• Violent palpitations which shake the whole chest and audible heart beats
• Stammering with worm affections, repeats first syllable three or four times
• Pains press outwards from within, from below upwards
• Toothache better while eating, worse tobacco or cold drinks
• Fear of pointed objects

Source: Vegetable kingdom
Synonyms: Pinkroot, Annual wormgrass
Family: Loganiaceae
Prover: Dr Hahnenmann
Duration of Action: 20-30 days
Miasmatic Background: Psora
Diathesis: Rheumatic
Thermal Relationship: Hot patient

Introduction and History: It is a left sided remedy. Spigelia anthelmia is a common weed of South. America, also called ‘Pinkroot’, ‘Wormgrass’. It is also a native of the southern states of North America. Spigelia anthelmia has been learnt from the natives of Antilles.

Habit and Habitat: ‘Wormgrass’ is a native of the southern states of North America.

Preparation and Parts Used: Mother tincture is prepared from the dried herb.

Constitution and Physiognomy: It is adapted to anaemic, debilitated subjects of rheumatic diathesis, and to scrofulous children afflicted with Ascaris lumbricoides. Also suited to people with light hair, who are pale, thin, bloated, weak, having a Wrinkled, yellow, earthy skin.

Seat of Action (Pharmacodynamics): It acts on the gastrointestinal tract, left side, eyes, teeth, respiratory organs, cardiovascular system, heart, mind, etc.

Physio-pathological Changes (Pathology)

1. Acts on the digestive organs as a vermicide.
2. It appears to narcotize the roundworm; and then a brisk cathartic is required to carry it off.
3. It has special affinity for the cerebrospinal system, affecting more particularly the sentient nerves of the head, chest, abdomen producing necrotic affects like Vertigo, dimness of vision, dilated pupils, spasmodic movements of the eyelids and facial muscles.
4. Acts on eyes producing a mydriatic effect. Also produces rheumatic ophthalmia and ciliary neuralgia.
5. Also acts on the heart producing rheumatism, violent and excessive palpitation.

Ailments From: Worm infestations like ascaris and from concussions.

Characteristic Mental Symptoms (Psychology)

1. Patient is afraid of sharp, pointed things like, pins, needles, etc.
2. Stammering of speech, repeats the first syllable three or four times with abdominal ailments, with helminthiasis.
3. Agitation and anxiety with restless care concerning the future.
4. Patient is lost in thought, stares at a single object.
5. Great dejection in the evening, he could have killed himself; weakness of
   mind.
6. Absence of ideas, difficulty in thinking; patient is unfit for intellectual labour.

Characteristic Physical Guiding Symptoms

Sensitiveness: Patient is painfully sensitive to touch, part touched feels chilly; touch sends a shudder through the whole frame.

Headache: Nervous, periodical headache at the base of the brain, spreading over the head and locating in the eye, orbit or temple of the left side.

Pains: Pains are pulsating, violent and throbbing; worse in the morning, at sunrise, at it’s height, at noon, declines till sunset.

Prosopalgia: It is periodical, left sided, involves the orbit, eye, malar bone and teeth; pain is tearing, burning; cheeks are dark red. Worse during cold, rainy weather, from tea, from morning until sunset.

Eyes: Intolerable pressing pain in eyeballs, can not turn the eyes without turning the whole body, worse making a fast step.

Sensation: Sensation as if eyes were too large for the orbit, and also as if a band were around the head.

Toothache: Toothache from tobacco, smoking; worse cold things; returns when thinking about it.

Dyspnoea: Difficulty in breathing; must lie on the right side or with head high; stitching, needle-like pain in chest.

Heart: Copious, offensive mucous from the posterior nares, drops into the throat, causing choking at night.

Palpitation: Violent, visible and audible palpitations, worse least motion, bending forward; systolic blowing at the apex.

Gastrointestinal tract: Indicated in scirrhus of sigmoid or rectum, atrocious unbearable pain. Also indicated in worms like Ascaris lumbricoides.

Important Characteristic Features

Heart affections: Spigelia is a very valuable heart remedy. There are sharp stitches sometimes shooting into the arms and neck. This is referred pain and it is synchronous with the pulse. Mental anxiety and oppression frequently accompany these stitches. Indicated mostly in valvular diseases, rheumatic endocarditis and pericarditis. Palpitation is so violent that it can sometimes be discerned through the clothing; it shakes the whole chest; even its sound is audible to people near around. Feeling in the heart as if it were compressed and squeezed. Indicated in endocarditis with insufficiency of mitral valve, after acute articular rheumatism and systolic blowing at the apex. Dyspnoea and suffocative attacks from slightest movement or taking a deep breath. Worse from motion, noise, touch, turning the eyes, from every shaking. Better lying on the right side with the head high.

General Modalities

Aggravation: From motion, noise, touch, turning the eyes, from every shaking, commotion or concussion.

Amelioration: Lying on the right side with the head high, rest, warmth, inspiration, steady pressure, cold applications, while eating.

Remedy Relationships

Follows well: Arn, Ars, Bell, Calc, Cimic, Dig, Iris, Kali-c, Kalm, Nux-v, Puls, Sep, Sulph, Zinc.

Antidotes: Aur, Camph, Cocc, Puls.

Dosage: 6 to 30 potency. Rarely 200.

Repetition: Single dose to be repeated when symptoms call for it.

Therapeutic Value: Adenoids, Amaurosis, Angina pectoris, Anxiety, Catarrh, Ciliary neuralgia, Constipation, Depression, Diaphragm stitches, Exophthalmic goitre, Eye pains, Headache, Heart affections, Inguinal hernia, Iritis, Jaw joint pains, Otalgia, Pericarditis, Post-nasal catarrh, Prosopalgia, Pterygium, Rectal cancer; Rheumatic endocarditis, Rheumatism, Scarlatina, Stabismus, Stammering speech, Tinnitus, Tobacco habit, Toothache.