M.T. Ahmad J.T. Kent
Cyclamen Europaeum is prepared from the root of a plant famous for the bizarre stories surrounding it.
Cyclamen is the remedy full of conflicting qualities. Its patient does not want to move at all, even though movement relieves his symptoms. The patient is afraid of going into the open although the open air relieves his symptoms, especially those of cold and cough. His desire not to move or walk around is based on the weakness of his body. Associated with this remedy are the symptoms of severe diarrhoea and vomiting, severe stomach upset, and a salty taste in the mouth. In women, the menstruation becomes irregular. Periods become more frequent, copious in amount and the blood is black and clotted. With movement, the bleeding becomes less. All these are signs of Cyclamen. Cyclamen is very important in the treatment of progressive anaemia resulting from excessive menstrual bleeding. Both sexes can have various kinds of disorders of the urinary system and of sexual weakness.
The Cyclamen patient is very restless at night. He feels weak on walking, although, walking relieves his aches and pains to some extent.
In a patient of Cyclamen, the mental state fluctuates. Out of sudden happiness, he may become delirious or then feel tired and down. His mind is empty. He does not even want to speak. He is irritable and hates to do anything.
A female Cyclamen patient feels lonely and presumes that everybody is talking ill of her. A number of young girls have the same feeling. I have tried Sulphur and Stramonium to treat such girls, but did not find any obvious beneficial effects. Perhaps, Cyclamen could have been useful.
In Cyclamen, the headache is very severe. It feels as if the head is going to explode. It starts in the morning. The patient sees stars before the eyes. The eyesight becomes blurred. A peculiar type of eye squint, in which the eyeballs turn inwards, is very amenable to treatment with Cyclamen. The eyes feel warm. There is double vision (diplopia). At times, the eye conditions can be secondary to the stomach upset. The pupils become dilated. Half of the field of vision is lost (hemianopia) and spots of different colours appear before the eyes.
In Cyclamen the right ear hurts, feeling drawn in. Thundering noises are heard in the ears so the hearing is also affected.
In Cyclamen, there is a feeling of burning, dryness and scraping in the throat. The patient does not usually feel thirsty, but during a fever, especially in the evening, he feels very thirsty.
The stomach symptoms of Cyclamen are comparable to those of Pulsatilla. The patient hates fatty food. His stomach feels hot and burns and is much worse after drinking coffee. A typical symptom of Cyclamen is that every time the patient drinks coffee, he will have diarrhoea. The hiccuping associated with stomach upset is also a characteristic of Cyclamen. Cyclamen is similar to Gelsemium regarding the feeling of the dryness of the mouth, lack of thirst and excessive urination. Usually, the patient also sweats much less, however, while sick, he sweats a lot. The quantity of the urine is much increased. The urine is colourless like water and passed frequently.
The phlegm in a patient of Cyclamen is whitish. It means that the invasion by the bacteria has not been severe and the obvious infection has not been established. In Cyclamen, the patient experiences a suffocating cough.
The superficial bones hurt. There is severe cramping of the right thumb and the index finger, which becomes worse on writing. The heel of the foot throbs like an abscess. Sometimes this kind of pain may be associated with the formation of bone spurs which need needing prolonged treatment as a result of which, the excessive outgrowth of the bone may stop. Once these spurs develop to a significant size, surgery is indicated. The remedies implied to relieve this kind of heel pain are Arnica, Ledum, Ruta, Calcarea Fluor, Rhus Tox, as well as Calcarea Carb.
In Cyclamen, scratching relieves the itching. The itchiness (pruritis) is relieved at the onset of menstruation.
Potency 30 to 200
by Mirza Tahir Ahmad
CYCLAMEN
Aversion to motion, yet motion ameliorates her pain and uneasiness. Aversion to the open air, yet open air ameliorates some symptoms especially the coryza and cough.
The marked dullness of the senses and special senses is a striking part of this picture.
Chlorosis; irregular menses; and palpitation. Stitching pains.
Weakness and aggravation from exertion. Flabby muscles.
Most symptoms ameliorated by walking. Very restless at night.
Great lassitude.
Weakness in the evening, ameliorated by moving about. Sensitive to cold, and cold air.
Complaints from being overheated.
Alternations of moods is a striking feature of the mental state. Great flow of ideas alternates with weak memory.
Joyous feeling alternating with irritability.
Serene humor changes suddenly into seriousness or peevishness. Grief and fear keep her in continuous mental agitation.
Dullness of mind prevents mental labor.
Absorbed in thought seeks solitude; thinks about the future. Answers incoherently, confusion of mind.
Aversion to work, and dread of open air.
Wants to remain in a warm room, and. in solitude.
Remains a long time silent. Excitement with trembling.
Sadness, as if she had wronged somebody (Aur.).
Tearful and meditates upon her grief, which is only imaginary.
Thinks she is alone in the world and persecuted by every one (China).
Obstinate and censorious. She grows steadily weaker; fainting spells come on; she becomes pale and anemic.
These symptoms are important if associated with scanty menses or amenorrhoea.
Vertigo when walking in the open air; objects turn in a circle; ameliorated in a room, and when sitting. Everything turns dark before the eyes, and she falls as if fainting.
Head: The pain in the head is stunning, and makes her fear she will lose her senses. Boring, darting, pressing in forehead and temples. Violent pains in the forehead.
Pains worse lying on painful side or back. Pains one-sided. Pain morning and evening, ameliorated by vomiting; worse by motion and in open air. Obscure vision with the pains. Pressure in vertex, as if brain were enveloped in a cloth, which would deprive him of his senses.
Headache with flickering before the eyes on rising in the morning. Pulsating in the head. Rush of blood to the head; anxiety and confusion of mind; obscuration of vision; vertigo; general coldness, after dinner. Headache ameliorated by cold applications. Headaches from disordered stomach. Head feels as if he had on a skull cap. Tearing pains in the scalp.
Senses: In the field of vision there are spots, fog, bluish colors, Flickerings, glittering objects; various colors - now yellow, and again green; fiery sparks, smoke; halo around the light, black specks or flies.
Dimness of vision. Diplopia. Convergent strabismus. Dilated pupils. Hemiopia. Heat and burning. Lids oedematous. Swelling of tipper lids, Dryness and itching of lids. Dim vision during headache. Impaired vision, smell, hearing and taste.
Dullness of hearing. Humming, ringing and roaring in the ears. Drawing pains.
Sense of smell diminished. Dryness in the nose. Dry, or fluent coryza, worse in a warm room, better in the open air or cool room. Sneezing and watery discharge in a warm room, entirely relieved in the open air. Walking in the cold open air is his most comfortable pastime. Pressing pain over nasal bone during coryza. Takes cold from being overheated and from overheated rooms.
Pale, sickly face; dark under the eyes in woman. Contracted forehead - a frown.
Dry lips. Numbness of upper lip.
Boring, stitching, tearing in the teeth. Jerking in the teeth at night. Taste is lost, or perverted; flat; bad; putrid; rancid; all food tastes too salty.
Tongue white, or yellowish. Burning blisters on tongue.
Saliva increased. Burning, tip of tongue. Saliva tastes salty. Viscid mucus in the mouth.
Burning, dryness and scraping in the throat.
Loss of appetite and even aversion to food. Thirstless, except in the evening during fever. Desires lemonade (Nit. ac., Bell., Sab.).
Aversion to bread and butter, and fatty things; but desires inedible things.
Disgust for meat; craves sardines. Satiety after the first mouthful (Lyc.) and then he loathes food.
Stomach weak. Nausea after eating. Pork disagrees. The stomach symptoms are much like Pulsatilla. Symptoms worse after coffee. Vomiting after eating.
Vomiting in the morning. Vomiting watery mucus. Eructations. Aching in the stomach and burning in oesophagus, better by walking about. Fullness, as if he had eaten too much. Weight in the stomach after eating. Stitching pains in the stomach.
Abdomen: Colicky pains in the abdomen, ameliorated by walking about. Tenderness all over the abdomen, even hypogastrium. Gnawing pains in the evening. Gnawing pains after food. Rumbling and gurgling in the abdomen. Paroxysmal cramps during the night, ameliorated by walking about. Stitching pains in the abdomen and liver.
Diarrhoea after coffee. Diarrhoea in chlorotic women subject to sick headaches and menstrual irregularities. Watery, forcible stool, odorless, brownish, yellow. Diarrhoea in the evening. Constipation; stool hard. Nausea. Colic before stool. Colic and urging after stool. Hemorrhoids that bleed. Drawing, pressing pain about the anus, as if a spot would suppurate.
Urines: Frequent urging to urinate. Ineffectual urging to urinate. Urine profuse, watery. Floculent sediment; iridescent cuticle. Stitching in the urethra with desire to urinate.
In the male the sexual desire is diminished. Irritable prostate gland, with stitching pains; urging to stool and urine (Nux).
Menses too soon, or too late; irregular, or suppressed; copious, prolonged, or scanty. When profuse, the mental symptoms are better. Flow black and clotted. Labor-like pains at the menstrual period, commencing in small of back and running down each side of the pubes.
Uterine haemorrhage. Dread of open air. Menses suppressed, palpitation of the heart, weeping, aversion to company and dread of open air. Rush of blood to the head, and scanty flow.
Suppressed menses from over-exertion, or being overheated. Faint, ing at the menstrual period. After menses, milk in mammae. Complaints after weaning (China).
Much scraping in the Larynx at night, thick, white mucus. Tickling in the larynx and trachea. Oppression of chest. Suffocative cough, caused by scraping and dryness in the trachea.
Cough comes on during sleep, from dryness and constriction of larynx. Cough ameliorated in the open air, even in a cold wind.
Pressure in the middle of the sternum. Weakness in the chest. Stitching in the chest and heart. Tearing, stitching, and shortness of breath during motion and rest.
Palpitation and anaemic murmurs. Tumultuous action of the heart; great lassitude. Weak pulse. Sensation as if air streamed from nipples. Mammae swollen, containing milk in non-pregnant women. Mammae swollen and very hard after menses.
Drawing pains in the neck, with stiffness. Twinges up the back, ameliorated by drawing the shoulders back. Stitching in the region of the right kidney, worse during inhalation. Pain in the small of the back while sitting, ceases on rising.
Tearing, drawing pains in the limbs. Hyperesthesia of the skin. Flabby muscles. Tearing, drawing in the upper limbs. Sensation of weakness of the hands, as if she must let fall what she holds in her hands. Writer's cramp.
Drawing pains in flexors of the leg. Burning sore pain in heels. Toes feel dead after walking. Weakness in the limbs.
Sleep not restful, disturbed by anxious dreams; frightful, vivid dreams, Restless sleep. Late falling asleep. Wakens early, but wants to sleep late. Nightmare. Wakens early, but too tired and sleepy, cannot rise. Pollutions in dreams.
Chill, fever and sweat. Chill not ameliorated by warm clothing. Chilliness during menses. Chill forenoon or evening. Chill predominates in the evening. Heat of face follows chill. Chill and heat alternate.
Sensation of heat through whole body, particularly in face and hands. Heat, with swelling of the veins (China). General heat after eating. Sweat at night during sleep, offensive, Sweat sometimes on lower part of body.
Itching at night in bed. Numbness after scratching, or changing places by scratching.
by James Tyler Kent