Materia Medica

Tarentula hispanica – Kent

Tarentula hispanica
tarent

This terrible poison should never be used except in attenuations. The nervous manifestations of this remedy are almost indescribable and too numerous to mention. Anxiety and restlessness are words that prevail through all the conditions in it. It is much like ARS. The anxiety is felt sometimes in the mind, sometimes in the whole body, sometimes in the limbs and in the stomach. Cardiac anxiety is a strong feature. A strong aversion to colors, such as yellow, green, red and black. Depraved imaginations prevail through all the proving. Loss of all shame. Desire to run about, to dance and jump up and down. Great fantastic dancing. Sometimes music ameliorates all the symptoms and at other times it aggravates them. He becomes violently excited from music.

Emaciation is so marked that it may be said sometimes that the flesh falls off from him. Creeping and crawling in the skin all over the body. Paralysis of any part of the body, or of all the limbs. Trembling and jerking convulsions. It has an appearance very much like St. Vitus’ Dance and hence has cured chorea when it was better from music. But it will also cure when worse from music. The extreme restlessness of the limbs is like ARS. and it is a deep acting medicine like ARS., and it sometimes has cured where ARS. has failed, although it seemed well selected. Anxiety, restlessness, constant motion of the arms, legs, trunk and head. Restlessness of the limbs in the evening, in bed before going to sleep, like ARS. and LYC. It is full of pains in the body and limbs; pains in the bones; pains in the arms and in the joints. Periodicity is so well marked that it has been a marked curative remedy in intermittent fevers with restlessness of limbs, with aching of the bones, with stitching pains, with the. anxiety, especially when these come in the evening and the fever lasts all night. Chill in the evening followed by fever without sweat is a marked feature.

The patient himself is always sensitive to cold, so the pains in the limbs are worse in cold air and from becoming cold. Cold damp weather aggravates all his symptoms. Walking in the open air when not cold ameliorates most of his symptoms. Open air ameliorates, rubbing ameliorates. There is weakness of all the limbs. Violent pains in the bowels and in the bladder. Burning is a strong symptom in many parts, but especially in the rectum; in the palms and soles and in the uterus. It is one of our high grade remedies for hysterical women. He is inclined to walk in his sleep. Excessive hyperesthesia; all the symptoms are worse from grief and excitement. When choreic symptoms are present he can run better than he can walk.

Impairment of memory. Great irritability. In the hysterical symptoms she is better from music. Her motions are ludicrous and she is even lascivious in her conduct. Great excitement from music; she sings until she falls with exhaustion. Fox-like cunning and destructiveness. Paroxysms of insanity with restlessness of the legs and threatening words. When questioned she does not answer. Frequently imagines that she has been insulted. Dementia with great sadness. Excitement with singing, dancing and weeping. She sees monsters, animals, faces, insects and ghosts. She sees strangers in the room. Tarentula patients feign all sorts of sickness, especially fainting. They not only imagine themselves sick, but they pretend to be sick when they are not. Aversion to red, green and black and all striking colors. She pulls her own hair and presses her hands upon her head. Constantly complaining and threatening; threatens her nurse and her attendants; she strikes her head with her hands; she strikes her body; strikes her attendants and her best friends. Violence is a strong feature of the remedy. Violence with anger. Tears his clothing. Consolation causes weeping.

The mental symptoms are better in the evening after eating. Many physical symptoms are worse in the evening, especially the febrile conditions.

A desire to lie down in the dark and not be talked to. She has many insane ideas, one is that she wants to hide because she imagines that she will be assaulted. Angered from contradiction.

Frequent attacks of dizziness, even so great that she falls to the ground. Dizziness comes on in the night; when descending stairs. Dizziness with rush of blood to the head and dizziness when fixing the eyes upon objects.

The head symptoms are also very numerous. Contortions and jerking of the head. Constantly rubs the head against something, sometimes it is the pillow when in bed. Throws the head from side to side, here and there. She has a sensation of hammers in the head. Burning heat in the head. Headache in the evening; in the morning on waking. Cannot open the eyes. Bending head forward aggravates. Pains are pressing and often wander around from place to place in the head; violent pain in the occiput and temples at the same time.

Eyes are staring, spasmodically wide open. Dim vision usually worse in the right eye. Severe pain in the right eye. Sensation of sand or splinters in the eyes. Itching in the eyes. Burning, worse in the right eye. Photophobia is marked. It will therefore be seen that the right eye is more affected. Many symptoms of the body are confined to the right side.

Discharge from the ears profuse. Violent pains in the ear. Stinging in the meatus. Dullness of hearing. Dull pains in the right ear; tearing pains in the right ear. Buzzing and whizzing and dizziness. Ringing as of bells in the ear on waking in the morning. The right ear is most affected.

It has many catarrhal symptoms in the nose. Dryness and burning; sneezing with the coryza and bleeding from the nose. The acute and chronic nasal symptoms are worse on the right side.

The face looks sickly and has the appearance of terror.

Tearing pains in the teeth. Pain in the angle of the inferior maxilla as if the teeth would fall out.

There is inflammation of the throat and tonsils, worse on the right side. Pain in the right tonsil extending to the ear. Shooting pain in the throat. Pain and constriction on swallowing. It has cured diphtheria. The throat is much swollen externally and there is high fever.

Aversion to food; aversion to meat especially, though craves raw food. Thirst for cold water. Has nausea and vomiting. Has bitter eructations. Has an empty all-gone feeling in the stomach, an anxious feeling in the stomach. Vomits all food taken. Burning pain in the stomach.

There is burning in the abdomen that extends down through the intestines. Burning in the rectum. Sharp pain in the spleen. The liver is painful to touch and is swollen. Pain in both sides of the abdomen. The abdomen is distended with flatus. Subject to much colic. Shooting pains in the abdomen, anus and vagina at the same time. Women who have been poisoned by the Tarentula were found to have fibroid tumors in the abdomen and uterus. Severe pains in the lower abdomen.

It has cured most terrible and alarming constipation after cathartics and injections failed to effect a movement. The symptoms that guide to it are the continual tossing, anxiety, restlessness, rolling from side to side and rubbing the head against the pillow. There is no desire for stool. With the stool there is much blood. In the rectum there is pain, smarting, tenesmus and in the abdomen colic. Most difficult stool. It also has diarrhoea with nausea and vomiting. Diarrhoea has been brought on after washing the hair attended with dark foetid stool.

Many toxicological symptoms are found. Sugar in the urine and it has cured diabetes; diabetes with grief, anxiety, weakness and bruised pain all through the body. There is involuntary urination when coughing. Many pains in the kidneys. Most difficult urination and it has cured renal colic. In the pathogenesis the symptoms are much like cystitis and it has cured inflammation of the bladder. In keeping with these general symptoms there is spasmodic action of the bladder; spasmodic retention of urine; copious urine with emaciation and sugar, Pain in the urethra, drawing after urination. Copious sand in the urine, and the urine is foetid.

There is uncontrollable sexual desire and he seems in a state of mind wherein he has no desire to control himself and his sexual passions; lasciviousness almost to insanity. Onanism followed by prostatic troubles. Seminal emissions; semen is bloody; pain in the genitals; testes relaxed and painful; pain in the groin; the penis is swollen; tumor in both testicles; pains in the spermatic cords and testes with swelling; drawing pains in the spermatic cords.

In the female also there is violent, uncontrollable sexual erethism. Menstrual flow too early and copious. Violent itching of the genitals extending far up into the vagina, worse at night. Pain and violent cramps in the uterus. Nymphomania has been cured by this remedy. Coition intensifies the desire and is followed by no relief. Extreme hyperaesthesia of the genitals. Fibroid tumors have been cured. Great relaxation of the muscles and displacement of the uterus. Strong bearing down feeling in the pelvis. Burning in the uterus; swelling and induration of the uterus. Violent cramps with burning in the uterus with nausea and vomiting. The uterus is extremely sensitive to pressure. Contracting pains of the uterus are labor-like and such as are often found in abortion. Shooting pains in the genitals.

It has been a very useful remedy in complaints of the air passages. Constantly scraping of larynx and trachea to clear them of mucus. Loss of voice and hoarseness; loss of voice when talking. Dryness in the larynx and trachea. Burning from the throat down into the chest.

It is very rich in cough symptoms. Dry frequent cough, worse in the evening dry spasmodic cough with retching, with gagging on every effort to expectorate; cough with involuntary urination; cough with smarting in the larynx and bronchial tubes; night cough. Again dry cough in the morning. It has a loose cough with thick yellow expectoration in the morning.

It has great difficulty in breathing very much like that which is found in cardiac troubles, such a pressure upon the chest with panting respiration and suffocative catarrh. Oppression in the chest when raising the arms and when lying on the left side. Rheumatic pains. Many pains through and in the chest.

It has numerous heart symptoms. It has cured palpitation with mitral murmurs and sensation of trembling in the heart with irregular pulse; extreme anxiety in the heart; tumultuous beating of the heart; sudden thumping in the heart as from fright but when not frightened. Constant want of air and desire for fresh air and sensation as if the heart turned over; a sensation as if the heart were squeezed or compressed. It has cured angina pectoris and it has many symptoms of the heart like angina pectoris.

Upon the back there are boils, abscesses and carbuncles, especially on the back of the neck and between the shoulder blades. Violent pain in the lumbar region. Violent pains under the scapulae, worse from motion. Rheumatic pains in the whole back. Pain in the shoulder blades. Neck is stiff and painful on motion. It is a great remedy for soreness of the spinal column, or spinal irritation, pressure aggravates and touch aggravates.

The symptoms of the limbs are too numerous to mention; only a few can be spoken of. Weakness, numbness and restlessness are always present. Rheumatic pains are numerous. The pains of the limbs are so great that he cannot stand the weight of the clothing. Heaviness and numbness of the upper limbs. Pain in the arm as if squeezed. Heart pains and many pains of the shoulders. Burning pains are very numerous; rheumatic tearing pains. Must move the hands constantly and pick the fingers from nervousness. There is numbness of the left upper extremity and right lower. Paralysis of the lower limbs with pain in the back on motion. Restlessness of the lower limbs with constant desire to cry (ARS.). Fatigue and pain in the evening. In the lower limbs there is numbness which changes to a drawing in the muscles. Restlessness in the lower limbs with aching pain during the chill in intermittent fever. Hard pain in the hips during the night. Pain in the hips and coccyx in the evening while sitting; strong desire to jump. Pains in the nates beginning at 6 A. M. and lasting until evening. Pain in the thighs as if bandaged when walking; shooting pains in the thighs. He is moving the legs constantly; heaviness in the legs; bruised pains in the legs; shooting pains in the right tendo-Achilles; he must walk the floor in the evening, like ARS. It is much like ARS., going from chair to chair and from bed to bed, walking the floor.

Sleeplessness before midnight is very marked.

Itching, biting and creeping all over the body, marked in the limbs. Itching and burning. It has cured a dry itching eczema of the extremities and other parts of the skin after ARS. and SULPH. have failed. It is a very deep acting, long acting remedy and a most useful remedy in skin affections.