Capsicum annuum

Prepared from the dried, ripe fruit of the plant Capsicum annuum, belonging to the Solanaceae family. The tincture is made from finely powdered dried pods macerated in alcohol. The plant is native to tropical America but cultivated worldwide for its pungent fruit, rich in capsaicin, which gives it its characteristic heat.

Proved by Hahnemann and his colleagues, published in the Materia Medica Pura, with later confirmations by Hering, Allen, and Hughes.

A sluggish, chilly, homesick constitution, where body and mind are both slow to react. Burning pains in mucous membranes, especially in throat and ears, with a sullen, irritable mental state. The sufferer withdraws into memories of home, resenting present circumstances, and responds poorly to change or disturbance.

• Mucous membranes – Particularly of the nasopharynx, Eustachian tubes, bladder, and rectum [Hering].
• Throat and ears – Catarrhal inflammation with burning pains, especially in cold, sluggish constitutions.
• Digestive tract – Stomach and intestines with a tendency to haemorrhoids and sluggish peristalsis.
• Urinary tract – Bladder irritation, tenesmus, and mucous discharge.
• Respiratory system – Chronic, indolent coughs with expectoration.
• Circulatory system – Passive venous congestion.
• Mind – Homesickness with sleeplessness and bodily complaints.

Marked sluggishness of mind, with an aversion to exertion of any kind. Easily offended, peevish, and obstinate, yet lacking the energy to express anger strongly [Hahnemann]. A central keynote is homesickness — intense longing for one’s native place, often with sleeplessness, chilliness, and digestive upset [Hering]. The patient dwells on the past, magnifies trifles, and feels aggrieved without cause. There is a tendency to imagine neglect or insult, becoming sullen and resentful.

Mental dullness alternates with periods of irritability; concentration is difficult, and memory is weak. The will is enfeebled; they know what they should do but lack the initiative to act. Apathy and indifference to surroundings may deepen into melancholy.

Sleep disturbed by vivid dreams of home, family, or early life. Sleeplessness from grief or homesickness.

Dreams of journeys home, of relatives, or of pleasant past times.

Acts best in fat, sluggish, chilly, indolent persons, often with loose, flabby muscle and tendency to passive congestion [Boericke]. Complaints from change of climate, especially moving from hot to cold, damp regions.

Chilliness predominates; heat is short and slight. Intermittent fevers in those who have lived in hot climates and then returned to temperate ones [Hering].

Chill beginning in the back, spreading over the body. Sweat is slight, or absent, with thirst.

Dull, pressing headaches, often from the nape to the forehead, with heat and burning in the face. Congestive headaches from suppressed discharges or from exposure to cold wind.

Burning, smarting, and redness, as from smoke exposure. Eyelids feel heavy, and vision may be dim, as if through a veil.

A keynote action: Catarrh of the Eustachian tube with burning pain deep in the ears, extending into the throat on swallowing [Clarke]. Sensation of pressure or fullness, as if the drum were too tight. Deafness with snapping or crackling sounds when swallowing.

Coryza with watery, acrid discharge and burning in the nostrils. Sneezing in the open air, with chilliness. Loss of smell.

Flushed, bloated, with heat alternating with chilliness. Skin may appear greasy or puffy.

Burning and smarting of the mucous membrane, especially of the soft palate. Saliva increased, with an unpleasant, metallic or putrid taste.

Toothache in damp cold weather, better from warmth.

Burning pain on swallowing, extending to the ears — another keynote [Hering]. Tonsils red and inflamed; chronic pharyngeal catarrh in sluggish patients.

Cough, especially in the elderly, with tenacious mucus and burning in the chest. Hoarseness from chronic catarrh.

Palpitations with venous congestion.

Oppressed breathing in damp, cold air; inclination to take deep breaths.

Distension, eructations tasting of the food eaten hours before. Burning in the stomach, often with craving for stimulants. Loss of appetite in the morning but hunger in the evening.

Distended, sore to touch. Flatulence with rumbling and a sense of fullness.

Painful haemorrhoids, burning after stool as if pepper had been applied [Hahnemann]. Tenesmus and mucous discharge, worse after beer or cold drinks.

Frequent urging to urinate, with burning in the neck of the bladder. Urine scanty, dark, and strong-smelling.

Desire for stimulants and pungent food; beer aggravates markedly.

Sexual desire diminished; erections feeble. Sometimes sexual dreams without discharge.

Menses early, profuse, with backache and burning in the vagina. Leucorrhoea with burning, especially after cold exposure.

Pain in the sacral and lumbar regions, worse from cold air or after sitting on a cold surface.

Aches in muscles and joints after exposure to damp cold; worse on beginning to move.

Dry, with burning sensations. May be prone to boils or slow-healing eruptions in sluggish constitutions.

• Pulsatilla – Also for homesickness, but Puls. is weepy and yielding; Caps. is sullen and irritable.
• Aurum – Homesickness with profound depression; more suicidal tendency than Caps.
• Kali carb. – Catarrhal ear complaints, but without the burning-throat-to-ear keynote.
• Nux vomica – Irritability with digestive disturbances, but Nux is more restless and oversensitive

• Complementary: Carbo veg., Pulsatilla.
• Antidotes: Camphor, Coffea.
• Inimical: Unknown.
• Follows well: Arsenicum album, Nux vomica.

• Excellent for Eustachian catarrh with burning from throat to ear.
• Consider in haemorrhoids with marked burning after stool.
• A useful remedy for homesickness with bodily ailments.
• Catarrhal conditions in sluggish, flabby patients after exposure to damp cold.

Mind:

• Homesickness, sleepless from.
• Dwells on past disagreeables.
• Peevish, offended easily.

Head:

• Headache from neck to forehead.
• Congestive headache after cold exposure.

Ears:

• Burning pain extending from throat.
• Catarrh of Eustachian tube.

Throat:

• Pain on swallowing, extending to ear.
• Chronic pharyngeal catarrh.

Rectum:

• Burning after stool.
• Haemorrhoids, painful, burning.

Generalities:

• Chilly, sluggish, fat constitutions.

Aggravation from beer.

1. Hahnemann, S. – Materia Medica Pura: Original proving symptoms.
2. Hering, C. – Guiding Symptoms: Homesickness, burning ear-throat connection.
3. Allen, T.F. – Encyclopaedia: Detailed proving notes and modalities.
4. Clarke, J.H. – Dictionary: Clinical notes on ear and throat catarrh.
5. Kent, J.T. – Lectures: Constitutional notes on sluggish, chilly types.
6. Hughes, R. – Cyclopaedia: Pharmacodynamic remarks on capsaicin effects.
7. Boericke, W. – Pocket Manual: Keynotes, sluggish constitution type.
8. Lippe, A. – Keynotes: Aggravation from beer, burning pains.
9. Farrington, E.A. – Clinical MM: Intermittent fevers in climate change.
10. Nash, E.B. – Leaders: Burning haemorrhoids, homesickness.