Copaiva Officinalis
Copaiva · Clarke - Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica · John Henry Clarke · 6,876 chars · source ↗
General
Copaiva.
Copaiva. Copaifera officinalis. N. O. Leguminosae. Tincture of the balsam.
Clinical
Acne. Anus, itching of. Bladder, irritable. Blenorrhagia. Bronchitis. Catarrh. Cough. Cystitis. Dysentery. Fistula. Gastritis. Gonorrhoea. Haemorrhoids. Measles. Nose-bleed. Prostatitis. Pruritus. Urethritis. Urticaria. Vulva, inflammation of.
Characteristics
Copaiva is an old-world remedy for gonorrhoea, and it has also been used for other blenorrhagic conditions. It has been proved; and observations have been made on patients who have overdosed themselves with the drug. The chief incidence of the drug's action is on the genito-urinary organs, and rectum. It is suited to the irritable bladder of old women.
Irritation accompanying thickening of bladder. Burning at neck of bladder and in urethra; discharge milky, corrosive; meatus tumid and inflamed. It affects the skin and mucous membranes generally. In chronic bronchitis it is useful when there is profuse, greenish-grey, disgusting-smelling sputa.
A. P. Bowie (Med. Adv., xx. 14) has verified this indication: "In old persons (men, I should say) who from cold or other causes cannot urinate; or where there is frequent desire and only a few drops pass with much straining—frequently with a mucous discharge from the bowels, with much rumbling and rolling in the bowels." He gave 5-drop doses of the first dilution.
He commends also an ointment of gtt. x of the balsam to one ounce of vaseline, "to relieve the burning and itching at the anus caused by piles."
Relations
Antidoted by: Bell., Calc., Merc., Sulph. Compare: Cannab., Canth., Cubeb., Eriger., Kali bro., Kali i., Sep., Senec. It has less violent action than Canth. Teste says he is unable to find any difference between the therapeutic properties of Copaiv. and Sep. Both are antidoted by the same drug: Merc. cor. in the male, and Merc. sol. in the female, according to Teste, neutralise the action of Copaiv. almost instantaneously.
Mind
Depression with anxious sadness
Excessive sensitiveness of whole nervous system; least noise causes starting and anger
A young girl weeps on hearing a piano
Uneasiness on account of one's health
Misanthropy
Deficient memory
Loathing of life, and at the same time fear of death.
Head
Heaviness of head, esp. of occipital region, which is instinctively pressed against collar of coat, which relieves
Pulsative, deep stitches in occiput
Dull pain in occiput
Every step jars the head
Hemicrania (l.) with burning pains, sense of coldness in part, weeping and constant moaning (in young man of twenty-two, disposed to be hypochondriacal.
It was so violent that Teste had to give Merc. to relieve him)
Pressure at forehead
Headache > pressing head back against collar of coat; gentle pressure with hand < evening and night; intolerable when leaning on pillow; washing face with cool water in morning (sudden stitches in both temples)
Falling out of the hair
Sensitiveness of hairy scalp.
Eyes
Formication in canthi of eyes in evening
Black points hovering before eyes
On alternately closing eyes objects look much paler to l. eye than to r.
Ears
Excessive sensitiveness of hearing, esp. to sharp sounds.
Nose
Epistaxis of small boys; also after wounds.—Profuse yellow and green, thick, fetid discharge from nasal passages running down throat at night.
Face
Face pale and sickly-looking
Acne
Urticaria
Red humid tetter on upper lip, which is swollen and painful when touched.
Mouth
Teeth set on edge
Sense of coldness in teeth
Foul breath in morning
Tongue covered with whitish coating, greenish at base
Tenacious phlegm in mouth and throat, which is constantly reproduced.
Throat
Chronic catarrh of throat
Sensation of foreign body in pharynx
Swelling of both tonsils (< r.).
Stomach
Thirst and diminished appetite
Bitter taste
Hungry in evening on going to bed
Every article of food seems too salt
Rush of blood to head and face when eating or after a meal
Spitting up of ingesta with large quantities of mucus
Inclination to vomit
Distension and fulness after eating; gastric troubles during menstruation or following urticaria.
Abdomen
Pressing pain in region of spleen, becomes pulsative from time to time
Tearings in the abdomen preceded by pullings in the bones of the thighs
Sensation of burning in the abdomen
Borborygmi and movements in the intestines.
Stool And Anus
White, loose evacuations, chiefly in the morning, with cold and drawing tearings in the abdomen, which force the patient to bend double
Involuntary evacuations
Stools like sheep's dung
Insufficient stools
Fluent piles
Bloody stools
Stools with tenesmus
Stitches; spasms in rectum
Intolerable burning at the anus
Burning, itching at anus.
Urinary Organs
Constant, ineffectual desire to urinate; contraction of the urethra; emission of urine in drops
Itching, soreness, and sensation of scalding in the urethra, before and after the emission of urine
Inflammation of the urinary organs; swelling, dilatation, and inflammation of the orifice of the urethra
Pain as from excoriation in the orifice of the urethra, which remains wide open, with throbbing pain in the penis generally
Haematuria
Urine foaming; greenish-turbid, smelling like violets
Yellow, purulent gonorrhoea.
Male Sexual Organs
Burning and sensation of dryness in the region of the prostate gland; induration of the prostate gland
Swelling of testes
Swelling and induration of the testes.
Female Sexual Organs
Burning and itching of urethra; itching of vulva; burning red spots in vulva
Milky, acid, excoriating discharge with painful menstruation
Profuse gonorrhoeal discharge
Metrorrhagia.
Respiratory Organs
Dry, painful cough, with dryness in the larynx
Profuse expectoration of a greenish-grey purulent mucus, of a disgusting smell
Spitting of blood.
Heart
Palpitation of the heart.
Lower Limbs
Pain and swelling of the knees and malleoli.
Generalities
Burning pain (skin, abdomen, urethra, prostate gland, chest).—Heaviness and pressure (abdomen, chest, perineum).
Skin
Large red blotches all over the body, with constipation and some fever
Dark-coloured or bright red, elevated, intolerable itching, lentil-sized, measle-shaped exanthema, in clusters, flowing into one another
Nettle-rash, pale red or bright red, with violent itching
Jaundice.
Sleep
Drowsiness in daytime
Restless sleep at night
Frightful, or lascivious dreams.
Fever
Quotidian fever, shiverings and cold in the forenoon, with pain in the dorsa of the feet; then, in the afternoon, general heat and thirst, with desire for cold water
During the febrile cold, the instep is painfully sensible to motion
Perspiration profuse of a pungent smell
Sour-smelling sweat at night
Profuse inodorous sweat in morning.