ALCOHOLUS

ALCOHOLUS

(Ethyl Alcohol)

PHARMACY - alco. Alcoholus. Ethyl alcohol. Aethanolum. Spirits of wine. Remedy made from commercial spirits of wine, by redistillation.

Historical dose: Tincture and all potencies.

CLINICAL - Alcoholism. Coma. Delirium. Dementia. Double vision. Hallucinations. Imbecility. Insanity. Mania. Stupidity.

HOMEOPATHIC - Amid the pleasures of the cup the soldier no longer complains of the campaign, the sailor forgets the dangers of the storm. The weak one grows strong and the despondent bold. The despairing lover leaves his solitude and forgets the indifference of his mistress. From acute alcohol intoxication all weaknesses are exposed and all secrets divulged without reserve, all hypocrisy ceases. Intoxicated persons beget alcoholics.

General excitement of all the senses. Moral and physical exaltation.

Transition from delirium tremens into permanent mania with hectic fever or dropsy. A feeling of vague and unaccountable dread. Sadness often constant through the whole disease (delirium tremens). Staggering, uncertain gait. Coma, that changes to paralysis of the brain in persons of an apoplectic habit.

Sexual powers at first increased, then diminished. Impotence, want of sexual power. Irregular menstruation. Abortion in the first months. The children of alcoholics may grow up dull, indolent, stupid and become intemperate. Inclination to obesity. Diminished perspiration.

MIND - Mind disturbed, difficulty fixing the attention. General intellectual enfeeblement. Impaired memory. Absence of the senses and of reason. Restlessness and anxiousness, tries to disguise. Solitude and repose in bed increase the anxiety.

Mania with excessive irritability, excited by slightest causes. Mania with disposition to commit murder or start a fire. Impatience of contradiction. Unreasonable inclination to quarrel. Exhilaration. Increased self-esteem and importance. Feels insulted and abused by one's friends. Melancholy, weeping. Depression. Inclination to commit suicide.

Delirium. Rapid and incoherent talk. Thinks himself pursued. Screaming, singing and immoderate merriment. Feeling unusually strong and rich. Various hallucinations of sight, hearing, smell and sensation.

Abdomen - Sense of pressure in both hypochondria. Swelling of spleen. Recti muscles of abdomen become rigid and prominent. Ascites. Rumbling and growling in intestines. Inflammation of the intestines and stomach. Flatulence. Colic pains. Intestinal hemorrhage.

Back - Veins of neck swollen. Temporal and throat arteries throb. jugular veins turgescent or protruding. Weakness, finally in muscles of back, cannot even sit erect.

Chest - Hydrothorax. Emphysema. Congestion of lungs. Sensation of warmth in chest. Tension of chest. Burning sensation back of the sternum.

Constitutions - A sanguine, choleric 1em-peramen1, sentimental and passionate. Weak nerved person shows blunted senses andch,ld1sh.1be phlegmatic temperament remains pulsive and rather falls from his chair before giving loud evidences of his intoxication.

Ears - Dryness in external meatus. Acute

sense on hearing. Hearing blunted, perception of sound lessened. Confusion on sounds. Roaring in cars. especially after spasms or with vertigo. Ringing, buzzing or rushing sound in the ears. frequently accompanied with dull. Diffused headache. Illusions of hearing. Imaginary voices and sounds.

Eyes - Eyes injected. Red and excited. watery eyes. Eyes fiery. brilliant, fixed and wild. R1g1d, gleaming look. Bright and animated or suffused and soft. Spots in the eye and dimness of vision. Catarrhal inflammation of the eyes. Roughness of the margins of the lids Contraction of the pupils, drooping lids and coma. Effusion and swelling below the eyes. Conjunctiva more or less jaundiced. Yellow tinge of the sclerot1ca. Dilated and almost insensible pupils. V1s1on weak. cannot use eyes. objects flicker and become dim. Cannot read or write. Aversion 10 light. Black before eyes. Flashes of light before eyes. Muscae volitantes in clouds, before the eyes. Double v1s1on. Visual hallucination.

Face - Distorted face. race bloated, without expression, stupid, silly. Redness of the checks and nose. Face red and swollen. Tener in the face. Eruption in the face. bluish-red or white vesicles and pimples.

Food - Mama for alcoholic drinks, pepper

and other heating things. Longing for spirituous humors and, if not speedily granted. becomes raving or has convulsions. At first no desire to eat, afterwards. ravenous hunger. Loss of appetite. Aversion to food and alcoholic drinks. Thirst before breakfast and through the day, often excessive.

Head - Head dull, clouded and hazy. Ef-fusion of water into the membranes and ventricles of the brain. Softening of the brain. Pressing headache. causing stupidity. Drawing in the head. Dull, diffused headache with a buzzing or rushing sound in the ears. Sensation of fullness at the crown and back of the head or at the temples.

Heart - Valvular insufficiency. Organic difficulties of the heart and the large vessels. Hypotrophy of the left side of the heart. Increased activity of the heart and arteries. Pulsation of the heart and arteries violently increased, hard and full. Increased heat and rapidity of action in the heart. Very excited action. violent throbbing of the heart. Palpitations of the heart. Pulse nearly always accelerated, sometimes small and empty, sometimes full and even rather hard.

Kidneys - Sensitiveness, aching and pain in the region of the kidneys.

Limbs - Sudden starlings of the limbs, as from electrical shocks. Trembling of limbs. Increased warmth, then coldness. Creeping sensation (formication) under the skin of the hands and feet. Weakness and relaxation of the muscles of locomotion, first in fingers and hands. especially in thumb and index-finger, extending all over both limbs. Limbs numb. as1f paralyzed and extremely sensitive to touch and motion.

Liver - Heat, weight and soreness in the region of the liver. Inflammation of the liver. Cirrhosis

Lungs - Sensation of heat in the larynx.

Catarrhal bronchitis. Accumulation of mucus in the air-passages. Disposition to clear the throat. Hoarseness. Sobbing. Hawking. dry cough. Coughing blood. Accelerated breathing. There was a sense of impediment to respiration. Heavy, labored breathing. Snoring respiration. Asthma. Asphyxia. 

Modalities - Worse when lying down. Worse when quiet at night.

Mouth - Grinding the teeth. Tongue fissured from middle to the edges. furred or sometimes denuded of epithelium. Papillae at tip of tongue enlarged and red. Sore and dry condition of the tip of the tongue. Dry, red, glazed tongue.

Tongue covered with yellow slime in the middle, the margins clean. Tongue smooth and red with tendency to stick to the teeth or roof of the mouth. Tongue moved with difficulty. Convulsive motions of the tongue with stammering and inarticulate speech. Dry state of the mouth. Offensive smell from the mouth. Froth in mouth. Sour, salty or bitter taste in the mouth in the morning. Bitter taste in the mouth. Illusions of the sense of taste. Stammering speech.

Nose - Redness of the nose and cheeks. Redness of the nose, especially at the tip. Vessels of the skin congested. Swelling and inflammation. Red pimples or tubercles. Lining membrane of the sinuses inflamed and ulcerated. Bleeding of the nose. Illusions of the sense of smell.

Rectum - Hemorrhoids and varicose veins. Bleeding hemorrhoids. Paralysis of anus. Feces compact. knotty, black or light gray. Stool black, bilious, slimy and bloody, thin and clay colored. Diarrhea mucus or mealy. Diarrhea often alternating with constipation. Involuntary excretion of stool and urine.

Skin – Skin smutty or yellowish-gray. Jaundice. Skin soft and flabby. Skin becomes dry and hard. Sense of dryness, heat and evident fullness of swelling of the exposed parts of the skin, as the hands and face with general sensation of heat. Tormenting eruption, exceedingly itching, rough, scaly patches. Eczema and prurigo. Acne rosacea. Skin does not heal readily. Large indolent, blue looking boil sore carbuncles. Varicose ulcers.

Sleep - Irresistible sleep. Deep sleep, frequently accompanied by rattling breath. Lethargic with snoring respiration, intermittent pulsation of the heart. Restless sleep. Starts from his sleep with anxiety and restlessness. Insomnia, the patient tosses from side to side during nearly the whole night, getting only broken snatches of sleep and often with frightful dreams.

Stomach - Belching. sour or foul. Belching of water. Eructation like rotten eggs. Nausea and vomiting mucus and water. Vomiting of sour and offensive smelling matters. Hematemesis. Fullness and distention after eating. Burning heat in stomach. Pressure in the stomach. Sense of oppression and weight. Weakness of the stomach. Constriction. uncomfortable tension and pressure in epigastrium.

Temperature - Great inclination to sweat. Sweat easy at first. Sweat profuse, cool, sticky, sour smelling, sometimes warm. increased perspiration moderates’ intoxication. Sensation of cold with paleness of the body. Fevers. Evening exacerbations. An agreeable warmth spreads over the body. General sensation of heat with increased action of the heart and dryness of the skin.

Throat - Throat red and feels stiff. Granulations on the posterior wall of the throat, also on the base of the tongue. Engorged appearance of the veins of the fauces. Red-ness, dryness and heat. Aphthous ulcers in the throat. Gangrenous ulcers. Throat full of tough mucus, difficult to hawk up. Paralysis of pharyngeal muscles. Paralysis of the muscles of swallowing. Sensation as if something lodged in the esophagus. Strong efforts to clear the throat or belch or vomit, bring up blood or bloody mucus. Painful swallowing.

Urine - Frequent need to urinate, finally incontinence. Involuntary excretion of urine and stool. Increased quantity of urine. Lessened secretion of urine. Retention of urine. Urine scanty at first, yellowish or deep red, then more copious with sediment. High-colored urine. Albuminous urine. Urine acid, contains serum and bile. Bloody urine.

Vertigo - Attacks of vertigo with sudden faintness and reeling or falling down, but no twitching. Violent vertigo, nearly changing to a stroke. He staggers while walking and standing. Momentary attacks of vertigo.

COMMENTS - Frenzy, accompanied by violent convulsions. Drunkenness with various manias. Much inconsiderate, confused talking. Talkativeness, by which confessions are drawn from him. Ashamed of his intoxication. Sweet outpourings of friendship and tender confessions. Shamelessness. Moral degradation. Stubbornness. Quarrelsome grudges long since forgotten are renewed. Forgetfulness.

All desires and inclinators become uncontrollable. Indescribable serenity of mmd with cheerfulness, which the face expresses. Lively imagination. Rapid flow of thought, but he cannot keep his attention fixed continuously on one subject. Immoderate bursts of laughter. Cheerfulness.

Mental inquietude. Dread arising from actual delusions. Believes he is falling. even when on solid ground. Apprehension of nearby evil. Religious moving. they address confidential and irreverent discourses to the Deity Absurd fancies. Confuses one person with another.

Dancing. convulsive gestures, like chorea. Convulsions with a feeling as if something in the head is twisted and turned. Convulsions begin in one extremity. can be confined to one side, head can draw back, teeth clench, eyes distorted. Hysterical paroxysms. Epileptic attacks. generally coming on while standing. Epilepsy returns after eve11 excess m drinking. Conducive-like epileptic attacks.

The whole body trembles. commonly after exertion. Tottering and shaking. Trembling of the whole body. Twitching or jerking in muscles on sitting or lying. not in standing, especially on changing position. Persistent muscular tremor, first developed in the limbs.

Muscular inquietude inability to keep the limbs or the body still without a special effort of attention. Drawings in muscles like electric shocks. Trembling and paralysis as usual consequences of a stroke. General paralysis after delirium tremens. Marked sensory paralysis.

Power of directing and coordinating the muscles lessened. Muscular tone and power greatly lessened. The body loses its mobility and becomes more and more destitute of muscular power. Emaciation. want of strength with continued want of appetite. Prostration of the whole body.

Premature old age. face becomes pale and wrinkled. features relaxed. eyes dim. lips pale, the hands and the rest of the limbs tremble. gait unsteady. Indolence of body and mind. Frequent swoons. eresthesia.

This numbness is usually superficial, sensitive to deep pressure, sometimes sensitive-ness of the whole body is blunted.

Pain and neuralgic tearing, cuttings. Very marked, continuous buzzing or thrilling, passing from above downwards and through the whole system. Sensitiveness to the fresh air, shudder and frost.

RELATIONS - Compare: (I) Hyos,. Lach., Agar.

REFERENCES - Allen.