Understanding Ignatia amara

Dr. Claudio C. Araujo, M.D., F.F.Hom. (Lon.) et al.

The Ignatia patient is someone very sensitive and very frightened. Probably that is the characteristic combination for Ignatia. 

Generally sensitive and afraid.

The sensitiveness, her frightened state must be present an all-times aspect of Ignatia. If you are facing a case supposing being an Ignatia case, without it probably is not the right remedy.

Many symptoms will describe Ignatia as a sensitive, quiet person, easily frightened, mild, introspective, and suffering from an unrequired love.

The Ignatia child is so sensitive to the point of suffer together with her mother.

Infantile colic after taking breast of mother or nurse, who suffers from grief. 

Ignatia’s sensitiveness extends itself also to any kind of pain. During dentition, during a colic, bringing up any sort of consequences. But again, it’s only due to her extreme sensitiveness.

Convulsions in children in first period of dentition, with pale complexion, or in consequence of irregular innervation of capillaries, with remarkable redness of one cheek and cold nose; increased temperature of body transient; skin cool to touch. Spasms in children: from fright or from worms; child pale, cold; fixed, staring look; occasional screams; vomits food; preceded by hasty drinking. 

Children during dentition, or even at an earlier or later period, are suddenly seized with spasms resembling epilepsy; they often occur without apparent cause or come on after child has been reprimanded for a fault and then put to bed; twitchings begin at corners of mouth so that child appears to smile, then spasms rapidly affect muscles of face, forehead, eyes, and often eyeballs, or eyes may be open, fixed and staring, with dilated pupils; frothing at mouth, biting of tongue or cheeks, teeth firmly clenched and immovable, trismus, twitching of arms, less often of feet, attacks last from five minutes to half an hour, after which child is covered with sweat and presents all the symptoms of congestion of brain, followed by soporous sleep, from which they are awakened by renewed spasms, or spasms return after a complete intermission ; pulse frequent, often delirium and involuntary urination. 

And on her temperament:

Hysteria characterized by a mental character which is mild, gentle, yielding though whimsical and introverted. 

Tender mood, with very clear consciousness. 

Finely sensitive mood, delicate conscientiousness. 

Amiable disposition if feeling well; every little emotion disturbs her. 

Sensitive disposition and hyperacute feeling. 

On her being frightened state:

Emotional epilepsy; caused by fright and suppressed grief; especially suitable for children; recent cases. 

After fright: disturbed, introspective, taciturn; insomnia and great restlessness; anorexia. 

Spasms and insanity after fright; imagines her soul cannot be saved and cries very much; at times rages and tears clothes, can scarcely be restrained by four strong persons.

*Dread of every trifle, especially of things coming near him (after one hour), [1].

And her fears are also combined with irresolution and inertness. 

Anxiety as though something terrible had happened; cannot speak because of it; hurry, fearfulness, terror, alternating with irresolution and inertness. 

And then comes her silent suffering, her grieving alone, all by herself.

Tears wept inwardly, the pain and penalty of unrequited love; desires solitude so that one may nourish inward grief; great anxiousness at night or when awaking in morning, with taciturnity; aversion to every amusement.

Fearfulness; does not like to talk; prefers to be alone. 

Menorrhagia with sighing and sobbing, faint feeling at pit of stomach; great despondency, seems full of suppressed grief. 

Suppression of menses caused by suppressed grief; much involuntary sighing and sobbing; precordial anguish; weak and empty feeling in pit of stomach. 

Again, Ignatia is sensitive, frightened, irresolute, despondent, and alone.

But why? What’s is her first impression of reality? From her extreme sensitiveness, her fears, her temperament, what should we point out to understand Ignatia’s first perception of the world?

Dreamed of being buried alive, for a month or more, 

We believe that this is her first impression: confined, no way out. She can’t fight her way out. That’s probably why she is so yielding, so much yielding. There’s nothing she can do. She is deep down there, afraid, suffocated, irretrievable lost for the world and she can’t complain to no one, because there will be no one to hear about her sufferings.

This dream embodies all previous symptoms of Ignatia: helpless, alone, doomed, she has no way out. No one to call for help her.

We must also consider Ignatia as someone who will amplify all external occurrences due to her sensitiveness. And she will suffer silently.

Melancholia from suppressed mental sufferings, with much sighing; desire to be alone so as to give way to her real or imaginary grief; weeps bitterly. 

Melancholia after great grief and much domestic trouble; complete sleeplessness; suicidal thoughts and desire to escape. 

Ill effects from hearing bad news; from vexation with reserved displeasure; from grief, or suppressed mental sufferings; of shame and disappointed love.

Ignatia is also very sensitive to reproaches, rudeness and domestic violence.

Spasmodic affections of children, consequent on being put to sleep soon after punishment.

Children are convulsed in sleep after punishment. 

Convulsions: (…) of children, after punishment; after fear or fright; return at same hour, daily. 

Chorea in girls who have been frightened by threats or punishment; (…)

As she is very affectionate, losing someone is a great burden to her. From Ignatia symptoms we can realize that a love disappointment, a death of a close relative, losing someone dear to her in any way will bring a physical collapse.

Melancholy after disappointed love, always combined with spinal symptoms. 

Great grief after losing persons or objects very dear. 

Unhappy love with silent grief. 

And in the end…

Ignatia has a sensation that she is not doing what she should do. The symptom describes someone pregnant and married but for some reason she is anxious, assaulted by guilty feelings. She is breaking her vow as a married woman. But what she is not doing? What is so important to the point of killing herself?

She knows all the time what her temperament and her attitudes towards herself had brought to her. She is sufficient aware of her difficulties, her lack of courage to express herself, to fight for what she believes, for her rights as any human being. There is this sub-rubric present in Kent’s repertory – on Cowardice – when she has no courage to express herself or to bring her opinions to the others. Should we include it? Is she conscious of what she had done to herself?

After catamenia, which came at night time, symptoms of insanity; believes herself married and pregnant; is tormented by remorse for imagined crimes; seeks constantly to escape to drown herself; terrible anxiety from rush of blood to head and heart; is only quiet when lying undisturbed and brooding over her troubles, which she rehearses in a doleful tone; if disturbed, screams, strikes and tears things, crying all the while "I am neglecting my duty, breaking my vow;" face pale and distorted; desire for sour things; difficulty to get her to eat; conscientious scruples after eating; menses suppressed.

Altered appearance; made an unsuccessful attempt to end his almost unendurable sufferings, by eating the phosphorus from matches; after business embarrassments. 

An observation from clinical practice: Many patients who came to benefit from Ignatia were women with a life history correlated with an extreme attachment to their mother. Women who, since childhood, were totally connected to their mothers, who did not marry to be able to stay by their mothers, some got married, but took their mothers to live with the family and, when the final outcome caused by death, fell into a deep depression. These women have greatly benefited from the prescription of Ignatia, even as children, if such a deep relationship is present. Many told me that the loss of their mother was something they never got over in their lives, that their mother had been the most important person and that she was irreplaceable. Ignatia am. helped these women overcome this loss and return to a normal life.

 

Groups in Ignatia am.

Symptoms from Hering, Allen, Hahnemann & Kent

Dr. Claudio C. Araujo, M.D., F.F. Hom. (Lon.)

Humor

Tenderness and sensitive mood

Tender mood, with very clear consciousness. 

Finely sensitive mood, delicate conscientiousness. 

Amiable disposition if feeling well; every little emotion disturbs her. 

Mild disposition; bears suffering, even outrage, without complaining. θ Leucorrhœa.

Merry and jesting mood (after eight hours), [1].

Tender mood, with very clear consciousness, [1].

Sensitive disposition and hyperacute feeling. 

Finely sensitive mood, delicate conscientiousness (after twenty hours), [1]. 

Inclined to be very secretive and passive. 

Changeable disposition

Changeable disposition, laughing and crying almost in same breath.

Incredible changes of mood; at one time jokes and makes merry, at another is lachrymose, alternating every three or four hours. 

Incredible changes of mood; at one time he jokes and makes merry, at another he is lachrymose, alternating every three or four hours, [1]. 

He jokes a few hours after he has been angry (after six hours), [1]. 

Anxiety

Anxiety, sleeplessness, despair; severe palpitation; loss of appetite; constipation.

Anxiety, as if he had committed some crime, [1]. 

 Inability to express himself distinctly on account of anxiety, [23].

Anxiety of short duration (after quarter of an hour), [1]. 

Great anxiety, [23]. 

Extreme anxiety, which prevents talking, [2]. [20.]

Taciturn and sadness

Taciturn, with continuous sad thoughts; still, serious melancholy, with moaning.

Sadness and sighing, empty feeling in pit of stomach. 

Silent melancholy; twitching of one muscle at a time. 

Appetite and digestion left him. θ Morbid grief. 

Became bilious, nervous, depressed, and would scarce move from the fire, for days together. θ Morbid grief. Sadness towards evening, [1]. 

Quiet, earnest melancholy; cannot be induced to talk or be cheerful; with flat, watery taste to all food, and little appetite (after twenty-four hours), [1]. 

Dreams full of sadness; he awakes weeping, [1]. 

Suppressed menstruation with melancholy; indifference to things she loved best; sits alone and weeps, imagines things, especially that she might go crazy; in all parts crawling sensation as if gone to sleep, as if she had no feeling in epigastrium; sleep unrefreshing and disturbed by dreams. 

Weeping

Involuntary weeping for three days, [24]. 

Howls, cries and in beside herself on account of trifles (after one hour), [1]. 

Sighs and sobs; will not be comforted. 

Indifference

Indifferent to everything; seemed to live without his usual good humor. 

Indifferent to everything; he seemed to live without his usual good humor (fifth day), [10a]. 

Contradiction, anger and peevishness

Anger, followed by quiet grief or sorrow.

Very transient fretfulness and ill-humor, [1]. 


Inconstant, impatient, irresolute, quarrelsome. 

Peevish, capricious and quarrelsome; impatient. 

Slight contradiction makes him ill-humored and angry (after eighth hours), [1]

Slight blame or contradiction excites him to anger, and this makes him angry with himself (after thirty-six hours), [1]. 

Contrary to his will, thinks of vexatious and peevish, things, and dwells upon them (after half an hour), [1]. 

Absorbed in himself, peevish and soured (after half an hour), [1]. [30.]

Extremely morose, finds fault, and makes reproaches, [1]. 

The various pressures on and in several parts of the head together make him morose and peevish, [3].

He is discontented, morose, and obstinate towards evening; no one can do anything right or please him (after eight hours), [1]. 

Inconstant, impatient, irresolute, quarrelsome, in recurring attacks every three or four hours, [1]. 

Unreasonable complaining about too much noise (after two hours), [1]. 

The slightest contradiction irritates. 

Slight blame or contradiction excites him to anger, and this makes him angry with himself. 

Desires unattended

Desires improper things, and cries aloud when they are refused, [1]. 

If she is refused even gently what she wishes or if one tries to persuade her, even with gentle, kind words, or if others wish something different from what she wishes, then she cries aloud (after one hour), [1]. 

Dreams at night full of disappointments, miscarrying plans and efforts, [1]. 

Very busy mood; he does now this, now that, in a restless way, [1].

With Himself/Hersel

Frightened

Dreams of frightful things, [1]. 

Wakes in the morning from frightful dreams (after eighteen hours), [1]. 

Wakes from the afternoon nap from frightful dreams (for example, of drowning), (after twenty-four hours), [1]. 

He is suddenly frightened in sleep, cries and expression of complaining, steps and stamps with the feet, wherewith the face and hands are pale and cold, [1]. 

Frightful shuddering on falling asleep, on account of monstrous, fantasies, which appear to him and are still present after waking, [1]. 

Apprehensive feeling. 

Unusual tendency to be frightened. 

Anxiety as though something terrible had happened; cannot speak because of it; hurry, fearfulness, terror, alternating with irresolution and inertness. 
Tears wept inwardly, the pain and penalty of unrequited love; desires solitude so that one may nourish inward grief; great anxiousness at night or when awaking in morning, with taciturnity; aversion to every amusement.

Fright; inclination to start. 

After fright: disturbed, introspective, taciturn; insomnia and great restlessness; anorexia. 

Spasms and insanity after fright; imagines her soul cannot be saved and cries very much; at times rages and tears clothes, can scarcely be restrained by four strong persons.

Unusual tendency to be frightened, [1]. 

She fears that she will have an ulcer in the stomach, [1]. 

(She dreams that she was standing, but not firmly; awoke and examined her bed to see if she was lying safely; also that she had bent herself quite double in order to be sure not to fall, therewith she was always in a perspiration all over), [1]. 

Fright is followed by grief. 

Boldness (after three and five hours), [1]. 

Grief

Melancholia from suppressed mental sufferings, with much sighing; desire to be alone so as to give way to her real or imaginary grief; weeps bitterly. 

Melancholia after great grief and much domestic trouble; complete sleeplessness; suicidal thoughts and desire to escape. 

Ill effects from hearing bad news; from vexation with reserved displeasure; from grief, or suppressed mental sufferings; of shame and disappointed love.

Sleeplessness: from grief, care, sadness; anxious thoughts and depressing emotions; after overstraining mind by racking business cares; before midnight; from ebullition of blood; with starting when falling asleep; inward restlessness, thirst, fever with anxiety from 2 to 5 A. M. 

Remorse and guilty

Senseless staring at one object, with sighing and moaning; remorse about imaginary crimes, intolerance to noise; great inclination to have fixed ideas. 

Anxiety and disquiet as if she had done something wrong, or as if some great misfortune were about to happen, this so overpowers her, that she can with difficulty refrain from weeping; has oppression of breathing, but feels distinctly that oppression begins at stomach and spreads up into throat; becomes very weak, incapable of work, and disinclined to company; no appetite; bowels torpid and insufficiently moved; paroxysms about twice a day, one lasting often for hours.

After catamenia, which came at night time, symptoms of insanity; believes herself married and pregnant; is tormented by remorse for imagined crimes; seeks constantly to escape to drown herself; terrible anxiety from rush of blood to head and heart; is only quiet when lying undisturbed and brooding over her troubles, which she rehearses in a doleful tone; if disturbed, screams, strikes and tears things, crying all the while "I am neglecting my duty, breaking my vow;" face pale and distorted; desire for sour things; difficulty to get her to eat; conscientious scruples after eating; menses suppressed.

Unable to proceed

A peculiar trembling of hands disturbs her very much in writing, most when she has to write in any one's presence, gets worse as soon as she fancies any one might notice it. 

He fancies that he is unable to proceed, that he cannot walk, [1].

Fearfulness, timidity; she has no confidence in herself, gives up everything, [1]. 

Emotional hyperesthesia ending in depression and torpor; sexual desire with impotence.

Sensation as if she had been fasting a long time with flat taste and languor in limbs. Faint feeling; false hunger; nausea and vomiting of mucus; habitual smoking. 

Somnambulism; describes clearly the interior of brain; again sees everything that passes in street, but recollects nothing of it when awake. θ Effects of wounded honor.

With the others

Desires to be alone

Heaviness of head; very great weakness of memory; forget everything except dreams; hardness of hearing; sees everything as if through a fog; sits quietly, with a vacant gaze, always thinking of the mortification endured, and knowing nothing of what passes around him; prefers to be alone; thinking of the past mortification prevents him from going to sleep as early as usual; restless sleep, starts during sleep, much dreaming; pain in left hypochondrium < by pressure and continuous walking; loses hair; face colorless, hollow; voice low, trembling, with distortion of muscles of face ; does not like to talk; no desire to eat or drink; appetite is soon satisfied; feels cold, especially in evening; very weak; staggering walk; walks carefully; increased stool and urine. θ Melancholy after mortification. 

Desire to be alone. 

Fearfulness; does not like to talk; prefers to be alone. 

 

Aversion to being alone.

Unhappy love

Melancholy after disappointed love, always combined with spinal symptoms. 

Great grief after losing persons or objects very dear. 

Unhappy love with silent grief. 

Thieves

Fear of thieves, on waking after midnight. 

Fear of thieves, on waking after midnight (after ten hours), [1]. 

With the environment

Looks about bed as if to find something. 

Dread of every trifle, especially of things coming near him. 

Dread of every trifle, especially of things coming near him (after one hour), [1].

Dreamed at night that he had fallen into the water and cried, [1]. 

Dreamed of being buried alive, for a month or more, [24]. 

Male Sexuality

 Erection for several minutes (after a quarter of an hour), [1]. 

Erections always on going to stool, [1]. 

Painful urging and pressure over a large surface about the penis (mons veneris), with violent erection, ending with an emission, [20]. 

Profuse emission, during the first night (in a young man in whom this had almost never occurred), [1]. 

Lasciviousness, with impotency (after ten and twenty hours), [1]. 

Lascivious, amorous fancies and sudden sexual excitement with weakness of the genitals and impotency, with external unpleasant warmth of the body, [1]. 

Lasciviousness without erections. 

Male impotency, with feeling of weakness of the hips, [1].

Irresistible desire for an emission, with relaxed penis (after twenty-four hours), [1]. 

Sexual desire weak, or sexual desire with impotence. 

Complete loss of sexual desire, [1]. [I have seen this condition, an alternation of the lascivious symptoms, 522, 528, 524, 529 last a long time as a secondary effect; Cocculus removed it. -Hahnemann.] 

Female sexuality

Grief

Menorrhagia with sighing and sobbing, faint feeling at pit of stomach; great despondency, seems full of suppressed grief. 


Suppression of menses caused by suppressed grief; much involuntary sighing and sobbing; precordial anguish; weak and empty feeling in pit of stomach. 

After-pains with much sighing, sadness and despondency 

Brought on a flow in a lady, æt. 62, who had suffered from grief; also in a lady, æt. 30, whose menses had been suppressed for three months.

Chronic leucorrhœa, with excited sexual desire. 

Lasciviousness, with unusual prominence of the clitoris, weakness and relaxation of the rest of the genitals, and cool temperature of the body (after forty hours), [1]. 

Irregular menstruation, especially dysmenorrhœa, originating in irritation of nervous system, and not in uterine congestion. 

Menses scanty, attended by violent spasms and pains, lasting several days, and resembling pains of parturition; nervous system in very excitable state. θ Dysmenorrhœa.

During menses: photophobia; contractive colic; anguish; palpitation of heart; backache; lassitude approaching faintness. 

Pregnancy

A state of anguish in which she shrieks for help, with suffocating constriction of throat, difficult deglutition; comes out of spasms with deep sighing. θ Parturition.

Fright

After great fright, during seventh month of pregnancy, severe pain in epigastrium; undefined anxiety; restlessness; falls asleep late at night; also pain low down in l. side of abdomen. 

After fright during pregnancy, trembling, followed next day by labor pains and hemorrhage, > lying on back without ???low and with lower end of mattress elevated.

Spasms with twitching of muscles of mouth and eyes; wild expression; eyes upturned; constant attempt to tear her hair; laughing and crying; nervous and excitable. θ Puerperal convulsions. 

Childhood

Punishment

Spasmodic affections of children, consequent on being put to sleep soon after punishment.


Children are convulsed in sleep after punishment. 

Convulsions: during dentition, with frothing at mouth, kicking with legs; during commencement of exanthematic fevers; of children, after punishment; after fear or fright; return at same hour, daily. 

Chorea in girls who have been frightened by threats or punishment; constant and involuntary twitching and throwing about of arms; objects are dropped from hands; twitching of eyes and shaking of head. 

Child awakens from sleep: with piercing cries and trembles all over; in spasms after being punished and sent to bed. 

Infantile colic after taking breast of mother or nurse, who suffers from grief. 

Emotional epilepsy; caused by fright and suppressed grief; especially suitable for children; recent cases. 

Convulsions in children in first period of dentition, with pale complexion, or in consequence of irregular innervation of capillaries, with remarkable redness of one cheek and cold nose; increased temperature of body transient; skin cool to touch. Spasms in children: from fright or from worms; child pale, cold; fixed, staring look; occasional screams; vomits food; preceded by hasty drinking. 

Children during dentition, or even at an earlier or later period, are suddenly seized with spasms resembling epilepsy; they often occur without apparent cause or come on after child has been reprimanded for a fault and then put to bed; twitchings begin at corners of mouth so that child appears to smile, then spasms rapidly affect muscles of face, forehead, eyes, and often eyeballs, or eyes may be open, fixed and staring, with dilated pupils; frothing at mouth, biting of tongue or cheeks, teeth firmly clenched and immovable, trismus, twitching of arms, less often of feet, attacks last from five minutes to half an hour, after which child is covered with sweat and presents all the symptoms of congestion of brain, followed by soporous sleep, from which they are awakened by renewed spasms, or spasms return after a complete intermission ; pulse frequent, often delirium and involuntary urination. 

Children with pale complexion and blue rings around eyes; there gradually ensues a great degree of timidity and tendency to start, followed by involuntary movements of facial muscles, and of upper and lower extremities, gradually attaining the intensity of 

chorea.

Hiccough in children; restlessness at night, and screaming during sleep. 

During sleep of children: chewing motion of mouth and startings (flexors); stamping feet and grinding teeth. 

Work

Dreams with reflections and deliberations. 

Dreams at night full of mental exertion and scientific investigations, [1].

Altered appearance; made an unsuccessful attempt to end his almost unendurable sufferings, by eating the phosphorus from matches; after business embarrassments. 

Headache < from reading and writing. 

Intellectual

Hurry of mind, after exerting brain, especially in morning; is unable to talk, write or do anything else as rapidly as he wishes, whereupon there occur anxious behavior, mistakes in talking and writing and awkward actions requiring constant corrections. 

A torrent of words pours out of mind, and confusion of writing is caused by profusion of thought. 

Palpitation while engaged in deep thought. 

Nightly fancies, which fatigue the mind, [1]. 

Fixed ideas

At fixed idea, which he pursues in his thoughts, or expatiates (discorre) upon with great earnestness and exhaustiveness in conversation (after two hours), [1]. 

Fixed ideas, as for example, of music and melodies, in the evening, before and after lying down, [1]. 

In his dream is occupied thinking of the same object throughout whole night; a fixed idea, which does not leave him on waking. 

Dreams about the same subject for several hours, [1]. 

Fixed ideas in a dream, dreams the whole night of one and the same thing, [1]. 

In his dream he is occupied with thinking of the same object throughout the whole night; a fixed idea, which does not leave him on waking, [1]. 

Memory weak and untrustworthy. 

Absent-mindedness.

Difficult comprehension; mental dullness; mental effort is irksome. 

Incapacity for thought in evening. 

Dullness of sense, with inclination to hurry; while hurrying, the blood rushes into the face (after six hours), [1]. 

Hurry of mind, after exerting the brain, especially in the morning; he is unable to talk, write, or do anything else as rapidly as he wishes; whereupon there occur anxious behavior, mistakes in talking and writing, and awkward actions requiring constant corrections (after twenty hours), [1]. 

He is scarcely able to keep his thoughts fixed for a moment, [12]. 

Thought was impeded and very difficult on account of the affection of the head (sixth day), [10a]. 

Memory weak and untrustworthy (after eighth and ten hours), [1].

Pain from sacral region through to front, followed by leucorrhœa and a numb and stupid feeling in brain; difficulty in answering questions. 

Dreams in which thoughts is exerted, towards morning (after ten hours), [1]. 

Neurological

Fancies; delirium; insanity. 

He walks about quite perplexed, disconcerted, and stupid, [6]. 

Her trembling does not make much difference to her writing, but shows itself when she extends her fingers, more marked on right side. 

Great languor or deep sleep, with stertorous breathing after or during fever. 

Hysteria

Hysterical debility and fainting fits. 

Mind very irritable; easily becomes sad; frequent attacks of pressing, cramping pain in forehead and occiput, face red, lachrymation; spasmodic constriction of throat, with difficult deglutition; much belching, hiccough; constriction of chest, respiration impeded, trembling of head, twitching of arms and legs with semi-consciousness, finally a deep sigh followed by profound sleep. θ Hysteria.

After a quarrel with her husband, awoke next morning with a rhythmical tremor of entire left leg which gradually involved both legs; < sitting, did not interfere with walking; on following day was accompanied by choreic jerking of head from left to right, and slightly from above downwards. θ Hysteria.

Anguish, shrieks for help, with suffocating constriction of throat; difficult deglutition; comes out of spasm with deep sighing. θ Hysteria. 

Hysteria characterized by a mental character which is mild, gentle, yielding though whimsical and introverted. 

Hemicrania, globus hystericus, or sudden toothache attacking a healthy tooth, in hysterical subjects. 

Clonic convulsions, in hysterical, fitful women.

Spasms and tetanic convulsions in hysterical women and children; especially when falling asleep. 

Hysterical paraplegia. 

Great tendency to start. 

Jerking and twitching in various parts of muscles. 

Jerking, as if a mouse was crawling under skin, in one part of muscles of forearm, in evening after lying down. 

Convulsive twitching, especially after fright or grief. 

Screaming with violent trembling all over; single parts seem to be convulsed.

Suddenly feels sleepy and lies down, or goes to sleep standing and falls; lies quietly and unconsciously for half an hour, or several hours; eyes closed; makes fists; hides under bedcover, and peeps timidly from under it; extremities jerking upwards; body thrown upward and lower jaw thrust forward; suddenly wakes up gasping, and complains of hunger. θ Spasms after fright. 

Loss of consciousness, sudden or preceded by headache, especially at night; bends himself backward so that he rests on head and feet, throws himself wildly about and tumbles out of bed if not prevented; violent shocks affect the body and particularly chest; froth mixed with blood escapes from mouth; after ten or fifteen minutes spasms pass off but unconsciousness lasts for five or six hours; confused speech of which later he remembers nothing; passes stool or urine in every corner of room if not prevented; severe chill, during which body is cold as ice, ends the attack, which is followed by great mental and physical prostration. 

Violent convulsions; often tonic spasms predominate.

Tetanic convulsions, with frequent inclination to yawn.

Tetanus after fright. 

Catalepsy with bending backwards. 

From fright

After fright, cataleptic attacks, lasting several hours and returning regularly every two months; gradually attacks became epileptiform in character, with violent convulsions and loss of consciousness; attacks also became more frequent, occurring every month, just before or after menstruation, and finally occurring after any accidental excitement; spasms and pain during menstruation.

Chorea: after fright or grief; < after eating; > lying on back. 

Emotional chorea, especially after fright, grief, or other mental excitement, with sighing and sobbing; vacillating gait; liability to stumble and fall over small objects; trembling and twitching of various muscles; precipitancy of volition; patient expresses anxiety in his movements; < after eating, especially after dinner; after deep grief; > while lying on back. 

Sudden and severe chorea after being frightened by mouse running up arm; twitching in facial muscles and active movements in upper extremities, so that hands seemed always to be engaged in some sort of voluntary work; at one time put her hand to hair, at another to ear, now quickly extended arm as if to smooth dress, and so on the whole day; voluntary movements of hands so far lost that she could neither eat nor drink unassisted. 

Cries out when anyone approaches bed, and at intervals repeats her crying, but is not capable of speaking a single word; hands and feet thrown violently about; convulsive distortion of muscles of face; head one moment bent backward, at another to side, and whole body is thrown violently about, tophi on hands and feet. θ Chorea. 

Paralysis after great mental emotion and night watching in sick chamber. 

 She moves the muscles of her open mouth in all directions, almost convulsively, during sleep, wherewith the hands jerk inwards (after two hours), [1]. 

 

Kent´s Lectures:

Ignatia is frequently required and is especially suited to sensitive, delicate women and children; to hysterical women. You will not cure the natural hysterics with Ignatia, but you will cure those gentle, sensitive, fine fibred, refined, highly educated, overwrought women in their nervous complaints with Ignatia when they take on complaints that are similar to such symptoms as come in hysteria. The hysterical diathesis is one that is very singular and difficult to comprehend. But a woman, when overwrought and overexcited and emotional, will do things that she herself cannot account for. She will do things as if she were crazy in her excitement. Will do things she regrets, while the hysteric is always glad of it. No matter how much foolishness there is in it she has only made an exhibition that she is proud of. But our efforts go out for those who imitate them unconsciously. Those who will do well.

A woman has undergone a controversy at home. She has been disturbed, is excited, and goes into cramps, trembles and quivers. Goes to bed with a headache. Is sick. Ignatia will be her remedy. When she has great distress; unrequited affections. A sensitive, nervous young girl finds out that she has misplaced her affections; the young man has disappointed her; she has a weeping spell, headache, trembles, is nervous, sleepless; Ignatia will make her philosophical and sensible. A woman loses her child, or her husband. A sensitive, delicate woman, and she suffers from this grief. She has headaches, trembles, is excited, weeps, is sleepless; unable to control herself. In spite of her best endeavors, her grief has simply torn her to pieces. She is unable to control her emotions and her excitement. Ignatia will quiet her and tide her over the present moment. In all of these instances where all of these conditions brought on from such troubles keep coming back, where your patient dwells upon them, dwells upon the cause, and the state keeps recurring Natrum mur. will finish up the case. It will nerve her up and help her to bear her sufferings. Especially useful in constitutions that have been overwrought at school, in science, music, art. Of course, it is natural for very sensitive girls to go into the arts, such as music, painting, etc. A daughter comes back from Paris after a number of years close application to her music. She is unable to do anything. She flies all to pieces. Every noise disturbs her. She cannot sleep nights. Excitable, sleepless, trembles, jerks, cramps in the muscles; weeps from excitement, and from every disturbing word. Ignatia will tone her up wonderfully. Sometimes it will complete the whole case. But especially in these oversensitive girls is Natrum mur.. very commonly the chronic. It is the natural chronic of Ignatia. When the troubles keep coming back, and Ignatia comes to a place when it will not hold any longer.

Another place where Ignatia and Natrum mur. run close together. A sensitive, overtired girl, after she has been working in music, and in art, and in school, and has tired herself out, is unable to control her affections. Her affections rest on someone whom she would despise. That may be a singular thing, one may not be able to understand it. A sensitive girl, though she would not let anyone, but her mother know of it, falls in love with a married man. She lies awake nights, sobs. She says, "Mother, why do I do that, I cannot keep that man out of my mind." At other times a man entirely out of her station, that she is too sensible to have anything to do with, she just thinks about him. Ignatia, if it is very recent, will balance up that girl's mind. If not, Natrum mur.. comes in as a follower. We do not know half as much about the human mind as we think we do. We only know its manifestations. These little things belong to this sphere of the action of this medicine. The one who knows the Materia Medica applies it in its breadth and its length and sees. in it that which is similar.

 

Generals

Persons mentally and physically exhausted by long concentrated grief. 

Oversensitive to pain. 

Trembling and languor of limbs. 

Trembling of hands when writing, most in anyone's presence, and getting < as soon as she fancies any one might notice it; appears also when fingers are extended. 

Great weakness of whole body; on walking seems as though breath would fail, becomes qualmish in pit of stomach, and then coughs. 

Great weakness and exhaustion of whole body; lassitude in evening. 

Debility after arrest of hemorrhage, with disposition to be vehement or vexed. 

Faint feeling; false hunger; nausea and vomiting of mucus; habitual smoking. 

Convulsions alternating with oppressed breathing. 

Convulsions with loss of consciousness, and temporary inability to speak.

Spasms with cries or involuntary laughter.