Secale cornutum
Remedy of burning as if sparks of fire on the skin, yet cannot bear to be covered. Passive hemorrhages of dark, thin blood. Gangrene. Tetanic spasms. Coldness with aversion to heat and covers.
Source
Prepared from the fresh sclerotium of Claviceps purpurea growing on rye.
Available Potencies
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Keynote Symptoms
Burning as if sparks of fire were falling on the skin, yet aversion to heat and covering — a paradoxical coldness with intolerance of warmth. Passive hemorrhages of dark, thin, non-coagulating blood. Threatened gangrene — cold, blue, dry, shriveled skin. Contracted, spasmodic uterus — labor pains irregular, distressing. Things look crooked.
Mind & Emotional Symptoms
Anxiety, fear of death. Mania — wild, fears everybody. Hallucinations. Restless. Screaming with pains.
General Symptoms
Burning but aversion to warmth and covering. Cold skin but intolerant of covers. Passive hemorrhages. Gangrene. Worse from warmth, covering, least touch. Better from cold air, cold applications, uncovering, stretching limbs.
Physical Symptoms
Head
Headache with flushed face. Things look crooked. Hair falls out.
Eyes
Diplopia. Things look crooked. Dilated, insensible pupils. Cataract. Softening of cornea.
Face
Pale, sunken, pinched, hippocratic. Distorted. Tingling, crawling.
Stomach
Unquenchable thirst. Burning in stomach. Vomiting of blood, bile. Empty retching.
Abdomen
Sunken, tympanitic. Colic. Peritonitis.
Rectum
Dark, olive-green, offensive diarrhea. Involuntary, painless. Cholera-like stools. Paralysis of sphincter.
Female Genitalia
Uterine hemorrhage — profuse, dark, thin, non-coagulating, persistent. Threatened abortion. Prolonged, irregular labor pains. Afterpains. Suppression of lochia. Gangrene of uterus.
Extremities
Fingers and toes numb, cold, blue. Dry gangrene. Cramps in calves. Contraction of fingers. Raynaud's phenomenon.
Skin
Cold, dry, shriveled, wrinkled, blue. Burning as if sparks falling on it. Gangrene. Petechiae. Formication, crawling. Cannot bear to be covered despite coldness.
Modalities
Better From
Cold air, cold applications, uncovering, stretching limbs, fanning, rubbing
Worse From
Warmth, covering, touch, motion, after eating
Constitutional Type
Thin, shriveled, cachectic individuals. Elderly with poor circulation. Women with uterine hemorrhage. History of gangrene or Raynaud's.
Clinical Indications
Gangrene (dry), uterine hemorrhage, Raynaud's phenomenon, ergot poisoning, passive hemorrhages, threatened abortion, paralysis, peripheral vascular disease
Comparative Materia Medica
Arsenicum album also has burning but wants warmth; Secale burns but wants cold. Lachesis also has dark hemorrhages but is more left-sided and jealous. Carbo vegetabilis has collapse with desire for fanning but more blue and icy.
Safety Information
Camphora, Opium, Spiritus nitri dulcis. Warmth aggravates but external heat is needed to prevent gangrene.
Ergot alkaloids are extremely toxic causing ergotism — convulsive (seizures, mania) or gangrenous (dry gangrene of extremities). Historically caused "St. Anthony's Fire." Use only potentised forms.
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