Remedy
Rumex Crispus rumx.
Relationships
Polar generals
Boger's Synoptic Key — Materia Medica
C. M. Boger · Boger's Synoptic Key — Materia Medica · 1915
Region
Mucous membranes: Larynx. Trachea. THROAT-PIT. Bowels. Nerves. Skin. Left side; chest. Joints. Ankles.
Worse
COOL AIR: INHALING. Open air. Raw changes. Uncovering. Night. Pressure; on trachea.
Better
Covering mouth. Wrapping up.
General
Dry, sensitive mucous membranes. Stickiness, with burning. Every cold affects the joints. Sharp pains; neuralgias, etc. Obesity.
Particulars
Eyes burn, indoors; puffed in A.M. Dry posterior nares. Sneezing attacks. Sodden complexion. Hawks out much tenacious mucus. Throat feels hollow. Ravenous appetite. Borborygmi. Sudden, profuse, foul, early morning diarrhœa (5-9 A.M.); after catarrh; in phthisis. Respiration < wind. Suffocative choking. Dyspnœa, on retiring. EVERY BREATH OF COLD AIR CAUSES TICKLING, as from a feather or dust, IN THROAT-PIT, AND CONTINUOUS COUGH; > closing or covering mouth or head. Profuse, frothy expectoration. Pain from r. ovary to back. Pain, rawness or burning under clavicle (l); as if the air penetrated there. Chest sore. Pain under sternum; under l. nipple. Heart seems impeded, then heavy pulsation through chest. Pain in l. shoulder on coughing or raising arm. Right scapula. Spasmodic cramps in ankles and feet. Skin itches if exposed to air. Acne vulgaris on back. Sudden sleepiness.
Related
Related: Caus. Seneg.
Keynotes and Characteristics with Comparisons of some of the Leading Remedies of the Materia Medica
H. C. Allen · Keynotes and Characteristics with Comparisons of some of the Leading Remedies of the Materia Medica · 1898
Keynote
For the tubercular diathesis, extremely sensitive skin and mucous membranes. Extremely sensitive to open air; hoarseness; worse evenings; after exposure to cold; voice uncertain. Tickling in throat pit, causing, dry, teasing cough. Dry, incessant, fatiguing cough; worse from changing air or room (Phos., Spong.); evening after lying down; touching or pressing the throat pit; lying on left side (Phos.); from slightest inhalation of cold air; covers head with bedclothes to make air warmer; little or no expectoration. The cough is < in cool air or by anything which increases the volume or rapidity of inspired air. Sensation of lump in throat; descends on swallowing, but returns immediately. Raw sensation in larynx and trachea when coughing (Caust.). Urine; involuntary with cough (Caust., Puls., Sil.). Early morning diarrhoea; from 5 to 10 a. m. (Aloe, Nat. s., Pod., Sulph.); stools painless, profuse, offensive; sudden urging, driving out of bed in morning. Skin: itching of various parts; < by cold, > by warmth; when undressing, uncovering or exposing to cold air (Hep., Nat. s., Olean.).
Relations
Compare: Bell., Caust., Dros., Hyos., Phos., Sang., Sulph.
Aggravation
Cool or cold air; lying down (Hyos.).
Amelioration
Warmth; keeping mouth covered to exclude cold air.
Key-Notes to the Materia Medica
Henry N. Guernsey · Key-Notes to the Materia Medica · 1887
General
Cough caused by an incessant tickling in the throat-pit, which tickling runs down to the bifurcation of the bronchial tubes; touching the throat pit brings on the cough; by covering up all the body and head with the bed-clothes there is no cough.
Seven Hundred Red Line Symptoms from Materia Medica
J. W. Hutchison · Seven Hundred Red Line Symptoms from Materia Medica · 1905
Red line symptom
Violent, incessant, dry fatiguing cough, with little expectoration, aggravated by pressure, talking, and especially by inspiring cool air and night. Brown. watery morning diarrhoea. Sensation of soreness and rawness in larynx and behind the sternum.
Homœopathic Materia Medica
William Boericke · Homœopathic Materia Medica · 9th edition
Common name
Yellow Dock
General
Is characterized by pains, numerous and varied, neither fixed nor constant anywhere. Cough caused by an incessant tickling in the throat-pit, which tickling runs down to the bifurcation of the bronchial tubes. Touching the throat-pit brings on the cough. Worse from the least cold air; so that all cough ceases by covering up all the body and head with the bedclothes. Rumex diminishes the secretions of mucous membranes, and at the same time exalts sensibility of the mucous membranes of the larynx and trachea. Its action upon the skin is marked, producing an intense itching. Lymphatics enlarged and secretions perverted.
Stomach
Tongue sore at edges; coated; sensation of hard substance in pit of stomach; hiccough, pyrosis, nausea; cannot eat meat; it causes eructations, pruritus. Jaundice after excessive use of alcoholics. Chronic gastritis; aching pain in pit of stomach and shooting in the chest; extends towards the throat-pit, worse any motion or talking. Pain in left breast after meals; flatulence.
Respiratory
Nose dry. Tickling in throat-pit causes cough. Copious mucous discharge from nose and trachea. Dry, teasing cough, preventing sleep. Aggravated by pressure, talking, and especially by inspiring cool air and at night. Thin, watery, frothy expectoration by the mouthful: later, stringy and tough. Rawness of larynx and trachea. Soreness behind sternum, especially left side, in region of left shoulder. Raw pain under clavicle. Lump in throat.
Stool
Brown, watery, diarrhœa early in morning, with cough, driving him out of bed. Valuable in advanced phthisis (Seneg; Puls; Lycop; Ars). Itching of anus, with sensation as of a stick in rectum. Piles.
Skin
Intense itching of skin, especially of lower extremities; worse, exposure to cold air when undressing. Urticaria; contagious prurigo.
Modalities
Worse, in evening, from inhaling cold air; left chest; uncovering.
Relationship
Compare: Caust; Sulph; Bell; Rumex contains chrysophanic acid to which the skin symptoms correspond. Rumex acetosa-Sheep sorrel--(Gathered in June and dried, used locally for Epithelioma of face (Cowperthwaite). Dry, unremitting short cough, and violent pains in the bowels; uvula elongated; inflammation of œsophagus; also cancer); Rumex obtusifolius-Lapathum-Broad-leaf dock--(nosebleed and headache following; pain in kidneys; leucorrhœa).
Dose
Third to sixth potency.
Leaders in Homoeopathic Therapeutics
E. B. Nash · Leaders in Homoeopathic Therapeutics · 1899
Leaders
Violent incessant dry cough; worse on inhaling the least cold air; covers the mouth to keep the cold air out, with relief.
Brownish diarrhea, < in morning.
Intense itching of the skin when undressing to go to bed.
There are three localities in which this remedy acts very markedly, viz.: Respiratory organs, bowels and skin. "Violent, incessant cough, dry and fatiguing, with very little or no expectoration, aggravated by pressure, talking, and especially by inspiring cold air, and at night" (Dunham.) There is perhaps no remedy under which the sensibility of the mucous membranes of the larynx and trachea become more exalted than this one. The patient must cover up the head in bed in order to protect these membranes from contact with the air, which immediately excites cough. Several other remedies, like Phosphorus and Spongia, have cough aggravated by breathing cold air, but none so markedly as Rumex. Going from warm room into cool air and vice versa. Bryonia and Natrum carbonicum have the opposite. The tickling that excites the cough may locate in the throat-pit, supra-sternal fossa, or down behind the sternum to stomach, where is often added a sensation of soreness or rawness. (Caust.). Again we have found it efficacious in cough, with stitching pain through left lung just below left nipple. (Natrum sulph.).
The diarrhœa of Rumex is similar to that of Natrum sulph., Sulphur and Podophyllum, in that it occurs in the morning, but it is a brown diarrhœa and is apt to be accompanied with, or an accompaniment of, the cough. On the skin it cures an eruption which is characterized by intense itching when undressing to go to bed. This eruption may be vesicular, like army or prairie itch, or may look like simple urticaria. Itching on undressing is also found under Natrum sulphuricum and Oleander, but with Natrum this itching is apt to be found in connection with jaundice or malarial symptoms. If we should get intense itching over the body, which was aggravated by warmth, especially warmth of the bed, we would think of Mercurius solubilis or protoiodide.
Text Book of Materia Medica
Adolph Lippe · Text Book of Materia Medica · 1866
Mind and Disposition
Low-spirited, with serious expression of the face. Irritable, -disinclined to mental exertions.
Head
Dull feeling in the head (with the cough). Dull pain in the forehead (worse on motion).
Eyes
Pain in the eyes, as from dryness and inflammation of the lids, especially in the evening.
Ears
Itching, deep in the ears.
Nose
Violent sneezing ; with fluent coryza, worse in the evening and at night.
Face
Heat of the face, with pulsation over the whole body.
Mouth and Throat
Bitter taste in the mouth (in the morning). Dryness on the tip of the tongue, and hot on the forepart. Tongue white, or coated yellow-brown or reddish-brown. Accumulation of mucus near the posterior nares. Discharge of yellow mucus through the posterior nares.
Stomach and Abdomen
Fulness in the stomach after breakfast. Colic pain around the navel.
Stool and Anus
Constipation, feces brown, hard, tough. Itching at the anus.
Respiratory Organs
Voice, higher, or as with catarrh ; or nasal voice ; or hoarse, especially in the evening. Soreness and rawness in the larynx when coughing. Hawking of mucus from the upper part of the larynx and throat ; with burning soreness ; extending later to the bronchus of the left chest ; and can be renewed by a stronger exhalation and scraping. Tickling in the throat-pit, causing cough. Pressure on the throat causes cough. Cough from tickling in the throat-pit, extending to behind the sternum and the stomach. Cough dry, worse when walking, from tickling in the throat-pit, with soreness in the larynx and behind the upper part of the sternum, and pain in the chest. Cough, with violent coryza, and rawness in the upper part of the sternum. Tickling cough from irritation behind the sternum. Cough, as soon as he turns on the left side. Cough, with pain in the stomach, soreness behind the sternum ; stitches in the left lung. Cough from pressure on the throat ; with soreness in the larynx and chest, and with hoarseness. Hoarse, barking cough ; every night several attacks, the first generally at 11 P.M., and two more at 2 and 5 A.M., lasting a long time (in children). Breathing causes soreness behind the sternum. Pain in the centre of the left lung. The sternum feels sprained. Burning in the region of the heart.
Extremities
Upper. Coldness of the hands when coughing. Lower. Sensitiveness of the feet, and stinging, pain in the corns.
Generalities
Great debility, with aversion to occupation and general indifference about his surroundings.
Fever
Pulse accelerated, especially when ascending steps. Chilliness, especially in the back, with colic, nausea and stitches hear the middle of the chest. Flushes of heat, especially in the cheeks. Perspiration on awaking from sound sleep.
A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica
John Henry Clarke · A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica · 1902
General
Rumex crispus. Curled Dock. Yellow Dock. N. O. Polygonaceæ. Tincture of fresh root.
Clinical
Abortion. Aphonia. Asthma. Borborygmi. Bronchitis . Catarrh. Corns. Coryza. Cough. Diarrhœa . Dyspepsia. Epistaxis. Feet, tender. Gastralgia. Heart, pain in; affections of. Indigestion. Irritation. Lichen . Mouth, ulceration of. Phimosis. Phthisis. Prurigo. Rheumatism. Throat, sore ulcerated. Trachea, affections of. Urticaria.
Characteristics
The "Yellow Dock" or "Curled Dock" is a common British weed, introduced and growing wild in North America, where the provings were made. The common Dock of our fields and roadsides, Rumex obtusifolia , has a reputation among children as the best antidote to the nettle's sting; a reputation which is very well deserved, as I can testify. Rumex crispus , according to Joslin, quoted by Hale, was used by allopaths internally and externally for the cure of itch. This points to one of the leading actions of Rx. c . as developed in the provings. Among the constituents and salts of Rx. c . are Sulphur and Calc. Ph . (Hale); and Sul., Calc ., and Pho . are strongly represented in its action. Rx. c ., again, is a close ally of Rheum , and has analogous purgative and other properties. The provings were made by Houghton, Joslin, H. M. Paine, Bayard, Rhees, &c., both with the tincture and with attenuations, and its characteristics were well defined. A keynote of many Rx. c . cases is sensitiveness to cold air. The cough and skin symptoms are < by uncovering or exposure to air. Guernsey thus describes the cough of Rx. c .: "Cough caused by an incessant tickling in throat-pit, which tickling runs down to the bifurcation of the bronchial tubes; touching the throat brings on the cough; by covering up all the body and head with the bed-clothes there is no cough." Correspondingly this symptom of Paine's has led to many cures of skin cases: " While undressing , and for some time after, considerable itching of surface of lower limbs " — where exposure to air is again the exciting cause. The characteristic diarrhœa of Rx. c . occurs in the early morning, driving the patient out of bed; it comes on after catarrh, and is often associated with the characteristic cough of the remedy. The Rx. c . cough causes expulsion of urine; and it may even cause expulsion of the fœtus in pregnant women. P. P. Wells relates this case (Hale): Mrs. X. had had eight miscarriages in the early months, each miscarriage being attended with a dry, shaking, spasmodic cough in paroxysms of great violence, which was regarded as the cause of the abortions. At the beginning of the ninth pregnancy she came under homœopathic treatment. The cough came on — very dry, harsh, loud, shaking, < at night, preventing sleep, excited instantly by pressure on the trachea. Rx. c . 30 promptly relieved. Wells also cured with Rx. c . 200 (Lehrman's preparation) the following in a man: Cough beginning with tickling behind top of sternum, sometimes in paroxysms lasting for five to ten minutes. Trachea sore to external pressure; feels excoriated through its whole extent, as also do the fauces. Cough is excited by pressure on throat-pit; violent with scanty difficult expectoration; shakes head as if it would fly to pieces and chest so that he feels he might raise blood any minute. Paroxysms exhaust him; headache during cough. Joslin pointed out the left chest had more verified symptoms than any other region. Further Conditions of Rx. c . are < lying on left side; > lying on right side, < At 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. Another Condition of the cough is that it is induced or < by any irregularity of respiration , such as a little deeper breath than usual or a little more rapid. Cough when eating. Joslin reports a number of cases of gastric derangement cured with Rx. c . ( 1 ) A young lady had shootings from pit of stomach into chest in various directions; sharp pains in left chest; dull aching in forehead and slight nausea. One dose of 30th removed all her symptoms and restored her appetite. ( 2 ) A lady, 50, had had for three weeks pain in pit of stomach, aching in left chest, flatulence, eructations, pains and distension in stomach after meals. Rx. c . 200, one dose, cured in two or three hours. ( 3 ) Young lady had sensation of fulness and pressure in pit of stomach extending up towards throat, carried down on swallowing and rising again to throat . Rx. c . 200 cured. ( 4 ) A gentleman not used to tea took a cup, very weak, of the black kind; then followed aching in pit of stomach and aching above it in chest, and especially on each side of lower end of sternum. Rx. c . 30 cured in a few minutes. The flatulence and rumbling of Rx. c . are well marked, and I have found it the best general remedy for the painless but annoying borborygmi frequently complained of by women. The left side is more markedly affected than the right. The circulation is much disturbed, violent palpitations of the heart and throbbing throughout the whole body being noted. Carleton Smith points out ( H. P ., x. 275) that in a case of cough cured by Cardoza with Rx. c . the characteristic was "cough only during the day, not at all at night." This gives Rx. c . a place beside Fer . and Mang . Smith has cured with Rx. c . many cases of indigestion in which this symptom was present: "Lump in throat, not > by hawking or swallowing; it descends on deglutition, but immediately returns." Peculiar Sensations are: Eyes pain as if from dryness. Tongue as if burned. Lump in throat; it descends on deglutition, but immediately returns. Hard substance in pit of stomach. Bunch in throat or behind sternum. Pressure of a stick in rectum. As if urine could not long be retained. As if she could not get another breath. As if air did not penetrate chest. As if a feather swaying to and fro in bronchi. As if head would fly to pieces (with cough). As if he might raise blood any minute. As if cough did not reach low enough to raise phlegm. As if heart suddenly stopped. Sternum feels sprained. Raw feeling under clavicles. Hands cold when coughing. The symptoms are < by touch; pressure; riding. < By cold; > by warmth. < Change: warm to cold or cold to warm; changing rooms. < Lying down (pain in pit of stomach > lying perfectly quiet). < Lying on left side; burning in left side. > Lying right side. < Talking. < Deep inspiration; or irregularity of breathing. < Walking. < Evening and night; and morning on waking, 3.30 and 11 p.m., 2 to 5 a.m. < When eating and after meals. > Discharge of offensive flatus.
The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica
Constantine Hering · The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica · 1879–91
Mind
Low-spirited : with serious expression of face ; with suicidal mood.
Irritable ; disinclined to mental exertion.
Sensorium
Dull feeling in head (with the cough).
Inner head
Headache after waking in morning, preceded by a disagreeable dream.
Dull pains : on right side ; in occiput ; in forehead, with bruised feeling, < on motion.
Darting pain, or sharp piercing, in left side of head.
Catarrhal headache, with great irritation of larynx and trachea, clavicular pain and soreness behind sternum.
Sight and eyes
Pain in eyes as from dryness ; lids inflamed, < in evening.
Sore feeling in eyes, without inflammation.
Hearing and ears
Ringing in ears.
Itching deep in ears.
Smell and nose
Great desire to pick nose.
Nose obstructed ; dry sensation, even in posterior nares.
Sudden, sharp tingling sensation in Schneiderian membrane, followed by violent and rapid sneezing, five or six times in succession, with a watery discharge from nostrils.
Violent sneezing ; with fluent coryza < in evening and at night.
Coryza : fluent, with sneezing ; with headache ; < evening and night.
Accumulation of mucus about posterior nares.
Yellow mucus discharged through posterior nares.
Epistaxis, violent sneezing and painful irritation of nostrils.
Influenza with violent catarrh, followed by bronchitis.
Upper face
Heat of face : redness < evenings ; dull headache ; with pulsation over whole body.
Taste, speech, tongue
Bitter taste (morning).
Dry tongue and mouth ; tongue feels as if burned.
Tongue coated : white ; yellow ; yellowish-brown or reddish-brown.
Inner mouth
Ulceration of mouth and throat.
Palate and throat
Scraping in throat ; excoriated feeling with secretion of mucus in upper part.
Sensation of a lump in throat, not > by hawking or swallowing, it descends on deglutition, but immediately returns.
Aching in pharynx, with collection of tough mucus in fauces.
Catarrhal affections of throat and fauces.
Eating and drinking
After meals : flatulency ; heaviness in stomach or epigastrium ; aching in left breast ; pressure and distension in stomach.
Hiccough, belching, nausea and vomiting
Nausea in night, before diarrhœa.
Scrobiculum and stomach
Sensation of heaviness in epigastrium, immediately after eating.
Sensation as of a hard substance in pit of stomach.
Weight, pressure and distension in stomach after meals.
Fulness and pressure in pit of stomach extending toward throat pit ; descends with every empty deglutition, but immediately returns.
Tight, suffocative, heavy ache in epigastrium, through to back ; clothes seem to tight ; weak feeling in epigastrium, all < when talking ; frequently takes a long breath.
Shooting from pit of stomach to chest ; sharp in left chest ; slight nausea ; dull aching in forehead.
Aching and shooting in pit of stomach and above it on each side of sternum.
Distress in stomach pit, < after eating, especially apples ; once after an apple such distress that she became cold and unconscious and seemed to be dying ; at times sharp pains in chest and abdomen ; at times very distressing sensation as of a bunch either in
throat or behind sternum ; emaciated ; could scarcely find anything she could eat without distress.
Pain in pit of stomach ; aching in left chest ; flatulence ; eructations ; pressure and distension in stomach after meals.
Aching in pit of stomach, and aching and shootings above it in chest, at, and especially on each side of lower end of sternum ; after a cup of tea, in a man unaccustomed to its use.
Aching pain in pit of stomach, gradually becoming very severe ; sharp stitching pains in stomach extending into chest, and below a sensation of pressure like a lump in pit of stomach, sometimes rising up under sternum, greatly < from motion and somewhat from taking a long
breath ; generally < after eating ; > lying perfectly quiet.
Distress in stomach becoming so severe that she could not sit up ; severe aching pains in stomach pit and above it ; occasional spells of sharp shooting pains in chest, sides and abdomen ; some headache and nausea after eating ; all symptoms < from motion and
eating ; sensation as of a lump or pressure sometimes in throat, sometimes behind sternum.
Tight, suffocative, dull, heavy ache in epigastrium, through to back ; clothes seem too tight ; weak feeling in epigastrium ; all < by talking ; frequently obliged to get a long breath and to yawn, with watering of eyes ; stitching pains in back of right
hip ; limping walk.
Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica
James Tyler Kent · Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica · 1905
Lecture
Rumex, the yellow dock, is a neglected remedy, and one that has been only partially proved.
The mental symptoms have not been brought out, but the catarrhal symptoms have been well expressed by provers.
There is a state of sadness, low spirited; aversion to work; irritable mental excitability. This includes about all the mental state we know of this remedy, as the provings were made with the lower potencies and tincture.
The yellow dock has been used in domestic practice, as a blood medicine, to cure eruptions and boils. When used in this way it is a mild substance, and hence the provings are somewhat in this form.
The catarrhal tendency is very striking. The nose, eyes, chest and trachea, the whole respiratory tract, gives forth a copious flow, copious mucous discharge. I have seen it so copious from the nose that it seemed as one continuous flow; so copious from the trachea and bronchial tubes that the patient continually hawked up, by the mouthful, thin frothy, white mucus, so that in a little while as much as half a pint of thin mucus, as thin as water, would be in the cuspidor. It also has marked dryness of the larynx and trachea with hard, dry, spasmodic cough.
At times it has taken the form of grippe, with a copious mucous discharge; thin, watery, frothy expectoration by the mouthful. This is only the first stage. Following this the discharge becomes thick, yellow, tough or thick, white and tenacious; so ropy and stringy and tough that in spite of blowing the nose and coughing he fails to get it up. Completely exhausted from his efforts to expectorate the tough, stringy, tenacious even gluey mucus. This catarrhal state is commonly accompanied by a morning diarrhea, and these constitute the leading features.
"Catarrhal headache with great irritation of the larynx and trachea, clavicular pain and soreness behind sternum."
Catarrhal headaches are headaches that come on during spells of dryness, alternating with a copious flux. Extreme rawness in the larynx and trachea; burning and smarting; unable to endure pressure on the throat pit.
Tickling in the throat pit causing cough. Must sit without motion; cannot breathe deeply, hurriedly or irregularly because the burning is so much increased by any change in breathing.
If he steps into the open air a paroxysmal cough takes his breath away; or if he passes from the open air into a warm room the same paroxysmal cough comes on. The paroxysm is so violent that in the morning, when he has a loose stool, he will pass it involuntarily with the cough. The urine also passes away with the cough. The headache returns when the discharges slack up.
A striking feature is pain under the clavicle; a sense of rawness under the clavicle; as if the parts inside were raw; as if the air came directly under the clavicle, producing rawness and burning. Rawness and burning from the inhalation of air.
"Nose obstructed; dry sensation even in posterior nares."
Many times the coryza starts out by a marked dryness in the posterior nares, so that he is constantly hawking; the irritation is so great that he cannot let it alone. There is a sensation of thickening in the nasopharynx, and he produces a peculiar noise in trying to get rid of it.
"Sudden sharp tingling sensation in Schneiderian membrane."
This is intense; tingling, sometimes described as an itching extending from the end of the nose to the pharynx; sometimes forces sneezing, blowing the nose and this peculiar noise, and sometimes a hawking to get the mucus when it isi a little lower in the pharynx; hemming to get rid of it when in the larynx. The inflammation passes to the smallest bronchi, producing a capillary bronchitis and finally a pneumonia.
It suits acute and chronic catarrhal states. In old phthisical cases every time be takes a cold, he is so sensitive to cold air and change of air that he sleeps with the bed clothes over his mouth. Every breath of air causes a spasmodic cough.
The early expectoration is thin mucus, and then it becomes thicker and tenacious, and he cannot expectorate it; he hears the rattle, after many efforts which exhaust him; he expectorates a little with hardly any relief. This is a great remedy to do patch work with in phthisis. Soreness, rawness and burning, especially down the trachea and tinder the sternum.
"Violent sneezing, with fluent coryza, worse in the evening and at night."
Many symptoms are worse in the evening.
"Coryza, fluent, with sneezing, with headache, worse evening and night."
Some symptoms are worse in the early morning. Certain kinds of cough are worse at 11 P.M . Lachesis and Rumex furnish a puzzle in this cough and each has to be understood.
In Lachesis young children cough in their early sleep, but if kept awake they will not cough. Therefore in Lachesis the 11 P.M . cough is an aggravation from sleep. In Rumex the cough will come on at 11 o'clock whether the child is asleep or not.
"Accumulation of mucus in posterior nares."
"Yellow mucous discharge through posterior nares."
"Epistaxis, violent sneezing and painful irritation of nostrils."
"Influenza with violent catarrh, followed by bronchitis."
"Scraping in the throat;" whenever this catarrhal state goes into the larynx and trachea, there is this continual scraping in the throat.
Hoarse; cannot speak because the vocal cords are covered with tough mucus. Chronic cases have often been cured.
Phosphorus has this hoarseness, but especially aphonia relieved by hemming up a little mucus from the vocal cords. The Causticum hoarseness is due to a weakness of the vocal cords. Phosphorus has an inflammatory state and the continual accumulation of mucus impedes speech. Rumex has the accumulation of tough, gelatinous, gluey mucus, and he continually scrapes the larynx.
"Sensation of a lump in the throat, not relieved by hawking or swallowing, it descends on deglutition, but immediately returns"; this is also a strong feature in Lachesis.
"Aching in the pharynx, with collection of tough mucus in the fauces."
"Catarrhal affections of throat and fauces."
This remedy shows the various stages of severe cold, but is especially indicated in constitutions that are constantly taking cold worse from change of the weather; always shivering about the fire want much clothing, want even the head covered up.
Many complaints are worse in the evening, from a bath, from becoming cold, from inhaling cold air. Rheumatic complaints are common and are aggravated by cold. Every cold seems to affect the joints. This is a marked feature of Calcarea phos .; every change to cold is felt in the joints; from bathing and getting chilled afterwards.
"Tight, suffocative, heavy ache in epigastrium, through to back clothes seem too tight; weak feeling in epigastrium, all aggravated when talking; frequently takes a long breath."
"Shooting from pit of stomach to chest; sharp pain in left chest; slight nausea; dull aching in forehead."
"Aching and shooting in pit of stomach and above it on each side of sternum."
Stomach
The stomach will not digest food, or only the, simplest food; the mucous membrane of the stomach is affected by this remedy like other mucous membranes.
Various pains in the stomach; aching, shooting pains in the pit of the stomach.
"Aching pain in the pit of stomach gradually becoming very severe; sharp stitching pains in stomach extending into chest, and below a sensation of pressure like a lump in pit of stomach, sometimes rising up under sternum, greatly aggravated from motion and somewhat from taking a long breath; generally aggravated after eating, ameliorated by lying perfectly quiet."
It is strange how the stomach symptoms are aggravated by talking.
The stomach feels sore, aggravated by talking, walking, inhaling cold air; wants warm things. Very flatulent; full of flatulent pains; pains relieved ( Carbo veg.) by belching and passing flatus. Stomach and abdominal pains aggravated by talking, irregular, breathing; must sit in a chair and breathe with perfect regularity. Irregular breathing will cause cough or suffocation.
In the morning hurried to stool like Sulphur.
"Stools, painless, offensive, profuse; brown or black, thin or watery; preceded by pain in abdomen; before stool sudden urging, driving him out of bed in morning."
"Morning diarrhea with cough from tickling in throat pit."
It is common for phthisical cases to have a morning diarrhoea, and many of them look like Sulphur. When the morning diarrhea is gushing, Rumex will palliate; it will allay the extreme sensibility of the lungs, will ward off the sensitiveness to cold and will patch him up.
Rumex is not so deep as Sulphur, but it is an antipsoric. It is limited however, to the early stages; will carry a chronic case so, far, but it will require to be followed by another antipsoric. Calcarea follows it well.
Rumex is as sensitive to cold, to baths and chilly surroundings as Rhus, but it is aggravated by motion. Bryonia may be confused with it in this aggravation from motion and from talking, but Bryonia is not so sensitive to cold air, is often relieved from cold air and worse in a warm room; the complaints subside if the room becomes cool. In Rumex the nerves are sensitive to the open air; a nervous sensitiveness to open air as marked as Nux.
"Brown, watery diarrhoea, chiefly in morning, having stools from 5 to 9 A.M."
"Serious attack of diarrhea in an old man of seventy, after failure of Sulphur ".
The Sulphur patient with a cough, especially in phthisis, commonly wants cool air, cooling things; though the stomach symptoms are sometimes ameliorated from hot drinks, yet he wants cool, refreshing air.
"Aphonia after exposure to cold."
"Tenacious mucus in throat or larynx, constant desire. to hawk."
"Tickling in throat pit causing cough."
He fights off the cough as long as he can because of the burning and rawness. In the most violent coryza there is a lack of the febrile symptoms of Bryonia, Rhus a nd Aconite. It has not the constitutional symptoms, the aching of the limbs, the general soreness, the high fever and thirst. The condition seems to have localized itself.
"Hoarse, barking cough, in attacks, every night at 11 P.M. and at 2 and 5 A.M. (children)."
"Cough, with pain behind midsternum."
"The most violent cough occurs a few moments after lying down and at night, in some cases, complete aphonia".
"In women, every fit of coughing produces the passage of a few drops of urine."
Rumex is one of the most valuable palliatives in advanced phthisis it will often carry a case through another winter. With Rumex, Pulsatilla, Senega, Arsenic and Nux vomica you can patch up the last years of a phthisical patient.
I would caution you also about the diarrhea that occurs in most cases of phthisis.
You will see Acetic acid recommended for the diarrhoea in phthisis. You had better let such conditions alone, unless they are very marked. If the diarrhea is very exhausting use some simple medicine, like this one, to slack it up. But the phthisical patient is better off with a little diarrhea, a loose morning stool. It is the same with night sweats; if he does not have them he will have something more violent.
The allopath stops the diarrhea and night sweats, and then has to feed Morphine to his patient because of the consequent sufferings. The more you undertake to relieve these outward conditions, these vents, the more harm you will do the patient, and if you go on you will have to abandon your Homoeopathy and give Morphine, which is really a crime.
You will remove the sore, bruised, aching all over the body of a consumptive by Arnica, and it will suit the cough and gagging and retching, and make him sleep.
Later Pyrogen may be needed for the aching in the bones and distressing cough. You patch him up year after year; sometimes Arsenic is the remedy, and it has to be more frequently repeated; sometimes it is Lycopodium, Pulsatilla, Pyrogen or Arnica.
These medicines help him along and they have often to be changed, but finally the break down occurs, and these medicines are no longer suitable. An awful dyspnoea gradually creeps on the patient; there is craving for air; the breathing space is becoming diminished.
Dropsy comes on in the extremities. The heart gives out; there is emaciation; the hippocratic countenance is seen; there is cold sweat, blue face, sinking. Even now we can palliate with Tarantula Cubensis. Sometimes it has to be repeated. It will relieve for days and give an euthanasia, not a stupefaction as produced by Morphia, benumbing his senses, but an actual comforting.
Condensed Materia Medica
Constantine Hering · Condensed Materia Medica · 1877
Mind
Low-spirited: with serious expression of face; with suicidal mood.
Irritable.
Disinclined to mental exertion.
Inner Head
Headache after waking in morning, preceded by a disagreeable dream.
Dull pains: on right side; in occiput; in forehead.
Darting pain, or sharp piercing in left side of head.
Eyes
Pain in eyes, as from dryness; lids inflamed, worse in the evening.
Ears
Ringing in the ears.
Itching deep in ears.
Nose
Epistaxis, violent sneezing and painful irritation of nostrils.
Nose obstructed; dry sensation, even in posterior nares.
Fluent coryza., with sneezing; worse evening and night.
Yellow mucus, discharged through posterior nares.
Face
Heat of face, redness worse evenings; dull headache.
Tongue, etc
Bitter taste (morning).
Dry tongue and mouth: tongue feels as if burned.
Tongue coated white, yellowish-brown or reddish-brown.
Sudden change of voice at different times, or at same time on each day; or with the cough.
Throat
Excoriated feeling in throat, with secretion of mucus in upper part of throat.
Sensation of a lump in throat, not relieved by hawking or swallowing, it descends on deglutition, but immediately returns.
Aching in larynx, with collection of tough mucus in fauces.
Eating and Drinking
After meals: flatulency; heaviness in stomach or epigastrium; aching in left breast; pressure and distention in stomach.
Nausea and Vomiting
Nausea at night, before diarrhœa.
Stomach
Shooting from pit of stomach to chest; sharp in left chest; slight nausea; dull aching in forehead.
Aching and shooting in pit of stomach, and above it, on each side of sternum.
Sensation of fulness and pressure in pit of stomach, up into throat.
Tight, suffocative, heavy ache in epigastrium, through to back; clothes seem too tight; weak feeling in epigastrium, all worse when talking; frequently task's long breath.
Hypochondria
Pain in hypochondrium from coughing., rapid walking or deep inspiration.
Abdomen
Griping near navel, partially relieved by discharge of offensive flatus flatulent colic soon after a meal.
Pain occurring, or worse during deep inspiration.
Sensation of hardness and fullness in the abdomen, with rumbling.
Stool, etc
Stools: painless, offensive, profuse; brown or black, thin or watery; preceded by pain in abdomen; before stool, sudden urging, driving him out of bed in morning.
Morning diarrhœa, with cough from tickling in throat-pit.
Feces hard, tough, brown; costive.
Itching at anus, with discharge of offensive flatus.
Sensation as from pressure of a stick in rectum.
Urine
Sudden urging.
Involuntary micturition, with cough.
Copious, colorless urine, in afternoon.
Larynx
Tenacious mucus in throat or larynx, constant desire to hawk.
Hoarseness, worse evenings; voice uncertain.
Breathing
Frequent feeling as if she could not get another breath.
Suffocating feeling even down to epigastrium, as if tough phlegm must work up, with the cough; despair, even to suicidal feeling; prostrate, tearful, after attack.
Cough
Hoarse barking cough; in attacks, every night at 11 P.M., and at 2 and 5 A.M.(children).
Cough, with pain behind mid-sternum.
Dry, incessant; fatiguing cough, caused by tickling in the throat-pit extending to behind sternum and to stomach.
Soreness in larynx and behind sternum; rawness under clavicles; pain in stomach; stitches in left lung.
Cough worse from changing rooms, evening after lying down; touching and pressing trachea or throat-pit, from the slightest inhalation of cool air, he covers his head with bedclothes, to make the air warmer.
Hawking with burning soreness in larynx; later in left bronchus, renewed by strong exhalation and scrapping.
Lungs
Aching over anterior portion of both lungs.
Burning-sticking or burning-stinging pain in left chest near heart; worse from deep breathing and lying down in bed at night. θ Rheumatism.
Burning, shooting pain in right chest.
Sharp pain near left axilla.
Soreness behind stomach when breathing.
Heart and Pulse
Heart feels as if it suddenly stopped beating, followed by a heavy throbbing through the chest.
Burning in region of heart; stinging; worse when lying down and breathing deeply.
Aching in heart, with throbbing of carotids and through body, shaking the bed; dyspnœa; worse when lying, had to sit up; face red, puffed, worse about eyes, which were red, lustreless.
Pulse accelerated, mostly when going up stairs.
Neck and Back
Pressing-aching in back, at lower border of scapula.
Sore or burning pain near sacro-iliac symphysis.
Upper Limbs
Pains in shoulder down to elbow; arms feel strained.
Hands cold, when coughing.
Lower limbs
Stitching in back of right hip; limping walk.
Legs ache.
Stitch-like pain in knee-joint, when standing.
Legs covered with small, red pimples.
Feet cold.
Feet sensitive.
Stinging in corns.
Position, etc
Walking: 18. Ascending stairs: 29. Lying down: 27, 28, 29. Standing: 33. Must sit up: 29.
Nerves
Great debility; averse to work; indifferent about his surroundings.
Sleep
Unquiet sleep, dreams of danger and trouble.
Wakes early, with headache.
Time
Morning: 3, 11, 20. Afternoon: 21. Evening: 5, 7, 8, 25, 27. Night: 7, 16, 27, 28. 11 P.M.: 27. 2 and 5 A.M.: 27.
Temperature and Weather
Generally worse: from cool change of weather; when riding in cold wind; in cold, damp, raw weather.
Covering head: 27. Uncovering: 46. Cool air: 27, 46. Changing rooms: 27.
Chill, Fever and Sweat
Chilly, worse on back; colic, nausea, stitches near middle of chest.
Sensation of heat, followed by that of cold, without shivering.
Flushes of heat worse on cheeks.
Sweat on waking from a sound sleep.
Sides
Right: 3, 28, 33. Left: 3, 15, 17, 27, 28, 29.
Contact, Injuries, etc
Touch or pressure: 17, 27.
Skin
Itching in various parts., worse on lower limbs while undressing.
Stinging-itching, or prickling-itching of skin.
Vesicular eruption, itching when uncovered and exposed to cool air.
Hand Book of Materia Medica and Homœopathic Therapeutics
Timothy Field Allen · Hand Book of Materia Medica and Homœopathic Therapeutics · 1889
General
A tincture is made of the fresh root of the yellow Dock.
Allies
The cough as well as the skin symptoms may be compared with the Kalis, especially with Caust.
Generalities
Pains intermittent; and wandering; neuralgic P. ▶ Sensitiveness to open air. ▶ Pulsations through whole body; over body in evening, with flushing of face, pulse 80. ▶ Restlessness in evening. ▶ Weakness; in a warm day; on going to bed; with heaviness and with fulness in head and chest; with somnolency, constant change of position and tired feeling in legs.
Mind
Irritable; and restless. ▶ Depressed and indisposed to exertion; D. as if evil impended. ▶ Indifferent to surrounding persons and things. ▶ Stagnation of ideas in evening, with lassitude and uneasiness.
Head
▶ Aching; nearly all day, with bruised feeling in forehead; in forenoon; after retiring late at night; till going to sleep towards midnight, returned on waking an lasted till noon; before breakfast; agg. motion; with coryza. ▶ Bruised sensation in brain in morning on waking, agg. moving, stooping or sudden movement of head, suddenly amel. after dinner at noon. ▶ Heavy aching during the day; during the day, agg. forenoon, with deep-seated soreness of eyes; during the day, amel. afternoon; in forenoon; from 10 A.M. till night, amel. after 2 P.M. ▶ Heaviness in evening. ▶ Oppression in morning on rising. ▶ Fulness, with deficiency of hilarity, giving a serious expression to face. ▶ Vertigo; with nausea.
Forehead
Shooting over left brow. ▶ Sharp pain in open air. ▶ Aching; over brow; in region of causality; at right organ of causality; in morning on waking; at 11 A.M.; in evening after singing, with heat and redness of face; at 7.30 P.M., with shooting; at 9 P.M.; agg. motion; with indisposition to think; with pungent tingling in organ of philoprogenitiveness; over left eye, with soreness to touch; over right brow, with stopped sensation in left ear; in F. and temples, with fulness; burning, in left superciliary ridge, then in right. ▶ Bruised feeling, agg. right side, agg. moving head, when brain felt loose, agg. next morning; B. sensation, amel. after breakfast next morning, and on moving head sensation as if brain were loose.
Pain in temple; right, then left ; region of right and hemisphere of cerebellum; right in morning; left in afternoon. ▶ Pain in vertex. ▶ Sharp. ▶ Piercing pain in left side of head. ▶ Darting pain in left side at 11 A.M. and 8 P.M. ▶ Pain in occiput; low down in O.; intermittent, in O. in afternoon.
Eyes
Shooting in left running to right jaw and arm. ▶ Pain; agg. right; in forenoon; in or over either or both; in both and over left, with soreness to touch over left ; deep-seated in right; heavy. ▶ Lids feel inflamed and dry in evening. ▶ Lachrymation. ▶ Shooting in right ball.
Ears
Boring behind base of left. ▶ Pain; in right in morning; in left in afternoon; in right after rising from bed; when walking; in left and running to shoulder. ▶ Throbbing synchronous with beats of heart. ▶ Itching deep in left, then right; in right meatus. ▶ Obstructed sensation, his own voice (as well as the voices of others) has a ringing, a confusing sound, and causes a kind of titillation in ear, yet hearing is an acute as ever. ▶ Ringing. ▶ Roaring in left, with feeling of a tight thread around neck just below ears.
A Primer of Materia Medica for Practitioners of Homœopathy
Timothy Field Allen · A Primer of Materia Medica for Practitioners of Homœopathy · 1892
Generalities
Sensitiveness to open air.
General aggravation in the evening, especially restlessness and weakness.
Head
Headache, with a bruised feeling in the forehead < by motion; better in the afternoon.
Nose
Coryza, with a watery discharge; sneezing; with headache.
Mouth
Various toothaches with the acute colds.
Tongue coated yellow.
Throat
Scraping, soreness worse in the evening.
Stomach
Flatulence, distention with sense of repletion.
Heaviness in the pit of the stomach, worse after eating; with pressure extending up to the pit of the throat frequently returning.
Clinical:
Gastric disturbances, particularly from tea drinking; often associated with acute colds.
Gastralgia; pains extending to the chest and pit of the throat, aggravated by motion, relieved by rest.
Abdomen
Flatulent pains in abdomen followed by diarrhœa.
Stool
Evacuations watery, brown in the morning.
Clinical:
Early morning diarrhœa, urgent, associated with dry cough from the throat, aggravated at night or from 5 to 9 A. M.
Respiratory organs
Irritation in the larynx, a collection of mucus removed by hawking; constant desire to expectorate tough mucus, worse at night.
Cough
Aggravated when eating, on breathing cold air, especially in the evening on lying down.
Cough caused by tickling in the pit of the throat (supra-sternal fossa), or behind the upper part of the sternum.
Cough usually dry, spasmodic associated with headache or wrenching pain in the chest, particularly < in the open air and on lying down.
Chest
Aphonia.
Sticking pains at the left side of the sternum, in the morning; better before rising or on coughing, or on deep inspiration, especially when riding in the open air.
Pains seem to be in the centre of the lung, with rawness, even burning, < by inspiration or by lying on the back or the right side; > lying on the left side.
Cutting pains in the interior part of the lung, especially with gastric disturbances.
Soreness in the left lung on lying on that side.
Extremities
Various pains, < motion, relieved by lying down, apparently muscular.
Skin
Violent itching, worse at night on undressing, on any part of the body which is exposed to the air; relieved in the warmth of the bed.
Prurigo.
Urticaria.
Eczema with violent itching, < when undressing.
Sleep
Restless sleep, frequently disturbed; short, broken naps.
Fever
General sensitiveness to cold.
Chilliness in back and lower extremities.
Heat also local, in the back usually associated with gastric disturbances.
Sweat especially on the lower extremities at night.
The Mnemonic Similiad
Stacy Jones · The Mnemonic Similiad · 1904
Mnemonic names
Rum. / (2d R.) / Rex.
Verse
Rumex,-Thine a tickling pipe,
Causing Cough of tearing type.
Cough on lying down at eve,
And whene'er the lungs receive
Fresh cold air, and so instead
Need to cover up the head.
Pressure often starts thy cough,
Also talking sets it off.
Aching pains, sometimes severe,
In thy lungs and heart appear.
Also itching most distressing
When uncovered or undressing.
Mnemonic sentences
Rex.,-Has Cough from touch and cold air.
Rex. is a Hero.
This Rex.,-Who is subject to itching when undressing,-Is at Ole H. Nason's
Indications
Cough from exposure to cold air: Rumex c., Hep., Rhus. (Change of air in the room, Pho., Spo.)
Itching when Uncovered or Undressed: Rum., Ole., Hep., Nat. s.
First Lessons in the Symptomatology of Leading Homœopathic Remedies
Hugo R. Arndt · First Lessons in the Symptomatology of Leading Homœopathic Remedies · 1904
Symptoms
Indicated in coughs provoked by tickling in the pit of the throat or by touching it; aggravated by inhaling cold air; soothed by breathing in warm air by warmth in any form. Larynx and trachea are very sensitive. In the early stage of whooping cough; night cough of phthisis. Used also in gastric disorders, especially from excessive tea drinking, and is gastralgia.
Cough dry, teasing, incessant, with great sensitiveness of larynx and trachea; provoked by tickling in the throat; worse from using the voice, from inhaling cold air; at night; stops when the face is covered with the bedclothes.
Tickling cough behind the sternum.
Watery, brown diarrhoea, early in the morning, driving the patient out of bed, with tickling in the throat, provoking dry cough.