Lobelia is mainly useful in cases of anxiety about health. The patient seems focused on his heart or chest, as if there is an oppression in the chest which creates great anxiety. This may be accompanied by some type of mild pathology of the respiratory tract, such as a mild case of asthma, but the dyspnea and turmoil is exaggerated out of proportion to the disease.
MENTALS
Serious and closed patients.
Anxiety about health; fears death from heart or respiratory disease.
PSYCHOGENICDYSPNEA. Patient panics, but lungs sound normal.
GENERALS
General aggravation from cold and cold drafts.
General aggravation from change of temperature.
General aggravation from cold bathing.
A tubercular remedy.
HEAD
Sinusitis, especially the right side, better from pressure.
Nasal obstruction; patient feels very distressed as if suffocating.
Trigeminal neuralgia, especially the left side.
Lump in the throat sensation.
GASTROINTESTINAL
Said to be a remedy for nausea with marked sweating.
Mouth dry without thirst (Puls, Nux-M, Bry).
Cravings: Sweets. Fat.
UROGENITAL
Menses suppressed from cold bathing.
Uterine pain, better bending the legs, better from lying on left side.
CHEST
Dyspnea worse from vexation, worse drafts, worse suppressed menses, worse exertion, worse from catching a cold.
HYPERVENTILATION.
Respiratory distress, even cyanosis, but lungs are clear to auscultion and function normally.
Dyspnea in patients with history of pleurisy, pneumonia, etc.
Sensation that the heart may stop (Gels, Dig, Magnolia).
EXTREMITIES
Low back pain from suppressed menses.
CLINICAL
Anxiety. Asthma. Globus hystericus. Hyperventilation. Lower back pain. Neuralgia. Sinusitis.
COMPARISONS
Ars. Kali-Ar. Ign. Lach.
LYCOPODIUM
Lycopodium is one of the most fundamental remedies and is classed with Sulphur and Calcarea as part of the triad (Lyc - Sulph - Calc). The word which Vithoulkas uses to describe the essence of Lycopodium is
“cowardice”. The patient often has marked feelings of inferiority which he constantly tries to overcome.
This liability is faced in two different ways:
1)
Inferiority. One type of Lycopodium feels this lack in himself and becomes very shy, introverted, soft and often becomes rather a loner. This type has many fears and even phobic states such as agoraphobia or develops anxiety about health, fear to be alone at night, fears about death and survival. Often, however, the main fear is of people.2)
Egotism. The other type of Lycopodium takes a sort of counter-phobic response to this inner lack of confidence. Thus the patient becomes bombastic, egotistical, bragging, acting extroverted and assertive.Lycopodium is the main remedy under the rubric, “love of power”.
Self-control. Another aspect of Lycopodium is lack of discipline. For example, Lycopodium is the remedy that most craves sweets and eats them to the extent that it is detrimental to his well-being. The same is true in the sexual sphere. The Lycopodium patient will often be promiscuous, making passes at any potentially available woman, even the receptionist. It is not that the patient has a stronger sex drive than the average person but rather that he has a superficial interest which he constantly seeks to satisfy.
Commitment. The Lycopodium patient fears forming long-term relationships. He fears the responsibility of commitment. One aspect of this lack of commitment is a fear of impotence. The patient functions normally with a new partner but later notices he lacks the original excitement and finally develops impotence. Meanwhile he can easily be aroused by other women. Finally he announces to her that he “just doesn’t find her attractive”. And he may try to convince himself he never really loved her.
Children. Both of the two basic types described above can be seen in Lycopodium children. Many of the children are angry, bossy, and rude to parents who are too “permissive”. The parents are often
perplexed to find that at school the child gets good conduct scores because this bullying attitude is not tolerated. But the more usual Lycopodium child is extremely shy. He has an inner sense of weakness and in many cases he does in fact lack the normal child’s stamina. Rough physical games are frightening and exhausting and in no way attractive to him. The features are usually fine or even delicate. His head may be overly large for his body. The parents describe the child as being “cautious” or fearful of rough games, bikes, slides, or swimming. As the child develops he turns more of his energies to intellectual pursuits such as reading, hobbies, or computers.
Physical. On the physical level, the most affected organ system is the gastrointestinal tract and the liver. Lycopodium covers a wide variety of chronic conditions and is also an important remedy for acute illness. Though often considered an anti-psoric remedy, Lycopodium covers all miasms. It should also be remembered that as in all of our polycrests, many cases which need Lycopodium will show little or none of the personality described above.
MENTALS
PROBLEMSOFSELF-ESTEEMANDLOWCONFIDENCE.
BULLYING, DOMINEERING, ARROGANTBEHAVIORTOFAMILYANDTHOSEWITHLESSAUTHORITY, OBSEQUIOUSTO SUPERIORS.
Intellectual and withdrawn. Depression.
Anxiety: about health, about conflicts, about career.
WEEPSFROMSENTIMENTALEVENTSORUPONBEINGTHANKED. Reverses letters and words while reading and speaking.
STAGEFRIGHT.
Fears: Ghosts. Cancer. Alone, at night. People. Claustrophobia. Commitment and marriage. Public speaking. Agoraphobia.
Averse to company yet dreads being alone.
GENERALS
RIGHT-SIDEDPROBLEMSORRIGHTGOINGTOLEFT. GENERALAGGRAVATIONFROM 4 TO 8 PM OR 3 TO 7 PM.
General aggravation in morning on waking.
General amelioration in the evening or at midnight.
Generally worse from missing a meal or from fasting.
Generally better open air (even though he may be chilly).
Usually chilly patients although many are warm-blooded.
Appearance: Fine features, deep furrows at jowls or brow, anxious appearance, baldness, obese or heavy only in thighs and buttocks.
HEAD
Headache, worse right side, worse 4 to 8 PM, worse heat of the bed.
Cracks in the canthi of the eyes.
Eruptions of the scalp, behind the ears; acne; eczema; psoriasis.
Nasal obstruction, worse at night in bed; snuffles of newborns.
FLARINGOFTHEALAENASIINASTHMAORPNEUMONIA. Right facial neuralgia.
Right-sided otitis media.
DEEPFURROWSOFTHEBROWORJOWLS.
GREYHAIR (head or beard) in streaks or patches, mainly right side.
THROAT
Right-sided pharyngitis or begins on right side and moves to left.
Throat pain better warm drinks, but some cases better cold drinks.
GASTROINTESTINAL
Craving: SWEETS. Alcohol. Warm drinks.
Aversion: Oysters. COLDDRINKS or food.
Disordered by oysters, onions, cabbage, etc.
Loud rumbling in the abdomen.
BLOATEDANDDISTENDEDABDOMEN, AMELIORATEDBYERUCTATIONANDFLATUS, WORSEEATINGEVENSMALL
AMOUNTSOFFOOD. Early satiety.
Huge appetite; ravenous; appetite increases while eating.
WAKESATNIGHTTOEAT. BULIMIA.
Stomach pains better by rubbing the abdomen.
Abdomen sensitive to the weight of clothing.
Stool begins hard or constipated and then turns soft or liquid.
Hepatitis, acute or chronic cases.
Cholecystitis with pains worse from eating and deep inhalation.
Inguinal hernia.
Heartburn. Sour eructations (Rob, Sulph).
UROGENITAL
Painful urging for urination.
Right-sided kidney stones. Reddish sediment in the urine.
Enuresis.
Prostatitis. Prostatic hypertrophy.
Right ovarian cysts or tumors.
Sexual promiscuity, adultery. Frigidity is common in women.
IMPOTENCE, especially with his wife. Premature ejaculation.
Herpes, especially right-sided and extending down thigh.
CHEST
Asthma; chronic dry tickling cough.
Pneumonia, especially right-sided.
Palpitations, worse evening in bed, worse indigestion or over-eating.
MUSCULOSKELETAL
Back pain better from urination.
Torticollis (Lachn, Caust, Nux-V, Strych, Rhus-T).
Sciatica, worse lying on the side, better walking.
Hip pain, worse first walking but better from motion.
Podagra, especially right-sided.
Uncovers the feet in bed.
Eczema. Psoriasis. Warts. Tinea.
CRACKSONHEEL.
ONEHANDORFOOTMUCHCOLDERTHANTHEOTHER. Feet offensive.
SLEEP
Sleeps only on the right side.
Waking from hunger.
Waking as from a fright.
Extremely unrefreshed in the morning.
CLINICAL
Allergy. Anxiety. Arthritis. Asthma. Bronchiolitis. Bronchitis. Bulimia. Cerebral accidents.
Cholecystitis. Chronic fatigue syndrome. Cirrhosis. Colic. Colitis. Connective tissue disease.
Crohn's disease. Cystitis. Depression. Developmental delay. Diabetes. Eczema. Gout. Headache.
Hepatitis. Hernia. Herpes. Hypertension. Impotence. Irritable bowel syndrome. Kidney stones.
Malignancy. Migraine. Neuralgia. Otitis media. Ovarian cysts. Peptic ulcer. Pharyngitis.
Pneumonia. Premature ejaculation. Pyelonephritis. Sarcoidosis. Scleroderma. Sinusitis.
Systemic lupus.Tinea.Tonsillitis. Urethritis. Urinary tract infection. Uterine fibroid.Vaginitis.Warts.
ACUTES
Pharyngitis, often right-sided or begin on the right side and travel to the left, better from either warm or cold drinks. Tonsillitis.
Pneumonia, great dyspnea, prostration, frothy sputum, rattling chest uses accessory muscles, flares nostrils, forehead furrowed.
Cholecystitis.
Kidney stone colic, right side, may note a reddish sand in the urine.
COMPLEMENTARY
Puls. Lach. Nat M. Sulph. Sep. Iod. Chel.
COMPARISONS
Thuj - Low self-esteem, worse from onions, chilly, eczema, herpes, offensive feet.
Ars - Anxiety, chilly, thirsty in sips, desires warm drinks, needs some company, right-sided complaints, asthma.
Arg-N - Craves sweets, bloated, eructations, anxious, claustrophobia, generally better open air.
Sulph - Anxious and intellectual, desires sweets, extroverted and arrogant, worse fasting, offensive feet, feet uncovered, general worse from fasting, gastrointestinal complaints.
Mag-M - Liver and gastrointestinal problems, worse in morning, unrefreshed sleep.
Med. Carb-V. Graph. Nat-M. Nit-Ac.