• Complaints arising from loss of sleep, night watching, fits of anger or grief
• Seasickness causes nausea and vomiting
• Headache of occiput, nape of neck with sensation as of a cord tightly bound; cannot lie down on back, must lie down on sides
• Sensation of emptiness in various organs of the body; sensation as if two stones were rubbing against each other
• Time passes too quickly, slow in all activities
• Anger from least contradiction

Source: Vegetable kingdom
Synonyms: Indian cockle
Family: Menispermaceae
Prover: Dr Hahnemann
Duration of Action: 30 days
Miasmatic Background: Psora
Temperament: Sluggish temperament
Thermal Relationship: As a whole there is aggravation from sun

Introduction and History: Cocculus has been used from ancient times as a poison for stupefying fish and making them easy to catch. Correspondingly, we find it produces great disturbance of sensorium in human beings and all the symptoms of intoxication. It is commonly used as an adulteration of beer to heighten its detoxicating properties. A decoction of Cocculus is a domestic remedy used locally for destroying head or body lice.

Preparation and Parts Used: It is prepared from seeds, which contains a crystallizable principle picrotoxin, a powerful poison.

Constitution and Physiognomy

1. It is suited to light haired, timid, nervous people who are bookworms and unmarried; also to childless women.
2. Suited to sensitive, romantic girls.
3. It shows a special attraction for light haired females, especially during pregnancy, causing much nausea and backache.

Ailments From: Loss of sleep or nursing of loved ones, mental or physical overstrain, travelling, motion sickness, noise, ill-effects of anger, fright, grief, anxiety, disappointment, exposure to sun, tea drinking, sensitive to air either hot or cold.

Seat of Action (Pharmacodynamics): It mainly acts on the cerebrospinal system, motor tract of spinal cord, etc.

Physio-pathological Changes (Pathology)

1. This is a cerebrospinal remedy, selecting for it’s special action, the motor tract of the spinal cord. It influences the motor tract of the cranio-spinal axis from the corpora striata to the cauda equina.
2. This ultimate effect of Cocculus upon the spinal cord, appears to diminish its activity. Convulsions are produced in acute poisoning, while paralytic symptoms appear if the experiment is continued on the prover.
3. It acts on the voluntary muscles than on the intellectual powers.
4. Cocculus acts on the spinal system of nerves causing paralysis of motor nerves and tetanic convulsions.
5. Through the spinal nerves it affects the genitourinary organs and skin causing languor, lassitude, inertness and a general sense of prostration.

Characteristic Mental Symptoms (Psychology)

1. The patient is very sensitive to fear, anger, grief and all mental disturbances; also to noise and touch.
2. Enlargement of liver after anger.
3. Easily startled. Fear of ghosts and spectres.
4. Patient is capricious; in a heavy and stupid mood.
5. Time passes too quickly, absorbed in reveries.
6. Inclination to sing irresistible.
7. Patient is easily offended, cannot bear contradiction.
8. Speaks hastily, very anxious about the health of others.
9. Thoughts fixed on unpleasant subjects, sits as if absorbed in deep and sad thoughts and observes nothing about her.
10. Sees something alive on walls, floor, chair, etc.
11. Alcoholics, roaring, quarrelsome, singing.
12. Patient is talkative, witty, joking, dancing, gesticulating.

Characteristic Physical Guiding Symptoms

Nausea and vomiting: There is nausea and vomiting from riding in a carriage, boat or railroad car, or even looking at a boat in motion. Seasickness, carsickness.

Headache: Pain in nape and occiput extending to the spine. Sensation as if tightly bound by a cord. Headache with nausea, as if at sea, at each menstrual period, worse lying on back of head.

Sick headache: From carriage, boat or train riding.

Appetite: Loss of appetite with a metallic taste.

Great lassitude: Great lassitude of the whole body; it requires exertion to stand firmly, feels too weak to talk loudly.

Trembling: Trembling of arms and legs from excitement, exertion, pain.

Vertigo: Vertigo, as if intoxicated upon rising in bed or by motion of the carriage.

Sensation: Sensation in abdomen of cutting and rubbing on every movement, as if sharp stones were rubbing against each other in the head and other parts.

Weakness: During menstruation she is so weak, she is scarcely able to stand from weakness of lower limbs; after each period haemorrhoids are worse.

Fever: Nervous form of low fever with fever with disposition to anger.
Chilliness with perspiration and heat of skin.

Sleep: Loss of sleep, complaints from night watching, nursing.

Important Characteristic Features

Gastric derangements: An indicated remedy for nausea and vomiting from riding in a carriage, boat riding, train riding. There is sick headache from carriage, boat or train riding. Loss of appetite with a metallic taste in the mouth. Sour, nauseating taste in mouth and no food tempts him. The thought or smell of food in the room or kitchen nauseates the patient. Intermittent fever with pain in the knees and bones of the legs with peculiar stiffness, nausea and loathing of food. Vomiting with profuse flow of saliva, headache and pain in bowels. Worse by taking cold drinks. It causes tearing pain in limbs. Tobacco tastes bitter. Aversion to food, especially beer, acids and sour things. Taste is sour, offensive, putrid and nauseous.

General Modalities

Aggravation: From motion of trains, boats, cars, from loss of sleep, at menses, touch, noise, jar, emotions, kneeling, stooping, Swimming, eating, anxiety, cold, open air, exertion, pain, rising from bed, bending over or stooping, by touch, evening, night especially about midnight and 1 am, sun, by warmth of bed.

Amelioration: From sitting, lying on the side, in a room.

Remedy Relationships

Follows well: Ars, Bell, Hep, Ign, Lyc, Nux-v, Puls, Rhus-t, Sulph.

Inimical: Coff.

Antidotes: Coff, Nux-v.

Comparison

After pains extend to sinus: Carb-V, Cocc.

When reading, the letters seem to turn, go up or down or disappear: Cic, Cocc.

After whooping cough, bronchial catarrh, laryngeal tuberculosis: Dros.

Nursing the sick aggravates: Cocc, Nit-ac.

Crackling of joint on motion: Cocc, Graph, Nit-ac.

Leucorrhoea in place of menses: Cocc, Nux-m.

Car or boat sickness: Cocc, Petr, Sanic.

Cocculus Indicus Dosage: 30 to 200 potency.

Repetition: Single dose.

Therapeutic Value: Anger effects, Bones disorders, Cerebrospinal meningitis, Chorea, Colic, Convulsions, Debility, Faintness, Fever effects, Headache, Haemorrhoids, Hernia, Intermittent fever, Knee weakness, Loss of sleep, Mental and physical overstrain, Mental excitement, Motion sickness, Nursing of others, Palpitations, Paralysis, Parotiditis, Rheumatism, Riding in car; Seasickness, Somnolence, Spasms, Spinal irritation, Train effects, Tympany, Vertigo, Vomiting, Weak memory.