Coccus Cacti coc-c.

MUCOUS MEMBRANES: FAUCES. Throat. Larynx. Chest. Genito-urinary. Left side.

IRRITATING FAUCES. Periodically. Heat. Lying. Awaking. Cold exposure.

Washing in cold water.

Catarrh. Spasms. Hæmorrhage. Uric acid. Gouty-rheumatic. STRINGY DISCHARGES, EXPECTORATION, hanging from mouth, urine, feeling in throat, black menses, etc. Sensitive, fauces, vulva, skin, etc. Intolerable internal tickle. Pulsations; in glans; as of a fluid forcing its way. Dark blood.

Sad; on waking at 2-3 A.M. Hawking, brushing teeth, etc., excites cough, retching or vomiting. Profuse post-nasal discharge. Constricted throat. Violent kidney pain, with dysuria. Nephritic colic. Irritated bladder. Sticking along ureters. Urging to urinate; > bloody clots from vagina. Urine scanty, thick, heavy, sour; sediment; sandy, dark red, brown or white; bloody mucus. Nephritis. REGULAR PAROXYSMS OF VIOLENT TICKLING, RACKING COUGH, ENDING IN VOMITING OR RAISING MUCH CLEAR, ROPY MUCUS (Kali-bi.); with a purple, red face and internal heat; periodically; with kidney symptoms; slowly increasing, then gradually declining; > cold air or drinks. Whooping cough. Soreness or stitches in apices of lungs. Coldness in back. Burning; as of pepper in nostrils, at tip of tongue, etc. (Lach.).

Related: Ap. Berb. Lach. Pho.

Cochineal

The clinical application of the symptoms of this remedy, place it among the medicines for spasmodic and whooping coughs, and catarrhal conditions of the bladder; spasmodic pains in kidneys, with visceral tenesmus. Anuria, anasarca, ascites.

Early morning or afternoon sadness.

Suboccipital soreness; worse after sleep and exertion. Headache, worse from lying on back, better with the head high. Dull pain over right eye in morning. Sensation of a foreign body between upper lid and eyeball. Distress from cinders lodged in eye.

Constant hawking from enlarged uvula; coryza, with inflamed fauces; accumulation of thick viscid mucus, which is expectorated with great difficulty. Tickling in larynx. Sensation of a crumb behind larynx, must swallow continually; brushing teeth causes cough. Fauces very sensitive. Suffocative cough; worse, first waking, with tough, white mucus, which strangles. Spasmodic morning cough. Whooping cough attacks end with vomiting of this tough mucus. Chronic bronchitis complicated with gravel; large quantities of albuminous, tenacious mucus, are expectorated. Walking against wind takes breath away.

Sensation as if everything were pressed toward the heart.

Urging to urinate; brick-red sediment. Urinary calculi, hæmaturia, urates, and uric acid; lancinating pains from kidney to bladder. Deep-colored, thick urine. Dysuria.

Menses too early, profuse, black and thick; dark clots, with dysuria. Intermittent menstruation; flow only in evening and at night. Large clots escape when passing water. Labia inflamed.

Worse, left side, after sleep, touch, pressure of clothing, brushing teeth, slightest exertion. Better, walking.

Compare: Canth; Cact; Sars.

Lower triturations.

We now leave the spider family, but as we are dealing with small fry of the insect order we will notice the Coccus cacti, a small bug or insect which infests the plants of the cactus species of Mexico and Central America. It has made its best record in curing affections of the respiratory organs.

Whooping cough with expectoration of much tough, ropy white mucus. This mucus comes in large quantities and is often accompanied with gagging and vomiting, which seems to expel the mucus from the stomach. Sometimes a bronchial catarrh remains after whooping cough, which has this kind of expectoration. Here this remedy will sometimes clear up the whole case. This is all I know of its virtues ab usu in morbis. Now we come to a little pest of womankind all over.

Is another animal remedy often found valuable in whooping cough. With this remedy the aggravations generally come on in the after part of the night or in the morning when the child awakens. The paroxysms are not confined to this time, but the worst one comes then. The paroxysm ends in vomiting of clear ropy mucus in large quantities, hanging in long strings from the mouth. For such a cough Coccus cacti is excellent.

Ill-humored, irritable.

Giddiness ; the head feels dull, as if he had drank too much, with a white-coated tongue. Congestion of blood to the head when entering a warm room ; better in the open air.

Sensation as if a foreign body were lodged between the eyelid and the eye. Sensation as if the edges of the eyelids were swollen.

Sudden violent stitch in the left internal ear, extending to the left side of the neck and into the sternum. Intolerable itching in the left ear.

Dryness of the nose with inclination to sneeze. Swelling of the nose, with itching, violent sneezing and increased secretion of mucus. Redness of the edges of the nostrils. Crusts on the edges of the nostrils.

Sensation as if cold air were blown on the teeth. Great soreness of the teeth to contact. Scraping and dryness in the throat. Sweetish, metallic taste in the mouth. Dry, brown-coated tongue. Stitches and burning in the throat and on the tongue. Swelling and redness of the right tonsil. Sensation as if the palate were elongated, with continuous hawking. Swelling of the tonsils, with continuous desire to swallow, and sensation as if a plug were lodged in the throat.

Desire to cat often and much at a time. Sensation of hunger, with colic. Canine hunger. After dinner much thirst, and when he drinks water then chill.

Spasmodic empty eructations. Heartburn. Sensation as if something indigestible were lying in the stomach. Nausea and vomiting ; vomiting of mucus. Stitches in the pit of the stomach when inhaling. Fulness in the abdomen, as if he had eaten too much, with swelling and tenderness of the pit of the stomach.

During stool, burning in the rectum ; stitches in the rectum. Itching at the anus, with tenesmus, from slight exertion. Stitch from the anus, extending into the urethra.

Stitches extending from the kidneys through the urethra into the bladder. Spasmodic pain in the bladder, with alternate coldness and heat. Itching at the end of the urethra. Great desire to urinate in the morning (with erection). Frequent micturition. The discharge of urine is slow, in small quantities, with violent burning pain. Red sediment like brick-dust.

Men. Genitals hot, red, swollen. Sexual desire increased. Women. Catamenia too early and too profuse.

Hoarse voice, with roughness and scraping sensation in the throat. Hawking and coughing, with increased thirst. Cough, in a warm room ; better, in a cold room. Periodical attacks of cough, with expectoration of mucus. Hooping-cough ; nightly, periodical attacks of cough from tickling in the larynx, ending with expectoration of a large quantity of viscid, stringy mucus. Morning cough ; first barking, dry cough, followed by the expectoration of viscid mucus ; the difficult expectoration causes vomiturition and vomiting. Cough, with expectoration of viscid, stringy, yellow, sour-tasting or reddish mucus. The bronchial tubes are loaded with mucus. Burning under the sternum. In the chest sensation of heat, of soreness. Sensation as if ever thing were pressed towards the heart. Heavy pressure in the region of the heart.

Upper. Sensation as if a fine glass splinter were sticking in the tips of the fingers, under the nails. Lower. Violent stitches in the right hip-joint. Hot swelling of the knees. Pain in the right patella when walking.

Frequent awaking during the night, with excitement as if he had taken too much coffee. Great sleepiness (after dinner). Vivid dreams.

Chilliness all day ; cold feet in the morning, with perspiration of the whole body. Chill in the evening, with heat in the head, followed by general heat, and then perspiration all night, which relieves. Perspiration, when walking, on the lower extremities, in the morning.

Especially affects the mucous membranes. Aggravation on from motion and heat (headache).

Cochineal. N. O. Hemiptera. An insect infesting cactus plants. The dried bodies of the female insects are used for making a tincture or trituration. They also constitute a well-known dye. ( Coccus Cacti has sometimes been confounded with Coccinella septempunctata , both insects being known as "Cochenille" in French.)

Asthma. Backache. Catarrh. Gonorrhœa. Gravel . Hæmorrhages. Heart, affections of. Impotence. Irritation. Labia, inflammation of . Menorrhagia. Nephritis. Phthisis. Spasms. Tinnitus. Uric acid diathesis. Whooping-cough .

Coccus cacti acts more especially on mucous membranes. It compares with Cantharis in its action on the renal organs, and with Cactus in causing hæmorrhages, in disturbing the heart and in causing lancinating, stitching, and pricking sensations. Itching, sticking and biting in various parts of the skin; red spots and itching pimples. Sensations of irritation predominate, especially in throat and respiratory organs, eyes and urino-genital organs. In the throat there is a sensation as if a hair or crumb were lodged behind larynx, and as if a thread were hanging down the back of the throat causing a cough. Hæmorrhages are apt to be in large black clots, especially hæmorrhages from kidneys and uterus. Lancinating pains and itching of glans penis, symptoms of the passage of small calculi. The cough exactly corresponds to the whooping-cough type, there is no remedy which has a wider range in this affection. "Cough < in morning; the child awakens and is immediately seized with a paroxysm of coughing ending in vomiting clear, ropy mucus hanging in long strings from the mouth," Hoarseness. Fatigue of vocal organs. Violent tickling in larynx. Stitching and ulcerating pains below clavicles, especially left. Peculiar sensations are: As if a ball or stone lying in stomach; raging pain as though a fluid were injected into a small blood-vessel; as if something ascending towards stomach; as of mucus ascending and descending trachea; as of a plug of mucus moving in chest; as if head would split. Kunkel records the case of a man, 75, an who had suffered from nocturnal enuresis up to the age of seven. When almost 20 he frequently passed large quantities of uric acid, and at the same time he began to have symptoms of chronic catarrh of the colon, frequent scanty stools, much mucus, cross humour, itching anus, threatening of piles but no bleeding. Insomnia soon followed. Coc. c . 2 and 3 was given without benefit. Aqua calcis did some good but not much. In three successive years he was sent to Carlsbad with good result to the intestinal catarrh, but the sleeplessness was untouched. Gradually all kinds of arthritic symptoms developed, especially in knees. There was occasionally considerable flow of urine, and the more copious it was the better the patient slept, and the less pain in the joints. The same relief followed an attack of diarrhœa. Four weeks at Assmanhausen caused the excretion of large quantities of uric acid one year, but had no effect the next, and the knee got worse. Wiesbaden did good one year and none the next. Half a tumbler of Kronenquelle water drunk every morning did good to the knee and enabled him to walk better than he had done for a long time. In three or four years the excretions of uric acid had ceased and the patient's state grew worse: insomnia recurred, diarrhœa became much more frequent. A fortnight previous to such attack, patient noticed he had great aversion to butcher's meat. Coc. c. 30 gtt. i. morning and evening was given. Gradually sleep returned. There was almost daily excretion of uric acid, sometimes in the form of large shot; the diarrhœa ceased and the patient went about his work with pleasure. Berridge cured with Coc. c . a case of gonorrhœa, guided by the symptom: "Excruciating pain in left iliac region extending to groin and halfway down thigh, as if a fluid were forcing its way there ."

There is general sensitiveness to touch and pressure; rinsing mouth or brushing teeth causes cough and vomiting. Warmth < most symptoms; cough < entering warm room; throat < by warmth of bed. Tickling in trachea and cough > open air. Teeth very sensitive to cold. Catarrh < on slightest exposure. Catarrh from autumn till warm weather. Symptoms < night and early morning; cough < on waking. Symptoms are often periodic. The symptoms are < lying down. But the least exertion causes lassitude and tendency to perspire or cough, < during exercise. Mental exertion < pain in occiput. Rising up = hæmorrhage with passage of large clots from uterus.

Compare: Canth., Cact., Ocim. can., Sars.; apices of lungs sore, tenacious mucus, Kali bi. Many of the Cactus symptoms -pricking and sticking pains, heart disturbances, &c. — reappear in the pathogenesis of this Cactus-fed insect.

Ill-humoured, irritable, apprehensive.

Giddiness; the head feels dull (pressive headache, also in frontal region), as if he had drunk too much, with a white-coated tongue. — Congestion of blood to the head when entering a warm room; > in the open air. — Throbbing, pressing, or sticking pains in temples. — Violent raging pain extending from r. eye along squamous portion of temporal bone on its inner side to occiput; it seems as though a fluid were injected paroxysmally into a small blood-vessel. — Sensation as though a hot constricting band extended from one mastoid process across occiput to the other; this region seemed tense and constricted; the condition became worse, until at last it affected the whole skull, in which the pain seemed to fix itself, and it seemed as though the bones became drawn closer and closer together; the whole scalp was also involved and seemed to be drawn tighter about the skull.

Sensation as if a foreign body were lodged between the eyelid and the eye. — Sensation as if the edges of the eyelids were swollen. — Conjunctivitis; increased lachrymation.

Sudden violent stitch in l. internal ear, extending into l. side of neck and into sternum. — Intolerable itching in l. ear. — Tickling and itching in ears. — Cracking in ears on swallowing. — Great roaring in ears as from a storm.

Dryness of the nose, with inclination to sneeze. — Swelling of nose, with itching, violent sneezing, and increased secretion of mucus. — Redness on the edges of the nostrils. — Crusts (yellow) on the edges of the nostrils.

Crawling sensations in the face.

Sensation as if cold air were blown on the teeth. — Great soreness of the teeth to contact. — Drawing and jerking pains in teeth; teeth sensitive to cold things. — Loud speaking or brushing teeth causes cough and vomiting.

Sweetish, metallic taste in the mouth (with accumulation of water in the mouth). — Taste: metallic; bitter; sweetish; sour. — Dry, brown-coated tongue. — Mouth and tongue dry, with much thirst. — Burning in mouth and throat. — Rawness of mouth and throat. — Stitches and burning in the throat and on the tongue. — Great sensitiveness of mouth and fauces, so that rinsing of the mouth caused cough and vomiting of thick masses of mucus. — Sensation as if the palate were elongated, with continuous hawking. — The arches of the palate are very irritable.

Swelling of the tonsils, with continuous desire to swallow, and sensation as if a plug were lodged in the throat. — Swelling and redness of r. tonsil. — Dryness and burning in throat and fauces. — Rawness and scraping in throat, with expectoration of mucus. — Sensation as if uvula were elongated, causing constant hawking. — Throat symptoms < from warmth, esp. in bed. — Difficult deglutition.

Desire to eat often and much at a time; much thirst. — After dinner much thirst, and when he drinks water then chill. — Sensation of hunger, with colic. — Canine hunger.

Spasmodic empty eructations. — Heartburn. — Sensation as if something indigestible were lying in the stomach. — Nausea and vomiting; vomiting of mucus. — Retching; inclination to vomit. — Distension of stomach. — Heaviness and pressure in stomach; sticking pains. — Stitches in the pit of the stomach when inhaling. — Epigastric region sensitive to touch.

Fulness in the abdomen, as if he had eaten too much, with swelling and tenderness of the pit of the stomach. — Pains in l. hypochondrium, as from incarcerated flatulence; pains extend to l. side of back and lumbar vertebræ. — Burning drawing in region of spleen. — Flatulent distension of abdomen, with much rumbling. — Griping in abdomen followed by diarrhœa.

During stool, burning in rectum; stitches in rectum. — Itching in anus, with tenesmus from slight exertion. — Stitch from the anus, extending into the urethra. — Copious, soft or pasty stools.

Stitches extending from the kidneys through the urethra into the bladder. — Dull, pressive pain and soreness in region of kidneys. — Pressure in bladder. — Spasmodic pain in the bladder, with alternate coldness and heat. — Itching at the end of the urethra. — Stitches and itching in urethra. — Burning pain in urethra while urinating. — Frequent and great desire to urinate. — Great desire to urinate in the morning (with erection). — Frequent micturition. — Frequent and copious urination, urine clear as water. — Red sediment like brickdust. — The discharge of urine is slow, in small quantities, with violent burning pain.

Genitals hot, red, swollen. — Frequent erections, with increased desire. — Lascivious mood, nocturnal emissions. — Loss of sexual power with constant dull burning pains in l. hypochondrium and pains across loins as if broken.

Swelling and heat of pudenda. — Soreness of vulva; cannot bear pressure of clothing. — Inflammation of labia. — Great tenderness and irritation in extreme lower part of vagina, < when urinating; can walk a long distance, but is < after sitting in the house all day. — Menses too early; too profuse; and last too long. — Hæmorrhage from uterus, with passage of large clots, which escape when quiet, or when getting up to pass water. — Enormous black clots pass from vagina. — Mucous leucorrhœa, preceded by drawing, thrusting pain in inguinal, vesical, and pubic regions.

Fatigue of the vocal organs, even after speaking without exertion; the voice becoming rough and hoarse; respiration somewhat laborious. — Scraping sensation in the throat. — Hawking and coughing, with increased thirst. — The bronchial tubes are loaded with mucus. — Rawness in air-passages, causing cough. — Sensation of a crumb the size of a walnut sticking behind the larynx, obliging him to swallow constantly. — Whooping-cough; nightly, periodical attacks of cough from tickling in the larynx, ending with expectoration of a large quantity of viscid, stringy mucus. — Morning cough (6 am.); first barking, dry cough, followed by expectoration of viscid mucus; the difficult expectoration causes retching and vomiting. — Cough with expectoration of viscid, stringy, yellow, sour-tasting or reddish mucus. — Cough, in a warm room; > in a cold room. — Short paroxysms of cough, followed by easy expectoration of globules of mucus.

Burning under the sternum. — In the chest sensation of heat, of soreness. — Oppression and soreness in chest. — Stitches and sticking pains in sides of chest.

Pressive pain in precordial region. — Sensation as if everything were pressed towards the heart. — Heavy pressure in the region of the heart. — Irregular beating and palpitation of the heart, with anxiety after eating. — Pulse accelerated.

Stitches between the shoulders. — Bruised pain in small of back and region of kidneys. — Violent pressive pain in region of kidneys.

Drawing, tearing pains in the limbs.

Sensation as if a fine glass splinter were sticking in the tips of the fingers, under the nails.

Violent stitches in the r. hip-joint. — Hot swelling of the knees. — Pain in the r. patella when walking.

Great weariness and prostration. — Itching and prickling sensations in the skin.

Irresistible desire to sleep. — Great sleepiness (after dinner). Vivid dreams. — Uneasy, restless sleep, interrupted by vivid dreams. — Frequent awaking during the night, with excitement, as if he had taken too much coffee.

Chilliness all day; cold feet in the morning, with perspiration of the whole body. — Chilliness all over the body, esp. in the afternoon and evening. — Increased warmth of body. — Greatly overpowered by moderate heat. — Chilliness in the evening, with heat in the head, followed by general heat, and then perspiration all night, which relieves. — Perspiration when walking; on the lower extremities; in the morning.

Great indolence.
Depressed, apprehensive and anxious.
Fit of unconsciousness and absence of mind ; urine turbid. θ Morbus Brightii.
Ill-humored, fretful.
Lively, talkative mood.

Great confusion of head.
Dizziness.

Rush of blood to head and spitting of dark blood. θ Menorrhagia.
Dull, pressive, burrowing or tearing frontal headache.
Tearing pain extending from left eye up into forehead, in evening after lying down.
Dull headache above right eye in morning on waking.
Headache in forehead and temples. θ Acute desquamative nephritis.
Pressive or sticking pains in both temples and sensation of fulness of head.
Violent raging pain extending from right eye along squamous portion of temporal bone, on its inner side, to occiput.
Pressive pain in right side of forehead, sometimes extending to occiput.
Indefinite drawing and pressure in occiput, temples and r. eye.
Head pains as if it would split.
Pain in head, with aching pain through small of back. θ Menorrhagia.
Pressive headache. θ Catarrh.
Pain in occiput < from mental exertion. θ Tinnitus.

Sensation as if scalp was drawn tightly over skull.
Stitches in occiput, or crawling pain in scalp, induce scratching.

Pressure upon left eye and eyeball.
Pressive pain in orbits.
Smarting, biting pain between eyeballs and lids, as if a hair was between them.
Sensation as of a foreign body between lids and balls.
Inflammation of conjunctiva.

Roaring in ears begins in evening, lasts through night and disturbs sleep.
Sensation as if external auditory passages were closed, with crackling in right ear.
Roaring, ringing, crackling sounds in left ear.
Tickling-itching in one or both ears.
Violent stitching in ears.
Painful, cramplike drawing, especially in right ear.

Dryness of nose, with inclination to sneeze.
Swelling of nose, with itching, violent sneezing and increased secretion of mucus.
Redness of edges of nostrils ; crusts on edges of nostrils.
Frequent, violent sneezing.
Discharge of thick, yellow mucus from nose. θ Catarrh.
Secretion of much mucus in nose.
Nose dry, stopped ; dryness of mucous membrane of nose, posterior nares and throat.

Sallow complexion.
Face deeply red. θ Acute desquamative nephritis.
Purple face, with racking cough and splitting headache.
Crawling, beginning in malar bones and extending over nose to opposite cheek.

Parotitis.

Sudden drawing pains in teeth.
Toothache, with shooting pains in hollow roots of teeth, great sensitiveness to touch.
Great sensitiveness of teeth to cold things.

Offensive nauseous taste in mouth.
Unpleasant, sweetish, metallic taste in mouth.
Sweetish taste. θ Acute desquamative nephritis.
Metallic taste, with accumulation of water in mouth ; constant desire to spit.
Great dryness of tongue and of whole mouth.
Tongue rough, clean and dry.

Great sensitiveness of mouth and fauces, so that rinsing the mouth causes cough and vomiting of thick masses of mucus.
Dryness of mouth and palate, causing much thirst.
Accumulation of much tasteless saliva in mouth ; constant desire to spit ; salivation.
Odor from mouth as from a disordered stomach.
Rawness of mouth, throat and pharynx.

Continue in Hering 34 more passages →

There is a little remedy and will be a relief after the study of so many difficult ones. With fuller proving it will doubtless show itself a deep-acting constitutional remedy.

Although it has cured some deep-seated chronic troubles, it has been used chiefly in acute affections. This is only because of the scantiness of its provings and our lack of knowledge concerning it in a general way.

Very few mental symptoms have been brought out. Its use, so far as demonstrated, is mostly in catarrhal conditions of the air passages, and whooping cough, with copious, ropy, jelly-like mucus.

Great quantities of this mucus form in the nose, in the throat, in the air passages generally, and in the vagina. The routine practitioner, whenever be sees thick, ropy, gelatinous mucus, thinks only of Kali bi.

That comes from the study of key-notes. But it must be remembered that other remedies besides Kali bi. have this.

Spasmodic cough; whooping cough; the cough of drunkards. The chronic catarrhal state of the Coccus cacti patient comes on especially in the winter. It comes on when the cold weather begins and lasts till the warm weather comes.

The patient is cold, and his complaints come on in cold weather. He is sensitive to cold, easily takes cold. But you must distinguish between the patient himself and his complaints, because they are entirely opposite to each other.

When he once becomes sick from exposure to cold, he is always worse in a warm room and better in the cold air. His cough is brought on in a warm room; from being too warm in bed; from drinking warm things. It is better from drinking cold things in a cold room; worse from exertion; from getting heated up; from becoming warm; that is, after the complaint has once set in, it reverses itself.

This is not unlike many other remedies. I have received many letters from doctors, saying:

"Why is it that in your repertory and in Boenninghausen's, certain remedies are put down as better from cold and worse from cold?

They certainly cannot have both."

But they do have both, sometimes under different conditions and sometimes under the same conditions. Sometimes these are primary, sometimes they are secondary symptoms. A remedy must be examined to ascertain how it is that these circumstances can be the very opposite of each other.

But commonly Boenninghausen registers both those things that belong to particulars and those things that belong to generals, and if the symptom, in his judgment, is strikingly worse by a certain circumstance, even if it is the very opposite of the general, he had that symptom in boldfaced type. Phos. is a good illustration of what we have been talking about.

If you make a careful study of Phos. you will see that the complaints of the chest are all worse from cold, from cold air and from being cold. He catches cold and it settles in the chest, and the cough and irritation in the chest are worse from cold and being exposed to cold air.

But he wants cold things in the stomach. His stomach feels better from cold things. Let him have head trouble and his head is better from cold, he wants cold things in his stomach. If he has stomach trouble, it is made worse by anything hot; he wants cold water to, drink, and as soon as it gets warm, he vomits it up. You see Phos. is worse from cold and worse from heat. The pains in the extremities are better from heat.

The chronic cough, as has been said, is likely to begin with cold weather and last all winter, with a copious formation of mucus in the chest. It is a spasmodic cough, forcing the patient into the most violent efforts. The face becomes purple. Finally he retches and vomits long strings of tough, ropy mucus filling the mouth and throat and causing him to choke.

This is due to the fact that the mucus is so tenacious that it cannot be ejected from the pharynx in the usual way, therefore he must vomit. Now, there is a striking feature of this remedy. Anything coming in contact with the pharynx, the inside of the mouth, or even the gums, produces gagging and retching and will bring on the cough.

We find this in the chronic states of sensitive persons, who are unable to brush the teeth or rinse the mouth without gagging and sometimes vomiting.

There is a general hyperesthesia of the skin and mucous membranes. Sensitive to the pressure of the clothing.

With the chest troubles there is much dyspnoea. He cannot walk without bringing on difficult breathing. He cannot ascend a height without suffocation. After the quantities of mucus are cleared out the cough is better and he goes on for two, three or four hours, when another one of these awful attacks comes on.

They are apt to be worse at night when he becomes warm in bed. If he can lie in a cool room without much covering he will go longer without coughing.

The whooping cough is of a similar character. You will see the child lying in bed with the covers off. It wants the room cold, and the mother will tell you that if she can get to it quickly enough with a drink of cold water she can ward off the paroxysm.

The chest fills up with mucus until respiration cannot be carried on any longer and it must be cleared out, yet the child will resist and hold its breath to prevent coughing. You will be astonished to see how speedily Coccus cacti will change the character of that cough.

One of the earliest signs of improvement will be observed in the easier respiration. The cough becomes less violent, the retching passes away, and in a week or ten, days the cough will go, too. Cough worse after eating, worse on waking, worse in a warm room.

In the early stages of whooping cough Carbo veg. will develop and. bring out the symptoms and furnish a good picture for a second prescription, even if it does not cure.

Discharge of thick yellow mucus from the nose; nose stopped up, with inclination to sneeze. Great dryness of the nose. The air passages burn after the mucus has been cleared away. The chest burns from the mere exhaling of air. Sore throat with redness. Tickling in the throat. Sensation of a hair or crumb lodged in the throat behind the larynx. Fauces very sensitive.

Arch of palate and fauces, as far as visible, very red. Burning in the throat < in the warmth, especially when warmed up in bed, < from warm drinks, though hot drinks are not so bad. Better from cold drinks. If the patient gets warm in bed or the room gets warm he commences to clutch the larynx and cough. The slightest touch on the palate or even the gums in examination of the throat will cause gagging sometimes when the parts look normal. He cannot hawk without gagging. On swallowing food sometimes it will come right back again and cause gagging and retching.

Great thirst; wants water often and in large quantities. Nauseous taste in the mouth; never rid of it. Nausea in the throat. Vomiting of white, bitter tasting froth. Toothache; sudden drawing pains in the teeth, worse from cold and from touch.

The mental symptoms are chiefly depression and anxiety. Great sadness; a cloud seems to hang over everything.

Apprehensiveness. especially at 2 to 4 A.M. This state may alternate with loquacity and liveliness, like Lachesis. There are other symptoms worse after sleep; wakes in the morning with basilar headache, or with headache in the forehead; < mental exertion; after lying down; sometimes > from slow motion; < on coughing and from exertion; > after sleep.

A strong feature is its action on the kidneys, resembling acute parenchymatous nephritis. Albumen in the urine. Dark red sediment in the urine. Pain shooting from the kidney to the bladder and down the legs; < from motion.

Renal colic. Urging to urinate, but inability to pass urine until a large clot of blood has been passed. In Coccus cacti the right side of the heart is affected, the vessels become friable and there is haemorrhage, oozing of blood, forming great black clots.

The above symptom suggests a woman with uterine hemorrhage. There are haemorrhages of the uterus where the blood flows freely, coagulates slowly and does not form much of any clot in the vagina. But in this remedy the clots form very rapidly and the vagina becomes packed, and the bladder cannot be emptied until the clot is expelled. Uterine hemorrhage is a strong feature of this remedy. Copious, frequent, prolonged menstrual flow. Large, hard, black clots fill the uterus, are expelled by labor-like pains, and form again. Inflammation of uterus and vagina, with copious, thick, white, jelly-like, ropy mucus. Soreness of the vulva; cannot bear the pressure of the clothing.

Haemoptysis, dark, clotted < from exertion.

In the male there is impotence with dull pain in the loins. Dull pains in the region of the kidneys, with albuminuria; heavy sediment in the urine, etc., just such a state as you would find in a child that had taken cold after scarlet fever.

A tincture is made of the dried insects, Coccinella Indica (Coccus Cacti, L.); Cochineal.

The most marked (verified) action of this substance is on the fauces and larynx, great irritability, with profuse secretion of ropy mucus, and on the urinary organs.

Iodine, Kali bi., Kali iod., Canth.

Sticking alternately in finger-tips, temples and soles. ▶ Tearing or drawing sticking, agg. warm bed, in evening and night at rest, sometimes from slight exercise of certain muscles, for example, holding a book caused them in upper arm. ▶ Sticking tearing here and there in muscles, agg. right hip-joint, agg. rising or sudden motion. ▶ Drawings and tearings here and there, agg. neck, between shoulders and in forearms. ▶ Drawing spasmodic pain in right calf, shoulder, foot, etc. ▶ Fulness of whole body, with heaviness, as if stuffed. ▶ Swollen sensation in whole body when half awake at night, sensation as if the body were adherent to a woolen sack, everything he touched seemed thicker than natural. ▶ Sudden sensation as if something were distending within me, with sticking in rectum (?), after the distended feeling increased warmth extended over the whole abdomen. ▶ Uneasiness, amel. open air. ▶ General excitement in morning on waking, the pulses beating so violently that it seemed as if he heard them; mental and physical E., then half-stupid condition. ▶ Indolence. ▶ Disinclination to rise and after rising weariness. ▶ Weakness; in morning with sleepiness; in afternoon; in evening, with yawning; after a nap after dinner, with irritability; after a moderate walk; with yawning. ▶ Aggravation in afternoon. ▶ Amelioration of head and chest symptoms in forenoon after lying down; A. of headache, symptoms of chest and cough after a drive.

Joyous. ▶ Lively in evening; L. and clear in mind. ▶ Talkative. ▶ Excitement after beer, amel. walking, with heat and sensation as if pulses beat violently. ▶ Apprehensive; in evening. ▶ Anxious and uneasy. ▶ Irritable; morning and evening; then in evening lively. ▶ Active than usual.

Stitches through brain. ▶ Aching; in morning on waking, frequently returning; in forenoon, agg. violent motion of it; in evening; from his accustomed beer; agg. stepping hard; in brain, agg. at bridge of nose; with such weakness that she must sit down frequently during a hurried walk; in morning after waking, as from drinking too much, amel. rising; as from a disordered stomach; consisting of fulness, with heat and stupefaction. ▶ Painful fulness. ▶ Swollen sensation. ▶ Confusion; in morning, agg. in vertex; in evening and lasting into the night, with pain in vertex and burning in skin of forehead; after breakfast; as after drinking too much; as before violent coryza, amel. in open air; dizzy C.; dizzy C. in morning on waking. ▶ Intoxicated obscuration; in morning on waking. ▶ Rush of blood; in forenoon on entering warm room after a walk. ▶ Vertigo; after eating, as after intoxication.

Tearing in bones. ▶ Burrowing. ▶ Pain; at breakfast, which was eaten without remarkable appetite; above right eye in morning on waking; above arch of nose and in frontal sinuses; in right side, sometimes extending to occiput; indefinite, after supper, agg. shaking or turning head or moving hands. ▶ Confusion in morning on rising, with heaviness and dullness; C., with pain extending across left eminence, involving a small part of left half of forehead, parietal bone and temple, extending to zygomatic part of right jaw, leaving in all those parts tearing of cutting.

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A general feeling of rush of blood to the head; a dull aching, < moving it, or by sudden jar.
Confusion, with vertigo, especially on the vertex, > in the open air.
Pain in the temples, extending toward vertex, < washing with cold water.

Roaring in the ears, evening and night.
Impaired hearing.

Catarrhal symptoms.
A discharge of thick, yellow mucus.

The whole mouth and fauces sensitive, so that even rinsing the mouth causes cough and vomiting of thick mucus.
Taste metallic, with salivation.

The palate irritable, so that even brushing the teeth causes vomiting and choking.
Scraping, with expectoration of mucus; also causing paroxysms of cough, with expectoration of tough mucus.
The uvula feels elongated, which causes constant hawking.
Secretion of much tough mucus in the throat, with constant efforts to expectorate.
This mucus seems to cause the cough, which continues until thick, viscid masses of mucus are expectorated, with relief.

Nausea, retching and vomiting, apparently caused by thick, tough mucus in the throat, and by a spasmodic cough.

Pain in the left hypochondrium, as from incarcerated flatus, extending to left side of back and lumbar vertebræ.
Burning drawing in region of spleen.
Waking at night, > holding with a warm hand.

Great urging to urinate.
Frequent micturition.
Copious urine.

Clinical:
Urinary calculi, with violent colic; hæmaturia; large deposits of uric acid and of urates; pains lancinating, extending from kidneys into bladder.
Acute inflammation of the kidney, with backache, etc.

Clinical:
Menorrhagia; discharge of large dark clots, with dysuria.
Intermittent menstruation; flows only in the evening or night when lying down.

Tickling in the larynx, waking early in the night, causing cough, with expectoration of much tenacious mucus.
Scraping in the larynx, which causes paroxysms of cough and expectoration of balls of mucus.
Rawness in the trachea, obliging him to cough.
Sensation as if a crumb stuck behind the larynx, obliging constant swallowing and hawking.
The vocal organs become fatigued easily, with hoarseness and labored breathing.
Violent paroxysms of coughing caused by brushing the teeth, by rinsing the mouth, by endeavoring to clear the throat of viscid mucus.
Cough clear and dry for a time; afterwards expectoration of tough mucus and hawking, which provokes vomiting; cough < in the hot room.
Expectoration of much tenacious mucus, provoking vomiting, which gives temporary relief.
Paroxysm of tickling cough, ending with expectoration of tenacious mucus.
Breathing difficult.

Clinical:
Laryngitis, with most violent cough; difficult expectoration of very tenacious mucus.
Suffocative catarrh of the bronchi, with tough, white mucus, which strangles; cough aggravated on first waking.
Whooping cough, with vomiting of ropy, albuminous mucus; aggravated in morning, the attacks ending with vomiting of this ropy mucus.

Rapid, irregular beating of the heart after eating, causing anxiety.

Aching through the small of the back.
The region of the kidneys painful to pressure.
Pain across the loins as if broken.