Homoeopathy — Page 391
Hyoscyamus 391 HYOSCYAMUS (Henbane) Hyoscyamus is prepared from a plant that in appearance resembles the Belladonna plant. Apparently it is harmless, but its seeds are extremely poisonous. The medicine prepared from this plant is called Hyoscyamus. It profoundly affects the mind, especially in relations to the sexual functioning. In Hyoscyamus, there is total disarray of mental functions. The patient feels as if his mind is under the control of a supernatural power. The patient is delirious and acts insanely. Sometimes, a patient develops the symptoms of Hyoscyamus during the typhoid fever. He talks while sleeping and constantly crimps and pinches the bed sheet. He talks unabashed obsceneties due to the inflammation of the sexual organs. It is not unusual for a decent person to talk obscenely when sick, whereas he would never utter such foul things under normal circumstances. If a girl happens to be sick her parents will not, out of embarrassment, even call the doctor to see her. Nevertheless, the use of obscene language is no reflexion of her desire in sexual misadventure. It is a typical symptom of Hyoscyamus, which causes inflammation of the sexual organs affecting the mind. The patient talks in an absurd way that he would never do in the state of normal health. This excitement is due to the sickness also found in Cantharis, i. e. the inflammation of the sexual organs. (For further differentiation between Hyoscyamus and Cantharis, please refer to Cantharis). A Hyoscyamus patient talks obscenely during sleep or while he is semi-conscious. This condition disappears when the patient is awake and conscious. In a patient of Hyoscyamus there is a generalized twitching of the muscles. The nerves are irritable, causing severe muscular contractions. The patient feels a piercing type of pain. Muscles become tense and contracted with tonic convulsions. There are fasciculation’s over different parts of the body. The patient becomes very weak and his head slips and sags from the pillow due to the