Digitalis purpurea
The great heart remedy for slow, irregular, intermittent pulse. Cardiac failure with liver congestion. Feeling that the heart would stop if moving. Pulse slow, irregular, intermittent, weak. Cyanosis.
Source
Tincture of the fresh leaves of the second year's growth of Digitalis purpurea (Scrophulariaceae), gathered when the plant is in flower.
Available Potencies
Get Personalized Safety Info
Sign in and complete your health profile to see safety warnings personalized to your age, sex, medications, conditions, and allergies for this remedy.
Keynote Symptoms
Pulse slow, weak, intermittent, irregular — drops beats. Feeling as if heart would stop if the patient moves — must hold still. Cardiac failure with liver congestion and jaundice. Cyanosis. Enlarged, sore liver. Ashy-white or bluish face. Stools white, chalk-like. Faintness and sinking at stomach.
Mind & Emotional Symptoms
Anxiety about the future. Fear that heart will stop. Despondency. Melancholy. Apathetic. Thinks constantly of death.
General Symptoms
Acts primarily on the heart. Slow, intermittent pulse is the keynote. Cardiac failure with hepatic congestion. Dropsy. Cyanosis. Ashy-blue complexion. Nausea and faintness with cardiac disturbance. Worse from sitting up, rising, motion. Sudden sinking sensation.
Physical Symptoms
Head
Headache with slow pulse. Vertigo. Objects appear green or yellow. Heavy headache.
Eyes
Objects look green or yellow. Blue color of eyelids.
Face
Bluish, cyanotic. Ashy pale. Lips blue.
Stomach
Nausea from least motion. Faintness, sinking, death-like feeling at stomach. Vomiting from motion. Stools white, ash-colored.
Abdomen
Liver enlarged, tender, sore. Jaundice from cardiac origin. Ascites.
Chest
Heart slow, irregular, intermittent. Pulse drops beats. Feeling heart would stop on moving. Cardiac failure. Pericardial effusion. Dyspnea. Must lie with head high.
Urinary
Urine scanty, dark. Dropsy with cardiac failure. Urging but little flow.
Modalities
Better From
Empty stomach. Rest. Open air. When lying down.
Worse From
Sitting up. Motion. Raising up. Music. Eating. Exertion.
Constitutional Type
Cardiac patients with slow, irregular pulse. Elderly with heart failure and liver congestion. Jaundiced, cyanotic appearance. Anxious about heart stopping. Sedentary habits.
Clinical Indications
Heart failure. Cardiac arrhythmia. Slow pulse. Mitral stenosis. Hepatic congestion from heart failure. Dropsy. Jaundice (cardiac). Pericardial effusion. Prostatic hypertrophy with cardiac symptoms.
Comparative Materia Medica
Compare Crataegus (heart tonic but less dangerous, supports rather than slows), Naja (cardiac symptoms with suffocation), Strophanthus (heart failure). Digitalis is distinguished by the very slow, intermittent pulse and sensation that the heart will stop on motion.
Safety Information
Camphor. China. Nux vomica. Opium. Serpentaria.
Digitalis purpurea contains cardiac glycosides (digitoxin, digoxin). Extremely toxic — causes fatal cardiac arrhythmias. Therapeutic and toxic doses are very close. Material doses used pharmaceutically require careful monitoring. Mother tincture is pharmacologically active and dangerous without supervision.
Find the Right Remedy
Not sure if Digitalis purpurea is the best match? Our Remedy Finder can help you compare remedies based on your specific symptoms, modalities, and constitutional type.