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Colchicum autumnale
100
THE
BRITISH
HOM(EOPATHIC
JOURNAL
COLCHICUM A U T U M N A L E B y DOUGLASM. GIBSON, M.B., B.S.(London), F.R.C.S.(Edin.), M.F.Hom. PAIN I N T O L E R A B L E FOOD R E P U G N A N T NAUSEA FROM ODOURS GOUTY JOINTS
Botanical Note Autumn Crocus, belonging to the lily family; the large, solitary, crocuslike purple flower grows direct from the corm in the autumn; the long, dark green ovate leaves appear in the following spring, and with them a large three valved capsular fruit which bursts to liberate dark brown seeds; the plant is acrid with a nauseous odour; all parts are poisonous, even when dried and many fatal cases of accidental poisoning have been recorded. Both seeds and corm contain colchicine, the greatest yield being from the year-old corm. The Mother Tincture is prepared from the corm, lifted in the spring. TISSUE AFFINITIES Colchicine is a violent poison; it has affinity for the gastro-intestinal tract, causing severe nausea, vomiting and diarrhcea with belly cramp and collapse; for kidneys, inducing nephritis and hmmaturia; for muscles, producing a state of extreme relaxation and loss of tone; for joints and bones, resulting in irritation and rheumatic pains. PHYSICAL FEATURES Exhausted and trembling. Sits or lies very still, afraid to move. MENTAL ATTRIBUTES Exceedingly irritable; least thing annoys; "no pleasing him." Oversensitive to light, noise, odours and least jar or jolt. Forgetful, absent-minded.
GENERALREACTIONS Constant chilly feeling, even when near fire, with occasional heat flushes. WORSE cold and damp, especially cold rains in the autumn, smell of food, loss of sleep, least movement or touch, at night. B E T T E R warmth and likes affected part well wrapped up, by rest, after sleep, after stool. Great aversion from food, with intense nausea, excited b y sight, smell, or even thought of food. Thirst either intense or absent. PARTICULARSYMPTOMS General. Pains are particularly intolerable on account of the acuteness of all sensibility. Exhaustion is also marked feature. Head. Headache of bursting character, spreading to nape of neck; WORSE stooping, in afternoon and evening and from mental exertion; associated with unequal pupils and dimness of vision. Nose. Extraordinarily acute sense of smell; smells things which other people cannot smell. Alimentary System. Burning sensation in epigastrium or icy coldness in stomach.
COLCItICUM
AUTUMNALE
101
Deadly nausea and extreme prostration. Diarrhoea and dysentery, especially in autumn; stools watery, frequent, perhaps involuntary, sanious and contain mucoid "shreds". Colic and tenesmus, better by bending double and thighs are held flexed. Membranous colitis; painful urge to stool; stools like jelly. Typhoid state--pupils dilated, cold sweat on brow, head falls weakly back on attempting to raise it, mouth wide open, face cadaveric, tongue protruded with difficulty, aphonia, cold breath, restlessness, cramps in legs. Cardio- Vascular System. Violent, cutting, stinging pains in region of heart, with sensation of oppression and acute dyspn(ea; chest feels as if "tightly bandaged". Thready pulse, weak action of heart, low blood pressure. Subacute or chronic pericarditis with effusion, associated with rheumatism. Urinary System. Nephritis; hsematuria; dark, scanty urine; renal pain WORSE on extending hips. Dropsy with pitting (edema of hands and feet; hydrops of serous cavities; pale urine. Nervous System. Neuralgias in head, eyes, face. Locomotor System. Redness, heat, swelling of small joints of hands and feet with sharp, sticking pains, which shift about from joint to joint and are WORSE from warmth and also from cold and damp; pains are WORSE from least touch and patient is afraid of being approached A m . "Pins and needles" in wrists, hands, fingers, also under nails, especially when grasping objects. Pains in nape of neck and chest. PRESCRIBINGNOTES
Often used in low potency, ~ tincture or 3x, e.g. in treatment of gout. Complementary remedies are Arsenicum album and Spigelia.
THE
BRITISH
HOM(EOPATHIC
JOURNAL
COLCHICUM A U T U M N A L E B y DOUGLASM. GIBSON, M.B., B.S.(London), F.R.C.S.(Edin.), M.F.Hom. PAIN I N T O L E R A B L E FOOD R E P U G N A N T NAUSEA FROM ODOURS GOUTY JOINTS
Botanical Note Autumn Crocus, belonging to the lily family; the large, solitary, crocuslike purple flower grows direct from the corm in the autumn; the long, dark green ovate leaves appear in the following spring, and with them a large three valved capsular fruit which bursts to liberate dark brown seeds; the plant is acrid with a nauseous odour; all parts are poisonous, even when dried and many fatal cases of accidental poisoning have been recorded. Both seeds and corm contain colchicine, the greatest yield being from the year-old corm. The Mother Tincture is prepared from the corm, lifted in the spring. TISSUE AFFINITIES Colchicine is a violent poison; it has affinity for the gastro-intestinal tract, causing severe nausea, vomiting and diarrhcea with belly cramp and collapse; for kidneys, inducing nephritis and hmmaturia; for muscles, producing a state of extreme relaxation and loss of tone; for joints and bones, resulting in irritation and rheumatic pains. PHYSICAL FEATURES Exhausted and trembling. Sits or lies very still, afraid to move. MENTAL ATTRIBUTES Exceedingly irritable; least thing annoys; "no pleasing him." Oversensitive to light, noise, odours and least jar or jolt. Forgetful, absent-minded.
GENERALREACTIONS Constant chilly feeling, even when near fire, with occasional heat flushes. WORSE cold and damp, especially cold rains in the autumn, smell of food, loss of sleep, least movement or touch, at night. B E T T E R warmth and likes affected part well wrapped up, by rest, after sleep, after stool. Great aversion from food, with intense nausea, excited b y sight, smell, or even thought of food. Thirst either intense or absent. PARTICULARSYMPTOMS General. Pains are particularly intolerable on account of the acuteness of all sensibility. Exhaustion is also marked feature. Head. Headache of bursting character, spreading to nape of neck; WORSE stooping, in afternoon and evening and from mental exertion; associated with unequal pupils and dimness of vision. Nose. Extraordinarily acute sense of smell; smells things which other people cannot smell. Alimentary System. Burning sensation in epigastrium or icy coldness in stomach.
COLCItICUM
AUTUMNALE
101
Deadly nausea and extreme prostration. Diarrhoea and dysentery, especially in autumn; stools watery, frequent, perhaps involuntary, sanious and contain mucoid "shreds". Colic and tenesmus, better by bending double and thighs are held flexed. Membranous colitis; painful urge to stool; stools like jelly. Typhoid state--pupils dilated, cold sweat on brow, head falls weakly back on attempting to raise it, mouth wide open, face cadaveric, tongue protruded with difficulty, aphonia, cold breath, restlessness, cramps in legs. Cardio- Vascular System. Violent, cutting, stinging pains in region of heart, with sensation of oppression and acute dyspn(ea; chest feels as if "tightly bandaged". Thready pulse, weak action of heart, low blood pressure. Subacute or chronic pericarditis with effusion, associated with rheumatism. Urinary System. Nephritis; hsematuria; dark, scanty urine; renal pain WORSE on extending hips. Dropsy with pitting (edema of hands and feet; hydrops of serous cavities; pale urine. Nervous System. Neuralgias in head, eyes, face. Locomotor System. Redness, heat, swelling of small joints of hands and feet with sharp, sticking pains, which shift about from joint to joint and are WORSE from warmth and also from cold and damp; pains are WORSE from least touch and patient is afraid of being approached A m . "Pins and needles" in wrists, hands, fingers, also under nails, especially when grasping objects. Pains in nape of neck and chest. PRESCRIBINGNOTES
Often used in low potency, ~ tincture or 3x, e.g. in treatment of gout. Complementary remedies are Arsenicum album and Spigelia.