Actaea spicata
Baneberry, herb Christopher. · Plant · Ranunculaceae
Actaea spic. is most suited to sad, absentminded people who are easily startled and often prey to fear or anxiety. They are prone to a fear of death, particularly when in bed at night. Their judgment is generally poor, and they may feel hopeless, confused, impatient, and restless, especially if they experience a shock. They may even think that they are going insane. They may be egotistical and unreliable in relationships.
Actaea spic. is usually given for this state of mind in conjunction with rheumatoid arthritis that is accompanied by tearing pains, especially if minor joints such as the wrists are affected. The pain may be so severe that the limbs actually feel paralyzed, causing crying out, weariness, and possibly eventual lameness.
Key symptoms
- Tearing and tingling pains in small joints
- Wrist rheumatism with swelling
- Rheumatic pains worse from touch and motion
- Vertigo and headache better in open air
- Tearing pains in loins and extremities
- Pulsations over body especially liver region
- Shortness of breath on exposure to cold
- Joint swelling from slight fatigue
Worse (aggravation)
Better (amelioration)
Baneberry (ACTEA SPICATA)
Is a rheumatic remedy, especially of the small joints; tearing, tingling pains characterize it. Wrist-rheumatism. Pulsations over whole body, especially liver and renal region. Cardiovascular spasm. Pains worse from touch and motion.
Head
Fearful, starts easily; confused. Ebullition of blood to head excited by drinking coffee. Vertigo, tearing headache, better in open air, throbbing in brain, pain from crown to between eyebrows; heat in forehead, pain in left frontal eminence as if bone were crushed. Itching of scalp alternating with heat; nose red at tip, fluent coryza.
Face
Violent pain in upper jaw, running from teeth through malar bones to temples. Perspiration on face and head.
Stomach
Tearing, darting pains in epigastric region, with vomiting. Cramp-like pains in stomach and epigastrium, with difficult breathing; sense of suffocation. Sudden lassitude after eating.
Abdomen
Spasmodic retraction. Sticking pain and distension of hypogastrium.
Respiratory
Short, irregular breathing at night, while lying. Great oppression. Shortness of breath on exposure to cold air.
Extremities
Tearing pains in loins. Rheumatic pains in small joints, wrist, (Ulmus) fingers, ankles, toes. Swelling of joints from slight fatigue. Wrist swollen, red, worse any motion. Paralytic weakness in the hands. Lame feeling in arms. Pain in knee. Sudden lassitude after talking or eating.
Relationship
Compare: Cimicif; Cauloph; Led.
Dose
Third potency.
Phatak's chapter on Actaea spicata is available in the app.
Read Phatak in the appClassical texts are in the public domain. Educational reference only — not medical advice.
