Colchicum Autumnale

Profuse cold sweat; marked chills with or without periodicity.

Burning also is not uncommon: in cavities, especially abdomen.

The characteristic stool of Colchicum is jelly-like mucus; membranous shreds being also marked; violent tenesmus accompanies.

Protrusion of rectum.

"After evacuation, as in dysentery, there is generally relief (but in typhus fever, e.g., sometimes a terrific spasmodic pain of the sphincter ani comes on after stool.

This may occur in common diarrhoea)" (Guernsey).

The rice-water stool, hippocratic face, coldness, cramps, prostration, led Salzer to find in it the specific for certain epidemics of Asiatic cholera.

All functions, mental and bodily, are slow; nutrition and digestion are at a stand, and yet the patient does not emaciate rapidly.

There is great prostration; debility from loss of sleep; the prostration of typhoid fever and typhoid states.

On the other hand there are convulsions, cramps, and sometimes restlessness.

The pains of Colchicum are very acute and unendurable.

The Colch. dysentery and rheumatism are exceedingly painful.

Very sensitive and irritable.

Cannot endure strong smells.

Gouty diabetes, the uric acid reappearing as the sugar disappears.

The heart is affected as other muscles.

Oppression and anxiety > by walking.

Heart-beating.

Stitches about heart and loss of consciousness.

Heart affected (pericarditis) on disappearance of symptoms from extremities; rheumatism appears on disappearance of uric acid from urine.

Colch. will reverse this.

J.

R.

Simson, of Tonawanda, N.

Y., cured a very bad rase of typhoid presenting among other symptoms, this: "his left pupil was contracted so as to be almost imperceptible, while the right was dilated to the full extent." This is peculiar to Colch., and no remedy relieved the patient till he received this.

B.

Simmons calls attention (H.

P., August, 1889) to the powerlessness of the affected parts which accompanies many Colchicum affections, especially when occurring in leuco-phlegmatic subjects and when there is oedematous swelling of the parts.

He cured a woman, 36, mother of two children, of leuco-phlegmatic temperament, who complained of rheumatism of the hands, which were swollen; joints stiff and powerless, pain as if bruised; the arms being affected but in less degree.

"She was unable to brush her own hair, not so much from the pain as from the extreme weakness and powerlessness of the parts affected." T.

F.

Allen gives "Tingling in finger-nails" as characteristic of Colch.; no other remedy has it.

As usual with allopathic specifics, Colchicum has been terribly abused.

Here is an instance.

I was called suddenly to see an old gentleman of 72, whom I found in a state of collapse, pallid, surface was cold and clammy, almost pulseless.

He had been taken suddenly ill when in the water-closet, vomiting "black bile," and had fallen on the floor when trying to walk along the passage.

The history of the attack was this: He had formerly been "a martyr to gout." Four years previously he began to take, on lay recommendation, a powder which analysis showed to be composed of equal parts of Colchicum and Jesuit's bark.

He kept this up for six months and had no more gout.

But at the end of the six months he had the first attack of this kind.

It came quite suddenly and was, as far as I could learn, identical with the one in which I saw him.

In addition to the symptoms named there was looseness of the bowels, the stool being black like the vomit.

He was compelled to lie absolutely still, the least attempt to raise the head exciting nausea.

Recovery took place in a few days.

This is not exactly a case of what our friends would call "médecine substitutive," but I am inclined to name it "maladie substitutive," the substituted malady, Colchicism, being considerably worse than the gout it replaced.

These attacks had recurred every few months, although the powders were discontinued.

The < from motion is as marked as that of Bry.

The patient must rest and lie down.

Cannot lie on left side.

< From any exertion mental or bodily.

Bending forward > oppression and colic.

Symptoms are < night and evening.

Warmth > generally; but warm food < toothache; and damp, warm weather = profuse watery stools; warm stove or warm room = chilliness.

Symptoms generally are < from cold or damp; from getting wet; from bathing, living in damp dwellings; change to damp weather; from change of weather; also complaints from getting overheated.

Pains in gout go from left to right; headaches right to left.

Complaints of old people; asthmatic people.

Great dejection

Ill-humour

Peevish; dissatisfied with everything

The sufferings appear insupportable

The least external impression (bright light, strong smells, bad manners) drives him to distraction

Weakness of memory

Great desire for rest and disinclination to every mental exertion; absence of mind

Forgetfulness and distraction.

Giddiness when sitting down after walking

Pulsations in the head

The headache is relieved, after supper, from warmth and lying quiet in bed

Pressure on the occiput, during intellectual exertion

Cramp-like pains in the head, esp. above the eyes

Semilateral tearing in the head

Tingling in the forehead and upon the head.

Pupils much dilated, only slightly sensitive to light, or immovable or slightly dilated

L. pupil contracted, while r. is dilated (typhoid)

Pains in the eyes, like a digging pulling, deep in the eyeball

Swelling of the lower lids

Watering of the eyes in the open air.—(lritis; keratitis; maculae)

Suppuration of the Meibomian glands (ulceration, left lower lid); burning and redness of the edges of the eyelids

Visible traction in the lower lids.

Otalgia, with tearing shootings (after measles)

Tingling in the ears, as if they had been frozen

Sensation of obstruction in the ears

Purulent discharge from the ears, with drawing pains

Dryness of the ears.

Aching pain in the bones of the nose

Tingling in the nose

Pains as from excoriation in the septum narium, aggravated by touch

Bleeding of the nose in the evenings

Excessive sensibility of smell

Obstinate coryza, with snuffling of a great quantity of viscid mucus, proceeding from the nose.

Features disfigured

Aspect sickly, sad, suffering

Face spotted with yellow

Very great paleness of the face

Cheeks red and hot (afternoon)

Oedematous swelling of the face

Sensation of separation in the bones of the face

Sensation in the masseters, as if they were distended, with difficulty in opening the mouth

Drawings and successive pullings in the muscles and bones of the face

Semi-lateral tearing in the face, extending to the ear and the head

Tingling in the skin of the face, as if it had been frozen

Lips cracked

Tearing in the lower lip

Cramp-like pain in the maxillary joint.

Odontalgia, with tearing pains

Sensibility of the teeth, when they touch on closing the jaws

Acute pains in the gums.

Heat in the mouth

Tearing in the palate

Abundant, serous salivation, with dryness of the throat

Heaviness, stiffness, and insensibility of the tongue

Tongue coated white

Smarting and sensation of dryness of the tongue and throat.

Sore-throat, as if from swelling of the orifice of the oesophagus

Tingling in the palate

Constriction of the gullet

Inflammation and redness of the palate, of the fauces

Inflammations, tearings and shootings in the palate, and in the throat

Accumulation of greenish mucus in the throat, and in the mouth.

Appetite suddenly ceasing, merely from the sight or smell of food, with loathing, when merely looking at it, and still more from smelling it; the smell of broth nauseates, and that of fish, eggs, or fat meat almost makes him faint

Insipidity of food

Great thirst, esp. for coffee

Taste bitter; violent thirst.

Frequent eructations

Constant hiccough

Nausea, increased, so as to occasion loss of consciousness, by the smell of fresh eggs, or fat meat

Nausea, during a meal

Nausea, after swallowing the saliva

Nausea, in an erect position, when moving at table, with inclination to vomit, with constant flow of saliva

Vomiting of food, or 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

Stomach very sensitive to the touch

Sensation of excoriation, and tingling in the stomach

Sensation of cold, or of burning in the stomach, with heavy pain

Shooting in the pit of the stomach

Sensation of gnawing hunger in the stomach.

Inflation and fulness of the abdomen

Pressure towards the outside in the upper part of the abdomen

Colic, with tearing pains

Pain, as of excoriation, in l. side of abdomen, on its being touched

Dropsical swelling of the abdomen, with a fold over the pubic region

Pain, as of burning and pressure in the abdomen, in the region of the bladder, and in the internal genital parts

Pulsation in the abdomen.

Constipation

Evacuations slow, difficult, scanty, with urging, even of the soft stool, with pain in the small of the back

Involuntary evacuation of faeces

Watery discharges, going off without sensation

Diarrhoea, consisting of mucus like rice-water

Dysenteric diarrhoea, of white, transparent, gelatinous mucus

Ineffectual pressing to stool; he feels the faeces in the rectum, but cannot expel them

Discharge of much mucus from the rectum

Extremely painful stools

Sanguineous evacuations, mixed, as it were, with false membranes

Prolapsus recti

Tingling itching, burning, and tearing in the anus

During stool sensation as if the sphincter ani were torn to pieces

Cramps in the sphincter ani.

Urgent want to make water, with increased discharge of clear urine

Scanty discharge of urine of a deep colour, with tenesmus, and a burning sensation

Painful and scanty emission of urine of a bright red colour

Brownish or blackish urine

Whitish deposit in the urine

Burning sensation and pressure in the urinary organs, and the bladder, with diminished secretion

Pullings, tearings, and incisive pains in the urethra

Frequent micturition.

Tingling in the trachea

Tickling in the pharynx, which excites a small dry cough

Frequent short and dry cough

Nocturnal cough, with involuntary emission of urine

Hoarseness in the morning with roughness of the throat.

Difficulty of respiration, and oppression at the chest, with anxiety; relieved by bending forward

Tensive, pressive, and periodical oppression of the chest; frequent pressure in small spots in the chest

Shootings in the chest, sometimes on breathing

Tearings in the chest, with obtuse lancinations

Pain, as of excoriation in the chest, on being touched and during movement

Tingling in the chest.

Violent palpitation of the heart

Pressure and oppression in the region of the heart, as if an attack of apoplexy threatened;

> by walking

Hydrothorax.

Shooting tension between the shoulder-blades

Tearings in the back

Pain, as from excoriation in the loins, during movement

Drawing in the small of the back; worse during motion

Soreness in the small of the back when touching it.

Stitches in the r. shoulder

Painful lameness in the arms, which makes it impossible to hold the lightest thing

Trembling of the r. hand preventing writing

Tearings in the arms, the hands, and the fingers

Paralytic pain in the arms

Trembling of the hands

Heat of the palms of the hands

Cramp-like contraction of the fingers

Tingling in the fingers, as if they had been frozen

Tingling in the finger-nails

Torpor in the extremity of the fingers.

Tearings in the legs, the feet, and the toes

Paralytic pullings in the thighs

Hot (oedematous) swelling of the legs, with acute pains during movement

Tingling of the toes, as if they had been frozen.

Itching, as from nettles

Tingling in different parts, as after being frozen

Oedematous swelling and anasarca

Suppressed perspiration.

Drowsiness in the day, with unfitness for exertion

Irresistible sleepiness, drowsiness

Sleeplessness from nervous excitability

Sleeplessness, without entire unconsciousness

Sleeplessness, because he cannot lie on the l. side, on which he is accustomed to sleep

Frequent waking with fright

Nocturnal heat, with violent thirst.