Veratrum album
The great collapse remedy. Violent vomiting and purging with cold sweat on forehead. Extreme coldness of body with blue skin. Cramps. Mania with desire to cut and tear things.
Source
Prepared from the dried rootstock of Veratrum album (Melanthiaceae/Liliaceae).
Available Potencies
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Keynote Symptoms
Violent simultaneous vomiting and diarrhea with profuse cold sweat especially on forehead. Extreme coldness — icy cold, blue, collapsed. Cramps in extremities. Copious discharges — vomiting, purging, salivation, perspiration, urination. Mania with desire to cut and tear, with coldness. Fainting from least exertion.
Mind & Emotional Symptoms
Mania with desire to cut and tear things, especially clothing. Religious mania — prays constantly, believes they are the chosen one. Despair of salvation. Restless, busy, hurried. Haughty, self-righteous. Inconsolable over imagined misfortune. Sullen indifference. Mania alternating with silence and refusal to talk.
General Symptoms
Collapse with extreme coldness, cold sweat on forehead, prostration. Copious discharges. Cramps. Worse from exertion, drinking, cold weather, fruit, during menses, before and during stool. Better from warmth, walking, hot drinks, lying down.
Physical Symptoms
Head
Cold sweat on forehead — the great keynote. Ice-cold feeling on vertex. Headache with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and cold sweat.
Face
Pale, blue, cold, collapsed, sunken. Hippocratic face. Features pinched. Cold sweat on face. Pale face with dark circles under eyes.
Mouth
Tongue cold, pale, dry, or coated yellow. Great thirst for cold water, which is immediately vomited. Ptyalism — copious salivation. Taste metallic, sour.
Stomach
Violent nausea and vomiting — forceful, projectile. Vomiting and diarrhea simultaneous. Craves cold drinks, ice, acids, fruit, salt. Excessive thirst. Hiccough after hot drinks.
Abdomen
Sinking, empty sensation. Cramps. Cold sensation in abdomen. Colic before stool.
Rectum
Profuse, watery, gushing diarrhea — like rice water, odorless or green. Cholera. Involuntary stool on passing flatus. Cramps during and after stool. Exhaustion after stool.
Chest
Palpitation with anxiety. Pulse rapid, feeble, irregular. Coldness of chest.
Extremities
Cramps in legs, especially calves. Icy cold hands and feet. Blue nails. Numbness. Fingers and toes spread apart during spasms.
Skin
Cold, blue, clammy. Elastic skin. Body icy cold but cannot bear to be covered. Cold sweat.
Fever / Chill / Perspiration
Extreme coldness with cold sweat. Chill with cold skin. Internal burning with external coldness. Intermittent fevers with vomiting and diarrhea.
Modalities
Better From
Walking about, warmth, hot drinks, lying down, covering
Worse From
Night, cold weather, fruit, ice, exertion, during menses, before and during stool, fright, drinking
Constitutional Type
Pale, cold, exhausted individuals. Young people who look old. Cold, collapsed states. Those with tendency to violent purging. Can suit robust individuals during acute collapse.
Clinical Indications
Cholera, severe gastroenteritis, collapse, fainting, diarrhea, vomiting, cramps, cold sweats, mania, surgical shock, sunstroke with cold sweat
Comparative Materia Medica
Arsenicum album also has vomiting and diarrhea but is more restless, anxious, and burning; Veratrum is colder with more cold sweat. Camphor has similar collapse but with more coldness and aversion to covers. Carbo vegetabilis has collapse with desire for fanning and air.
Safety Information
Aconitum, Arsenicum, Camphora, China, Coffea, Ferrum. Also coffee and strong green tea.
Veratrum album is extremely toxic. Contains veratridine and protoveratrine alkaloids causing violent vomiting, diarrhea, bradycardia, hypotension, collapse, and death. One of the most poisonous European plants. Use only potentised forms.
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