Atropa belladonna – Deadly Nightshade:

Remedy picture as described in traditional homoeopathic texts.

Like Aconite, Belladonna suits the first stage of the inflammatory process, particularly in small children. In Belladonna the symptoms come and go suddenly often accompanied by a hot red face. They easily take cold and are sensitive to drafts of air especially when uncovering the head, getting the head wet or having a haircut.

Mental/Emotional symptoms:

There is a sudden and intense reaction to events with violent onset of symptoms. Fever with mania, fury and hallucinations that can result in a fear of imaginary things that make them want to run away and hide. Acuteness of senses; dislike light, touch and sudden jarring motion. Desire to bite, grind the teeth, pull hair, spit, kick and strike. They can be lively and entertaining when well but become violent and delirious when sick; sometimes an angel, sometimes a devil.

Physical symptoms:

Head: Headache that is throbbing/hammering in the forehead. The skin feels hot red and burning producing a flushed face, or alternating redness and pallor. Symptoms are worse for the least jolt, noise, or motion and better for pressure, tight bandaging/wrapping up. The person may bore their head into the pillow. Vertigo with every change of position.

Ears: Intense tearing pains in the middle and external ear, humming noises, parotid glands swollen, sensitive to loud sounds, heat and throbbing in ears, autophony- when they hear their own voice in the ear. The person may cry out in their sleep. Pain is in right ear or starts in the right.

Eyes: Pupils dilated and the eyes glazed and staring.

Breast: Sudden onset of mastitis with congestion, throbbing and redness. Red streaks may be radiating from the nipple.

Chest: Dry tickling cough, constriction of throat, dry mouth and throat, craving for lemons.

Throat: The throat feels constricted and it is difficult to swallow, there may be a sensation of a lump in the throat, dryness and spasms in throat with a desire to swallow. Tonsils inflamed and enlarged after exposure to cold wind, especially on the right side.

Skin: The skin has a uniform, smooth, shining scarlet redness to it that is dry, hot and burning. Recurrent boils.

Acne that is red and looks suppurative.

Fever and Thirst: High and sudden fever with burning, radiated heat yet the feet feel icy cold, perspiration only on the head, no thirst with fever.

Pain: Usually short attacks of intense throbbing pain, which can be sharp, shooting or burning.

Sleep: Sleepy but unable to sleep, or cry out, jerk and twitch during sleep. Sleep talking.

Keywords:

Hot, flushed red face with dilated pupils, high fever

Throbbing, burning, cramping congestion

Stitching or stabbing pains

Rapid, violent onset of symptoms

Symptoms usually right sided

Delirium and convulsions

Desire to bite

Exciting causes:

Over-exposure to sun

Getting head wet or cold, eg. hair cut/washed

Modalities:

Better: Applying warmth or rugging up; standing or sitting upright; pressure; bending backwards

Worse: Jarring or jolting; motion; bright light; noise; pressure; sun; cold; lying down; at night after midnight and after 3pm

Desires: Lemons; lemonade; beer; hot food

Aversions: Coffee; drinks; sour; warm food; water

Repetition of the dose: Belladonna may need to be repeated frequently initially

Compare to: Glonoine, Hypericum, Aconite, Chamomilla, Bryonia, Gelsemium

Follow with: Calc carb, Sulphur.