Berberis Aquifolium

(Oregon Grape)

Pharmacy

Berb-a. Berberis aquifolium. Oregon grape. Mahonia. Mountain grape.

N. O. Berberidacae. The fresh root and stem is pounded to a pulp and macerated in two parts by weight of alcohol. Fluid extract or tincture of root. Historical dose: Tincture and all potencies.

Clinical

• Biliousness
• Bladder stones
• Blisters
• Bronchitis
• Eczema
• Face roughness
• Headache
• Herpes
• Kidney stones
• Leucorrhea
• Nausea
• Pimples
• Pityriasis
• Psoriasis
• Pustules
• Scald head
• Spleen disorders
• Stomatitis
• Syphilis
• Typhoid
• Voice disorders

Herbal

Berberis aquifolium belongs to the Mahonia group of the Barberry family. It has been used by eclectics in chronic syphilis, chronic skin diseases in scrofulous cachexia, and for removing pimples from the faces of girls.

A tea made of the leaves of Berb-a. Mahonia has a local reputation in the mountain typhoid of the Rockies, and the provings of Berb-a. show febrile symptoms and a marked action on the spleen. It has a reputation for making "a new man of an old one."

Hale reported a case of very advanced secondary syphilis cured with it and some characteristic cases of psoriasis. In all these conditions, Berb-a. tincture has been given in 5 to 10 drops doses.

Homeopathic

Keynotes include an intense, pulsating headache in the forehead. Nausea, vomiting. Pains in the bladder. Rheumatic pains in the joints of the hands and in the lumbar and sacral regions, worse at night.

Pruritus and psoriasis type eruptions. The skin becomes dry, rough, scaly, and pimply. Clears the complexion. Eruptions on scalp extending to face and neck. Acne. Psoriasis. Dry eczema.

For chronic catarrhal affections, secondary syphilis, hepatic torpor, lassitude, and other evidences of incomplete metabolism. Stimulates all glands and improves nutrition. Heavy feeling in the stomach, liver, and bladder. Pains in the region of the bladder. Rapid peristalsis.

Mind

Unhappiness and depression, sometimes coming on suddenly. Hysterical crying at frequent intervals. Nervous, restless. Disinclined to move or do anything, dullness, stupidity.

Abdomen

Uneasy feeling without desire for stool. Pain in the hypogastrium. Biliousness and waxy, jaundiced hue. Intense burning in spleen and feeling as if pounded. Distressing soreness in spleen.

Back

Pain in the dorsal vertebrae. Pain in the sacrum.

Breasts

Breast tumor with pain.

Chest

Oppression and weakness of upper part of chest. Burning heat in lower left lung.

Constitutions

Psoric and the sycotic constitution. Biliary types and allergic reactions. Types with a predominance of allergies with chronic mesenchymal poisoning.

Eyes

Feeling that the eye is falling from the socket. Conjunctiva injected. Sensation of film before eyes. Eyes look hollow and weak, as if tired. Burning feeling and aching as from strain.

Face

Acne. Blotches and pimples. Clears the complexion. Waxy, yellowish-white skin. Flashes of heat to cheeks. Pinched expression.

Female

Slight burning in vagina, bearing-down pains, and aching as if menses about to come on.

Food

Anorexia, aversion to food. Hunger, even soon after eating, without desire for food. Sudden nausea after eating.

Head

Sensation of a band just above ears. Bilious headache. Scald head. Scaly eczema. Cramping pains located in the forehead, spreading towards the occiput. Sensation that the hair is stiff. Pulsating vascular pains.

Kidneys

Stitching, crampy pains, thick mucus, and bright-red, mealy sediment. Frequent need to urinate in small quantities. Pain in the region of the kidneys, worse when seated, with frequent need to urinate and burning pain in the bladder. Urine increased or decreased in quantity.

Limbs

Rheumatic pain in the joints of the hands and fingers with slight swelling of the joints between the phalanges. Sense of numbness and feeling as if there was no strength of will to lift the part. Pain severe as after a heavy blow. Peculiar prickling as from electricity on back of hand and outside forearm. Rheumatic tensions and stiffness of legs.

Lungs

Bilious colds, expectoration yellow and then greenish. Dry, irritating cough. Scanty, tenacious, blood-streaked expectoration.

Male

Drawing and pressure in testicles.

Modalities

Better from cold water. Worse in the evening and at night. Aggravation from rest at night, but also from prolonged movement.

Mouth

Fetid breath. Blisters on the edge of the tongue. Tongue thickly coated, yellowish-brown, pasty white, feels blistered. Bilious taste after eating. Soreness in lower teeth and salivary glands.

Nose

Stuffy feeling, with discharge of greenish-yellow mucus. Itching within nose with desire to sneeze.

Rectum

Large, dark stools. Hot, bilious diarrhea. After loose stools, light-colored, constipated stools. Stools too large, expelled with difficulty.

Skin

Acne. Pimples with a dry, rough, scaly skin. Dry eczema. Eruption on scalp extending to face and neck. Psoriasis. Glandular induration. Pruritus, at first in localized places, then spreading over the whole surface of the skin. Appearance of rashes, blisters, pustules, papules, urticaria. Amelioration from washing in cold water.

Sleep

Drowsy in daytime.

Stomach

Heartburn. Burning in stomach.

Nausea and severe straining to vomit. Nausea and hunger after eating.

Temperature

Diurnal rise of temperature and pulse. Flashes of heat and burning of palms. Flashes of heat to cheeks.

Throat

Dry throat. Throat choked with mucus. Voice rough and somewhat hoarse. Voice seemed cut off, as if a damper had closed. Lack of timbre in voice.

Vertigo

Dizzy sensation, worse sleeping or moving.

Comments

J. D. W. C. in the Recorder, 1896, detailed his personal experiences with doses of 10 to 15 drops a day. On the third day, he felt nausea and dull-headed. Later, there was straining to vomit without vomiting. Then came a peculiar headache, strong compression, as if a band of iron two inches wide passed entirely around head just above ears. It kept growing tighter and tighter.

Strong black coffee relieved this after a time, but left him tremulous in nerves and unsteady in gait. Even after that, a single drop of Berb-a. on the tongue was sufficient to avert an attack of biliousness when threatening, and saved him much trouble of the kind to which he had formerly been liable.

Clarke verified its usefulness in secondary syphilis.

Relations

Compare: (1) Sulph. - Principal remedy for allergy with burning pains, need for cool air, but aggravation from washing or bathing. Pain in the lumbar and sacral regions with stillness. Dry, scaly, itching rashes. (2) Psor. - This is a principal nosode remedy for allergic conditions. Chilliness, itching, sometimes fetid eruptions. Subject aggravated by the cold, but the eruption is aggravated by the heat in bed. Occipital and frontal migraine improved by eating. (3) Ars. - Burning pains improved by heat. Slightly aggravation between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. Scaly, burning, itching rashes, improved by hot, damp compresses. (4) Carb-ac., Euonym., Berb., Hydr.

References

Anshutz, Boericke, Clarke, Julian.