AGARICUS MUSCARIUS [Agar]:

- Kent J. T.

The most striking things running through this medicine are twitchings and tremblings. Jerkings of the muscles and trembling of the limbs; quivering and tremors, everywhere these two features are present in all parts of the body and limbs. The twitching of the muscles becomes so extensive that it is a well- developed case of chorea. It has in its nature all that is found in chorea and has cured many cases. This is a general belonging to all parts, to all muscles. Throughout the body there is a sensation of creeping and crawling. It is hardly confined to the skin, it is felt as if in the flesh, a sensation as if of ants. Itching of the skin all over which changes place from scratching. No place is exempt from this. There are strange sensations here and there upon the skin or in parts, cold sensations, sensations of cold needles and of hot needles, stinging and burning where the circulation is feeble, about the ears, nose, back of hands and fingers and toes, red spots with itching and burning as if frostbitten. It is a great remedy for chilblains. The patient is extremely nervous and sensitive to cold. Itching. pricking, tingling, etc., come on from mental exertion and are relieved from physical exertion. All the symptoms of Agaricus are also aggravated after sexual intercourse. especially in the symptoms of the spinal cord. It is useful for the symptoms which come on after coition in young, nervous married women, hysterical fainting after coition.

The mental symptoms are such as you would expect. Great change-ability, irritability, mental depression and complaints which come on from over exertion of the mind and prolonged study. The brain seems to be developed tardily. Children are late in learning to talk and walk, thus combining the features of two remedies, Natrum muriaticum, which has the symptom "late learning to talk," and Calcarea carb., which has the symptom "late learning to walk." It will be noticed in Calcarea that this is due to a defect in bone weakness. In Agaricus it is a mental defect. a slowly developing mind. Children with twitching and early fainting, nervous girls prior to puberty who have convulsions from being scolded, from excitement and shock, late in mental development. Children who cannot remember, make mistakes and are slow in learning. Nervous patients who on going over their manuscripts find out their mistakes in writing and spelling. The condition of the mind is one in which they are slow to grasp ideas; wrong words float in kaleidoscopically. When we read in the book "the whole psychological sphere as if paralyzed," we must read between the lines. The whole mind and sensorium seem paralyzed; the patient is sluggish, stupid, at times seems to be delirious; there is confusion of the mind so nearly like delirium that it is not unlike intoxication. A delirium such as is produced by alcohol. He also becomes silly, says foolish and silly things, sings and whistles at an inopportune time, makes verses and prophesies; or he lapses into an opposite state, becomes indifferent to his surroundings. One who is mild and placid becomes self-willed, obstinate and conceited.

Difficulty in co-ordinating the movements of the muscles of the body. Incoordination of brain and spinal cord. Clumsy motion of the fingers and hands. In handling things she drops them. Fingers fly open spasmodically while holding things. You will sometimes cure Bridget in the kitchen with Agaricus or Apis, when the trouble is that she is continually breaking the dishes by letting them fall. These two remedies are opposites, Agaricus must stay near the fire, while Apis she wants to get out of the kitchen. The awkwardness, clumsiness, etc., are both mental and bodily. Every sort of change is run on the patient and the doctor. At times the patient is stupid, awkward and clumsy, at other times quick and poetical, can run off poetry without effort, especially at night. In the morning he is tired and sluggish and this may last till noon. the mental symptoms are worse in the morning and are relieved towards evening. All jerkings and twitchings subside during sleep. There is vertigo when walking in the open air. He is always chilly. On undertaking to do something he does the opposite. Vertigo and confusion of the mind are mixed up.

It is a common feature for the headaches of this remedy to be associated with the spinal symptoms, the quivering and the jerking. Headaches in spinal patients .Pain as though sharp ice touched the head, or as if from cold needles. That is general; we find it in other parts. Pain in the head as if from a nail. There is some bleeding in the morning, and the blood is thick, black and will hardly drop. Coldness in the head. In the scalp there are all sorts of queer sensations, icy coldness after itching or scratching. That runs all through the body. There is itching, although no eruption is visible; can't let it alone, and after scratching there is a sensation of icy coldness in the part or as if the wind was blowing on it. The head is in constant motion as in chorea. Itching of the scalp, especially in the morning on rising. There again we have the general aggravation in the morning. There are marked eruptions on the scalp. Eczema with crusts.

Twitching and jerking of the eyes. You will observe this about the Agaricus eyes; as the patient looks at you there is a pendulum-like action of the eyes, they go back and forth all the time; they oscillate, though he tries his best to fix his look on you. This stops only during sleep; all the motions subside during sleep. A few other medicines have cured this eye symptom, (<) Cicuta, Arsenicum, Sulphur, Pulsatilla, but Agaricus also produces and cures it. There is every conceivable kind of deception in colors and in vision. Flickering before the eyes; he reads with difficulty. Objects seem to be where they are not. Black flies before the eyes; black motes; sees double; floating flies before the eyes. Muscular weakness of the eyes. Irregularity of the motions of the eyes; pupils dilated; pupils contracted. Sensation as of a mist or cobweb before the eyes. Spasmodic twitching and jerking. The jerkings and twitchings are the most marked symptoms, as also the choreic movements about the eyes, and the deceptions in colors and figures before the eyes. Redness, burning and itching of the ears as if they had been frostbitten. The sensation as of chilblains, the same sensation as found throughout; the same itching and tingling as of the remedy in general. Dullness of hearing. Deafness. Hearing acute. In the morning he is dumb, sluggish, stupid, tired, but when evening comes he brightens up, becomes warmed up, becomes excited, poetical and prophetical, wants to sit up late at night, is brilliant, wants to play games.

Nosebleed, profuse, foetid discharge from the nose. Agaricus will cure the most inveterate chronic catarrhs with dryness and crusts, in tubercular constitutions, so deep-seated is it. It has cured many cases of incipient phthisis. It cures old coughs and catarrhs. Red nose, as if frostbitten. It is as good as Ledum and (<) Lachesis for the red-tipped nose in old drunkards.

From what we have already seen we expect twitching of the muscles of the face, and itching and redness and burning as if frostbitten, paralytic weakness, etc., because these are general features, and just as we expect we see these things in the text. Choreic spasms. Expression as of idiocy. Now notice this. Some patients when going on with their own usual vocation are pretty smart, but if you put some new idea before them, something not in the routine of their work, they are perfectly idiotic. This is especially noticeable in the morning. He can't take in anything new in the morning, but he is able to take in new ideas and is bright in the evening, like the effect produced by tea and coffee and alcoholic beverages. This remedy is a great antidote to alcoholic beverages. In this remedy and in Zincum the spine is affected and both of these have aggravation from stimulants.

Agaricus has cured many cases of epileptiform convulsions, more commonly the hystero-epileptic type with frothing of the mouth, opisthotonos, drawing of the muscles of the face. The Agaricus patient has spells in which a little muscle of the face or a few fibers of a muscle with quiver for a few minutes and stop, and then in another part of the face the same thing, an eyelid will quiver, and then another set of fibers, sometimes so bad as to nearly drive him crazy. Such is an Agaricus state as well as Nux vomica.

The teeth feel too long and are sensitive to touch. The tongue quivers, twitches, jerks and causes disorderly speech; articulates violently. Tongue dry, tremulous. Learns to speak with difficulty. Spasms of the tongue, inarticulate speech. Phagedenic ulcer on the fraenum of the tongue; eats it away. Soreness of the tongue. Mercurial aphthae in roof of mouth. Little white blisters like nursing sore mouth. Chronic sore throat. Induration of tonsils. Burning thirst, ravenous appetite. Gnawing in stomach as if from hunger, without desire for food.

Flatus; distressing belching; great tympanites; rumbling, turmoil in abdomen; offensive flatus; rumbling and gurgling in belly. Everything ferments; rumbling and loud rolling; pinching colic. Horribly foetid discharge. Tympanitic condition marked in typhoid; low type of typhoid, trembling and jerking of muscles; paralytic weakness; emaciation, mental symptoms.

Morning diarrhoea, great deal of hot flatus (Aloe ), with burning in the rectum; soft stool, great tenesmus; urging to stool violent; involuntary straining before, during and after stool. Sensation as if rectum would burst, even after stool (Merc. and Sul.). Violent, sudden pains; can't wait; distressing, bursting sensation. Before stool, cutting and pinching in abdomen; urgent tenesmus; painful straining in rectum. During stool, colic and passing of flatus; burning, soreness, smarting and cutting in anus; sweat; pain in loins to legs, continuing after stool. After stool, headache relieved; biting in anus; straining in rectum; cutting pain in anus; griping in hypogastrium; distension in abdomen; heaviness in abdomen and around navel; pain in chest. Emphasize the tenesmus after stool.

May have constipation and paralytic feelings of the rectum; stool hard; straining at stool as if life depended on it and yet no stool. Beginning paralysis of the lower limbs, with twitching of the muscles and burning spine. In one case, after straining had been given up as unsuccessful would pass a stool involuntarily. This symptom only was known in Arg. n. (stool and urine). Desire to urinate as urgent as the desire for stool. Dribbling of urine. A peculiar feature of this remedy is that the urine feels cold on passing; while the urine dribbles, can count the cold drops along the urethra. "Urine passes slowly in a stream or in drops, has to press to promote the flow." "Urine watery, clear, lemon-colored, bright yellow, dark yellow and hot; red, flocculent a powdery sediment; watery in the forenoon, in the afternoon milky, like whey, with a red or white sediment (phosphate of magnesia); iridizing on surface." Phosphates; milky urine. Oily surface, iridescent surface, greasy-like pellicle on urine, like petroleum. Scanty urine in rheumatic, gouty, hysterical subjects. Persons cold, feeble, pale, going into phthisis. Urine becomes scanty and a headache comes on. Goes many days and is constipated, and headache relieved by stool. In Fluoric acid, if he does not attend to the desire to urinate, a headache comes on.

Transformation takes place. The milk ceases in one day, but congestion of the brain or spine comes on. Metastasis, especially if milk ceases and complaints come on.

Genital organs cold and shrunken. The comparative examination of the symptoms of male and female sexual organs shows that the proving has not been extensively made on the female, but in the male there are many symptoms which have an analogous condition in the female. In the male, symptoms are worse after coition, but just as marked in the female. Complaints after sexual excitement, debauch, etc., in the woman, fainting; in the man, weakness. The trembling and twitching, or any of the Agaricus symptoms, may be worse after coition, because the sexual functions are related to the cord. Those suffering from spinal affections have distress after this act.

In the male, during coition, burning in the urethra comes from excoriation or a sense of hotness of the seminal fluid while being ejected, and hence can only be a symptom of the male. Burning in the prostate during ejaculation. Violent sexual excitement before and during, but at the time of ejaculation the orgasm is wanting, it is a passive and pleasureless ejaculation. This occurs in men with spinal weakness, nervous men who have tingling and crawling all over. It comes in the cure of old catarrhal discharge from the urethra, chronic gonorrhoea, gleet, after all sorts of local treatment have been used. The penis is cold and shrunken; excessively painful retraction in testes. In old gleety discharge where there is a continued itching tingling in the urethra and the last drop will remain, discharging for a long time. There are two remedies better for this than many others, (<) Petroleum and Agaricus.

The routine prescriber always thinks of Puls., Sep., etc., for bearing down pains in the female, but in a woman with spinal irritation, etc., with the dragging-down sensation as if the parts would drop into the world, this remedy is the best. Those slender, nervous, restless women with tingling and creeping, must have Agaricus. During menses, headache, toothache, etc. All the general symptoms are worse during the menstrual period, not to any great extent before or after. Aggravation of the heart symptoms and prolapsus just at the close of the menses. Leucorrhoea very profuse, dark, bloody, acrid, excoriating in parts. This remedy has been mentioned in relation to Fluoric acid. There are many points of relation. They are like each other in the leucorrhoea especially; copious and acrid, so acrid that it keeps the parts raw and irritated around the genitals and the patient can't walk. In Fluoric acid there is, with the nervous symptoms, headache ameliorated by passing the urine, or headache if urination is not immediately attended to, with copious, acrid, excoriating leucorrhoea.

Agaricus is a great remedy in chest troubles, though seldom thought of. It has cured what seemed to be consumption. Catarrhal condition of the chest, with night sweats and history of the nervous symptoms. Violent cough in isolated attacks ending in sneezing. Convulsive cough, with sweat towards evening, with frequent pulse, expectoration of pus-like mucus, worse in the mornings and when lying on the back. Add to this the symptoms of Agaricus as described, and Agaricus will take hold of that case. Cases of incipient phthisis. It closely relates to the tubercular diathesis. I remember starting out to prove Tuberculinum on an individual I suspected would be sensitive to it from his history and symptoms. The first dose almost killed him, and, considering the use that that substance is put to in diagnosing the disease in cattle, it seemed to stir him up. He became emaciated and looked as if he would die. I let it alone and watched and waited patiently and the symptoms of Agaricus came up and established the relationship between these two remedies, and confirmed Hering's observation of the relationship of Agaricus to the tubercular diathesis. Agaricus cured him and fattened him up.

The remedy is full of nervous palpitation; worse in the evening. It cures shocks and thrills in the heart; spasms of the heart; internal manifestations of its jerking symptoms. These shocks come from sudden noise; from eructations, on coughing; when lying on the left side or back; worse at night; during fever; they often extend to other parts, as to abdomen or back or limbs. On the outer chest there is tingling and creeping as in general.

The back has many peculiar and general guiding symptoms. Stiffness of the whole spine. Feeling as if it would break when he attempts to bend. Feels as if something is so tight that it will break when he stoops. Tightness in the muscles of the back. Tingling deep in the spine. Violent, shooting, burning pains. Pain along the spine, worse by stooping. Pains of all sorts in the spine. Pains go up the back and down the back. Sensitiveness of the spine to touch, especially in the back of the neck and dorsal region between the scapulae. Sensitive to a hot sponge in the lumbar region in spinal irritation. Sensation as if cold air were spreading along the back like an aura epileptica. Sensation of ice touching the body. Cold spots. Chilliness over the back, crawling, creeping and formication. Numbness of skin over the back. The most of the pains are in the back of the neck and the lumbo-sacral region. Pains in this region in connection with coition. Pain in the lumbar region and sacral region, especially during exertion, sitting, etc. Pain in the sacrum as if beaten, as if it would break. Pains below the waist in women.

In the limbs in general there are twitchings; they are numb, choreic; burning here and there, cold feelings in spots, paralyzed. Trembling of limbs, hands, awkwardness of all the movements. Rheumatism and gout of joints. Paralysis of the lower limbs. Trembling and weakness of the lower limbs.

Burning itching of the hands as if frozen. In the smaller joints, where the circulation is feeble, there are frostbite symptoms. Toes and fingers stiff.

Bones feel as if they would break during rest, especially in the lower limbs. Feeling as if the tibia would break. Aching in the tibia. Growing pains in children and they must sit at the fire or the extremities will get cold. Pains in the bones. Weight in the legs. Pains in the lower limbs; aching; stitching; tearing; better from warmth and from motion.

Paralytic weakness in the lower limbs soon after becoming pregnant This comes with every pregnancy and she must go to bed. The symptoms may lead to Agaricus. Weight in the legs. Legs feel heavy. Trembling and jerking motion in the lower limbs.