Oleander

(NERIUM ODORUM)

Has a marked action on the skin, heart and nervous system, producing and curing paralytic conditions with cramp-like contractions of upper extremities. Hemiplegia. Difficult articulation.

Mind

Memory weak; slow perception. Melancholy, with obstinate constipation.

Head

Vertigo and diplopia, when looking down. Vertigo, when looking fixedly at an object, and on rising in bed. Pain in brain, as if head would burst. Numb feeling. Dull, unable to think. Indolence. Eruption on scalp . Humid, fetid spots behind ears ( Graph; Petrol ) and occiput, with red, rough, herpetic spots in front. Corrosive itching on forehead and edge of hair ; worse, heat.

Eyes

Can see objects only when looking at them sideways. Eyes water on reading. Double vision. Sensation as if eyes were drawn back into the head .

Face

Pale, sunken, with blue rings around eyes ( Phos ac ).

Stomach

Canine hunger, with hurried eating , without appetite. Thirst. Empty belching. Vomiting of food; greenish water. Throbbing in pit.

Abdomen

Borborygmus, with profuse, fetid flatus. Gnawing around navel. Ineffectual urging. Undigested feces. Stool passes when emitting flatus . Burning pain in anus.

Chest

Oppression as from a weight; asthmatic when lying down. Palpitation , with weakness and empty feeling in chest. Dyspnœa. Obtuse stitches in chest.

Extremities

Weakness of lower limbs . Paralysis of legs and feet. Want of animal heat in limbs. Cold feet. Painless paralysis. Constant cold feet. Swelling, burning stiffness of fingers. Veins and hands swollen. Œdema. Stiffness of joints.

Skin

Itching, scurfy pimples; herpes; sensitive and numb. Nocturnal burning. Very sensitive skin ; slightest friction causes soreness and chapping. Violent itching eruption, bleeding, oozing ; want of perspiration. Pruritus, especially of scalp, which is sensitive.

Modalities

Worse , undressing, rest, friction of clothes.

Relationship

Compare: Con; Nat m; Rhus; Caust; Lathyr . Oleander contains Oleandrin and also Nerein which latter is said to be closely related if not identical with Digitalin. The pulse becomes slower, more regular, more powerful. Diuresis ; palpitation, œdema and dyspnœa of valvular disease disappear.

Antidotes: Camph; Sulph .

Dose

Third to thirtieth potency.