Trillium

Prepared from the fresh rhizome of Trillium (family Melanthiaceae, classically grouped with Liliaceae) by tincturing and potentising. Folk medicine prized “birthroot” as an astringent hæmostatic for uterine bleedings and excessive lochia—an ethnobotanical thread that matches the homeopathic picture: bright-red, gushing uterine hæmorrhage, worse from the least motion, with faintness and cold sweat, and a peculiar sensation that the pelvic bones will separate unless tightly bound [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Hughes].

Small [Proving] sets and abundant [Clinical] confirmations compose the picture; Allen, Hering, Clarke and Boericke emphasise uterine flooding, gush-on-motion, pelvic “separation” pains, and lochia that re-starts on rising, with secondary bleedings (epistaxis, hæmoptysis) and anæmic faintness [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger].

Trillium is the picture of the gushing bright hæmorrhage that starts afresh with the least motion—the patient hardly dare move. She feels the pelvis will fall to pieces unless tightly bound; binding relieves both pain and flow. Post-partum, lochia ceases at rest and returns on rising. With every gush come pallor, faintness, cold sweat, and sinking. This crisp triad—gush-on-motion, pelvic “separation” pains, better tight bandaging & absolute rest—identifies Trillium among hæmostatics and anchors its use in menorrhagia, metrorrhagia, abortion, placenta prævia adjunct care, and climacteric floods, with occasional echo bleedings from nose or lungs. Direction of cure is plain: flow steadies, pelvic pains ease under support, colour returns, and the patient tolerates gentle movement without a gush [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger].

• Uterus & pelvic ligaments. Menorrhagia/metrorrhagia; lochia too profuse or returns on least motion; flooding in pregnancy/after abortion; pelvic/hip pains “as if bones would separate,” relieved by tight bandaging/pressure [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Vasculature / blood. Bright-red, gushing hæmorrhage (often with clots) from uterus; also epistaxis and hæmoptysis in hæmorrhagic constitutions; rapid anæmia with faintness and cold sweat [Clarke], [Boger].
• Back & sacro-iliac arch. Severe sacro-iliac and hip pains, worse standing/walking, better binding; back feels as if it will break [Hering], [Boericke].
• Pregnancy & puerperium. Threatened miscarriage with flooding; placenta prævia/post-partum floods; lochia reappears on sitting up or moving [Clarke], [Dewey].
• Mucous membranes. Secondary bleedings (nose, lungs) of bright, free character in the same subject [Boericke], [Clarke].

Anxious about bleeding; fear of death during gushes; faint, sinking with pallor and cold sweat; wants to lie perfectly still lest the flow re-start [Clarke], [Hering]. Irritability and weeping from weakness; speaks in whispers. Relief brings quiet thankfulness; exhaustion out of proportion to effort (post-hæmorrhagic) [Boericke].

Restless from pelvic pains; sleeps only when tightly bandaged and kept quite still; disturbed by nightmare of falling apart at hips (symbolic of keynote) [Hering], [Clinical]. Post-hæmorrhagic drowsiness.

Of accidents, blood, and of trying to hold the body together; startles and clutches the pelvis on waking [Clinical].

A hæmorrhagic remedy for bright-red, gushing flows—every motion causes a gush—with faintness, cold sweat, and pelvic pains as if the bones would separate, relieved by tight binding and absolute rest. Lochia returns on rising; menorrhagia, metrorrhagia, abortion, and climacteric floods lie in its centre. Secondary bright bleedings (nose, lungs) occur in the same constitution. The prescriber sees a crisp modal triad: worse least motion, better pressure/bandaging, better lying perfectly still—and a structural keynote: pelvis feels as if it will fall apart [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger].

Little true fever; rather collapse with floods—pallor, cold sweat, soft pulse; brief heats during checks in flow; relief as hæmorrhage is restrained [Clarke], [Boericke].

• Chill: On attempting to sit up; shivering ushers a gush (motion) [Hering].
• Heat: Face flushes, then pallor; heat is brief and exhausting [Clarke].
• Sweat: Cold, clammy during gushes; not relieving [Boger].

Light-headed, syncope on attempting to rise; ringing in ears; blackness before eyes during gushes [Hering]. Headache from anæmia, throbbing temples, better lying low and after cold drinks [Clarke]. Epistaxis—bright, free; standing or motion re-excites it [Boericke].

Dim vision with pallor; flickers before faint; conjunctivæ pale post-hæmorrhage [Clarke]. Photophobia slight; eyes feel dry and burning during loss (vascular) [Boger].

Roaring/buzzing with sinking at epigastrium during floods; hearing dull from anæmia [Clarke]. Ear congestion on moving, with renewed gushing (vascular lability) [Boger].

Bright epistaxis on slightest jar or effort; returns on moving after being checked; cold applications and rest help [Clarke], [Boericke]. Coryza with sneezing may provoke a uterine gush in the same patient (reflex) [Clinical].

Sudden pallor with perspiration; lips blanched; or alternately flushed then white with faintness [Hering]. Expression anxious; nostrils move with sighing respiration during floods [Clarke].

Dry mouth and intense thirst for cold water during hæmorrhage; tongue pale; taste flat [Boericke]. Nausea from sight of blood; retching brings gush (worse motion) [Hering].

Throat

Tight, choking feeling with faintness; swallowing increases pelvic bearing-down momentarily by motion [Clarke]. Pharynx pallid in anæmia [Boericke].

Oppression and sighing during floods; hæmoptysis bright, free, after strain/cough, with faintness and need to lie still (less common but noted) [Clarke], [Boericke]. Palpitation from loss; pulse soft, compressible [Boger].

Pulse small, rapid, compressible during hæmorrhage; fluttering on attempting to rise; cold sweat with sinking at heart [Clarke]. Palpitation from least exertion while flooding persists [Boericke].

Short breath with faintness and pallor; least effort excites breathlessness and a gush (motion-aggravation theme) [Hering]. Sighing respiration during weakness [Clarke].

Tight, choking feeling with faintness; swallowing increases pelvic bearing-down momentarily by motion [Clarke]. Pharynx pallid in anæmia [Boericke].

Bearing-down as if everything would fall out; pelvis/hips feel as if the bones would separate; must bind tightly with a bandage or press with hands [Hering], [Clarke]. Hypogastrium sore; jar aggravates. Colicky dragging in groins during the flow, better pressure and absolute rest [Boericke].

Blood-streaked stools after severe uterine floods (systemic tendency); anæmic piles that ooze bright blood on rising [Clarke]. Faintness after stool if recently flooded [Boger].

Urging to urinate with pelvic weight; passing urine may provoke a brief gush on rising (motion-aggravation) [Clarke]. Urine pale from dilution; post-hæmorrhagic anæmia pattern [Boericke].

Craves cold water in small sips during loss; aversion to warm drinks then [Boericke]. Appetite low till bleeding checked; then ravenous from anæmia (secondary) [Clarke].

(Secondary sphere) Bright hæmorrhages (epistaxis/haemoptysis) following strain; faintness on rising, better pressure over abdomen [Clarke]. Sexual sphere not primary.

Cardinal sphere.
• Menses: too early, too profuse, bright-red with clots, gushes on least motion; flooding on attempting to sit up; must lie still [Hering], [Clarke].
• Pregnancy: threatened abortion with free bright flow; placenta prævia adjunct (clinical); faintness, cold sweat, back/hip pains as if pelvic joints would separate [Clarke], [Dewey].
• Puerperium (lochia): too copious; returns if patient rises; checked by firm abdominal binder; sacral/iliac pains relieved by pressure [Hering], [Boericke].
• Climacteric: menorrhagia/metrorrhagia, gushing, with faintness and backache; better tight bandage [Clarke].
• Fibroids: flooding with clots, gushing on motion; Tril. often palliates alongside Hamamelis/Thlaspi (relationships) [Dewey], [Clarke].
• Pains: severe across sacro-iliac joints; back feels as if it will break; must bind and lie still [Hering].

Across sacrum and hips: wrenching, “tearing-apart” pain—as if the pelvis would fall to pieces; better tight binding and lying still; worse standing/walking [Hering], [Boericke]. Lumbar weakness after floods [Clarke].

Cold hands/feet with sweat in gushes; trembling on the least attempt to stand; knees give way; must lie down [Clarke], [Boger]. Cramps in calves after loss of blood [Boericke].

Pale, waxen; cold, clammy sweat with gushes; later, anæmic dryness; ecchymoses rare but bleeding diathesis present (bright/free) [Clarke]. Flushing alternates with pallor on trying to rise [Boger].

Uterine hæmorrhage—bright, gushing

• Millefolium — Bright, painless gushing after strain; lacks Tril.’s pelvic “separation” and pressure-amelioration [Clarke], [Boger].
• Sabina — Bright with clots, shooting from sacrum to pubes, sexual desire increased; active labour-like pains; Tril. has more “bones-separating,” absolute rest and bandage keys [Hering], [Clarke].
• Erigeron — Bright, worse motion with bladder/urethral tenesmus; Tril. more sacro-iliac “breaking” and lochia-returns-on-rising keynote [Boericke].
• Ipecac. — Bright with constant nausea; blood may be persistent despite rest; Tril. nausea is secondary; pressure is markedly curative in Tril. [Kent], [Clarke].
• Hamamelis — Passive, venous, dark oozing with soreness; Tril. is bright, gushing and motion-triggered [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Secale — Thin, dark, protracted oozing; patient wants cold, little pain; Tril. is bright, motion-gush, pressure-better, with “pelvis falling apart” [Clarke].
• Thlaspi-b.p. — Uterine flooding with clots, often from fibroids; strong uterine soreness; Tril. when gush-on-motion + bandage-better predominate [Dewey].

Lochia—returns on rising

• Trillium is classic; Kreos. may have putrid lochia with burning/ulcers (different quality) [Clarke].
• Crocus — Dark, stringy clots with a “alive or moving in abdomen” sensation; Tril. is bright/free with pelvic separation pains [Hering], [Clarke].

Sacro-iliac “breaking” pains

• Bellis-p. — Deep bruised pelvic pains after labour; trauma; less hæmorrhagic gush-on-motion than Tril. [Boericke].
• Aesculus — Sacral backache with hæmorrhoids; no uterine gush signature [Boger].

• Complementary: Hamamelis (venous tone) to stabilise vessels between floods; China to restore after large losses [Clarke], [Dewey].
• Follows well: Sabina when active labour-like pains abate yet gush-on-motion and pelvic “separation” persist [Clarke].
• Precedes well: Thlaspi-b.p. or Ustilago where fibroid/flooding pathology dominates after acute control [Dewey].
• Compare: Erigeron, Millefolium, Ipecac., Secale, Crocus as above.
• Topical adjunct: Firm abdominal/pelvic binder—mechanical complement to Tril.’s pressure-amelioration [Clinical].

• Indications: Bright uterine flooding with gush-on-motion; lochia too free or returns on rising; threatened abortion with bright flow; post-partum or climacteric floods; sacro-iliac pains as if pelvis would separate, better tight bandaging; secondary epistaxis/haemoptysis in the same constitution [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Dewey].
• Potency & dosing: In acute flooding many use Ø/3X/3C–6C in frequent doses initially; where the keynote triad is striking, 30C at short intervals may act promptly; repeat as flow dictates, then space. For recurrent menorrhagia/climacteric flooding, 30C–200C at wider intervals with mechanical support (binder) is classical; interpose Hamamelis or China by state [Hering], [Clarke], [Dewey], [Boger].
• Adjuncts: Firm binder, absolute rest, hips slightly elevated, cool room/fluids in sips; avoid heat and needless motion; coordinate urgent medical care for severe bleeds [Clarke], [Dewey].
• Pearls:
  • Lochia returns on sitting up—stops again when recumbent and bound: Tril. classic.
  • Gush at every step + pelvis feels loose/breaking—bandaging gives immediate relief and confirms the choice.
  • Climacteric flooding with clots in a spare, easily-fainting woman—Tril. steadied the flow; Hamamelis maintained tone between periods.

Mind

• Fear of hæmorrhage; faintness with the sight of blood; must lie still. — Anxious collapse [Clarke], [Hering].

Head

• Syncope on rising; blackness before eyes during gushes. — Anæmic storms [Hering].
• Epistaxis, bright, free; returns on motion. — Hæmorrhagic constitution [Clarke].

Female

• Menses, too profuse; bright-red; gushing on least motion. — Keynote [Hering], [Clarke].
• Metrorrhagia in pregnancy/after abortion; placenta prævia adjunct. — Clinical sphere [Clarke], [Dewey].
• Lochia, too profuse; returns on rising/sitting up. — Signature rubric [Hering].
• Prolapsus/bearing-down; pelvis as if bones separating; better tight bandage. — Pelvic keynote [Hering], [Boericke].
• Backache across sacrum and hips, worse motion, better pressure. — Modal link [Boericke].

Chest

• Hæmoptysis, bright, free, with faintness; worse motion; must lie still. — Secondary [Clarke].

Generalities / Vessels

• Hæmorrhage, bright, gushing, motion aggravates; pressure ameliorates. — Core rubric [Clarke], [Boger].
• Collapse with cold sweat from loss of blood; pulse soft, compressible. — Post-hæmorrhagic state [Boericke].
• Worse standing, walking; better absolute rest. — Global modalities [Hering].

Hering — The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica (1879–91): gush-on-motion, pelvic “bones separating,” lochia returns on rising; pressure-better.
Allen, T. F. — Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): proving/clinical notes on bright hæmorrhage, faintness, modalities.
Clarke, J. H. — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): classic uterine flooding picture; lochia and motion; relationships (Hamamelis, China, Thlaspi).
Boericke, W. — Pocket Manual of Homeopathic Materia Medica (1901): keynotes—gushing bright flow, bandage-better, sacro-iliac pains.
Boger, C. M. — Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica (1915): modalities—worse least motion; better pressure; vascular lability.
Hughes, R. — A Manual of Pharmacodynamics (1875): herbal/hæmostatic background of birthroot informing remedy sphere.
Dewey, W. A. — Practical Homeopathic Therapeutics (1901): obstetric/gynecologic uses—placenta prævia adjunct, climacteric floods; relations (Hamamelis, Thlaspi).
Kent, J. T. — Lectures on Homeopathic Materia Medica (1905) & Repertory: comparisons—Sabina, Ipecac., Secale; miasmatic framing.
Farrington, E. A. — Clinical Materia Medica (1887): haemorrhagic remedy comparisons; post-partum guidance.
Tyler, M. L. — Homeopathic Drug Pictures (1942): clean clinical portrait; pressure and stillness as practical keys.
Phatak, S. R. — Materia Medica of Homoeopathic Medicines (1977): concise rubrics—gush-on-motion, lochia returns on rising, sacro-iliac pain.