POLYCHRESTS

ARG-NIT
ARSENICUM
AURUM
BRYONIA
CALC-CARB
CAUSTICUM
CHINA
IGNATIA
KALI-CARB
LACHESIS
LILIUM-TIG
LYCOPODIUM
MERCURIUS
NAT-MUR
NUX-VOM
PHOSPHOROUS
PLATINA
PULSATILLA
RHUS-TOX
SEPIA
SILICA
STAPHYSAGRIA
SULPHUR
THUJA
VERATRUM

The typical Nux Vomica patient is readily recognized by almost all homeopaths and is in fact one of the most commonly prescribed remedies. <<Work.>> The popular concept of "type A personality" describes the typical Nux Vomica patient very well. The Nux Vomica patient is impatient, competitive and ambitious. The major focus of his life is on work and achievement. He is confident and even arrogant. The patient is compulsive with his work and in all aspects of his life, even to the point of fastidious cleanliness and ordering of his house or office.
<<Anger.>> People of such a focused nature often have strongly aggressive personalities, and this is very characteristic of the Nux Vomica patient. The patient can be irritable, first only sporadically but as he becomes more pathological the irritability becomes anger, then rage, then frank violence. In the usual case, however, the patient is irritable mainly from impediments to his ambitions. He becomes infuriated at the slowness and inefficiency of his co-workers, of waitresses, cashiers, etc. Even an inanimate object can anger the patient: he may tear his shirt if the buttons don't come out easily; he breaks the phone if he gets a busy signal on an important call. He may have long standing, unresolved anger towards his parents or others. In advanced states, the patient develops increasingly violent behavior patterns which may even end in criminal behavior.
<<Competition.>> In almost all aspects of his life the Nux Vomica patient is competitive. When he plays cards he must win; when he jogs, he must jog faster than the others on the track; when he drives, he cannot bear the idea that the person in the next lane may get ahead of him, so he switches lanes to always be in the fast lane even if that requires forcing himself into the path of another car. He wants to try everything and is not overly cautious about things he may explore. Any type of stimulant - coffee, alcohol, amphetamines, even cocaine will attract this patient. He may also be hedonistic in sexual matters. The Nux Vomica patient fears and avoids marriage, not out of fear of responsibility as in Lycopodium but from fear of the loss of freedom or fear of being humiliated in marriage.
<<Collapse.>> It is easy to understand that the patient described could be subject to collapse states from over-work or abuse of substances or from indulgence and excess. Nux Vomica is one of the best remedies for patients in collapsed states, not only for the collapse itself but to help him to be more moderate in his behavior in the future.
<<Physical.>> On the physical plane, Nux Vomica pathology centers largely on the gastrointestinal tract. Since so many of the symptoms of Nux Vomica are related to its heavy strychnine content, it should come as no surprise that spasm and cramping are very prominent. Additionally the nervous system is often disturbed.
<<Children.>> The Nux Vomica child is irritable and often affected with gastrointestinal problems such as colic or colitis. As school age comes the child is competitive about his grades and sports far beyond the norm. He is a terrible loser. The parents may say that the child can under no circumstances admit that he is at fault or that he has made a mistake. Jealousy of the other siblings or toward other gifted children at school is often a problem. In adolescence the child may develop strongly bitter feelings towards his parents, especially the same-sex parent. It can be astonishing to find how rudely such a child can speak towards his parent in such cases. These children are very concerned about fair-play both towards themselves and others and can seem very idealistic. Many Nux Vomica children exhibit strong fears, especially fear of the dark.

Mind.
IRRITABLE, IMPATIENT, AMBITIOUS AND DRIVEN PATIENTS.
EASILY OFFENDED.
<<Anger from contradiction>> (Aur).
<<Tendency to break things from anger and frustration.>>
<<Premenstrual irritability.>>
IMPATIENT - HATES WAITING IN LINES OR IN TRAFFIC.
COMPETITIVE.
WORKAHOLIC. COMPULSIVE.
<<Fastidious>>, especially angry if objects not in their proper place.
Fear: Marriage. Humiliation. Dark (especially in children). Failure.
Substance abuse. Alcoholism. Delirium tremons.
Weeping from anger. Weeping before menses.
Aversion to tight clothing - in a hurry to take off watches, ring, tie.
<<Great sensitivity to stimulation>> - light, noise, odors, etc.

General.
<<Chilly and worse from cold and from cold, dry wind.>>
CHILLS, RIGOR FROM MOVING UNDER HIS BLANKET (during fever).
<<Generally better from warmth and warm applications.>>
<<Collapse and fatigue states from over-work.>>
General aggravation from alcoholic drinks or from abuse of alcohol.
Breakdown from substance abuse.
Simple "hangover".
General aggravation from eating.
Convulsions, worse anger, worse touch.
Faintness, worse odors, worse labor.
Cerebral accidents with paresis, expressive aphasia, convulsion.
General aggravation from dry weather.
General aggravation from suppressed hemorrhoids (peptic ulcer, etc.).
Acutes.
Influenza or other febrile conditions with high fever and violent chills and rigors which are worse from every movement which stirs the air under the covers.
Cystitis with nearly constant urging, relieved for moments only on passing small quantities of urine and relieved by warm applications or warm bathing.
Gastritis with pains from alcohol abuse or from over-eating.
Acute colic - kidney stones, cholecystitis - with cramping pains better from heat, worse touch.

Head.
Headache and migraine, worse noise, worse light, worse mental activity or vexation, worse before menses.
Photophobia.
Allergy and hay fever, even hay asthma.
SNEEZING AND CORYZA IN MORNING ON WAKING OR ON RISING.
Fluent coryza in the morning but obstructed at night.
Coryza worse in open air.
Bruxism.

Gastro-intestinal.
Craving: <<Spicy. Fat. Alcohol. Coffee.>> Tobacco. Any stimulant.
Peptic ulcers in workaholic patients.Gastritis from alcohol abuse.
Hepatitis, either infectious or alcoholic.
Nausea and vomiting, worse anger, worse alcohol, worse menstrual colic or other abdominal pains, worse smoke.
<<Stomach pains, worse anger, worse tight clothes, better warmth, warm applications or warm drinks.>>
<<Cramping or sharp pains in abdomen,>> worse after eating, worse cold, better warmth or warm drinks, better stool.
<<Infants with colic>> and angry arching of the back.

Rectum.
CONSTIPATION WITH CONSTANT, INEFFECTUAL URGING FOR STOOL; small amounts are passed which temporarily relieves the urging only to return moments later.
Constipation in children with hard, painful stool; the child fears going for stool.
Diarrhea alternating with constipation; constant urging for stool but passes small amounts. Diarrhea, worse cold, worse alcohol.
Urging for stool during urination.
Hernia, inguinal or umbilical.
Hemorrhoids; pains better warmth, better after stool.

Urinary and Sexual Organs.
CYSTITIS WITH CONSTANT URGING FOR SMALL AMOUNTS, BETTER WARM BATHING.
Painful urinary retention.
Sex drive increased; promiscuity.
Kidney stones; renal colic.
Pyelonephritis.
Dysmenorrhea with urge for stool before or during the flow.
Uterine or rectal spasm during sexual orgasm.

Chest.
Cough, worse morning, or morning in bed.
Asthma, often worse exertion, worse night, worse 3 or 4 AM, worse cold, worse in the morning.
Angina pectoris.
Palpitations from coffee, from excitement.

Extremities.
<<Back pain, worse night in bed>>, worse turning in bed, must rise to turn, worse during fever, worse during urge for stool.
Fibrositis, worse cold, better warmth.
Cramps and contractures of muscles.
Twitching, tics, tremor and muscle spasms anywhere in the body.

Sleep.
INSOMNIA, WAKES ESPECIALLY 3 OR 4 AM AND CANNOT SLEEP DUE TO THOUGHTS ABOUT WORK or how to accomplish tasks.
Sleepiness during day, worse eating, worse when sitting, worse watching TV.

Clinical.
Alcoholism. Allergy. Angina. Arrhythmia. Arthritis. Asthma. Behavior disorder. Cerebral accidents. Chemical sensitivity. Chronic fatigue syndrome. Colds. Colic. Constipation. Crohn's disease. Cystitis. Endometriosis. Fibrositis. Headache. Hemorrhoid. Hyper- tension. Inflammatory bowel disease. Influenza. Insomnia. Irritable bowel syndrome. Kidney stones. Low back pain. Lupus. Migraine. Multiple Sclerosis. Neuralgia. Peptic ulcer. Premenstrual syndrome. Prostatitis. Pyelonephritis. Rectal fissure. Sciatica. Ulcerative colitis.

Relationship.
Complimentary.
Sulph. Kali-C. Phos. Sep. Staph.
Inimical.
Ign.
Comparisons.
Med - Extremes of behavior, workaholic, irritable, allergy, peptic ulcer, craves fat, alcohol and spicy, urinary symptoms, etc.
Lil-T - Intense irritability, dysmenorrhea, ineffectual urging.
Cham - Anger, over-sensitive to stimulation, colic.
Sep - Irritable, thin, sensitive to noise, premenstrual syndrome, constipation, abuse of drugs, cystitis, etc.
Sulph - Ambitious, arrogant, craving fat and alcohol, hemorrhoids, colitis, insomnia, etc.
Aur - Workaholic, haughty, irritable, insomnia, craving alcohol.
Calc - Workaholic, breakdown from over-work, chilly, constipation.
Ign - Easily offended, ambitious, cramps and spasms, rectal pathology, back pains.
Anac. Carc. Asar. Strych. Lyc. Stram.