Coffea curda

Coffea cruda is prepared from the unroasted seeds of the Coffea arabica plant, a member of the Rubiaceae family. In its crude form, the bean contains significant quantities of caffeine, chlorogenic acid, tannins, trigonelline, and volatile oils. The preparation in homeopathy uses the unroasted seed to retain its full alkaloid profile, especially caffeine, which has a direct stimulant effect on the central nervous system, increasing cortical activity, elevating mood, and intensifying sensory perception.

First proved by Samuel Hahnemann and his pupils, published in Materia Medica Pura (1827). Subsequent confirmations and expansions by Allen, Hering, Kent, and others.

Coffea cruda embodies the polarity of stimulation and exhaustion — the exaltation of mind and sense followed by collapse. At its heart lies a profound nervous hyperaesthesia: the world’s beauty, sounds, lights, and even joys are too much to bear. The Coffea patient lives at the threshold of sensory ecstasy, a state both blissful and tormenting. This intensity, whether of pleasure or pain, defines the remedy’s essence.

• Nervous system – cerebral cortex, heightened nerve excitability, sensory over-acute states.
• Mind and emotions – over-sensitiveness to impressions, exalted mental activity, emotional reactivity.
• Special senses – hearing, sight, touch, taste and smell all over-acute.
• Sleep mechanism – insomnia from mental overactivity, pleasurable excitement, or pain.
• Heart and circulation – palpitations from emotions or stimulants.
• Gastrointestinal tract – effects of coffee on digestion, especially aggravations in sensitive individuals.
• Reproductive system – menstrual pains aggravated by heightened nerve perception.

An intense and exalted state of mental activity defines Coffea cruda’s mental picture. Thoughts rush with such rapidity that the prover feels incapable of keeping up; ideas are abundant, brilliant, and pleasurable, but often fleeting and disconnected [Hahnemann, Hering]. This over-sensitiveness extends to every impression — joy becomes ecstasy, disappointment becomes despair, and grief becomes crushing. The remedy is notable for an abnormal increase in appreciation of beauty, art, and music, where the emotional response can be overwhelming, leading to tears or shivers [Kent]. The irritability is peculiar: born of excessive nerve activity, where the smallest contradiction provokes offence. Children may be excitable, sleepless, and laugh immoderately at trifles, only to burst into tears moments later. This emotional lability mirrors the action of caffeine on the nervous system, enhancing cortical stimulation and emotional reactivity [Hughes].

Coffea cruda is a leading remedy for insomnia from mental overactivity. The patient lies awake with thoughts crowding, ideas rushing, and every sense on high alert. The least noise disturbs. Sleep, when it comes, is light, easily broken, and unrefreshing [Hahnemann, Kent]. This sleeplessness is often accompanied by joyful excitement, anticipation, or after excessive coffee drinking.

Dreams are vivid, abundant, and emotionally charged — often of joyful events, love, or pleasurable experiences. These can be so stimulating that they wake the sleeper.

Over-sensitiveness to all impressions — mental, emotional, and physical — is the keynote. Pain, joy, light, sound, odours, and touch are felt with unnatural intensity. Effects of coffee-drinking, especially in sensitive persons, are well reproduced.

Fever may develop after excitement, with flushed face, hot head, and cold extremities. Pulse rapid and full.

Alternations of heat and chill from emotional states. Sweating during excitement is often profuse on the face.

Headaches of Coffea cruda are marked by intense nervous excitement and hyperaesthesia. Pains are often described as as if a nail were driven into the brain, especially after excitement, emotions, or prolonged mental labour [Clarke]. There is a peculiar sensation as though the brain were vibrating or quivering from the least noise. The headaches are commonly frontal or one-sided, aggravated by noise, odours, light, and mental exertion, and relieved by lying quietly in the dark. Some provers experienced a sensation as if the head were larger than it is, due to hyperaesthesia of the scalp and cranial tissues [Allen]. Pulsations in the temples, with distension of veins, can accompany excitement-induced headaches.

The eyes in Coffea are extremely sensitive to light, with a tendency for vision to be brighter and more distinct than normal — objects appear unusually vivid [Hering]. There may be visual illusions, where colours seem more intense, and edges more sharply defined, a symptom echoed by Kent as “vision too acute for comfort.” Ophthalmic pains can be severe, with darting, shooting qualities worsened by mental strain or emotional excitement. Lachrymation may occur from either joy or pain. Reading fine print can rapidly fatigue the eyes due to nervous overstrain.

Hearing is over-acute — the ticking of a clock, distant footsteps, or faint rustling becomes intolerable [Lippe]. Ringing in the ears can accompany states of nervous overactivity. Sudden noises provoke palpitations, startle responses, and sometimes trembling. In some provers, music produces an intense emotional response, alternately soothing and overstimulating.

The sense of smell is heightened to an almost painful degree. Odours — pleasant or unpleasant — are perceived intensely, sometimes triggering headaches or nausea. Nasal mucosa may feel dry, with occasional epistaxis after excitement. Catarrhal symptoms are rare but may develop from suppression of colds by excitement or late nights.

Facial expression is animated, flushed, and mobile, reflecting the underlying nervous energy. Flushing alternates with pallor during emotional episodes. Neuralgic facial pains may be described as unbearable, with a sensation of nerves being “alive and raw” [Kent]. Muscular twitching of the face may accompany intense mental excitement or sleeplessness.

Taste is more acute than normal, with heightened appreciation for sweet and aromatic substances. The mouth may feel unusually dry despite no thirst. Teeth and gums can be hypersensitive, making chewing uncomfortable. There is sometimes involuntary biting of the tongue during sleep from nervous overactivity.

Pains in the teeth are intensified to an unbearable degree, especially during dental procedures or inflammation — the nerve perception of pain is multiplied. Coffea is a leading remedy for toothache during pregnancy, where the pain is out of proportion to any observable pathology [Clarke].

The throat may feel dry, with a constant need to swallow despite absence of thirst. Globus sensations (as if a lump were present) can arise during emotional stress. The mucous membranes are overly sensitive to temperature extremes.

Palpitations from emotions or stimulants; rapid pulse with anxiety and trembling. The chest may feel oppressed from over-excitation.

Rapid, bounding pulse; palpitations brought on by joy, anticipation, or sudden noise.

Shortness of breath from emotional excitement. Sighing respiration may be observed.

Gastric disturbances arise primarily from nervous excitement — nausea, retching, or even vomiting from sudden joy, shock, or grief [Hering]. Appetite may be sharpened transiently during excitement, but digestion is easily disturbed by late meals or excessive coffee.

Nervous abdominal pains, griping, or cramping may occur during heightened emotional states. There is a tendency for flatulence to accumulate after rich meals taken in the evening.

Constipation may be functional, related to lifestyle or emotional state, with an absence of urging. Haemorrhoidal pains are often described as unbearable when present.

Increased frequency of urination, particularly at night, from nervous irritability of the bladder. The urine may be pale and copious.

Strong desire for coffee (even though it may aggravate symptoms). Aversion to food during emotional distress.

Sexual excitement may be heightened, with lascivious thoughts and increased desire during states of general over-sensitiveness. Erections may be frequent and disturbing to sleep.

Menstrual pains are perceived as far more intense than usual, with heightened emotional reactivity. Labour pains, toothache, or other discomforts during pregnancy are exaggerated in perception [Kent].

Muscular tension in the cervical and lumbar areas from prolonged nervous strain. Hyperaesthesia along the spine.

Trembling of hands from excitement; fine motor coordination may be temporarily impaired. Sensory over-acuteness to touch.

Skin highly sensitive to touch, with itching aggravated by excitement. Rash may appear after emotional shock in susceptible persons.

• Chamomilla: Oversensitiveness to pain, but more irritable and capricious; Coffea is more exalted and joyous.
• Aconitum napellus: Acute anxiety and restlessness, but from fear rather than pleasurable excitement.
• Nux vomica: Sleeplessness from mental strain or stimulants, but more irritable and fault-finding.
• Opium: Sleeplessness from pleasurable excitement, but more with drowsiness and inactivity of mind.
• Coffea tosta: Similar symptoms but generally less intense sensory over-acute states.

• Complementary: Acon., Nux-v., Cham.
• Antidotes: Nux-v., Cham., Ign., Puls.
• Inimical: None noted.
• Follows Well: Acon., Cham., Bell.
• Precedes Well: Nux-v., Puls., Sep.

Particularly effective in insomnia of sensitive, excitable persons; in neuralgias where pain is out of proportion to pathology; and in oversensitiveness to pain during pregnancy or labour.

Mind

• Mind; activity of mind, increased
• Mind; joy, excessive
• Mind; sensitivity, external impressions to
• Mind; sleeplessness from mental activity

Head

• Head; pain, as from a nail driven in
• Head; pain, excited by emotions

Sleep

• Sleep; sleeplessness from joy
• Sleep; sleeplessness from mental activity

1. Hahnemann S. Materia Medica Pura – Original proving symptoms of Coffea.
2. Hering C. The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica – Expanded clinical confirmations.
3. Lippe A. Keynotes and Red Line Symptoms – Characteristic pains and oversensitiveness.
4. Allen T.F. Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica – Detailed proving records.
5. Hughes R. Cyclopaedia of Drug Pathogenesy – Pharmacological and proving synthesis.
6. Kent J.T. Lectures on Materia Medica – Mental portrait and insomnia indications.
7. Clarke J.H. Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica – Clinical notes and comparisons.
8. Boericke W. Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica – Concise indications.
9. Farrington E.A. Clinical Materia Medica – Remedy in relation to pathology.
10. Nash E.B. Leaders in Homoeopathic Therapeutics – Practical clinical uses.