Ipeca appears in 12 of the 13 classic books on Similia. Each was written to do a different job — here is what each adds on this remedy, with the opening of its entry.
- Allen HC — The keynotes that separate this remedy from its nearest neighbours.
“Ipecac. (Rubiaceae.) Adapted to cases where the gastric symptoms predominate (Ant. c., Puls.); tongue clean or slightly coated. In all diseases with constant and continual nausea . Nausea: with profuse saliva ; vomiting of white, glairy mucus in large quantities, without relief ; sleepy afterwards; worse from…”
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Cephaëlis Ipecacuanha, A. Richard. Natural order , Rubiaceæ. Common names (German), Brech-wurzel; Ipecac. Preparation , Trituration and tincture of the root. Authorities. (Nos. 1 to 15 , from Hahnemann).”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Ipecac-root (IPECA) The chief action is on the ramifications of the pneumogastric nerve, producing spasmodic irritation in chest and stomach. Morphia habit. The principal feature of Ipecacuanha is its persistent nausea and vomiting, which form the chief guiding symptoms. Indicated after indigestible food, raisins…”
- Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“MUCOUS MEMBRANES: DIGESTIVE. Stomach. RESPIRATORY. Lungs. Nerves: Pneumo - gastric. Spinal. Cutaneous. Umbilicus. WARMTH; damp. Room. Overeating: Ices. Pork. Veal. Mixed or rich foods. Periodically. Quinine. Heat and cold. Recessions. Open air. Profuse secretions. Foamy discharges, stool, etc. CONTINUOUS NAUSEA…”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Cephaëlis ipecacuanha. N. O. Rubiaceæ. Tincture and trituration of the dried root. Anæmia / Asthma / Bronchitis / Catarrh / Cholera / Consumption / Convulsions / Cough / Deafness / Diarrhœa / Dysentery / Enteric fever / Eyes, affections of / Gall-stone colic / Gastric Ulcer / Hæmatemesis / Hæmorrhage / Hæmorrhoids /…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Ipecac. Rubiaceæ. A plant native to Brazil. The tincture is prepared from the dried and finely powdered root. Provings by Hahnemann and his provers. See Allen's Encyclopædia, vol. 5, p. 137 . CLINICAL AUTHORITIES. Hypochondriasis , Hufeland, B. J. H., vol. 27, p. 621 ; Apoplexy , Rummel, Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 1, p. 92…”
- Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“Ipeca Ipecac. has a wide sphere of action among acute sickness. Most of its acute complaints commence with nausea, vomiting. The febrile conditions commence with pain in the back between the shoulders, extending down the back, as if it would break, with or without rigors, much fever, vomiting of bile and seldom any…”
- Lippe (KN) — Only the symptoms Lippe considered reliable enough to prescribe on.
“Nausea accompanies most complaints. Relieves the exhaustion following bleeding from the orifices of the body. Tetanic spasms. Intermittent fever with slight chills and much heat, which is accompanied with much heat, gastric symptoms, and oppression of the chest in all cases. In the joints a sensation as if they had…”
- Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Irritability; restlessness, impatience. Ill-humor and despising every thing. Cannot endure the least noise. Vertigo, when walking and when turning round. Stitches, in the vertex (or forehead). Headache, as if the skull and brain were bruised, with nausea and vomiting. Pain in the occiput and nape of the neck…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: ipecac. Adapted to cases where the gastric symptoms predominate (Ant-C., Kali-M., Nux-V., Puls., Sep.) (A.). Relieves the exhaustion following bleeding from the orifices of the body (Carb-V., Chin., Ferr., Kali-P., Sec.). Tetanic spasms (Bell., Cic., Cupr., Nux-V., Op., Strych., Verat.). Spasmodic…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Persistent nausea, which nothing relieves, in many complaints. Headache as if bruised, all through the bones of the head, down into root of tongue, with nausea. Stools as if fermented, or as green as grass, with colic and nausea, Hemorrhages from uterus; profuse, bright blood and heavy breathing, with nausea…”
