Kent's - Classical Homeopathy Online

The periodical headaches of Arsenic are found in all parts of the head. They are the congestiveheadaches with throbbing and burning, with anxiety and restlessness; hot head and relief from cold.There are headaches in the forehead, which are throbbing, worse from light, intensified from motion,often attended with great restlessness, forcing him to move, with great anxiety. Most of the headachesare attended with nausea and vomiting. The sick headaches are of the worst sort, especially those thatcome every two weeks. In some of these old, broken-down constitution you will find he is cold, pallid,sickly; he is always chilly and freezing except when the headache is on, and it is better from cold; theface much wrinkled, great anxiety and no desire for water. Remember that it was said in the acute stateof Arsenic there is thirst, thirst for little and often, dry mouth and desire for water enough to moistenthe lips, but in the chronic states of Arsenic he is generally thirstless. re headaches on one side of thehead involving the scalp, one-half of the head, worse from motion better from cold washing, betterfrom walking in the cold air, though very often the jar or stepping starts up a feeling as of a wave ofpain, shaking, vibration or looseness in the brain; such are the sensations and these are conditions ofpulsation. Then there are dreadful occipital headaches, so severe that the patient feels stunned or dazed.They come on after midnight, from excitement, from exertion; they come on from becoming heated inwalking, which produces determination of blood to the head. Nat. mur. is a medicine analogous to thisin its periodicity and in many of its complaints. It has congestive headaches from walking andbecoming heated; especially from walking in the sun. The Arsenicum headaches are generally worsefrom light and noise, better from lying down in a dark room, lying with the head on two pillows. Manyof the headaches commence in the afternoon from 1 to 3 o'clock, after the noon meal, grow worse intothe afternoon, lasting all night. They are often attended with great pallor, nausea, prostration, deathlyweakness. The pain is paroxysmal; violent head pain during the chill of an intermittent fever; headacheas if the skull would burst during an intermittent fever. Arsenicum has this head pain of a congestivecharacter in intermittent fever, as if the head would burst. A peculiar feature of the thirst is that there isno thirst during the chill except for hot drinks; during the heat there is thirst little and often for waterenough to moisten the mouth, which is almost no thirst, and during the sweat there is thirst for largedrinks. Thirst begins with the beginning of the heat and increases as the dryness of the mouth increases;he desires only to moisten the mouth until he breaks out in a sweat, and then the thirst becomes a desirefor large quantities very often, and the more he sweats the more desire he has for water.The headache is during the chill; it increases, so that it becomes a congestive, throbbingheadache during the chill and heat; this grows better towards the end of the heat as the sweat breaksout, it is ameliorated by the sweat.In chronic headaches, congestive headaches and malarial complaints, a tendency to shrivel isobserved upon the skin; a prematurely old, wrinkled appearance of the skin comes on. The mucousmembrane of the lips and mouth often shrivels and becomes wrinkled. This is also found in thediphtheritic membrane of the throat as a peculiar feature of arsenic and belongs, as far as I know, to noother remedy. The exudation in the throat is leathery looking and shriveled. A shrivelled membrane isnot a sure indication for Arsenic, but when Arsenic is indicated you would be likely to find this kind ofmembrane; such cases as are very malignant in character, very offensive, putrid, those with agangrenous odor.At times the head is in constant motion when there are complaints in the body, because parts ofthe body are too sore to be moved; then the motion of the head comes on because of restlessness anduneasiness, and he keeps it in motion even though it does not ameliorate. The face and head are subjectto edema; dropsy of the scalp and erysipelatous inflammation of the face and head. The scalp pits uponpressure and there is a little crepitation under it from pressure. The scalp is subject to eruptions and isvery sensitive. So sensitive is the scalp that the hair cannot be combed; it seems as if the touch of thecomb or brush when rubbing over the scalp went into the brain.Sensitiveness is a feature of Arsenic; sensitiveness to smell and touch: oversensitiveness of allthe senses. A peculiar feature that perhaps I have not brought out is the oversensitiveness to thecircumstances and surroundings surroundings of the room. The Arsenicum patient is an extremelyfastidious patient. Hering once described him as "the gold-headed cane patient". If this is carried out ina woman who is sick in bed she is in great distress if every picture on the wall does not hang perfectlystraight. Those who are sensitive to disorder and confusion and are disturbed and made worse untileverything is placed in order have a morbid fastidiousness which has its simillimum in Arsenic.The eye symptoms of this remedy are very prominent. In old cases of suppressed malaria, inbroken down constitutions, in pallid, sickly people who are subject to general catarrhal conditions, andsuch catarrhal conditions as localize more especially in the nose and eye the eye symptoms will betroublesome. There are discharges from the eyes. It may be a conjunctivitis, in a general way involvingthe lids and the globe, going on sometimes to ulceration with thin, bloody discharge, increasing to thick