Onosmodium

A North American boraginaceous herb, bearing stony marbleseed nutlets; the tincture is prepared from the fresh plant. Classical authors group its action under neuro-muscular fatigue with marked oculo-motor asthenopia, sexual debility, and uterine atony, with functional paresis and numbness in extremities [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger]. Proving and clinical records emphasise headaches from eyestrain, ptosis, blur/diplopia on reading, incoordination, yawning drowsiness, loss of sexual desire/erectile power, ovarian–uterine bearing-down, and a general sense that “the will does not carry through to the muscles” [Hering], [Clarke]. The pathophysiologic colour is neuromuscular transmission fatigue and ciliary/rectus muscle exhaustion, with pelvic autonomic atony; hence its use in asthenopia, school-teacher’s headache, sexual neurasthenia, subinvolution/prolapse and functional vertigo [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke].

Nineteenth-century American provings consolidated by Allen and Hering, with many clinical confirmations in asthenopia, sexual weakness, and uterine atony [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke]. Recurrent features: heavy drooping lids, blurred sight/diplopia on reading, occipito-frontal headache from eye-work, numbness/tingling of hands/feet, staggering or uncertain gait, loss of sexual desire/power, ovarian dragging, and great drowsiness with repeated yawning. Tags: [Proving] [Clinical].

Essence: Onos. is the functional paresis remedy where will fails at the motor end, and two theatres announce it: the oculo-motor apparatus (ciliary asthenopia with ptosis, blur, diplopia, and occipital → frontal headache from reading) and the pelvic–sexual apparatus (indifference, impotence, uterine atony with bearing-down) [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke]. The portrait is cool, sleepy, apathetic, not anxious; yawning, drowsy and listless, the patient loses precision of focus—first literal (eyes), then figurative (attention, co-ordination). Standing fatigues the lumbosacral supports; coitus empties the small store of force; coffee gives a false dawn and a heavier dusk; glare and heat dissipate the little nerve-reserve. The pace is slow leaking rather than sudden collapse; rest, darkness, short sleep, cooling, and firm support refill the cistern briefly, testifying to the remedy’s modality logic.

Kingdom/miasm signature: A modest Boraginaceae plant yields a remedy of laxity and fatigue, coloured psorically by functional weakness and sycotically by recurrent relapse (effort → failure → brief remission). Polarities: worse near work, heat/glare, standing, sex, exertion, coffee; better closing eyes/dark, cold to head, lying, support, open air without glare, short naps. Differentiation: choose Onos. over Gelsemium when fear and trembling are absent and reading is the chief trigger; over Ruta/Physostigma when sexual atony and pelvic dragging join the eye picture; over Agnus-c./Selenium when eye/brain fatigue is prominent; and over Sepia/Lilium when bearing-down is functional, improved by support and rest, and accompanied by asthenopia. The clinical craft is as much hygienic as pharmacologic: set work–rest intervals, shade and cool the eyes, bind the back if needful, limit sexual frequency, and replace coffee with plain nourishment—then the Onos. dose finds purchase and holds.

• Ciliary/oculo-motor apparatus — Asthenopia from near work; accommodation gives out; ptosis, blur, diplopia; letters run together; headache begins occipital and travels forward (echoed under Head/Eyes) [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke].
• Cerebro-spinal cord / motor co-ordination — Incoordination, staggering, sense that muscles won’t obey; numbness/tingling of extremities; general paresis after exertion [Hering], [Boger].
• Sexual sphere—male — Abolished desire, imperfect erections, rapid prostration after coitus; mental indifference to sex [Clarke], [Boericke], [Phatak].
• Sexual sphere—female / uterus–ovaries — Bearing-down, subinvolution, prolapse tendencies with backache; left ovarian aching frequent; menses late, scant with pelvic weakness [Clarke], [Hering], [Boger].
• Head–neck axis — Occipito-cervical strain with tensive ache from eye-use; neck muscles tired, cannot hold head up long [Allen], [Clarke].
• Lumbo-sacral — Weak small of back worse standing; relief from support/pressure; ties to pelvic atony [Boger], [Boericke].
• General nervous system — Drowsy, yawning, listless; mental confusion after reading; memory slips; errors in writing/speaking [Hering], [Clarke], [Kent].

The mental state is a pale neurasthenia: dull, indifferent, indisposed to effort, with memory lapses and mistakes in writing or speaking after short reading; he misplaces words, loses the line, and feels the eyes give way—a pattern that tallies precisely with the worse from near work modalities [Hering], [Clarke]. There is a vacant, sleepy apathy with frequent yawning; tasks that require attention seem to drain muscular power, so that he rises staggering and must lie down (Generalities cross-link). Irritability is mild; the prevailing tone is listless weakness. Sexual indifference is mental as well as bodily; images do not excite, and attempts leave him more dull and powerless, echoing worse from sexual excitement [Clarke], [Boericke]. After small social strain the head grows heavy, eyelids droop, and he seeks a dark corner; a short sleep refreshes him briefly (Sleep cross-link). Compare Gelsemium (drowsy, trembling, heavy eyelids but with stage-fright), Pic-ac. (brain-fag with occipital pain yet more driven), and Kali-phos. (mental fatigue with better from rest but less eye-centred), choosing Onos. when oculo-motor fatigue and sexual atony conjointly define the case [Clarke], [Boger], [Kent].

Drowsy, yawns, falls asleep over work; short nap refreshes temporarily, after which asthenopia recommences on resuming reading [Allen], [Clarke]. Sleep at night is easy but unrefreshing if the day has been spent in undue eye-work; morning is best until spent again (modal cycle). Dreams insignificant; the problem is brain–muscle fatigue, not mental agitation.

Scant recollection; when noted, confused work-dreams and missed lines echo the day’s asthenopic strain [Clarke]. Erotic dreams without desire may occur in the sexually atonic but are not prominent.

Onos. expresses functional paresis with its poles in ciliary failure (ptosis, blur, diplopia, headache from reading) and in pelvic–sexual atony (indifference, impotence, bearing-down) [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger]. The law of the case is fatigue of will-to-muscle: mind-work precipitates motor incoordination, numbness, and staggering; sexual effort leaves back and eyes weak; standing brings lumbosacral ache and uterine drag. Master modalities: worse near work, glare/heat, sexual excitement/coitus, standing, exertion, coffee, and often left; better closing eyes/darkness, cold to head/eyes, lying, firm support to back/pelvis, open air without glare, short sleep. Differentiate from Gelsemium (ptosis, drowsy tremor but more anticipatory fear), Ruta/Physostigma (eye-strain remedies without sexual atony), Agnus-c./Selenium (sexual debility without oculo-motor failure), and Sepia/Lilium t. (pelvic bearing-down with strong affect), taking Onos. when asthenopia + pelvic atony + apathetic dullness form one continuum.

No characteristic fever. Slight evening heat of head after much reading; coolness of extremities; temperature otherwise stable [Clarke]. The remedy belongs to functional states rather than febrile ones.

Warm, close rooms produce heavy head and drooping lids; open air clears if glare is avoided (modal synthesis) [Allen], [Clarke]. Sweat not marked. Chilliness is relative to fatigue rather than climate.

Headache is born in the occiput as a dragging or tensive weight and travels forward to temples and forehead after reading; it is inseparable from eye strain, and easing the eyes relieves the head, mirroring the better from closing lids [Allen], [Clarke]. The neck tires of holding the head; a sense of lax muscles at the occipito-cervical junction compels support (Back cross-link). Heat and glare hasten the forward march of pain; cold applications and darkness soothe (Modalities). Some headaches are left-sided, with concomitant left eye blur and left ovarian tug during menses; this leftward bias, though not absolute, is repeatedly noted [Clarke], [Boger]. The brain-fag ache of students/clerks/teachers is paradigmatic—quiet, cool, eyes shut, and sleep undo it. Compare Ruta (eye-strain with aching deep in the orbits and worse from reading), Nat-m. (school headache, photophobia yet strong emotional profile), and Pic-ac. (occipital pain from study without sexual atony).

The ciliary muscle fails: print blurs, letters run, lines double; ptosis heavy on lids; twitching of lids when straining; diplopia on converging; accommodation recovers only after closing the eyes or a short nap [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke]. Glare and close heat aggravate; cooling and shade favour recovery (Modalities). There is a clumsy guidance of the eyes—incoordination when shifting focus—matching the cerebellar hue of the remedy (Generalities). Reading by afternoon light is worst; morning is better until expended. Compare Physostigma (spasm/paresis of accommodation, brow-ache, photophobia), Jaborandi (spasm with sweat, salivation), and Gelsemium (ptosis with tremor but less asthenopic blurring). Onos. is chosen where accommodation fails with sexual and pelvic atony in the same subject [Clarke], [Boericke].

A full feeling with occasional roaring or ringing after mental strain; hearing dull in a close room; open air revives if the eyes are rested [Clarke]. No specific otorrhoea or neuralgia belongs; the ear complaints track the fatigue curve and abate with rest. Turning quickly or rising from a desk may induce a moment’s giddiness (Respiration/Back general incoordination tie).

Little catarrh; sneezing and nasal tingling after reading have been observed in provers, likely reflex to eye strain [Allen]. Odours do not characterise the picture; it is the sensorimotor failure that rules. Dryness of nasal mucosa may accompany close room heat (Generalities).

Pale, relaxed expression, heavy lids; lips dry after long attention; a blank fatigue replaces animation [Clarke]. Flushing with effort or after coitus passes quickly into languor (Mind/Sexual links). No acne/eruption keynote belongs.

Mouth dry in heated rooms; tongue feels heavy and words are misplaced when attention flags (Mind cross-link). Appetite not dominant; a mild nausea with eyestrain can occur and passes with rest [Allen]. No ulcerative picture.

No central dental sphere; jarring increases headache when the head is already strained. Bruxism is not characteristic; the jaw simply tires of speech in the fatigued subject.

Throat relaxed sensation, as if voice would fail after speaking; husky on strain, related to general neuromuscular laxity [Clarke]. Fluids easy; choking not present; the throat mirrors the will–muscle gap of the remedy.

Breathing shallow on exertion from general weakness; no inflammatory picture; palpitation from small efforts in nervous subjects settles with rest [Clarke]. Voice tires easily; talking long brings huskiness (Throat link). The chest is a barometer of overall fatigue, not a prime seat.

Pulse soft, sometimes slower with drowsiness; palpitation arises from effort or emotion but lacks the anxiety of Gelsemium; it subsides when lying and closing the eyes [Clarke]. No valvular signature.

A moment’s air-hunger on ascending stairs in students; sighing relieves; open air (not glaring sun) refreshes if eye-work pauses (Generalities). No spasmodic cough is proper to the remedy.

A mild sinking at epigastrium towards afternoon after brainwork; food steadies briefly, then drowsiness resumes (Mind link) [Clarke]. Coffee may first brighten, then scatter and depress, intensifying the subsequent collapse (Modalities; compare Kali-phos.). Nausea can follow severe eye strain and head pain, relieved by cold to head and rest [Allen].

General relaxation; women feel a drag in hypogastrium toward left side near menses (Female cross-link) [Clarke]. Flatulence of sedentary workers occurs without a marked dyspepsia signature. Tight bands aggravate pelvic bearing-down.

Habitually constipated from indolence and sedentariness; stools sluggish unless routine and water are scrupulous [Clarke]. Strain fatigues and aggravates backache; relief comes with regular habits rather than purgation (Clinical).

Urging frequent from nervous weakness; stream feeble; dribbling after stool in the exhausted male [Clarke], [Boericke]. No acute catarrh belongs; the bladder reflects pelvic atony.

Coffee and stimulants bring a brief false strength, then collapse; warm light meals sustain better [Clarke], [Kent]. No strong cravings; some nausea when headaches are high (Stomach link). Alcohol magnifies incoordination.

Loss of desire, imperfect erections, premature relaxation, extreme lassitude after effort; a purely functional impotence with mind dull and indifferent [Clarke], [Boericke], [Phatak]. Backache and weak knees follow coitus; next day eye strain and headache are easier to induce—an explicit cross-link between sexual and oculo-motor fatigue. Compare Agnus-c. (impotence with despair), Selenium (exhaustion with seminal loss), Kali-brom. (loss of desire with mental depression); Onos. is cooler, apathetic, and asthenopic.

Pelvic bearing-down, subinvolution, and a sense that the uterus will fall out on standing; left ovarian ache, dragging to back and thigh, worsened by exertion or coitus [Clarke], [Hering]. Menses late, scant, with backache and headache from eye-use; sexual indifference parallels the male picture. Prolapse is functional and better from support and lying down (Modalities). Compare Sepia (bearing-down with irritability and better from exercise), Lilium t. (marked pelvic rush and anxiety); choose Onos. when uterine laxity travels with eye/mental fatigue and apathy.

Lumbosacral weakness prominent: cannot stand long; must lean or bind the loins; aching into sacrum during menses or after coitus [Boger], [Clarke]. Occipito-cervical muscles tire, needing the head supported—a physical echo of the head–eye axis (Head cross-link).

Numbness, tingling, sense of walking on cotton, incoordination, and staggering after mental work or sexual exertion [Hering], [Boger]. Hands tremble when writing after eyes tire; grasp feels unsafe. Knees weak on stairs; ankles give with prolonged standing; all better from lying and rest (Modalities).

No fixed eruption; the skin is cool, pale, and relaxed; sweat not profuse. Paresthetic tinglings belong to the nerves, not to a dermatitic diathesis [Hering]. Long desk work in warm rooms gives a limp, oily feel that accompanies drowsiness.

Asthenopia / oculo-motor

• Ruta — Eye-strain with deep orbital ache and stiffness; Onos. adds ptosis, diplopia, and sexual atony [Clarke], [Boger].
• Physostigma — Spasm/paresis of accommodation with brow pain; less pelvic/sexual sphere than Onos. [Allen], [Clarke].
• Gelsemium — Ptosis, drowsiness, tremor with stage-fright; Onos. has apathetic dullness and reading-triggered occipital → frontal headache [Kent], [Clarke].
• Jaborandi — Sweating, salivation with accommodative spasm; Onos. lacks the secretory storm [Allen].

Sexual debility (male)

• Agnus-c. — Impotence with melancholy and despair; Onos. is cool, indifferent, with eye–back fatigue linkage [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Selenium — Easily exhausted sexually with emissions; mental clearness remains; Onos. is drowsy, apathetic, asthenopic [Boger].
• Kali-brom. — Loss of desire with depression and acne; lacks the eye keynote of Onos. [Clarke].

Pelvic bearing-down (female)

• Sepia — Bearing-down with irritability, better from exercise; Onos. worse standing, apathetic, eye-head fatigue prominent [Clarke], [Boger].
• Lilium t. — Pelvic rush, anxiety, heart–uterus see-saw; Onos. has quieter atony and left ovarian ache [Clarke].

General neurasthenia / paresis

• Picric acid — Occipital ache from mental work with driven, burnt-out state; Onos. duller, sleepier, more eye/sex atony [Clarke], [Kent].
• Kali-phos. — Mental fatigue better for rest; fewer asthenopic and pelvic signs than Onos. [Boger].

• Complementary: Ruta — When orbital soreness persists after Onos. restores accommodation [Clarke].
• Complementary: Kali-phos. — To tone nerve-energy in students once Onos. removes asthenopia [Boger].
• Complementary: Sepia — In women: Onos. for functional atony; Sepia thereafter if constitutional pelvic laxity remains with mood changes [Clarke].
• Follows well: Gelsemium — After acute ptosis/drowsy tremor clears, leaving reading-triggered head–eye fatigue [Kent].
• Follows well: Agnus-c./Selenium — When despondency or seminal losses abate but functional power is still low; Onos. rebuilds will-to-muscle link [Clarke], [Boger].
• Precedes well: Physostigma — If a residual accommodative paresis remains with little general fatigue [Allen].
• Related: Pic-ac., Jaborandi, Phos-ac. — neurasthenic cluster; select by eye/sex emphasis and secretory profile [Clarke], [Boger].
• Antidotes (functional): Rest, eye hygiene (dark/intervals), postural support, temperance in sex; Nux-v. for coffee-stimulant abuse overlay [Clarke], [Kent].

• Asthenopic school-teacher: Ptosis, blur/diplopia on reading, occipital → frontal headache, yawns, sleeps in breaks—Onos. before Ruta/Physostigma when sexual or pelvic atony coexists [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Functional impotence: Cool indifference, imperfect erections, back/eye fatigue after attempts—Onos.; advise intervals, avoid coffee; follow with Selenium only if seminal loss persists [Clarke], [Boger].
• Uterine subinvolution/prolapse tendency: Bearing-down on standing, left ovarian ache, mind dull—Onos. with support, rest, warmth to pelvis; consider Sepia later if mood/irritability dominates [Clarke], [Hering].
• Dosing: Functional states often respond to 6C–30C once to twice daily for short runs, then space; chronic asthenopia with sexual atony, 200C single and observe. Redose on clear relapse of asthenopia + atony not from neglect of hygiene [Boericke], [Kent].

Mind

• Apathy; indisposition to mental work — sleepy dullness of neurasthenia [Clarke], [Hering].
• Mistakes in writing/speaking; loses the line — attention fails with eye strain [Allen], [Clarke].
• Indifference to sexual matters — mental facet of atony [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Better after a short sleep — brief restoration of function [Allen].
• Worse from coffee — stimulant → collapse pattern [Kent], [Clarke].
• Memory weak after reading — immediate fatigue sign [Allen].

Head

• Headache, occipital → frontal, from reading — cardinal chain [Allen], [Clarke].
• Heaviness of head; cannot hold it up long — neck fatigue [Clarke].
• Headache better by closing eyes and cold applications — modality stamp [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Left-sided temple/eye headache — lateral bias [Clarke], [Boger].
• Brain-fag headaches of students/teachers — clinical terrain [Clarke].
• Glare aggravates head/eye symptoms — light sensitivity [Clarke].

Eyes

• Asthenopia; accommodation fails on near work — essence [Allen], [Hering].
• Ptosis; lids heavy and droop — oculo-motor paresis [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Diplopia on reading; letters run together — ciliary–rectus fatigue [Allen].
• Better closing eyes; worse heat/glare — modalities [Clarke].
• Twitching of lids with effort — fatigue tremor [Hering].
• Incoordination on shifting focus — guidance failure [Clarke].

Female / Pelvis

• Uterus, bearing-down, worse standing — pelvic atony [Clarke], [Boger].
• Subinvolution/prolapse tendency (functional) — lax supports [Clarke].
• Ovarian pain, left, aching/dragging — lateral note [Clarke].
• Menses late, scant, with backache and head–eye fatigue — cycle tie [Hering].
• Better from support and lying — management [Boger].
• Sexual indifference — concordant mental–pelvic sign [Clarke].

Male / Sexual

• Impotence, functional; erections imperfect — core sexual rubric [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Desire diminished or absent — mental apathy [Clarke].
• Backache and prostration after coitus — post-exertional crash [Clarke], [Boger].
• Emissions rare; power lacking rather than loss — quality difference vs. Selenium [Boger].
• Coffee aggravates sexual weakness — stimulant modality [Kent].
• Better from rest/abstinence — regimen rubric [Clarke].

Back / Extremities

• Weakness, lumbosacral; worse standing — hallmark of postural atony [Boger].
• Occipito-cervical fatigue; must support head — head–neck axis [Clarke].
• Incoordination; staggering after exertion — cerebellar tint [Hering].
• Numbness/tingling hands/feet — paresthetic echo [Hering], [Boger].
• Knees weak on stairs — effort sign [Clarke].
• Better lying; worse exertion — general relief rule [Hering].

Generalities

• Prostration from mental exertion — will-to-muscle failure [Clarke], [Boger].
• Drowsiness; frequent yawning — tonic state [Allen].
• Worse near work; worse sexual excitement; worse standing — master triad [Clarke].
• Better by rest, darkness, cold to head, support — master ameliorations [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Left-sided tendency — lateralisation [Boger], [Clarke].
• Coffee aggravates; open air (without glare) ameliorates — hygiene axis [Kent], [Clarke].

Allen, T. F. — Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): provings—asthenopia, ptosis, diplopia, occipital→frontal headache from reading; drowsiness.
Hering, C. — The Guiding Symptoms of our Materia Medica (1879): neuromuscular fatigue, incoordination, numbness; sexual and uterine atony.
Clarke, J. H. — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): clinical uses—school-teacher’s headache, sexual neurasthenia, subinvolution; modalities (rest, darkness, cold to head; worse near work, sex, standing).
Boericke, W. — Pocket Manual of Homœopathic Materia Medica (1901): keynotes—asthe­nopia with ptosis; sexual debility; bearing-down; left ovarian aching.
Boger, C. M. — Synoptic Key (1915): generals—will fails at muscle; worse standing; lumbosacral weakness; remedy relations.
Kent, J. T. — Lectures on Homœopathic Materia Medica (1905): comparisons—Gels., Ruta, Pic-ac., Kali-phos.; coffee aggravation in neurasthenia.
Phatak, S. R. — Materia Medica of Homoeopathic Medicines (1941): terse pointers—sexual indifference, functional impotence; asthenopia modalities.
Nash, E. B. — Leaders in Homeopathic Therapeutics (1899): clinical hints in functional paresis and sexual neurasthenia.
Farrington, E. A. — Clinical Materia Medica (1887): remedy grouping for pelvic atony vs. eye-strain remedies.
Dewey, W. A. — Practical Homoeopathic Therapeutics (1901): student/teacher neurasthenia; pacing work-rest.
Tyler, M. L. — Homoeopathic Drug Pictures (1942): bedside colour—drowsy apathetic asthenopia; bearing-down with relief from support.
Hughes, R. — Cyclopaedia of Drug Pathogenesy (1870): collated proving fragments and general nervous depression.