Menyanthes trifoliata
Plant · Menyanthaceae
The Menyanthes patient is characterized by pressing headaches relieved by hard pressure, and a marked bodily coldness especially in the abdomen and extremities. Restless legs jerking on lying down and complete absence of thirst are distinctive features. This remedy suits intermittent fevers where coldness predominates.
Key symptoms
- Pressing pain in vertex better with hard pressure of hand
- Weight pressing on brain with every step on ascending
- Coldness of abdomen as characteristic feature
- Icy coldness of hands and feet
- Legs jerk and twitch as soon as patient lies down
- Ravenous hunger passing away after eating a little
- No thirst at any time
- Coldness predominating in fever, felt in abdomen and legs
Worse (aggravation)
- During rest
- Ascending stairs
Better (amelioration)
- Pressure on affected part
- Stooping
- Motion
Buck-bean (MENYANTHES)
A remedy for certain headaches, intermittent fever. Coldness of abdomen. Twitchings. Sensation of tension and compression. Fidgets and urinary difficulties in women. Diabetes.
Head
Pressing in vertex; better, hard pressure with hand. Pressing-together pain. Weight pressing on brain with every step on ascending. Pain from nape over whole brain; better, stooping, sitting; worse, going upstairs. Cracking in jaw and twitching of facial muscles.
Stomach
No thirst at any time. Revenous hunger; passing away after eating a little. Desire for meat. Sensation of coldness extending up to œsophagus.
Abdomen
Distended and full; increased by smoking tobacco. Coldness of abdomen.
Extremities
Icy coldness of hands and feet. Cramp-like pain. As soon as patient lies down, legs jerk and twitch.
Fever
Coldness predominates; felt most acutely in abdomen and legs and tip of nose.
Modalities
Worse, during rest, ascending better, pressure on affected part, stooping, motion.
Relationship
Compare: Caps; Puls; Calc; Phos ac; Sang.
Antidote: Camph.
Dose
Third to thirtieth potency.
Menyanthes trifoliata. Buck-bean. Bitterklee. N. O. Gentianaceæ. Tincture of whole plant.
Clinical
Amaurosis. Chest, affections of. Cramps. Fidgets. Headache, pressive. Heart, pains in. Intermittent fever. Jerkings. Paralysis.
Characteristics
The Buck-bean (or "Bog-bean," as it is also called in Ireland and in Lincolnshire) is a water plant, and abounds in the fen districts, where it is in great local repute as a remedy for ague. Hahnemann proved it and well defined its sphere of action. Teste, who also proved it, found it very similar to Drosera. Both these drugs caused in him, as one of the first symptoms, obscuration of sight, a sort of white mist, or vibrations, < in open air or during a walk. This was so intense that he did not dare to cross a street. The pains of Dros. and Meny. were the same in character, but those of Dros. were more intense. This analogy has not proved as close in other respects as Teste imagined it would. The main features of Meny. are (1) chill; (2) sensations and pains …
Buck Bean. (Genitanaceae.)
Complaints from abuse of Cinchona and Quinine. Fevers, in which the cold stage predominates; coldness felt most acutely in abdomen and legs. Headache: pressing in vertex from above downwards, > during hard pressure with hand (Ver.); as of a heavy weight pressing on the head at every step (Cac., Glon., Lach.); < ascending (Cal.); often with icy coldness of hands and feet (Cal., Sep.). Anxiety about the heart as if some evil was impending. Tension: in root of nose; in arms, hands, fingers; in skin, as if several sizes too small and was crowded into it by force.
Relations
. - Compare: Cac., Cal., Gels., Sep., Mag. m., Paris. Follow well: Caps., Lach., Lyc., Puls., Rhus, Ver.
Chill, Fever, and Sweat
Icy coldness of hands and feet; warmth of rest of body.
Mercurius
(see Merc viv, Merc sol)
General Face
Pimples, especially on face with a bluish halo, without itching.
Mouth and Throat
Tongue swollen, flabby, showing imprint of teeth on margins, with offensive smell from the mouth.
Mouth and Throat
Moist tongue with intense thirst.
Mouth and Throat
Gums painful to touch, swollen, receding from the teeth; whitish edges, bleeding; fetid odor from the mouth.
Mouth and Throat
Painful dryness of throat with salivation, when tonsils threaten to suppurate; sharp sticking pains when swallowing.
Abdomen
Worse from lying on the right side, particularly the pain in the region of the liver, or bruised feeling of the intestines.
Phatak's chapter on Menyanthes trifoliata is available in the app.
Read Phatak in the appClassical texts are in the public domain. Educational reference only — not medical advice.
