Viburnum Opulus

The Cranberry Bush - red sour berries. Proved by H C Allen. Read about it in Hale's New Remedies.

Affinities: female organs, the nerves, left sided remedy

Violent nervous spasmodic affects with cramping pains. Used mainly in tincture (a few drops a day).

Spasmodic, painful periods. Pains begin in back in the sacrum and they go round to the pelvis ending in cramps of the uterus. (Pains go through with Sabina.) Pains can go into the upper inner thighs and they have flatus and belching with the pains. Characteristic is one pink cheek. Before their period they can have cramps in the calves and severe bearing down pains. Before they can have this excruciating cramping pain. During their period there is nausea, cramping and chilliness. The flow ceases for several hours and then returns with clots.

They faint when they are trying to sit up. And they are super-conscious of their internal organs. Periods are often too late and scanty lasting only a few hours with offensive odour. The second thing we use it for is miscarriage. Threatened miscarriage with cramping pains. Frequent and early miscarriages especially the first two months. Carry around in bag and take ten drops is they feel pains coming on (dilute in water.) Irritable and want to be left alone.

Preventative in case of habitual miscarriage. 10 drops in a little water every five minutes (NB there is not chance it will prevent miscarriage if the foetus is malformed.)

Modalities:

• fright, before menses, cold, warm room. They can't lie on the left. < stooping, evening, night.
  
• open air, rest, lying down, menses, pressure, walking around.

Sepia, Pulsatilla, Caulophyllum

Cimicifuga - Actea Racemosa

Black Cohosh, squaw root, black snake root, rattle weed, bug bane (poisonous to bugs - horrible odour). In buttercup family - Ranunculaceae (Pulsatilla, Staphysagria, Aconite.)

Used by the North American Indians for rheumatism, slow labour and menstrual disorders. Tincture made from the root.

Affinities: muscles, nerves, mind, female organs, joints, the nape of the neck, heart, eyeballs. Front of the thighs, occiput, vertex, left side.

Causation: fright, business failure, disappointed love, over exertion, nursing the sick, pregnancy, labour, menses, the menopause, the DTs.

Predominantly a female and hormonal remedy. (Hormonal remedies: Arnica, Bell, Caul, Cimic, Gels, Lach, Med, Nux, Sec, Sepia, Sulph).

Tocin remedies: oxytocin makes the uterus contract - Caul, Cimic, Gels, Arn, Puls, Sabina and Sec.

Strong mental emotional picture: excitable, extroverted people, hysterical. Forceful, they get their own way.

They give the impression of being so upset they can't thing straight. If something bothers them they get deep gloom, morose. Keynote: as if a black cloud had settled over her. Feels like lead on her head. They sit and mope in great sadness. Incessant talking (keynote). Jump from one subject to another. They are known as the chilly Lachesis. So if you get strong loquacity with strong rheumatic symptoms it is the number one remedy.

Sighing - especially during their period and in menopause. Anguish, restlessness, moving to and fro, can't sit still in one place.

Fears and delusions of mice running out from under her chair; monsters and rats (DTs). Suspicious of everything. Won't take the remedy. Fear she is going crazy, fear something is going to happen.

Good neuralgic remedy. Feel electric shocks in different parts of the body. Sciatica with sharp, shooting pains down the limbs. Trembling, numbness and jerking, twitching. They jerk when they are feeling emotional. Great restlessness with the DTs. Rheumatic symptoms - characteristic - stiff neck, < cold air and draughts, fibrocytis. RA. Pains are worse at night and in wet weather especially if there is a uterine origin. Rheumatism affects the muscles and big joints (important differential.) Rheumatism disappears when diarrhoea comes. Rheumatism better continued motion.

Alternating symptoms - rheumatism with black cloud. Suspicious like Hyoscyamus. Hallucinations from small objects.

Female: fantastic remedy for labour, postpartum, menopause and menstrual cramps.

In labour they get the shivers during the first stage. The labour pains are felt in the back as if the back would break. The pains in the lumbar region extend to the hip and the thighs. Pains cause her to double up and draw her legs up in labour. Pains come on and then they go and suddenly she grabs her hip and screams. Rigid Os (cervix is not opening.) Failure to progress in labour. Labour stops when anything excitable occurs. Oversensitive to noise. Talking through the contractions. Every time she hears that the cervix is still at 5cm she sighs.

Hysteria during labour, tearful, constantly complaining. Once the baby comes out it is one of the remedies for postpartum depression, puerperal and psychosis.

Deep feeling of gloom as if the black cloud had distended everywhere. Surrounded by negative feelings, hatred and jealousy. Incessant talking. Clutches at her breast as if in pain. Trying to injure herself. Because she feels trapped. Delusion she is incaged in wires. Feels imprisoned on account of having a baby. She wants to throw the baby away. Desires to wander. Attempt to escape.

Very paranoid. Thinks she is going to be poisoned. Every one is out to get her. She won't get out of bed because she sees strange objects around her and she thinks they will get in with her.

Pregnancy - tendency to miscarry in the third month especially with rheumatism. Morning sickness with rheumatism and stiffness of the back.

Menses - all symptoms are strong with menses. SRP - the more the flow, the greater the pain. < during menses. Pain in the back with period. Labour like pain. Hips lock during the period. Worse period. Flow is usually profuse, dark, clotted and offensive. Anxiety, confusion, gloom, sighing with menses.

With PMT they have the same thing.

Menopause - Arthritis comes on with the menopause and depression. Depression with no cause.

Headaches - very severe. Especially in the occiput or the vertex. Migraines. Characteristic is that the top of the head will fly off. Open and shutting sensation when they move their head or their eyes.

Heart remedy - angina. Rheumatic heart. Keynote: left arm feels numb as if bound to their side. They are chilly, easily affected by cold and damp and cold air penetrates their system. Very restless sleep they wake after 3 or 4 hours sleep. Waking 3-5 hours. Can't sleep after business embarrassments.

Modalities:

• during their period, suppressed period, labour, emotions, alcohol, cold and damp, cold, draught, wind, taking cold, motion, excitement, menopause, change of weather.
  
• warm wraps, open air, pressure, gentle continued motion, eating, grasping their thighs, rest.

Caulophyllum

The blue cohosh. Squaw root. Berberidaceae family (Berberis.) Found in the States. Power of preventing tedious and painful labours (Indian).

Affinities: Female organs - nerves, muscles, neck, the small joints, lower limbs.

Mainly used to correct difficult problems in pregnancy and labour and postpartum. Atonic uterus - no tone. Inertia of the uterus. Very weak uterus. Where Sepia is indicated but does not work. Used in midwifery.

Exhausted and tired. Gelsemium of the uterus.

Known as a labour regulator. Keynote: the contractions are intermittent and irregular. Spasmodic and severe and very violent contractions. Very sharp and they last 30 seconds. They fly apart in all directions - the contractions. They are all over the place - even in their toes.

Ineffectual labour. Strong contractions but they are not effective. Rigid Os. This and Gelsemium and the two main remedies for rigid os. 2 doses of 200 (15 minutes apart). No change after a half an hour, wrong remedy.

Labour stops - is she thirsty (Caul) and Gels is thirstless.

Characteristic - exhaustion and weakness during labour.

A lot of shaking in transition and after birth - hormones kicking in.

Very similar to Puls. Windows thrown over but sensitive to cold. Chilly and they want warm covering. Very thirsty and nervous appearance. Fretful. Bad tempered. Drooping of the eyelids. After to keep eyes open with fingers (Gels.)

Tendency to miscarriage in the first trimester - especially at 3rd month. Uterine debility is causation. Sepia and Caul for weak cervix (for those who have their cervix stitched.)

Prevention of premature labour. Take as a prophylactic. If it is premature it will soften the cervix after waters break. False labour pains. They are so exhausted by the time it starts.

Bad homeopathy to give in last two weeks unless it is indicated. Books say if first labour was long.

Brown spots on the forehead during pregnancy - characteristic.

Retained placenta. Breast feed or cough. Should come within 30 minutes. Long labour, uterus exhausted and placenta is retained with excessive bleeding. Passive, venous blood. Trembling with retained placenta. Lots of postpartum stuff. After the labour the lochia lasts too long. Could last up to six weeks so with this remedy it can last longer. Uterine displacement - goes into the wrong place. Retroverted or sub-involution - does not return to normal size.

Painful periods (dis), violent and labour like. Nausea and vomiting with their periods. Intermittent spasmodic pains and tremors. Cervical erosion. Milky white discharge and chronic fatigue. Menopausal remedy when Sepia has failed with hot surges and weakness. Hot flushes.

Gynaecological symptoms with arthritis of the small joints (fingers, toes, wrists). Especially if the fingers are the only joints that are affected and they have uterine problems. Joint pains worse before menses and better after the flow. Arthritis since child birth or beginning at the menopause.

Modalities:

• pregnancy, suppressed menses, open air, evening, coffee, motion
• warmth

Comparison between Cinic

General Notes

Synchronise breathing. Rescue Remedy.

Gelsemium and Kali Carb - back labour remedies - head around the wrong way.

Cord will take 20 minutes to stop pulsing - ask for them to wait on birth plan.

Phos as well for haemorrhage.

Breast feed at least until teeth come.

Mastitis - Bell, Phytolaca, Bryonia

Sore Nipples - Castor Equi

Position of the baby is very important. La Leshe League and NCT.

Japanese are not giving any injections until age 2. Cot death level has gone down.

Give eye contact and they just check out.

2 weeks after labour are very important. Rest up and sleep. No visitors. Always playing catch up otherwise.

Eye contact in labour 'it is coming.'

Also study Sabina and Secale.