Dyspepsia

Homeopathy in practice - BORLAND

The ordinary dyspeptic patient seen in the surgery has either an acute attack of indigestion following some
indiscretion in diet, or chronic dyspepsia and chronic constipation.

Consider the acute attack.

The patients fall quite easily into one of two classes.

First, the adult who has been out, eaten and drunk too much, and comes to the surgery next morning feeling
indisposed, probably with a slight headache, and very little inclination for breakfast.
This type will respond in the majority of instances to a few doses of Nux Vomica in a low potency.

The other type of acute digestive upset is met with more commonly in the child.
The child who has been out to a party, eaten too many cakes and ices, been vomiting all night, and is brought
in next morning pale, irritable and tired.
In the majority of cases all the child needs is a dose of Pulsatilla in either the 6c or 30c potency.

The next type of dyspeptic disturbance is the tired out, weary patient with chronic flatulence.

There are mainly two types.

There is the thin, nervous patient whose digestive upset has followed some minor acute illness, who has
chronic indigestion, a good deal of flatulence, and is rather chilly and irritable.
A few doses of China in a low potency will usually clear the symptoms.

In contrast there is the heavy, sluggish, fat, lethargic type with a tendency to eat too much starchy food, a
tendency to flatulence and a feeling of fullness and discomfort round the waist.
A few doses of Carbo Veg. puts that temporary indiscretion right.

Patients must be considered as individuals.

These are broad outlines.

Each of these remedies may be used as a heading for a number of others which are complementary.
Include with the Nux Vomica patients all the nervy, excitable people who are upset by over-rich food.
They may require Nux Vomica, Lycopodium, Ignatia, Arsenicum Alb. or Phosphorus.
All patients of that type are upset by similar things, and Nux Vomica can be put at the head of the group, but
the others must be considered.

In children - Pulsatilla, Argentum Nit. and Calcarea Carb. are all liable to be upset in similar circumstances, but
Pulsatilla is much the most commonly indicated member of the group.

Another group is the emaciated China type.

A similar type of patient may need Sepia, Natrum Mur., Natrum Carb. and occasionally Lycopodium.
In the Carbo Veg. group they may require Graphites, Anacardium, Calcarea Carb. or occasionally Petroleum.
That is the way to group them.
Always try to get a clear picture of the outstanding member of the group and then fill in the exceptions.

As a start, the four remedies - Nux Vomica, Pulsatilla, China, Carbo Veg. - cover most cases of dyspepsia, but
those that do not respond must be reconsidered.

Gastroenteritis

There are very few remedies to consider for acute diarrhoea and vomiting.
For instance, for acute gastroenteritis poisoning, which is very violent and develops within a few hours,
Arsenicum Alb., Carbo Veg. and Veratrum Alb. are the three to be considered.
For more slowly developing diarrhoea and vomiting there are other useful remedies, a number of which are
also described here.
With a good knowledge of these remedies, most acute cases can be treated.

Podophyllum peltatum
It is very difficult to distinguish Podophyllum from Aloes in the textbooks.
At the start of the diarrhoea the symptoms of both are very much the same.

Podophyllum patients have the same aggravation after eating or drinking, and the first sensation they have is
the same kind of gurgling in the abdomen and throughout the bowel generally.
They develop a similar griping pain after the gurgling has stopped, but it is much more colicky in character.
They get a sudden urging to stool, which is much more acute than in Aloes patients.
There is not the same tendency to develop piles, but there is a more marked tendency to rectal prolapse with
the stool.
Podophyllum patients experience a very violent, aching pain when the bowels are acting, which Aloes do not.
This is a real distinction between the two.
In Podophyllum patients the stools tend to be much larger, much more fluid, and the flatus is mixed up with
the fluid stool so that it is expelled noisily.
The appearance of the stool may be anything from a watery mucus stool to a very offensive bloodstained
stool.
Practically all the diarrhoea which respond to Podophyllum are offensive.
Aloes patients, as a rule, are more peaceful for a while after the bowels have acted.
In Podophyllum, the colic continues for some time after the bowels have acted, with a feeling of exhaustion.
The stool is very forcibly expelled.
Often the patients feel cold, alternating rapidly with flushes of heat that spread over their backs.
Another distinguishing point about Podophyllum patients with diarrhoea is that quite frequently, just before
the bowels act, they are not quite sure whether they are going to have an action of the bowels or whether
they are going to vomit.

They may start retching and gagging, and then have a sudden violent, watery stool.
Cramp in the thighs or legs may accompany the abdominal colic.
As far as the abdominal condition itself is concerned, there is very little to distinguish the two remedies.
In both, the patients have abdominal tenderness and are not particularly aggravated by either heat or cold.
As far as appearances are concerned, they are quite distinctive.

Podophyllum patients with diarrhoea look ill, as if they were going to vomit, and they are cold, clammy and
sweating.

Immediately after an attack, they experience waves of heat, during which they may become flushed; but in
the attacks they become cold, pinched and distressed.

They have a night aggravation, not early in the morning, as in Aloes.

It may be any time during the night, but is usually about 3 to 5 in the morning.

They get a definite aggravation from being bathed.

Podophyllum patients are usually lacking in thirst and usually have a coated tongue, either white or yellow.