COLCHICUM remedy works on cerebro-spinal and ganglionic systems

COMMON NAME: Coichicum autumnale: Meadow saffron.
NATURAL ORDER: Melanthaceae of Lilliaceae.
HABITAT: A perennial plant growing in meadows in Germany, France and southern Europe.
PREPARATION: Tincture of the bulb dug in spring. The flowers of the plant appear in
autumn, the leaves not until the following spring.
HISTORICAL DOSE: All potencies, third to thirtieth potency.
PROVER: Stapf.

It is rather singular that traditional medicine used Colchicum so much for gout. In all the old books it was recommended for this malady. Acute rheumatism and uric acid diathesis; rheumatic complaints in general with swelling and without swelling.

CONSTITUTION: Complaints of old people, asthmatic people. It corresponds to the gouty constitution, leuco-phlegmatic and melancholic, venous constitutions, uric acid diathesis.

CAUSATION: Bad effects of grief, misbehavior of others, wetting, checked sweat, night-watching. Complaints from getting overheated. Over study.

CLINICAL: Appendicitis. Asiatic cholera. Asthma. Cataract. Cholera. Colic. Cough. Cramp. Debility. Diabetes. Diarrhea. Dropsy. Dysentery. Eye disorders. Feet, painful. Gout. Heart disorders. Ileus. Intermittent fever. Intestinal catarrh. Lumbago. Muscle pains. Nephritis. Pericarditis.Proctalgia. Prostatitis, Rectum, prolapsed. Rheumatism. Stiff-neck. Tongue, sensibility lost. Typhlitis. Typhoid fever.

Colchicum affects markedly muscles, fibrous tissue, serous membranes, joints, especially the small ones. Stitching, jerking, drawing pains in muscles, periosteum and joints. Colchicum has specific power of relieving the gouty paroxysms. The parts are red, hot, swollen. Tearing pains, worse in the
evening and at night and from touch, stubbing the toes hurts exceedingly.

Uric acid diathesis, the sediment being pale yellow and rather like fine flour than sand. Also, urine black as ink, urine loaded with albumen and casts. There is the irritability and aversion to touch so common in gout, pain in small joints and especially the great toes. Affects the periosteum and synovial membranes of joints.

Acts upon the cerebro-spinal and ganglionic nervous systems, irritating the nerve centers and producing convulsions, cramps, neuralgia, paralytic conditions and debility. As a result of this primary
action on the nervous system, Colchicum finds its most important action exerted on the periosteum
and synovial membranes (especially of the small joints), on the urinary and digestive tracts, and to
some extent upon the respiratory organs. The secretions of all mucous surfaces are altered and



increased, and the general condition throughout strikingly resembles a violent acute arthritic
inflammation. Dr. Allen says (op. cit. p. 393) that "it is specially interesting to note that it produces symptoms of the acute manifestations of gout, quite apart from any direct modifications of the exerction of urea or uric acid. Its relief of acute gout seems to be purely a homoeopathic action." The chief peculiarity of the drug is its tearing pains with intolerable exacerbations at night.

The stomach is acutely disordered, nausea and vomiting. Nausea at thought, sight or smell of food, especially of cooking is a characteristic symptom.

It causes extreme relaxation of the muscular system, the head falls forward on the chest or falls back when the patient is raised from the pillow, arms fall helpless by the side.

There is great prostration internal coldness and a tendency to collapse. Effects of night-watching and overstudy. Shocks as from electricity through one half of body. Bad effects from suppressed sweat. Dreams of mice. Dysentery.

Tendency to collapse, moist collapse, due to dehydration i.e. after repeated vomiting or purging. Cardiac and arthritic disorders. Dropsy. Hydropericardium, hydrothorax, ascites, hydrometra. The patient must rest and lie down. Cannot lie on left side.

MIND: Peevish; nothing satisfies him (Calc., Phos., Cham., Cina.). External impressions, such as bright light, strong odors (Nux v.), contact, misdeeds of others, makes him quite beside himself.

HEAD: pressure in the head, especially in the occiput, and deep in cerebellum. Boring headache, especially over the eyes (Coloc). Creeping sensation in the forehead, and over the head (Arg., nit., Cupr.)

EYES: Inflammation of the eyes, dim sightedness; watering of the eyes; white spots on cornea.

EARS: Earache with lacerating pains (Bell., Puls.) Roaring in the ears, they feel stopped up.

NOSE: Excessive acuteness of smell (Acon., Agar., Bell., Coff., Hep., s., Lyc.). Sore pain in the septum. Nosebleed, evenings.

FACE: Sickly, sad, suffering expression (Ars.) Drawing, tearing pains in muscles and bones of face. Tingling in face as after being frosted (Agar). OEdematous swelling of the face.

MOUTH: Tongue coated white (Ant. crud., Bry., Nux v., Puls., Sulph.). Tongue heavy, stiff and insensible (Coni). Toothache with tearing pains; teeth sensitive. Inflammation of mucous membranes of mouth and throat. Profuse flow of saliva, with dryness of the throat.

STOMACH: A version to food (Coccul); loathing (Ant. crud., Ars.). the sight, and still more the smell of it. Great thirst, but no appetite. Eructation, with burning in the stomach (Ars.) Every motion excites or renews the vomiting; cannot sit erect (Bry.) Vomiting of food or bile (Ant. crud). Epigastrium extremely sensitive to the touch (Bell.) The stomach feels icy cold (Camph). Violent burning in the epigastrium (Ars. Bell., Canth ., Phos., Verat. alb.). In gastric complaints Cocculus is slightly differs in the weakness, as Colchicum shows more weakness, delirium and prosration.





ABDOMEN: Great distension of the abdomen, as if he had eaten too much (Cinch, Lyc.). Griping pains in abdomen. (Bry., Coloc., Chel., Merc.). Colic; aggravated by eating; after flatulent food; with great distension of abdomen, until diarrhoea sets in; better from bending double (Coloc.).

RECTAL: Very offensive flatus (Aloe., Bry., Graph.), in the evening. Spasms in the sphincter, with a shuddering over the back. Unsatisfactory urging to stool; relieved by passing flatus. Violent tenesmus (Merc., Caps.). Stools bilious; them mixed with membranous pieces; slimy and bloody; frequently orange-yellow, slimy, with bright-yellow flakes; copious yellow coating; transparent, gelatinous (Hell., Rhus., tox.); very membranous mucus, relieving the colic; very foetid. Discharges contain large quantities of small, white, shreddy particles.

URINARY: Scanty discharge of dark, turbid urine, with tenesmus and burning (Canth., Caps., Merc. cor.), Dark, bloody urine, almost like ink, with strangury (Ars., Canth.). Whitish sediment in the urine (Calc. c., Canth.)

RESPIRATORY: Difficult breathing and oppression of the chest. Night involuntary spurting out of urine (Alum., Caust., Puls.). Lacerating, tearing pains in chest.

HEART: Violent palpitation (Acon., Ars., Bell., Spig.); with oppression. Trembling in praecordial region with sticking pains. Anxiety and pressure in praecordial region, provoking sighing; sensitive to pressure. Fullness at night when lying on the left side, with oppression as from stagnation of blood. Dull, irregular, suppressed beats of the heart, with indescribable sensation in chest. Impulse not felt and only heard with difficulty, as if at a great distance, or through a thick wall. Pulse accelerated and hard, or full and slow; slow and feeble; quick and thready; irregular; intermittent;scarcely perceptible (Acon.)

EXTRIMITIES: Rheumatic, tearing, drawing pains in neck and back (Puls.). Spot on sacrum feels sore and bruised as if ulcerated; very sensitive to touch. Rheumatic pains in joints of fingers, toes, wrists and ankles; in shoulder joints and knees during rest, with uneasiness, in hands and feet, so that she could not bear to have her finger-joints pressed or extended from their semi-flexed condition. Joints stiff and feverish. Tearing pains in muscles and joints. Numbness and prickling of hands and feet.
T. F. Allen gives "Tingling in finger-nails" as characteristic of Colch.; no other remedy has it.
In Rhuematism, Ledum pal is distinguished by the thermal modality, as Ledum is sensitive to cold but complaints relieved by cold whereas Colchicum complaints relieved by warmth.

FEVER: Coldness and chilliness running through all the limbs down the back. Shuddering and creeping in isolated parts. At night, dry heat with excessive thirst (Acon., Ars.) Suppression of perspiration. Copious, sour sweat, suddenly coming and going; in rheumatism.
As another form of debility or debilitating fever, we find Colchicum indicated at times in typhoid fever. Now, the position of the Colchicum in typhoid fever is between Arsenicum and Cinchona. First, we find that the patient's intellect in beclouded. But although his mind is befogged, he still answers your questions correctly, showing you that he is not in complete stupor.

MODALITIES: Bending forward better oppression and colic. Better from warmth, rest, doubling up, sitting after stools, stooping. Worse from motion is as marked as that of Bry. Worse from motion touch, night, stubbing toes, vibrations. Worse from weather, cold, damp in a damp room, changing weather, autumn, sundown to sunrise. Worse from stretching, checked sweat, sunset to sunrise, loss of sleep, smell of food. Worse from any exertion mental or bodily. Worse night and evening.



RELATIONS:
Antidoted by; Bell., Camph., Coccul., Nux v., Puls., Spigel., honey and sugar. In poisoning give Ammon. caust. in sugar water.

Follows well; Lyc.

Followed well by; Carb. v. (ascites).

Compare; Aco., Arn., Ars. (Colch. has the prostration of Ars., but without its restlessness); Cact. and Abrot. (metastasis to heart); Bry. (gout, rheumatism, serous effusions, < by movement); Chi., Coccul., Merc., Nat. m., Nux, Op., Pod. (painless cholerine); Puls. (derangement of stomach by eggs; gout; nausea at smell or thought of food, especially if rich or fat); Sep., Calc., Ars., and Ambra. (icy coldness in stomach); Lach. (black urine; < smell of food; cholera); Ver. (cholera, cold sweat on forehead); Bar. c. (paralysis of tongue; cold, loss of sensibility); Nux (debility from loss of sleep;
irritability, all external impressions annoy; the debility of Colch. is more profound and there is dislike of all food, and nausea from smells).

Colch. is botanically allied to the Veratrums, the Alliums, and Iris.

It antidotes; Thuja.

Teste includes it in his Zincum group.

In affections of the heart Colchicum is closely allied to Spigelia. When Colchicum has been abused, Spigelia is the remedy to be used as an antidote.

LIST OF REFERENSES:
1) ALLEN T.F.– ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PURE MATERIA MEDICA.
2) BOERICKE.W – A NEW MANUAL OF HOM M.M.
3) CLARKE.J.H. --- DICTIONARY OF PRACTICAL M.M.
4) COWPERTHWAITE --- A TEXT BOOK OF HOM.M.M.
5) FARRINGTON.E.A.--- CLINICAL M.M.
6) HUGHES.R --- A CYCLOPEDIA OF DRUG PATHOGENESIS.
7) KENT J.T. ---LECTURES ON HOM M.M.
8) MURPHY.R --- LOTUS M.M.
9) PHATAK.S.R. --- HOM. M.M.