German Chamomile.

Remedy picture as described in traditional homoeopathic texts.

Chamomilla as a homoeopathic remedy is helpful for difficult behaviour characterised by sudden spiteful or uncivil irritability, a very low pain threshold, and complaining: “I can’t bear it!”

A great children’s teething remedy, Chamomilla is also commonly used in home prescribing for colic, colds, fevers and earaches.

Mental/Emotional Symptoms:

The person is temperamental and irritable, bad tempered and cannot be appeased. They are always complaining, cross, uncivil and quarrelsome. Over sensitive, especially to pain which seems unbearable; the individual demands instant relief from discomfort. Suffering seems out of proportion to the disorder. Anxious dreams causing one to wake and feel angry. Temper tantrums, symptoms from abuse of coffee.

Physical Symptoms:

Teething: Chamomilla is a very useful remedy for teething pain where the child is driven frantic by the pain. Teething pains, with irritability, fever and greenish diarrhoea. Child wants to be carried and is very capricious.

Ears: Sensitivity to cold wind around the ears and nose; earaches with unbearable soreness, swelling and heat; ears feel stopped up; ringing in ears; roaring like rushing water; stitching pains.

Face: One cheek red and the other pale is a characteristic sign of the remedy; hot clammy sweat on forehead and scalp during sleep; headaches worse in the morning and 9pm. Throbbing headaches felt in one half of the brain with the desire to bend head backwards.

Chest: Spells of irritable, dry tickling cough; hoarseness and rattling of mucus. The cough is worse around 9-12 pm but doesn’t wake the child.

Female: Irregular and very distressing labour like pains during menses. Pains going down inner thighs with profuse discharge of dark clotted blood.

Pains: Pains can be cutting, crampy, spasmodic or numbing. Cramps in calves; violent rheumatic pains that drive the person out of bed and cause them to walk around; ankles give way in the afternoon. Numbness and stiffness of hands when gripping objects. The person magnifies their pain and becomes prostrate with it.

Pregnancy and Birth: Labour pains where the woman says ‘I can’t do it’, the pain feels intolerable and she can be very angry and irritable. Distressing after pains. In breastfeeding, the nipples are inflamed and very tender which prevents feeding and makes the mother increasingly irritable.

Stomach: Pains in the stomach where the baby is very irritable and restless and wants to be carried around; stomach distended with much wind; griping pain around the naval; diarrhoea with stools hot, sour, yellowish green, slimy and offensive, smelling like bad eggs.

Sleep: Moaning, weeping and wailing during sleep. Anxious dreams with half open eyes. Drowsy but won’t sleep, especially after stimulants such as coffee ( or breastfeeding mum consuming stimulating foods or drinks).

Temperature: Chilly but easily overheated. Coldness of one part and heat in another. Sweaty head and thirst during fever.

Keywords:

Great irritability and hypersensitivity

Unbearable pain causing despair

Restless; wants to be carried around constantly

Hot and thirsty

One cheek red and one pale

Earaches with unbearable pain

Infantile diarrhoea like chopped spinach

Severe menstrual cramps with irritability and anger

Exciting Causes:

Teething and times of growth

Anger

Humiliation

Coffee

Taking cold

Bad news

Modalities:

Better: being carried; warm wet weather; sweating; cold applications;

walking improves backache and rheumatic pains.

Worse: teething; anger; abuse of coffee; cold wind; being looked at, spoken to or touched; heat; warm food; night especially 9pm.

Repetition of the dose: may need repetition more frequently for the first couple of doses with acute symptoms.

Compare to: Aconite, Pulsatilla, Belladonna, Bryonia, Nux vomica.

Follow with: Calc carb, Sulphur or Silica.