• Children fret and cry all night, good all day
• Feels unusually well or hungry a day before the attack
• Offensiveness with a carrion-like odour of all discharges
• Sensitive to cold air, wears a fur cup even in hot weather. Profuse perspiration with relief of sufferings
• Hungry in the middle of the night
• Asthma, better lying down with arms away from the body

Source: A nosode
Synonyms: A product of psora
Prover: Dr Gross
Duration of Action: 30 to 40 days
Miasmatic Background: Psora in the background
Diathesis: Psoric diathesis
Thermal Relationship: Chilly patient

Introduction and History: It is called the Queen of Psora. It is suited to chronic cases when the well selected remedy fails to relieve or improve the condition. Psorinum corresponds to the various staphylococcus and streptococcus vaccines. It is especially indicated in individuals presenting with a psoric diathesis, as designated by Hahnemann, and is closely allied to sulphur.

Preparation: The sero-purulent matter contained in the scabies vesicle was used for Hahnemann’s proving.

Constitution and Physiognomy: It is suited to children who are pale, delicate, have a sickly look, who are sleepless and restless. Also suited to persons having lack of reaction after severe acute diseases. Extremely scrofulous patients; nervous, restless, easily startled; sleepless from intolerable itching or frightful dreams of robbers, danger, etc.

Seat of Action (Pharmacodynamics): It chiefly affects the skin, folds of skin, sebaceous glands, ears, bowels, respiration and the right side.

Ailments From: Emotions, over lifting, mental labour, repelled eruptions, stormy weather, thunderstorms, injuries, blows, sprains, dislocations, etc.

Characteristic Mental Symptoms (Psychology)

1. Thoughts vanish, after over lifting.
2. Memory so weak, cannot remember, does not even know his room.
3. Thoughts which he cannot get rid of, they constantly reappear in his dreams.
4. As if stupid, in left half of head, in the morning. Dull, stupid, foggy, as after a debauch, on awaking at night; dizziness, patient falls down.
5. Dull all forenoon, disinclined to work. Patient is sad, depressed; even has suicidal thoughts.
6. Despair of recovery, thinks he will die, hopeless; especially after typhus; better from nosebleed.
7. Religious melancholy. Anxiety, full of evil forebodings.
8. Sentimental. Cheerful, takes pleasure in his work.
9. Patient is irritable, peevish, passionate, noisy; nervous, easily started; has restless hands; hands tremble.

Characteristic Physical Guiding Symptoms

Great weakness and debility: From loss of fluids; remaining after acute diseases; without any organic lesion.

Body odour: Body has a filthy smell, even after bathing.

Chronic headache: Occurs at every change of weather; awakened from sleep with pain; hungry during headache; relieved by washing, by nosebleed.

Sensitiveness: Very sensitive to cold air or change of weather; wears a fur cap, overcoat or shawl, even in hot summer weather. Patient is affected by stormy weather, feels restless for days before and during a thunderstorm.

Cough: With expectoration of green mucous, resembles pus-like matter. Cough returns every winter.

Carrion-like odour: All excretions, diarrhoea, leucorrhoea, menstrual flow, perspiration, have a carrion-like odour.

Hunger: Patient is hungry in the middle of the night; must have something to eat.

Eructations: Eructations taste of rotten eggs.

Diarrhoea: Stool are watery, dark brown, foetid, with carrion-like odour, or like odour of rotten eggs.

Leucorrhoea: Leucorrhoea is clotted, of large lumps, of an unbearable odour.

Vomiting of pregnancy: A very useful medicine for vomiting of pregnancy; in obstinate cases when the best selected remedy fails.

Asthma: Worse on sitting up, better by lying down and keeping arms spread wide apart.

Otorrhoea: Discharge of foetid pus from the ear.

Skin: Dirty, greasy looking, with yellow blotches here and there, and a partially developed eruption on the forehead and chest.

Perspiration: Patient sweats profusely and freely when walking, with consequent debility. Copious perspiration on face, palms of hands and perineum, when moving about.

Important Characteristic Features

Ear affections: A very useful medicine for chronic, offensive otorrhoea. There is thick, purulent, offensive, yellow discharge from the ears; smells like stinking meat; continuous discharge; eruptions about and behind the ears. Discharge resulting from scarlet fever; abscess in middle ear; otitis media; rupture of drum; prolonged discharge from such an abscess; foetid discharge. Otorrhoea associated with watery, offensive diarrhoea. Scurfs in ears and humid scurfs behind the ears.

Skin affections: A very useful medicine for chronic affections of the skin when the well selected remedy fails to relieve or improve. The skin over the body, especially of the face, looks filthy, though it has been well washed. A dingy, dirty, foul look, as if covered with dirt; cannot wash it clean. Skin is rough and uneven, cracks easily, bleeding fissures; it becomes rough and scaly. The skin itches when warm; itches when wearing woollens, when warm in bed. Patient scratches until the part becomes raw, and then it becomes scabby. When healing takes place, there is again itching prompting the patient to scratch again. The skin is unhealthy, looks dirty, dingy; it is studded with capillary blood vessels and enlarged veins. This is the state before the eruptions appear. Scabs form from scratching and then comes the eruption. There are papules, pimples, crusts, boils, vesicles; eruptions ooze a watery moisture. When the eruptions have been present for some time, the crusts and vesicles mingle; the skin becomes thick and indurated, and a new crop of eruptions comes out from under the old crusts; rawness, itching, tingling, crawling and bleeding. Worse from bathing, from the warmth of the bed.

Coryza, hay fever: A very useful medicine for chronic coryza and epidemic outbreaks of hay fever, Coryza from taking cold very easily. Coryza with thick, yellow discharge. The nose dries up for a part of the time and runs for a part of the time. Patient must use the handkerchief continually; must blow the nose all the time. In the early stages of coryza, the patient blows his nose all the time, but there is no discharge or relief. This state is so marked that some think of it as a continuous hay fever, which runs all the year and ripens up in fall. It is closely related to hay fever; stuffing up of the nose in fall; catarrhal state of the eyes and nose. It belongs to a low constitution which must be built up before the hay fever will cease. It is an expression of psora which comes once a year, and the psoric miasm must be changed. In catarrhal states, hay fever often dates back to low fever improperly treated.

Headache: A very useful medicine for old chronic periodic headache with hunger; often the hunger lasts during the entire headache, so must get up at night to get something to eat. The headache is sometimes improved by eating. If he goes without a meal, he gets a headache. There is violent rush of blood to the head, hot face, hair wet with the perspiration and hunger. Every One, two or three weeks there is a recurrent headache. Every time the air blows on his head it slackens up the catarrh and a headache comes on. Either coryza or headache from catching a cold. Headache is violent, throbbing, pecking as of little hammers, with a red face and a hot head. Congestive headache; at times sweat. Hungry headache in such cases as have a dry cough in winter. If the cough ceases he has a periodic headache. Headache goes and cough appears, or eruptions in winters alternating with headache. Worse from catching a cold, without a meal. Better after a meal.

Chronic diarrhoea: A useful medicine for chronic diarrhoea early in the morning, urgent desire. There is hot flatus which burns the anus. Diarrhoea smells of spoiled eggs. Stool is watery, brown, gushing and may be bloody and horribly offensive. Involuntary stool at night; has a black, profuse, watery stool at night and after meals. Worse at night and after meals.

Female uterine affections: It is suited to all sorts of menstrual disorders, especially prolonged menstruation. Psorinum has a tendency to uterine haemorrhages. When a woman has passed through an abortion and the placenta has come away, but every few days there is a little gush of fresh, bright red blood and clots, or the patient complains of days and weeks with a little oozing of bright red blood; every time she gets on her feet there is a fresh flow; no tendency to permanent recovery. Marked state of relaxation, subinvolution. The uterus does not go back to its normal size and there is this tendency to bleed; a state of inertia.

General Modalities

Aggravation: COLD, open air, washing, weather changes, stormy weather, heat of the bed, heat of woollens, from exertion, SUPPRESSIONS, contact of his own limbs, periodically – yearly, during full moon.

Amelioration: Lying with head low or quietly, eating, washing, nosebleed, hard pressure, profuse sweating.

Remedy Relationships

Complementary: Sep, Sulph, Tub.

Antidoted by: Coff.

Compatible: Carb-v, Chin, Sulph.

Followed well by: Alum. Borx, Hep.

Inimical: Lach.

Comparison

Epilepsy from suppressed skin eruptions: Agar, Sulph, Psor.

Abnormal appetite; craving for acids and indigestible things: Alum, Cic, Psor.

Headache relieved when eating: Anac, Psor.

Tonsillitis from cold, with tendency to suppuration: Bar-c, Hep, Psor.

Debility remaining after acute diseases: Calc-p, Psor.

Constitutional tendency to erysipelas: Calen, Psor.

Intense photophobia without inflammation of eyes: Con, Psor.

Diarrhoea from suppressed menses: Graph, Psor.

Sweats on mental or physical exertion: Hep, Psor, Sep.

Waking at night feeling hungry: Cina, Lyc, Psor.

Foul breath and body smells offensive: Merc, Psor.

Dreams of robbers: Nat-m, Psor.

Skin affections reappear every spring: Nat-s, Psor.

Catalepsy from worms: Cina, Psor, Sabad.

Soreness behind ears with discharge of gray, viscid fluid: Graph, Psor, Sanic.

Dosage: 200 to highest potencies.

Repetition: Single dose of the high potency is enough when symptoms call for it.

Therapeutic Value: Asthma, Blepharitis, Catalepsy, Chronic gonorrhoea, Constipation, Cough, Diarrhoea, Eczema, Hay fever, Headache, Otitis, Otorrhoea, Quinsy, Skin affections, Sleeplessness, Tonsillitis, Worm infestation.

Note: As per Dr H.C. Allen, Psorinum should not be given for psora or psoric diathesis; like every other remedy, prescribe it upon strict individualization – the totality of symptoms – this is when we realise its wonderful work.