By Valerie Sadovsky, RSHom(NA), CCH
Remedy chart
Cimicifuga belongs to the Ranunculaceć family, which also includes Aconite, Helleborus, Pulsatilla, and Staphysagria. It possesses sedative, cardiac, anodyne and antispasmodic properties, and is an ideal utero-ovarian tonic. It was introduced into Eclectic medicine by King in 1844 as a remedy for acute rheumatism and neuralgia. Primary indication for its use was sore, gripping, bruised, heavy, aching pain anywhere. It was considered the main remedy for rheumatoid and muscular pains and in disorders of the reproductive organs of women, especially during pregnancy.
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ESSENCE: Cimi. belongs to the TB miasm. They have the feeling of being strongly tied to people (usually the family or a partner) or either the need for close relations or the desire to free oneself from them. They often use the words "to break free", "trapped". The ties feel too tight, it is choking them, and they have to get out. Sensations of being TRAPPED, imprisoned, ENCAGED IN WIRES are common. MENTAL SYMPTOMS: - DARKNESS: sees dark object & people in dreams … SAD and gloomy, with a sense as if enveloped in a BLACK CLOUD … everything seems wrong in her life … SIGHING, esp. during menopause, menses, or/and gynecological problems (Ign, Calc-phos). - Excitable … extroverted … forceful … emotions are vivid and hysterical in nature … LOQUACIOUS (jumps from one subject to another; about ordinary things; far less sharp-tongued and witty as Lach) - Fears: suffocation … claustrophobia (fear of tunnels, trains -- trapped) … of being MURDERED … death … RATS, MICE (assoc. with prison) … insanity (esp. during menses or MENOPAUSE) - Suspicious - Forsaken feeling – feel they don’t/didn’t get enough nurturing, love and attention (feel trapped in a situation where they don’t have their needs met) … outcast - Busy … extroverted GENERAL SYMPTOMS: - CHILLY and < COLD air (except for the HA.) - Aggravation of all complaints DURING MENSES. - Complaints are very PAINFUL. - CHANGEABILITY: alternation of mental and physical complaints (e.g., cheerful then sad, HA then arthritis) … pains shift from site to site PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS: Muscular cramping pains, primarily of neurotic origin, occurring in nearly every part of the body, are characteristic. Head: severe HAs, esp. in the vertex or radiating to or from the cervical region … severe HA and dullness of mind associated with cervical stiffness … HA with pain in the eyes, < motion of the eyes Neck: one of the major remedies for cervical pain … never well since neck injury … stiffness and drawing in the neck … neck spasms … spine injuries … nausea and vomiting caused by pressure on spine and cervical region … nape of neck very sensitive to drafts Female: menses: the more the flow, the greater the pain (reverse of Lach.; is called the "cold Lachesis") ... rigid os (baby is trapped) … failure to progress in labor … retained placenta … endometriosis … cramping, shooting pains across pelvis or into thighs during labor, after delivery; changeable pains … menses irregular and may be suppressed by emotions or stress … neuralgic pains in the ovaries … ailments during PREGNANCY and MENSES (nausea, vomiting, insomnia, shooting pains, nervousness, sadness) … habitual abortion (3rd month) Extremities: rheumatism affecting esp. the muscles … chorea, < menses, < pressure, < on side being lain upon … muscle twitches … stitching pains, darting about, < cold damp weather ... muscular soreness with darting pains, < cold & wet, > continuous motion. PRIME INDICATIONS: 1. Complaints related to menstrual disorders, climacteric, post-natal period. 2. Sighing and sadness. 3. Chilly (though better in open air), extroverted people; very loquacious (kind, not sharp-tongued). 4. Muscular soreness after exertion, causing sleeplessness. 5. Problems with nape of neck (tension, stiffness, pain). 6. The more profuse the flow, the greater the sufferings. |
ETIOLOGIES: Anxiety … fright … disappointed love … over- exertion … business failures … child bearing ... childbirth AFFINITIES: FEMALE ORGANS … NERVES & MUSCLES (cerebro-spinal, eyeballs, ovaries and uterus, heart) ... nape of neck … occiput … vertex. MODALITIES: <: emotions … motion … alcohol … draught … damp cold air … change of weather … MENSES, esp. suppressed … menopause … puberty … post-natal >: rest … warm wraps … open air … pressure … continued motion … eating SENSATIONS: In HA: as if the brain were too large ... as if the top of the skull would fly off (Bapt.; Bry.) … waving sensation in the brain PAINS: BRUISED SORENESS … sharp … stitching … like electric shocks … SHOOTING in various directions (e.g., from the occiput to the vertex, from one ovary to the other) RANUNCULACEĆ CHARACTERISTICS: Very sensitive, excitable and emotional (Puls. is wimpy, Aco. panicky, Staph. angry) … complaints are painful
NOTES: - Eric says Cimi is often indicated for a child of an insane parent, esp. if s/he had to take care of this parent (trapped in a situation) - Cimi. is called dark Pulsatilla (darker complexion, hair, eyes and dark, intense feeling about them). Also can be confused with Aurum - Morrison’s combined symptoms indicating Cimi: rheumatism and loquacity; rheumatism and dysmenorrheal; hysteria and back or neck spasm. - If rheumatoid arthritis goes together with painful menses or with other uterine problems and neither Puls. nor Caul. act, think of Cimic. - After the delivery: try Cimi first instead of Ign in case of emotional shock after the delivery and when milk production stops because of emotional stress. DIFFERENTIALS: Cimi. resembles other remedies (Ghegas, Links 1995): - Sometimes, they are soft and weep frequently, so you would give Puls. - Sometimes, they are over-sensitive and sigh a lot, so you would think of Ign. - They can also be irritable and can not stop crying, so it would make you think of Sep. - They can even be critical and have serious troubles during the menses, so you would give Lach. - They frequently suffer from rheumatic pains and sigh, and you would give Calc-phos. - Because none of the remedies mentioned above will give results, you will try again but the case remains unchangeable. In this case you have to think of Cimi., which can clear up the case. - Three main "sighing" remedies: Calc-p (between security and change), Cimi (between attachment and unattachment), Ign (between idealized feelings and reality) SOURCES: Links 1995, Cimi., General (RW) – a must! Morrison, Desktop Guide Vermeulen, Prisma |
Roger notes
Boy, for a long tine I never knew it was Actaea Racemosa. I was reading that over and over and couldn’t remember it and couldn’t put it together with what I was seeing in the repertory. It is the same remedy though. It is mostly in hysterical people, quite hysterical people that are very extroverted and extremely loquacious. There are three capitals for - loquacity in the repertory: Lachesis, Hyoscyamus and Stramonium. And Cimicifuga is italics, but it is one of the main remedies for loquacity. There is a remedy, I haven’t seen this, but if you ever get it, it is a keynote, loquacity during the heat. Teucrium. If they get overheated, then they become loquacious. Maybe during fever if they feel hot. So, there is loquacity and you may confuse it with Lachesis. It is frequently hard to know because they can have sensitivity around the neck. They are very loquacious; they have menstrual problems, that kind of thing. The difference is that the loquacity is not quite as forceful, there is not quite as much of energy urge behind it. It is not quite as forceful, but you can’t usually use that but in general it is true. Now, they are people who work hard. They are hard workers and they generally will get along quite well in their psychological state at least. They may come in for physical problems, but in their psychological state they do well until they undergo some kind of stress that usually has to do with injustice, where they feel that their rights have been taken away and they are these extroverted and slightly hysterical people and they push, they push. They push, trying to get their rights and then finally there will come a point at which they feel their rights, that they can’t get it, and there is a breakdown, and they break down into a suicidal state. You know how it says in the books, "feels as if a black cloud settled over them?" So they break down into depression. They want to kill themselves. The kind of people who say, "I’ll show them. I’m going to kill myself." That kind. Yet, it is one of the strongest remedies for fear of death. I think it’s an addition, but it is added as a three.
"I’ll show them" is out of anger. Nux also has desire for suicide out of anger with the same kind of thing, where they have been doing a job and then the get fired. They feel like they were doing it so well, "why wasn’t I appreciated" and "how could they do that to me", you know, easily offended, and they want to kill themselves out of their anger and frustration. Yet, they don’t have the courage. It is one of the main remedies listed for suicidal but lacks courage. That’s Nux.
In one way or another everybody feels like killing themselves. It’s not so much that. It’s not a question of courage. It is an instinctive thing. It is not cowardice. If you are on the edge of something and you feel yourself tipping forward, you are going to feel fear. You’re going to have a rush of adrenalin. It doesn’t matter if you are a coward or if you are brave, you will have that. It’s an instinctive thing. To really be in a suicidal state and want to kill yourself and not be able to do it. Nux and Nitric Acid are the biggies for that.
Cimicifuga do go into deep psychotic kinds of states. The only thing I can say is that it would be a lot of loquacity with it. This aimless loquacity that they would have. It would be like Hyoscyamus. Hyoscyamus in their loquacity almost always will get an element of dirty words, cursing, sexual things like that. I remember a case in Athens that we saw. Somebody was in a coma, and after the first remedy, which I think was Opium, started to come out of the coma, went into a loquacious state, and there was some left sided problems, and George gave Lachesis, and then one of the nurses said, "He’s talking so dirty. Everything he is saying is dirty." Then he gave Hyoscyamus, and that brought him out of that state. Eventually the person recovered. So, it is not just like Hyoscyamus, but you can see it in insanities with that. I can’t be more specific. I certainly haven’t seen a case like that.
Wandering speech. Loquacity and especially loquacity in conjunction with rheumatic complaints. Think of Cimicifuga. Especially rheumatic complaints in the back of the neck. Pains in the back of the neck. Rheumatic pains that shoot. Shooting pains shooting downward or stitching pains that go all over. There is a characteristic headache as if the top of the head would fly off. I have never heard anybody say that, but everybody talks about it. It is worse even from motion of the eyes. Another keynote is chorea of the side laid on. I imagine that is pretty rare. Anyway if you see it, you will get the case. Also it is one of the main remedies for sighing. One of the three main remedies for sighing. So, especially if you see loquacious person with rheumatic complaints and sighing, definitely be thinking of Cimicifuga.
Memory card
Cimicifuga
Thin, single women with rheumatic tendencies and nervous, hysterical temperament.
Unstable mental state constantly relapsing into profound depression; anxiety and fears of death, insanity, nature and extent of illness, etc.; loquacity; mental and physical restlessness; mental state alternating with physical.
Utero-ovarian disorders, with various reflex disturbances incidental thereto; e.g. severe headache occiput, vertex and/or behind the eyes, may extend to nape of neck and even spine; < motion > open air.
Rheumatic complaints especially in the belly of muscles; often with persistent muscular soreness.
Pains sudden, sharp, lancinating; < touch motion; often associated with the voiding of profuse, pale urine; with numbness.
Trembling and jerking of muscles < emotion, under pressure, e.g. when lying on the part; preventing sleep. Chorea.
Menses too painful, irregular and generally scanty; pains < during the flow.
Ailments resulting from emotional causes especially disappointments in the affections.
Left - sided complaints.
Modalities; < cold (except the headache) especially cold damp weather; < during menstrual period.
Note: A valuable remedy to consult in disorders of pregnancy, and the
puerperal state.Keynote: Gloom.
© 2003-2004 Valerie Sadovsky, http://www.homeopathyplanet.com/AudeSapere
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