Gelsemium Sempervirens

Keynote by William Boericke

Centers its action upon the nervous system, causing various degrees of motor paralysis. General prostration. Dizziness, drowsiness, dullness, and trembling. Slow pulse, tired feeling, mental apathy. Paralysis of various groups of muscles about the eyes, throat, chest, larynx, sphincter, extremities, etc. Post-diphtheritic paralysis. Muscular weakness. Complete relaxation and prostration. Lack of muscular co-ordination. General depression from heat of sun. Sensitive to a falling barometer; cold and dampness brings on many complaints. Children fear falling, grab nurse or crib. Sluggish circulation. Nervous affections of cigarmakers. Influenza. Measles. Pellagra.

Mind.–Desire to be quiet, to be left alone. Dullness, languor, listless. “Discernings are lethargied. ” Apathy regarding his illness. Absolute lack of fear. Delirious on falling to sleep. Emotional excitement, fear, etc, lead to bodily ailments. Bad effects from fright, fear, exciting news. Stage fright. Child starts and grasps the nurse, and screams as if afraid of falling (Bor).

Head.–Vertigo, spreading from occiput. Heaviness of head; band-feeling around and occipital headache. Dull, heavy ache, with heaviness of eyelids; bruised sensation; better, compression and lying with head high. Pain in temple, extending into ear and wing of nose, chin. Headache, with muscular soreness of neck and shoulders. Headache preceded by blindness; better, profuse urination. Scalp sore to touch. Delirious on falling asleep. Wants to have head raised on pillow.

Eyes.–Ptosis; eyelids heavy; patient can hardly open them. Double vision. Disturbed muscular apparatus. Corrects blurring and discomfort in eyes even after accurately adjusted glasses. Vision blurred, smoky (Cycl; Phos). Dim-sighted; pupils dilated and insensible to light. Orbital neuralgia, with contraction and twitching of muscles. Bruised pain back of the orbits. One pupil dilated, the other contracted. Deep inflammations, with haziness of vitreous. Serous inflammations. Albuminuric retinitis. Detached retina, glaucoma and descemetitis. Hysterical amblyopia.

Nose.–Sneezing; fullness at root of nose. Dryness of nasal foss?. Swelling of turbinates. Watery, excoriating discharge. Acute coryza, with dull headache and fever.

Face.–Hot heavy, flushed, besotted-looking (Bapt; Op). Neuralgia of face. Dusky hue of face, with vertigo and dim vision. Facial muscles contracted, especially around the mouth. Chin quivers. Lower jaw dropped.

Mouth.–Putrid taste and breath. Tongue numb, thick, coated, yellowish, tremble, paralyzed.

Throat.–Difficult swallowing, especially of warm food. Itching and tickling in soft palate and naso-pharynx. Pain in sterno-cleido-mastoid, back of parotid. Tonsils swollen. Throat feels rough, burning. Post-diphtheritic paralysis. Tonsillitis; shooting pain into ear. Feeling of a lump in throat that cannot be swallowed. Aphonia. Swallowing causes pain in ear (Hep; Nux). Difficult swallowing. Pain from throat to ear.

Stomach.–As a rule, the Gelsemium patient has no thirst. Hiccough; worse in the evening. Sensation of emptiness and weakness at the pit of the stomach, or of an oppression, like a heavy load.

Stool.–Diarrh?a from emotional excitement, fright, bad news (Phos ac). Stool painless or involuntary. Cream-colored (Calc), tea-green. Partial paralysis of rectum and sphincter.

Urine.–Profuse, clear, watery, with chilliness and tremulousness. Dysuria. Partial paralysis of bladder; flow intermittent (Clematis). Retention.

Female.–Rigid os (Bell). Vaginismus. False labor-pains; pains pass up back. Dysmenorrh?a, with scanty flow; menses retarded. Pain extends to back and hips. Aphonia and sore throat during menses. Sensation as if uterus were squeezed (Cham; Nux v; Ustilago).

Male.–Spermatorrh?a, without erections. Genitals cold and relaxed (Phos ac). Scrotum continually sweating. Gonorrh?a, first stage; discharge scanty; tendency to corrode; little pain, but much heat; smarting at meatus.

Respiratory.–Slowness of breathing, with great prostration. Oppression about chest. Dry cough, with sore chest and fluent coryza. Spasm of the glottis. Aphonia; acute bronchitis, respiration quickened, spasmodic affections of lungs and diaphragm.

Heart.–A feeling as if it were necessary to keep in motion, or else heart’s action would cease. Slow pulse (Dig; Kalm; Apoc; Can). Palpitation; pulse soft, weak, full and flowing. Pulse slow when quiet, but greatly accelerated on motion. Weak, slow pulse of old age.

Back.–Dull, heavy pain. Complete relaxation of the whole muscular system. Languor; muscles feel bruised. Every little exertion causes fatigue. Pain in neck, especially upper sterno-cleido muscles. Dull aching in lumbar and sacral region, passing upward. Pain in muscles of back, hips, and lower extremities, mostly deep-seated.

Extremities.–Loss of power of muscular control. Cramp in muscles of forearm. Professional neuroses. Writer’s cramp. Excessive trembling and weakness of all limbs. Hysteric convulsions. Fatigue after slight exercise.

Sleep.–Cannot get fully to sleep. Delirious on falling asleep. Insomnia from exhaustion; from uncontrollable thinking; tobacco. Yawning. Sleepless from nervous irritation (Coffea).

Fever.–Wants to be held, because he shakes so. Pulse slow, full, soft, compressible. Chilliness up and down back. Heat and sweat stages, long and exhausting. Dumb-ague, with much muscular soreness, great prostration, and violent headache. Nervous chills. Bilious remittent fever, with stupor, dizziness, faintness; thirstless, prostrated. Chill, without thirst, along spine; wave-like, extending upward from sacrum to occiput.

Skin.–Hot, dry, itching, measle-like eruption. Erysipelas. Measles, catarrhal symptoms; aids in bringing out eruption. Retrocedent, with livid spots. Scarlet fever with stupor and flushed face.

Modalities.–Worse, damp weather, fog, before a thunderstorm, emotion, or excitement, bad news, tobacco-smoking, when thinking of his ailments; at 10 am. Better, bending forward, by profuse urination, open air, continued motion, stimulants.