Kent's - Classical Homeopathy Online

ecause they are both so spunky, but the Cham., baby is worse at 9 A.M. and the Bryonia babyis worse at 9 P.M.In Bryonia there is a key-note which really applies to a dozen or more remedies, "he wantssomething and he knows not what". It is a very important symptom of Bryonia. It is a symptom thatcall for Bryonia only when the rest of the symptoms agree. You go to a child who is being carried inthe arms of the nurse and wants one toy after another; you get the toy he wants and he does not want itand will throw it back at you. When that case is looked into thoroughly it may be covered by Kreosote;another is never satisfied with anything and rejects everything he asks for; you look into that case and itmay be covered by Chamomilla."Desire for things that cannot be had which are refused, or not wanted when offered"."Apprehensiveness; fearfulness"."Anxiety in whole body compelled him to do something constantly".There is a feature worthy of consideration because it sometimes makes a case appearinconsistent. It is due to his anxiety that pervades the whole body. In Bryonia as in Arsenic there comesan anxious and uneasy feeling which compels him to move, but he is worse from motion, yet so uneasyand anxious that he must move.There are pains so violent that he cannot keep still, and yet when he moves he screeches fromthe pain. So it is really not an inconsistency but simply due to the great violence of the pain.Even though he knows that the motion is going to make him worse, he cannot keep still, for thepain is so violent. Early in the case he was able to keep still, and found that he was better from keepingstill, and that the mental state was better from keeping still, and that the anxious restlessness increasedthe more he moved, until finally a reaction comes and he is obliged to move.You would think, looking at the case superficially, that that the patient is better from motion asin Rhus tox., but in Rhus you find that the patient moves and in moving he gets feeble, and when he sitsdown the pains begin to come on again. There is the distinction between the two, and yet they lookalike if not examined into carefully. It is common for Bryonia to be ameliorated from cool air, and fromcool applications. Now, if he moves, he gets warmed up, the pains are worse, but there are rheumaticcomplaints of Bryonia which are better from heat, and under these circumstances he is better fromcontinued motion. It is another form of relief, and another of the modalities. I sometimes wonderwhether Bryonia has a greater element of relief from heat, or greater element of relief from cold. Mostof the head complaints that are of a congestive character are better from cool applications, from coldair, etc. Yet there are some of the Bryonia head complaints that are relieved by hot applications, andthese seem to have no accompanying cerebral congestion. So that Bryonia has opposite modalities, butin all its opposite states there is still a grand nature running all through, sufficient to detect it.In a damp climate Bryonia is one of the most frequently indicated remedies, but in the clearclimates, where the thermometer runs low, Aconite will be indicated more than Bryonia. Still furtherSouth, the complaints assume more of the constitutional state of Gelsemium in inflammatoryconditions. We know in the far North the sudden, violent cold brings on violent colds like Aconite,while here the complaints are more insidious, like Bryonia, and further South. These atmosphericchanges should be thoroughly considered in relation to our Materia Medica The mental state of Bryoniais usually relieved from cool air, he wants the windows open. Anxiety, confusion of mind, fear, etc., areameliorated from being cool. Sometimes the delirium, and the congestive fullness of the head affectingthe mind, will increase if the room becomes very warm, or from the heat of the stove, from becomingheated, or from warm covers. In children this will be noticed, whereas if the window be thrown up torelieve the stuffiness of the room the child will sleep quietly.Such remedies as Bryonia, Apis, Pulsatilla, and many others, come in here. If you go into aroom and find the child raging with delirium, turning and tossing, and the mother is trying to keep theroom warm because she is chilly, and you say, "Why, how stuffy it is in here!" and you open thewindow and then notice that the child goes off to sleep, do not overlook that; because that relief wascaused by something. There should be nothing that can possibly occur to a patient, but that you shouldsolve the meaning of before you leave the room. Settle in your mind as to what it was that caused it."Fear of death". Full of fear, anxiety, despair of recovery, great despondency. Both mental andbodily quietness is required, that is, he wants to keep still. Often he wants the room dark. It hascomplaints from getting excited. Bryonia patients are nearly always worse from visitors. "Morose". Donot cross a Bryonia patient for it makes him worse. "Bad effects from mortification"."Ailments arising from chagrin"; these are headaches usually.Violent, congestive headaches that come on a few hours after altercation or controversy, or littlemisunderstandings with somebody that he cannot talk back to, will be covered by Staph., but Bryoniaalso has that. Staph. is suited to irritable, violent, nervous, excitable people, that get into violent