George Vithoulkas

Lachesis mutus (lach.) Main idea is overstimulation, which is constantly seeking an outlet for relief, like a pot that is boiling all the time; needs an outlet or will break down. Snake poison; initially the poison goes through the bloodstream, stimulates first, and then on the more specific areas. Primary target is circulation (from study of Materia Medicas you must get the preference of remedies for certain systems). People with idiopathic high blood pressure. Flushes of heat in different ages. Haemorrhages, particularly where the colour is quite dark. Headaches, varicose veins, haemorrhoids, and all kinds of heart ailments. Appearances of ulcers and eruptions – a pink appearance, cyanotic, purplish. Sensation of circulation. Sleep is difficult. Rhythm in the circulation or in the morning. Sleep-morning, these are aggravating times for Lachesis. Worse by heat, if suddenly heated up, which changes the circulation. Worse after entering shower or a very hot room. Worse before menses – as soon as menses starts there is a general amelioration of the patient. Often feel a choking sensation in the throat. Wake up in a panic as if the breath has stopped. Lachesis leads all remedies in the symptom, “wake up in a panic”, worse by [...]

The key idea describing Silica patients is that they are YIELDING. It is a kind of shyness or timidity, but not really a cowardice (like Lycopodium or Gelsemium). It is a submissiveness that arises out of a lack of energy to insist upon his or her point of view, even though it may be strongly held; They are quite agreeable and mild, easy to get along with. Silica patients are intellectuals, but not aggressive or critical like Lachesis; They have highly refined sensibilities, and they are very intelligent. If you try to impose an opinion upon a Silica person, she will not oppose you. She is sensitive to impressions and therefore takes into account your point of view. She understands very well where you are right and where you are wrong but she holds her opinions to herself. Unlike Pulsatilla, she has an opinion of her own, but she does not want to go to the trouble to impress it upon the world. Thus, Silica appears mild and reserved – but not at all like Staphysagria, Ignatia, or Natrum mur. It is not an isolation. They are capable of freely talking about themselves when circumstances permit, and they make friends [...]

Calcarea phosphorica Calcium Phosphate. Phosphate of Lime. Tricalcic Phosphate. Ca3 2PO4 . A mixture of the basic and several complex calcium phosphates - produced by adding dilute phosphoric acid to lime water. Trituration. The essential features Calcarea phosphorica is a deep-acting remedy with a wide range of symptomatology. Unfortunately, it is often confused with several of our polychrests, the most frequent of these being Calcarea carbonica, Chamomilla, Phosphoricum acidum, Phosphorus and Tuberculinum. A more thorough understanding of this remedy will enable the practitioner to better distinguish it from the others mentioned above. There are three primary causative factors for the development of a Calcarea phosphorica case: bad nutrition bad news bad weather Deficient or poor nutrition is required to produce the classic Calcarea phosphorica picture, especially on the physical level. This picture encompasses the basic structural and developmental pathology described in earlier texts, whose symptoms include: rachitis; emaciation; bone diseases; the non-union of fractured bones; anaemic states; slow or difficult convalescence after acute diseases. Specifically in babies: the non-union of sutures, open fontanelles, late learning to walk, late learning to talk, late dentition and troubles incident to this period. Fifty or one hundred years ago, case descriptions of Calcarea phosphorica [...]

Veratrum album (verat.) The Veratrum influence is constant activity. This is not s much violence or aggressiveness, except in the most extreme state. It is rather a driven, ceaseless energy compelling the patient to be busy all the time. It is likely to be activity for its own sake, without purpose – constantly stacking books or chairs, endless cleaning. In the hyperactive child, it is unceasing drawing, painting, singing, playing, but unlike Stramonium, it is not breaking things or destructive. Such a person may be a pest, demanding attention by sheer energy, but not actually destructive. The Veratrum patient has a profound confusion about his identity. He thinks he is Christ or John the Baptist, or a chosen person to save the world. This is the street corner preacher who, day in and day out, exhorts people to repent, repeating over and over the same righteous message, often at the top of his lungs. Unlike Stramonium, the actual physical strength is not increased, but rather there is surprising stamina. The person seems never to run out of steam. In Stramonium, we see an eruption of the unconscious about what is happening to him. In Veratrum, the person does not SEE [...]