Colchicum autumnale
By Adolph von Lippe — Text Book of Materia Medica
Mind and Disposition
Peevish; dissatisfied with every thing.
His sufferings seem intolerable to him.
Slight causes, external impressions (bright light, strong smells, contact, bad manners) disturb his temper at once.
Great desire for rest and disinclination to every mental exertion; forgetfulness; absence of mind.
Head
Giddiness when sitting down after walking.
Sensation of constriction over the eyes.
Pulsations in the head.
Pressing pain in the occiput, from mental exertion.
The headache is relieved, after supper, from warmth and lying quiet in bed.
Eyes
Watering of the eyes in the open air.
Ulceration of the meibomian glands (left lower lid), with swelling of the eyelids.
Burning and redness of the edges of the eyelids.
Ears
Discharge from the ears, with tearing in the ears (after measles).
Stitches in the ears (evening).
Dryness of the ears.
Nose
Fluent coryza, with thin, tenacious discharge from the nose.
Tingling in the nose.
The sense of smell is painfully acute.
Bleeding of the nose in the evenings.
Face
Piteous, sad features, as if he were ill.
Very great paleness of the face.
Cheeks red and hot (afternoon).
Œdematous swelling of the face.
Mouth and Throat
Increased secretions of saliva; profuse ptyalism, with dryness of the throat.
Sensation of warmth and dryness in the mouth.
Lips chapped.
The tongue is heavy, stiff, and insensible.
Tongue coated white.
Smarting and sensation of dryness of the tongue and throat.
Biting-tingling in the throat and fauces.
Frequent hawking of (greenish) mucus.
Inflammation and redness of the palate, of the fauces.
Appetite and Taste
Aversion to food, and loathing when merely looking at it, and still more when smelling it; the smell of broth nauseates, and that of fish, eggs, or fat meat almost makes him faint.
Taste bitter; violent thirst.
Stomach and Abdomen
Constant singultus.
Nausea, in an erect position, when moving, at table, with inclination to vomit, with constant flow of saliva.
Vomiting of bile or mucus, of the ingesta, with trembling violent gagging, colic, succeeded by bitterness in the mouth and throat.
Every motion excites or renews the vomiting.
Sensitiveness of the region of the stomach; it does not bear contact.
The stomach feels icy cold.
Burning in the stomach, with heavy pain.
Sensation of gnawing hunger in the stomach.
Abdominal dropsy, with a fold over the pubic region.
Stitches in the pit of the stomach.
Pulsation in the abdomen.
Stool and Anus
Stool scanty, discharged only by hard straining even of the soft stool, with pain in the small of the back.
Extremely painful stools.
Watery discharges, going off without sensation.
Ineffectual pressing to stool; he feels the fæces in the rectum, but cannot expel them.
Frequent evacuations of transparent, jelly-like mucus, relieving the colic.
Fall dysentery, with discharges of white mucus and violent tenesmus; bloody stools, mingled with a slimy substance.
During stool sensation as if the sphincter ani were torn to pieces; burning at the anus.
Prolapsus ani; spasms in the sphincter ani.
Urinary Organs
Frequent micturition.
Whitish sediment in the urine.
Burning in the urinary organs, with diminished secretion.
Brown, black urine.
Sexual Organs
Men. Itching at the prepuce and orifice of the urethra.
Tearing in the glands and left spermatic cord.
Women. Catamenia too early.
Respiratory Organs
Hoarseness in the morning, with roughness of the throat.
Nightly cough, with involuntary discharge of urine.
Oppression of the chest, with anxiety; relieved by bending forward.
Frequent pressure in small spots in the chest.
Pressure and oppression in the region of the heart, as if an attack of apoplexy threatened; relieved by walking.
Lancinating pain or cutting, as with a knife, in the right side of the chest.
Hydrothorax.
Back and Neck
Tearing and lancinations in the back.
Soreness in the small of the back when touching it.
Drawing in the small of the back; worse during motion.
Extremities
Upper. Stitches in the right shoulder.
Painful lameness in the arms, which makes it impossible to hold the lightest thing.
Trembling of the right hand, preventing writing.
Bubbling sensation in the left upper arm.
Rheumatic pain in the arms, extending into the fingers, especially the joints of the fingers.
Heat of the palms of the hands.
Fingers cold; tingling in the tips of the fingers.
Lower. Rheumatic pains in the legs, extending to the toes.
Œdematous swelling of the legs and feet.
The feet feel heavy.
Tingling in the tips of the toes.
Generalities
Great weakness, with sensation of lameness through all the limbs.
Tearing twitches, like electric shocks, through one side of the body, with sensation of lameness.
Frequent starting.
Tingling in many parts of the body, as if frost-bitten, when the weather changes.
Sleep
Irresistible sleepiness, drowsiness.
Sleeplessness, without entire consciousness.
Sleeplessness because he cannot lie on the left side, which he is accustomed to go to sleep.
Fever
Pulse hard, full, and accelerated.
Coldness and chilliness, running through all the limbs.
Frequent shiverings down the back.
External dry heat of the skin.
At night dry, external heat, with excessive thirst.
Perspiration wanting or suppressed.
Skin
Œdematous swelling and anasarca.
Suppressed perspiration.
Conditions
Rheumatic pains in the limbs during warm weather; at in the limbs during cold weather.
The pains increase towards evenings, and do not diminish before daybreak.
Sensitiveness of the body, especially of the affected to motion and contact.
Aggravation while walking.
Amelioration while reposing, sitting (when stooping).