Actæa Racemosa

by C.M. Boger — A Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica

REGION

Mind.
Occiput.
Vertex.
Nape.
NERVES AND MUSCLES: Cerebro-spinal. Eyesballs. Ovario- uterine. Heart.
FEMALES.
Joints.
Left side; ovary, chest, etc.
Front of thighs.

WORSE

Menstruation; suppressed.
During labor.
Emotions.
Alcohol.
Night.
Air: Damp. Cold. Wind. Drafts.
Change of weather.
Heat and cold.
Sitting.
Puberty and climaxis.

BETTER

Warm wraps.
Open air.
Pressure.
Continued motion.
Grasping things.
Eating.

A depressing irritant, causing exhaustion and low spirits, combined with oversensitiveness, < during pain (Nux-v.). Plumpness. Irregular, changeful or alternating symptom groups; utero-rheumatic (Caul.), etc. Violent pains; achings; shooting, here and there; shock-like, with cries, faints, etc.; up nape, about thorax, ovary to ovary (Arn.); lumbar spine, etc.; or alternating with other states. Myalgia. Ovaralgia. Lumbago. Bruised, sore or heavy, aching muscles; behing eyeballs, uterus, neck; with a general sick feeling. Grippe. Variola. Trmbling, twitching; of part lain on, tongue, fingers, etc. Chorea; cardiac. Compressive pain; temples, feet, etc. .................... Insanity before menses. Melancholy. Agitation. Alternate mental and physical effects. Nervous, fidgety, excitable and jerky. Annoyances drive her crazy. Depressed and talkative, with constant change of subject. Suspicious. Gloomy forebodings; of death; insanity, etc. Sees rats. Sees various colors and forms. Mania; alcoholic, puerperal, etc. Deathly fear, of rats, etc.; agitated. Weak will. Waving in brain (Glo.). Head retracted. Vertex; as if to fly off; as of a cold draft or heat on. Occiput; like a blow or pressive pain, ascends to eyes (l). Eyeballs ache; feel big. Sees red flashes, with black borders. Tinnitus; violent with deafness. Pale, hot face. Thick saliva. Mucus on teeth, or coppery mucus hawked up. Burning in throat. Nausea in A.M.; of pregnancy or alcoholism; in bowels; < pressure on spine. Vomits green; holds head and groans. Profuse, clear urine; weakening; with yellow sand. Menses irregular in time and amount; more flow more pain. Slow labor with nervous shivers. Uterine atony (Alet.). After-pains. Sore and tender along track of pains. Nervous; urination, shuddering, cough, etc. Delicate, sensitive women. Spasms of cerebro-spinal fever. Thyroid aches before menses. Incessant, dry night cough; < speaking. Sharp stitches in l. chest. Pleurodynia. Left inframammary pain. Heart sore; swelled; needle-like pains; backward from or to l. arm. Muscles fatigue. Neckache. Throws head back. Arms numb, cramp down; l. seems bound to side. Irritable, sensitive spine; < lying on it. Stiff, contracted neck, back (Agar.) or Tendo Achilles. Pain at angle of l. scapula (Chen.). Heavy, pulsative lumbar pain, through hips and down thighs. Cramps in limbs; in calves. Alternate mental and rheumatic symptoms. Itching soles. Sleepless or dizzy, drunken sleep; with arms over head or yawning. Pulse weak, irregular; drops every 3rd or 4th. beat. Chilly females. Cold sweat on hands and feet.

Related: Bap. Caul. Gel. Ign. Pul.

Actæa Racemosa across the other classic books

Actæa Racemosa appears in 10 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.
“Black Cohosh (Ranunculaceae.) Puerperal mania; thinks she is going crazy (compare, Syph.); tries to injure herself. Mania following disappearance of neuralgia. Sensation as if a heavy, black cloud had settled all over her and enveloped her head so that all is darkness and confusion. Illusion of a mouse running under…”
Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Cimicifuga racemosa, Ell. Synonyms , Actæa racemosa, Linn; Macrotys actæoides, Raf.; Botroflus serpentaria, Raf. (Med. Flora). Nat. order , Ranunculaceæ. Common names , Blacksnake root, Bugbane, Rattleweed. Preparation , Tincture of the root. Authorities.”
Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Black Snake-root (CIMICIFUGA - ACTAEA RACEMOSA - MACROTYS) Has a wide action upon the cerebrospinal and muscular system, as well as upon the uterus and ovaries. Especially useful in rheumatic, nervous subjects with ovarian irritation, uterine cramps and heavy limbs. Its muscular and crampy pains, primarily of neurotic…”
Boger (GA) — Which general headings this remedy belongs under — the analytical scaffolding.
“ACHING ALTERNATING EFFECTS, sides, states, etc.(Comp. Periodicity, Wandering, Waves). ANGINA PECTORIS BLOWS, shocks, thrusts, crash, explosions, etc. (Comp. Shattered): CLIMAXIS, Agg. DAMPNESS, getting wet, wet weather, bathing, working in water, damp rooms, etc., Agg. DIRECTION of sensations, Radiating DIRECTION of…”
Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Cimicifuga racemosa. Actæa monogynia. C. serpentaria. Macrotys racemosa. Botroflus serpentaria. Black snake root. Black Cohosh. (Canada, Georgia, Western States of America.) N. O. Ranunculaceæ. Tincture of the root. Trituration of the resinoid, Macrotyn. Abortion, tendency to / Angina pectoris / Appetite, disordered /…”
Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“[The observation that a drug may produce different symptoms on the different sexes is of the utmost importance for the scientific development of our Materia Medica. Professors Hill and Douglas state in their valuable report of provings with Actea racemosa, in the New York Quarterly , Vol. VII., 1859, p. 450 : "It…”
Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“Actea Racemosa (Black Cohosh) This remedy has been only meagerly proved, yet there are a few useful points in it. From its proving we can perceive that it is similar to diseased states in the human family, and especially in women, namely, hysterical and rheumatic conditions. The patient is always chilly, easily…”
Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common names: squaw root; black cohosh; cimicifuga. GLOOMY, SAD, SLEEPLESS; THINKS SHE WILL GO INSANE (N.). Puerperal mania; tries to injure herself. Weeping mood; melancholia. Mania following disappearance of neuralgia (A.). In all her mental symptoms there is a want of natural coherence (G.). SENSATION AS IF A…”
Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Nervous symptoms, twitchings, spasms, convulsions, neuralgias; chills without shaking < at menstrual period. Muscular rheumatism; stiff neck, drawing head back; can’t turn the head; rheumatism of the belly of muscles, by preference. Headaches pressing outward; or upward, as if top of head would fly off, or into eyes…”

Actæa Racemosa in Kent's Repertory

Kent's Repertory lists Actæa Racemosa in 1,192 rubrics. These are the ones where it carries the highest grade — the symptoms Kent treated as most characteristic. Most of them sit in HEAD (192), EXTREMITIES (154), MIND (99), BACK (94), FEMALE GENITALIA (85).

BACK - PAIN - Dorsal region - bending backwards - forward
BACK - PAIN - drawing - Dorsal region - scapulae - between - bending backward amel. - forward
FEMALE GENITALIA - PAIN - cramping - Uterus - broad ligaments
FEMALE GENITALIA - PAIN - stitching - Uterus - side to side
VERTIGO - FULLNESS and aching in vertex
BACK - PAIN - drawing - bending - backward
HEAD - PAIN, - pressing - Vertex - upward
HEAD - PAIN, - sore bruised,sensitive to pressure - Occiput - motion, - on
BACK - PAIN - Dorsal region - rheumatic
MIND - DELUSIONS, - insane, - that she will become
BACK - PAIN - drawing - Dorsal region
FEMALE GENITALIA - CONTRACTIONS - os spasmodic,during labor
HEAD - PAIN, - sore bruised,sensitive to pressure - motion,on
HEAD - PAIN, - pressing - Vertex - outward
BACK - PAIN - drawing - Spine
HEAD - PAIN, - Occiput - extending - vertex,to
BACK - PAIN - Lumbar region - rheumatic
HEAD - CONGESTION,hyperaemia etc., - menses, - suppressed,from
BACK - HEAVINESS - weight - Lumbar region
MIND - DELIRIUM - loquacious

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