Aconitum Napellus - General symptoms - Nash

GENERAL

General

Complaints from exposure to cold, dry cold.

Congestions and inflammations, acute, first stage with great anxiety, heat and restlessness; tosses about in agony; throws off covering. Inflammatory fever.

Pains insuppressable worse at night, especially in the evening; neuralgic.

Face very red and flushed, but turns pale on rising up.

Favorite points of attack Larynx (crop), bronchi (bronchitis), lungs and pleura (pneumonia and pleurisy), joints (rheumatism), heart and circulation (erethism).

Modalities worse in the evening (chest symptoms and pains); lying on left side; in warm room or warm covering; better uncovering; kicks the clothes off.

We will now take up what I call the trio of restless remedies; viz Aconite, Arsenicum Album ^Arsenicum and Rhus Tox ^{Rhus toxicodendron}.

All are equally restless, yet all are so very different that there is no difficulty in choosing between them. The Aconite restlessness is oftenest found in a high grade of synochal or inflammatory fevers. There is no better picture in a few words of the Aconite fever than is given by Hering -"Heat, with thirst; hard, full and frequent pulse, anxious impatience, inappeasable, beside himself, tossing about with agony.".

The custom of alternating Aconite and Belladonna ^Belladonna in inflammatory affections, which so widely prevails is a senseless one. Both remedies cannot be indicated at a time, and if a good effect follows their administration you may be sure that the indicated one cured in spite of the action of the other, which only hindered; or that the patient recovered without help from either. There are many cases of this kind where the doctor is congratulating himself on a cure which was only a recovery, for which he deserves no credit at all. Let us look for a moment at some of the diagnostic differences of these two remedies.

Both have great heat of the skin, but Aconite has characteristically dry, hot skin and no sweat; Belladonna ^Belladonna has even greater surface heat, but sweats on covered parts.

Belladonna ^Belladonna often has semi-stupor and jerks and twitches in sleep. Aconite has great distress in heart and chest.

Belladonna ^Belladonna fears imaginary things, with delirium. Thus we might continue to give points of difference. No man who understands the homoeopathic art of healing will ever alternate these two remedies.

Aconite is also a great pain remedy. If we were to name the three leading remedies in this respect it would be Aconite, Chamomilla ^Chamomilla and Coffea Tosta ^Coffea. The Aconite pains are always attended by the extreme restlessness, anxiety and fearfulness of Aconitum Napellus. The patient tosses about in agony, "cannot bear the pain, nor bear to be touched, nor to be uncovered." Well, you say, all remedies have pain. Not all, and not many so intense pain. Opium and Stramonium ^Stramonium have painlessness oftener than pain. The Aconite pains are intolerable and generally worse in the evening or at night. Then we have often alternating with or sometimes even in conjunction with the pains numbness, tingling, or formication.

True words, and as one reads them who has proved their truthfulness and remembers they great author, he feels like exclaiming, "Being dead, yet speaketh." Aconite has two very important modalities, viz., fright and dry cold air. We have already noticed the value of the fear of Aconite as a symptom, connected with acute inflammatory ailments. It is no less a remedy for ailments brought on by fright, either immediate or remote. The patient has received a fright in the dark and is always afraid in the dark afterwards. From fright vertigo comes on, or fainting; trembling. threatened abortion, or suppressed menstruation, Jaundice may be induced by it, and become chronic. There are other remedies for fright, prominent among which are Opium, Ignatia ^Ignatia, Veratrum Album ^{Veratrum album}, etc. Now in regard to the dry cold air. No remedy has more prominently acute inflammations arising from dry, cold air. Nineteen out of twenty cases of croup arising from exposure to dry, cold air will be cured by Aconite. I live in a locality where croup abounds and have had abundant opportunity to verify this. Pleurisy, pneumonia and rheumatism also come under this head, and they are, as would be expected, almost invariably accompanied by the high fever, anguish, restlessness and fear so characteristic of Aconitum Napellus. Any local congestion or inflammation coming from such exposure also comes under the same rule, always providing the other symptoms corresponds The other leading dry air remedies are Bryonia ^Bryonia, Causticum ^Causticum, Hep Sulph Calc ^{Hepar sulph}., and Nux Vomica ^{Nux vomica}. Here are some wet weather remedies Dulcamara ^Dulcamara, Nux Moschata ^{Nux moschata}, Natrum Sulphuricum ^{Natrum sulphuricum} and Rhus Tox ^{Rhus toxicodendron}. Such things are well to remember, for one positive indication is worth two or three vague ones.