA, MURIATIC ACID, SULPH)
  • Coryza, thin, acrid
  • Throat
    • Scrapy
    • Prominent veins
    • Sensitive to inhaled cold air
    • Follicular pharyngitis, pricking, constricted (APIS, BELL), inclined to swallow
      • Liver troubles with (concomitant)
      • Haemorrhoids with (concomitant)
  • Backache
    • With haemorrhoids (concomitant)
    • With prolapsed uterus, acrid leucorrhoea (concomitant)
    • Great prostration with backache, < walking
    • Pregnancy during (concomitant)
    • With chest pains (concomitant)
  • Liver
    • Congested, portal congestion
    • Jaundice
  • Sore legs and extremities
  • Rectum
    • Feels dry, as if full of sticks
    • Pains shooting up the rectum (IGNATIA, SULPHUR)
    • Sore and itchy anus (SULPH)
    • Dry hard constipation with backache (concomitant)
    • Sensation of bugs crawling in anus (SULPH)
  • Severe pain in stomach 3 hours after eating

(Think of this remedy in a person where you find rectal, liver and throat complaints occurring with each other. Backache is also a prominent concomitant. The patient is prostrated, fatigued. Has chronic constipation generally, and is cross and easily angered. He is irritable after getting up in the morning like LYCO. When you think of NUX VOM or SULPH also think of this remedy. It comes close to COLLINSONIA in its rectal complaints.)

AESCULUS HIPPOCASTANUM- a snapshot Read More »

RATANHIA- a snapshot

  • Suited to females who are dark scrawny and irritable.
    • They are delicate and nervous
    • And have never been able to carry the pregnancies to term
  • Haemorrhages
  • Sense of constriction as generality
  • Great debility, weakness with anxiety and sweating.
  • Rectum
    • Pain in rectum for hours after stools

(Glass like pain- RATANHIA, THUJA

Sticks sticking like pain- AESCULUS HIP

Splinter like pains- NITRIC ACID)

  • Stools burn when thin, also foetid
  • Constipation, hard stool with great straining
    • Headache when straining for stools (concomitant)
  • Fissures (like PEONIA which also has oozing with ulceration of rectal mucosa)
    • In anus
    • In nipples, cracks, in nursing women (GRAPH, SEP, EUPATORIUM AROM)
  • Toothaches during pregnancy (CHAMOMILA, LYSSINUM, NUX MOS, PULS, RAPHANUS, SEPIA, STAPH), become restless and have to get up and walk about from pain and are aggravated for hours after stools. When you think of aesculus hip, think of this remedy.
  • Pterygium
  • Pleural exudations and sore chest
  • Dreams of funerals

(Think of this remedy in persons who are complaining of pains here and there. They have many rectal complaints.)

RATANHIA- a snapshot Read More »

CAMPHORA- a snapshot

  • Physically and mentally weak and irritable
  • Very sensitive to cold air (HEP, CIST CAN, KALI MUR, PSO)
  • Algidity, can’t get warm
  • Desire to kill someone while walking on street
  • Strips himself and tries to jump out of window
  • Despair, suicidal
  • Crying in squeaky hoarse voice
  • Causation
    • Shock of injury
    • Vexation
    • Sunstroke
  • Pains > thinking (HELLEBORUS) (opp CAL PHOS, HELON, OXALIC ACID)
  • Shock from injury
    • Cold body, blue lips, lividity and profound prostration
  • Cold flabby tongue
  • Entire body painfully sensitive to touch
  • Erysipelas
  • In exanthematous fevers eruptions do not appear, cause severe prostration and cold body
  • Icy cold body, yet cannot bear to be covered (SEC COR)
  • Fearful, raving,
    • Extreme fear of night
    • Of dark
    • Can’t bear to be alone
  • Convulsions with unconsciousness. cataleptic rigidity
  • Insensibility
  • Agg < when half asleep > suddenly attending complaint, > warmth
  • Catarrh
    • Influenza
    • Old age
    • Feeling of coryza but no discharge
    • Fluent coryza, headache
    • Throbbing occiput
    • Sudden change of weather bring complaint
  • Oppression of chest from arsenic or copper fumes
  • Retained yellowish and offensive urine
  • Burning
                mouth
    • Stomach
    • Abdomen
  • Mucus in air passage with danger of suffocation
  • Cramps in legs with icy coldness of limbs
  • Affections of
    • Back of foot
    • Patella
  • Burning throat
  • A dose of OPIUM enhances action of CAMPH, and it acts powerfully again.
  • After surgery with low BP low temp, give 1x 3 gutt, every 15 min

CAMPHORA- a snapshot Read More »

USTILAGO MAYDIS- a snapshot

  • Suited to large flabby bloated females who have not been able to conceive
  • Great depression of spirits
  • Weepy
  • Tendency to boils
  • Uterus
    • Sub- Involution
    • Flabby, prolapsed
    • Fibroids
    • Promotes expulsion of foreign body from uterus (CANTH, SABINA)
    • Bearing down pains
  • Haemorrhage
    • From uterus on least examination
    • Gushes of blood from uterus on
      • Rising from lying down
      • When suddenly startled or frightened
    • After confinement, abortion or post-partum
    • Partly clotted and partly fluid blood
    • Vicarious menses from lungs and bowels
  • Abortion
    • Habitual every 3 months
  • Males
    • Irresistible tendency to masturbation, a habit that he can’t break despite many efforts, cries and weeps and is exhausted by the same
    • Lascivious, emissions even while talking to women
    • Erotic fancies and lascivious dreams
  • Severe backache
    • Backache with mental irritability
  • Foul leucorrhoea, metritis, infections from
  • Spongy cervix
  • Shifting rheumatic pains.
  • Malaise as if taking cold
  • Falling of hair and nails
    • Not even a single hair left on scalp, complete alopecia
  • Sensation as of a knot
    • In bowels, throat, uterus
  • Skin affections
    • Psoriasis, eczema, milk crust

(It should be compared with SECALE COR which is more suited to thin, scrawny females)

USTILAGO MAYDIS- a snapshot Read More »

SENEGA- a snapshot

  • Chest, eye and kidneys affected
  • Suited to old chubby fat people
  • Bodily and mental debility
  • Suddenly remembers unimportant regions which he saw long ago
  • Dryness of inner parts that are usually moist
  • Chest, affects chest
    • Burning in air passages
    • Soreness of chest, with coughing, sneezing etc
    • Many chest symptoms are < from rest and in evening
    • Aml > on walking
    • Bronchitis, phthisis, hydrothorax (MERC SULPH) and many other chest pathologies
    • Extraordinary tenacious mucus from bronchi
    • Incessant choking strangling Cough ending in a sneeze
    • Asthenic bronchitis of old people with chronic interstitial nephritis or chronic emphysema. Old asthmatics with congestive attacks
  • Anxiety with hasty respiration
  • Scrapy throat and sneezing
  • Continuous nausea
  • Shreddy scanty urine, mixed with mucus threads
  • Affects eyes
    • Many eye complaints- blepharitis, dryness, diplopia etc
    • Promotes absorption of lens segments after operation
    • Clouded cornea
    • Diplopia > bending backwards
    • Frequently wiping the eyes
    • Eyes feel distended sp in artificial light
  • Paretic states
    • Eyes
    • Paresis of left side of face
    • Weariness in lower limbs
  • Headache going into eyes > cool air (PULS)

(Think of a person easily roused to anger, who is having scrapy throat, severe cough tenacious mucus but wants to walk in cool open air. He has some eye troubles as well and keeps bending back to see properly. Worried about his health, his chest is sore on coughing (you might think of BRYONIA, NAT SULPH, ARS). The mucus is tenacious and does not come out easily. He is probably chubby or even a blue bloater.)

SENEGA- a snapshot Read More »

GENTIANA LUTEA

  • Tonic to increase appetite
  • General sadness
  • Confusion of mind while writing
  • Headache
    • Aml- > eating, > open air
    • Brain feels loose and tender
  • Dry thick saliva (EPIPHEGUS)
  • GIT
    • Ravenous hunger with acid rising
    • Inflated and tense abdo
    • Colic in naval region
    • Abdo sensitive to touch
  • Yellow diarrhoea
  • Sensation of constriction
  • Desire to sleep but no sleep

(A very good spasmolytic remedy, the alkaloid present is one of the most bitter substances known.)

GENTIANA LUTEA Read More »

POPULUS CANDICANS- a snapshot

  • Colds/ catarrh
    • Acute colds
    • Deep hoarse voice even aphonia
    • It is said to be an instantaneous voice producer like coca
    • Throat feels dry, voice is toneless
    • Sore bruised body
  • Insensibility of the surface
    • General insensibility of surface (worse, back and abdomen); rubbing and pounding borne without pain, and is grateful on account of warmth produced.
    • Finger-ends thickened, horny; insensible to pinching and pricking
    • Tongue thick and numb
    • Numbness in back, radiating from spine
  • Discusses her symptoms with everyone
  • Cold sores on lips (nat mur)
  • Hot head, cold extremities
  • Burning
    • Everywhere
    • Eye, mouth, respiratory tract, nostrils, throat, vagina, In back
    • As if scalded
  • Raw sore chest
  • Cough in children caused by naso pharyngeal catarrh, post nasal dripping
  • Blisters
    • Big, on skin
    • Aml- > hot fomentation
    • Burn like coals of fire

POPULUS CANDICANS- a snapshot Read More »