Aconitum Napellus - General symptoms - Kent Lectures

GENERAL

General

Like a great storm, it comes and sweeps over and passes away. By a little meditation we will discover what kind of sickness all this is like, and what kind of a patient is most likely to have that short, sudden sickness.

If we think a moment from experience and homoeopathic observation, we will remember that vigorous, plethoric individuals, when they take cold, come down violently, whereas feeble people, sickly people, come down and recover slowly from acute diseases, and do not become so violently and so suddenly sick.

From this, and from examining the sudden effects of Aconite, it will be easy to see that persons who come down with Aconite sicknesses are plethoric individuals.

Strong, robust people, rugged children and infants become sick, not a very slight cold, or from slight exposure, but from more violent exposure. From being exposed with deficient clothing; from (sudden, violent changes; from prolonged exposure to the cold, north, dry wind.)

A vigorous person caught out with thin clothing, or remaining out in the cold, dry air of mid-winter, with its sudden, violent changes, comes down even before night with violent symptoms. This is the class of patients, the plethoric and vigorous, who have a strong heart, active brain, vigorous circulation, and come down suddenly from violent exposure, that need Aconite

Aconite has in its nature none of the results usually following inflammation. The storm is over so quickly that it seems mostly to conform to the earlier condition. In these vigorous patients sudden congestions are likely to be thrown off by good reaction.

s Attacks come on suddenly from exposure to a dry, cold wind. In plethoric children we have an illustration of that in, the sudden congestion of the brain with intense fever, or with convulsions.

We get illustrations of its suddenness and violence in any organ of the body, the brain, the lungs, the liver, the blood, the kidneys. It is suited to the complaints that come on suddenly from the very cold weather of winter, or from the intensely hot weather of summer.

It has the lung and brain complaints of winter, and the bowel inflammations and stomach disorders of summer. We know how these plethoric individuals become suddenly overheated and become violently sick.

Their sudden attacks are frightful to look upon. All these inflammatory conditions are attended with great excitement of the circulation, violent action of the heart, a tremendous turmoil of the brain, a violent shock. with intense fear.

There is a teaching that has long prevailed give Aconite for the first stage of an inflammation. It is not good teaching, although it is recommended in all of our books. It does not say for what kind, of a constitution, or how it comes about.

Do not practice that way. Get all the elements for an Aconite case, if possible, or give a better remedy. Another practice has prevailed, viz., giving Aconite for fever. Aconite was the fever remedy of many of our early routinists, but it is a bad practice.

Give Aconite only when the symptoms agree. An inflammation that is about to run a prolonged course, to take on suppuration, or if it is mucous membrane to take on discharge of pus, will never show you the symptoms of Aconite

Suddenly the blood vessels become engorged and ooze, the blood vessels rupture and the capillaries ooze.

Everywhere in the body will we find that same intense condition of the nerves. Wherever there are complaints they are intense, violent, and the patient is always in a state of anxiety and irritability.

Burning is a symptom that runs all through the remedy, you will find it descriptive of all the pains. Burning in the head, burning along the course of nerves, burning in the spine, burning in fever, sometimes burning as if covered with pepper.

"Anxious restlessness" covers nearly all of these things.

We will soon come to think that it does not make much difference where the disorder occurs, we must have the Aconite patient.

New-born children, with difficulty of breathing, after the use of forceps, or from a tedious labor; the child is breathless, there is difficulty with the heart, and in a few hours fever comes on. Aconite is a very simple remedy.

In the case of pneumonia where the lung is involved, it is likely to be the upper half of the left lung when Aconite is indicated.

Cannot lie upon either side, but upon the back. Lying on the side increases the pain. The dry cold winds. Sudden shocks, in persons of good, strong, vigorous circulation. The Haemoptysis that is spoken of is not such as occurs in phthisis, but is involuntary; the blood comes up with a slight cough.

Some one might be deceived to give it in such cases in broken down constitutions in sickly patients; but it is not to be administered in such cases, we have much better remedies.

All these come on from cold winds. Vigorous persons get into a draft and get a chill that will bring on Aconite symptoms.

Aconite has in all inflamed parts a sensation as if hot steam were rushing into the parts, as if warm blood were rushing into the parts, or "flushes of heat in the parts" Along nerves, a sensation of heat, or sensation of cold.

In sudden attacks that Aconite conforms to, that is the whole attack, there may be left in that constitution a tendency to return of a similar attack.

Aconite has no power over that tendency, but Sulphur ^Sulphur has. Of course, most of the symptoms must agree but it will seem to you frequently where Aconite has been suitable in the acute disease that Sulphur ^Sulphur symptoms will follow, and many times a very violent attack leaves a weakness in the constitution which Aconite has no power to contend with. It has no power to keep off recurrent attacks. It does all that it is capable of doing, and that is the end of it. But it is not so with Sulphur ^Sulphur

After Aconite follow well Arnica ^Arnica and Belladonna ^Belladonna. Sometimes it is true it will appear to you that Aconite is capable of coping with all there is in the disease.

But there seems to be a lingering something that holds on, and such medicines as Arnica ^Arn. and Belladonna ^Bell., and Ipecacuanha ^Ip. and Bryonia ^Bry., do have to come in to finish up the attack or sometimes Sulphur ^Sulphur Very commonly Silicea ^Silica So we have to study the relations of medicines.

If you have administered Aconite in too many doses, or given it too strong, and your patient is slow in recovering from the attack, or your patient has taken Aconite himself unwisely, then Coffea Tosta ^Coffea or Nux Vomica ^Nux will often put the patient into a better condition.

Introduction

Aconite is a short-acting remedy. Aconitum Napellus's symptoms do not last long. It is a violent poison in large doses, either destroying life or passing away in its effects quite soon, so that if the patient recovers, the recovery is not delayed. There are no chronic diseases following it.