Nux vomica
The great remedy for overindulgence and modern living. Irritable, driven, ambitious, Type-A. Hypersensitive to all impressions. Chilly, worse in the morning. Constipation with ineffectual urging. Spasmodic symptoms. Effects of stimulants, drugs, rich food, sedentary habits.
Source
Prepared from the dried ripe seeds of Strychnos nux-vomica (Loganiaceae).
Available Potencies
Get Personalized Safety Info
Sign in and complete your health profile to see safety warnings personalized to your age, sex, medications, conditions, and allergies for this remedy.
Keynote Symptoms
Irritable, impatient, competitive, driven. Effects of overindulgence in food, drink, stimulants, drugs. Hypersensitive to light, noise, odors, touch. Extremely chilly. Worse in the morning on waking. Constipation with frequent ineffectual urging. Spasmodic pains. Cramping.
Mind & Emotional Symptoms
Fiery, irritable temperament. Impatient, fault-finding, quarrelsome. Driven, ambitious, competitive. Cannot bear contradiction. Oversensitive to noise, light, touch, odors. Fastidious. Ailments from anger, overwork, stimulants.
General Symptoms
Chilly, worse from cold, morning (especially on first waking), mental exertion, after eating, stimulants, narcotics, sedentary habits, anger, dry weather, high wind. Better from warmth, hot drinks, strong pressure, evening, rest, damp wet weather, free discharges, napping.
Physical Symptoms
Head
Headache in occiput or over one eye. Worse morning, mental exertion, after eating, coffee, alcohol, sun, open air. Intoxicated feeling.
Nose
Stuffed up at night, fluent during the day. Snuffles of newborns. Acrid discharge. Sneezing in morning.
Face
Yellow, sallow. Neuralgia worse morning.
Mouth
Sour taste. Back of tongue coated. Front of tongue clean. Metallic taste in morning.
Throat
Rough, scraped, tight feeling. Pharyngitis.
Stomach
Nausea, especially morning. Sour, bitter eructations. Bloating 1-2 hours after eating. Weight and pressure. Craves stimulants, fats, spicy food, alcohol. Cannot vomit though nauseated.
Abdomen
Bruised, sore. Flatulent colic. Umbilical hernia in infants.
Rectum
Constipation: frequent ineffectual urging, feeling of never being done. Stool incomplete. Diarrhea alternating with constipation. Itching haemorrhoids.
Urinary
Irritable bladder. Frequent urging with scanty urine. Renal colic.
Male Genitalia
Easy, frequent erections. Seminal emissions from high living. Effects of sexual excess.
Female Genitalia
Menses too early, too profuse, irregular. Fainting during menses. Nausea of pregnancy in the morning. Prolonged afterpains.
Respiratory
Shallow breathing. Tight cough with soreness in chest. Asthma with stomach symptoms. Cough causes headache.
Back
Must sit up to turn in bed. Burning in spine. Lumbago, must turn over by first sitting up.
Extremities
Cramps in calves and soles. Arms and hands go numb. Drags feet when walking. Legs feel paralysed.
Sleep & Dreams
Falls asleep after dinner. Wakes at 3-4 AM with racing thoughts, falls asleep again only to wake unrefreshed. Cannot sleep after 3 AM.
Fever / Chill / Perspiration
Great chilliness — must be covered in every stage of fever. Cannot move or uncover without chilling. Burning heat in face but chilly when moving.
Modalities
Better From
Warmth, hot drinks, strong pressure, evening, rest, damp wet weather, free discharges, napping, lying on side
Worse From
Morning (especially on waking, 3-4 AM), cold, dry weather, wind, mental exertion, after eating, stimulants, narcotics, anger, touch, noise, light, spices
Constitutional Type
Thin, active, nervous, irritable. Dark complexion. Competitive, ambitious, Type-A. Overworked professionals. Coffee and alcohol users. Sedentary, intellectual lifestyle.
Clinical Indications
Indigestion, constipation, hangover, irritability, insomnia, morning sickness, haemorrhoids, headache, back pain, drug side effects
Comparative Materia Medica
Sulphur is similarly irritable and intellectual but is hot and untidy (opposite of Nux vomica's fastidiousness). Arsenicum is also fastidious but more anxious and fearful. Bryonia shares irritability but is more taciturn and wants absolute rest.
Safety Information
Aconitum, Camphora, Chamomilla, Cocculus, Coffea, Ignatia, Opium, Pulsatilla, Thuja.
Contains strychnine and brucine. Extremely toxic — causes violent convulsions, opisthotonus, and respiratory failure. Seeds can be lethal. Use only potentised forms.
Find the Right Remedy
Not sure if Nux vomica is the best match? Our Remedy Finder can help you compare remedies based on your specific symptoms, modalities, and constitutional type.