Colocynthis

A plant native to the Mediterranean, Citrullus colocynthis is a small gourd-like fruit with intense bitterness. In large doses, it is a violent purgative, acting strongly on the bowels and nerves.

Traditionally used as a purgative and abortifacient in Middle Eastern and Ayurvedic medicine; now largely obsolete due to its toxicity.

Proved by Hahnemann; symptoms recorded in Materia Medica Pura and expanded by Hering, Allen, and Clarke.

• Nerves – particularly the trigeminal nerve, sciatic nerve, and abdominal plexus
• Gastrointestinal tract – especially the colon, small intestine, and gallbladder
• Pelvic organs, especially in women
• Muscles and smooth muscle fibres – leading to cramping, colic, and spasm
• Mind – intense anger, mortification, and indignation followed by somatic illness

• Hard pressure (e.g. bending double or pressing the abdomen firmly)
• Warmth, especially warm applications or lying in a warm bed
• Rest, remaining still
• Bending forward, curling up
• Loosening clothing, untying belt or waistband
• Discharge of flatus or stool (though not always relieving entirely)

• Anger, especially suppressed indignation or mortification
• Cold, dry wind
• Motion, especially jarring or sudden
• Eating, particularly fruit, fat, or sour foods
• Mental excitement
• Night, especially after midnight
• Menses, onset or suppression
• Touch, even slight
• Standing erect or stretching out

• Chamomilla – Also irritable with colic, but more whiny, oversensitive, and demands things
• Magnesium phosphoricum – Colic better from warmth and pressure, but lacks the angry, indignant emotional component
• Nux vomica – Also from suppressed emotions and irritability, but more driven, chilly, and constipated
• Staphysagria – Suppressed indignation and insult, but more passive, weepy, and yielding
• Belladonna – Neuralgic, sudden, and violent pains, but more congestive and febrile; less cramping, more throbbing

• Complementary: Staphysagria, Lycopodium
• Antidotes: Camphor, Coffea
• Inimical: None well noted
• Follows well: Chamomilla, Bryonia
• Precedes well: Nux vomica, Sulphur

Colocynthis is the remedy of intensely felt but suppressed emotional injury—particularly anger, humiliation, or rejection. The person internalises this emotional blow, and the body reacts with violent pain. The keynote is cutting pain relieved by pressure and bending double. It is for those who “swallow their pride” but pay the price through the abdomen or nerves. Colocynthis heals the soul by releasing the body from pain born of silence.

• Classic remedy in neuralgia, especially trigeminal or sciatic
• Go-to for dysmenorrhoea with cramping pains radiating down thighs
• Use in IBS, colic, and gallbladder colic, especially when pain is better by pressure
• Always consider after emotional suppression, grief, or mortification
• 30C or 200C often useful in acute crises; higher potencies for chronic emotional injury

Mind

• Anger, with indignation
• Mortification, ailments from
• Aversion to consolation
• Irritability from contradiction
• Silent brooding after insult

Abdomen

• Pain, cramping, bending double amel.
• Colic, after anger
• Flatulence, with colic
• Gallbladder pain, neuralgic

Extremities

• Sciatica, left-sided
• Cramping of calves
• Pain, better from pressure
• Twitching, neuralgic

Female Genitalia

• Dysmenorrhoea, cramping, bending double amel.
• Ovarian pain, left-sided
• Menses, suppressed after anger

Samuel Hahnemann – Materia Medica Pura: Original proving, especially on colic and emotional triggers

James Tyler Kent – Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica: Mental picture of indignation and injustice

C. Hering – Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica: Expanded neuralgias and abdominal spasm

William Boericke – Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica: Clinical use in sciatica and dysmenorrhoea

John Henry Clarke – Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica: Detailed symptomatology for face, abdomen, and nerves

Allen’s Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica: Supplemented female symptoms and neuralgic patterns