CAJUPUTIM - The essential features
-GEORGE VITHOULKAS
Cajuputum
Cajuput oil, distilled in water from leaves of Melaleuca leucadendron, M. cajupute minor. (Moluccas.)
N.O. Myrtaceae.
Solution of the oil in rectified spirit.
The essential features
Cajuputum is primarily a hysterical remedy characterised by fears and fixed ideas. It has two main keynotes:
The feeling of enlargement- patients feel large all over, or parts of the body feel enlarged, especially the head. On looking down, the nose seems large and appears to stick out from the face. The tongue may feel so swollen that it seems to fill the whole mouth.
A persistent, hysterical feeling that the patient will choke and as a consequence will die, which brings on a state of panic. The provings relate a spasmodic constriction of the oesophagus which is worse on attempting to swallow solid food. The Cajaputum hysteria is a mixture of hysterical dyspnoea and hysterical choking. The excessive swelling of the tongue together with the choking sensation make the patient feel that he will soon no longer be able to breath. This Cajuputum state has been confirmed by cures of, as Hering calls it, 'nervous dyspnoea'.
The anxiety about choking and breathing compels the patient to take a bottle of water with him everywhere he goes and to sip it from time to time. He has no thirst, but drinks in order to confirm that he can still swallow and breath. He feels great insecurity if the water is not in the car or with him at all times.
The hysteria about choking even extends to the point that if a Cajaputum person is caught in heavy traffic he suddenly feels as if he will suffocate, and soon enters into a panic state. He fears that he will not be able to get out of the traffic jam in time, and so reacts in a totally psychotic manner, e.g. , he simply leaves the car in the middle of the road. Such states may be accompanied by a feeling of disorientation, as if the person cannot get himself together or as if he is scattered (Baptisia).
Other hysterical phenomena exhibited by Cajaputum are: a constant tendency to spit; a constant hawking up of mucus from the throat; nervous or hysterical vomiting; nervous distension of the bowel; the rectum seems paralysed; the arms feel heavy and useless, as if they were tied to the body, and especially the left one, which actually feels as if it were out of joint; a numb feeling in general, but particularly in the face.
In the typical constitutional Cajuputum type you can see a peculiar over-stimulation of the brain together with above normal intelligence. You perceive that they read your mind before you say anything. 'Can think of a thousand things in a minute' is an expression of this feature that was observed in the proving. They tell you that thoughts are coming in rapid succession, that a lot of ideas come to their minds, that their intellect is extremely clear. You wonder how it is possible that such an intelligent and fast-thinking person is unable to control their fears or to alter their fixed ideas and instead slip so easily into states of panic. In Cajuputum, as in other remedies, there can also exist an opposite state: a stupefied, dull feeling, sometimes described as if the person is intoxicated, with slowness of ideas and an absolute inability to concentrate on any kind of study or work.
There is a kind of haughtiness in these patients. They do not associate easily with people whom they consider of lower status. For this symptom, the provings state: 'Wants to walk in a slow and very dignified manner, prefers to walk alone,' and 'I do not want anyone to speak to me; nevertheless I like to be where I can see persons and hear their talk.'
Cajuputum
Cajuput oil, distilled in water from leaves of Melaleuca leucadendron, M. cajupute minor. (Moluccas.)
N.O. Myrtaceae.
Solution of the oil in rectified spirit.
The essential features
Cajuputum is primarily a hysterical remedy characterised by fears and fixed ideas. It has two main keynotes:
The feeling of enlargement- patients feel large all over, or parts of the body feel enlarged, especially the head. On looking down, the nose seems large and appears to stick out from the face. The tongue may feel so swollen that it seems to fill the whole mouth.
A persistent, hysterical feeling that the patient will choke and as a consequence will die, which brings on a state of panic. The provings relate a spasmodic constriction of the oesophagus which is worse on attempting to swallow solid food. The Cajaputum hysteria is a mixture of hysterical dyspnoea and hysterical choking. The excessive swelling of the tongue together with the choking sensation make the patient feel that he will soon no longer be able to breath. This Cajuputum state has been confirmed by cures of, as Hering calls it, 'nervous dyspnoea'.
The anxiety about choking and breathing compels the patient to take a bottle of water with him everywhere he goes and to sip it from time to time. He has no thirst, but drinks in order to confirm that he can still swallow and breath. He feels great insecurity if the water is not in the car or with him at all times.
The hysteria about choking even extends to the point that if a Cajaputum person is caught in heavy traffic he suddenly feels as if he will suffocate, and soon enters into a panic state. He fears that he will not be able to get out of the traffic jam in time, and so reacts in a totally psychotic manner, e.g. , he simply leaves the car in the middle of the road. Such states may be accompanied by a feeling of disorientation, as if the person cannot get himself together or as if he is scattered (Baptisia).
Other hysterical phenomena exhibited by Cajaputum are: a constant tendency to spit; a constant hawking up of mucus from the throat; nervous or hysterical vomiting; nervous distension of the bowel; the rectum seems paralysed; the arms feel heavy and useless, as if they were tied to the body, and especially the left one, which actually feels as if it were out of joint; a numb feeling in general, but particularly in the face.
In the typical constitutional Cajuputum type you can see a peculiar over-stimulation of the brain together with above normal intelligence. You perceive that they read your mind before you say anything. 'Can think of a thousand things in a minute' is an expression of this feature that was observed in the proving. They tell you that thoughts are coming in rapid succession, that a lot of ideas come to their minds, that their intellect is extremely clear. You wonder how it is possible that such an intelligent and fast-thinking person is unable to control their fears or to alter their fixed ideas and instead slip so easily into states of panic. In Cajuputum, as in other remedies, there can also exist an opposite state: a stupefied, dull feeling, sometimes described as if the person is intoxicated, with slowness of ideas and an absolute inability to concentrate on any kind of study or work.
There is a kind of haughtiness in these patients. They do not associate easily with people whom they consider of lower status. For this symptom, the provings state: 'Wants to walk in a slow and very dignified manner, prefers to walk alone,' and 'I do not want anyone to speak to me; nevertheless I like to be where I can see persons and hear their talk.'
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