Solidago Virga-aurea

NAT. ORD., Compositae.



COMMON NAME, Golden Rod



PREPARATION.--The fresh blossoms are macerated in twice their weight of

alcohol.



(The following is to be found on p. 131 of Dr.

Gallavardin's "Homoeopathic Treatment of Alcoholism:")



"A lady, by administering, morning and evening, an infusion of the dry

leaves and flowers of Golden Rod (Solidago virga-aurea) tells me that

she cured her husband of an affection of the bladder which had compelled

him to use a catheter for a year or more. A friend of Homoeopathy, not

a physician, desired to test the efficaciousness of this plant. He

caused the first dilution of its tincture to be taken three times a day

by seven patients of from forty-two to seventy-four years of age, who

had been obliged to catheterize themselves for weeks, months and years,

and cured them so thoroughly that they had no relapses. Surgeons who

spend much time in catheterizing such patients for months and years

could often cure them much more rapidly by prescribing for them the

remedy just mentioned."



(Dr. A. E. White, Homoeopathic Recorder, July, 1891,

relates the following case:)



Mrs.----, age 37, married, has had seven children. Came to me December

10, 1890, with the following history: "Had not had her menses for four

months. Thought she was in a family way. Abdomen bloated up every P.M.;

sick at her stomach all of the time; frontal headache, P.M.; felt better

when first getting up in the morning, at which time her abdomen was

almost normal in size.



"Her water she complained of more than anything else. Had to pass it

every half hour during day and several times during night.



"Backache all of the time, which was not decreased by passing water.

Urine had a white, slimy deposit on standing a short time.



"Requested an examination, but could not discover that she was in a

family way. Found her back very sensitive in region of kidneys, trace of

albumin in urine.



"I gave her a vial of Solidago 1x, told her to take two disks every

four hours and report in three or four days. She came back December

13th, 'the medicine went right to the spot.' From the second dose her

water became natural and she did not bloat so much in P.M. Her stomach

did not bother her any more. I gave her a bottle of Puls. 3x to take

with the Solidago, and she reported December 17th, that her menses had

come on.



"I have used it in several other cases where it seemed indicated by the

tenderness in kidney region and the inability to control the water from

whatever cause, always with perfect satisfaction to patient and myself."



(The following paper on the use of Solidago virga-aurea

is by Dr. M. Gucken, of Eupen, Germany:)



The Golden Rod is in Homoeopathy, according to my opinion, not as much

made use of as it deserves. Foh. Gottfr. Rademacher, who has many

admirers among us, says, in his Justification of Experience in

Medicine, about Virga-aurea: "This herb is a very old and good kidney

medicine. It is a specific for kidneys, and brings the patients back to

the normal condition." I have used the Golden Rod for a long time, and

have to make favorable reports. The results of extensive homoeopathic

proving of this remedy on healthy persons cannot be found in our

literature, but a Wuertemburg physician, Dr. Buck, has given us a list of

cures with the Golden Rod in the popular homoeopathic paper edited by

Dr. Bolle, which wholly confirms the statements of Rademacher, besides

the cases reported by Dr. Buck.



According to this last, Virga-aurea is especially adapted for

scrofulous subjects; at the same time other constitutions do not exclude

the use of this remedy. In the first place, the condition and the

action of the kidneys and the quality of their secretions are to be

considered in the selection of this remedy. The symptoms on the part of

the kidneys and the urinary organs, which point to Virga-aurea, are as

follows:



Pains in the kidneys; region of kidneys painful upon pressure; feeling

of enlargement and tension in the kidneys, also pains in the kidneys

which extend forward to the abdomen and to the bladder. Dysuria,

difficult and scanty urination; urine dark, red-brown, with thick

sediment; stone and gravel, albumen, blood or slime in the urine; urine

dark, with sediments of phosphates; slightly sour, neutral or alkaline;

urine with numerous epithelial cells or small mucous particles.

Epithelial cells with gravel of triple phosphates, or phosphate of lime.

Bright's disease.



Side symptoms which point to this remedy:



Skin.--Scrofulous rash; little blotches on hands and feet, itching

very much; very obstinate, itching exanthemas; exanthema of the lower

extremities without swelling of the inguinal glands, but with

disturbance in urinating (catarrh of the kidneys).



Sleep.--Insomnia.



Fever.--Rheumatic fever; very frequent pulse; high fever.



Head.--Headache.



Eyes.--Scrofulous, herpetic inflammation.



Ears.--Sudden deafness, with ringing in the ears and albuminous urine.



Nose.--Dry; the inner surface of the nose covered with blood crust;

scalding and very scanty brown urine.



Mouth.--Flat ulcers in the mouth and throat.



Gastric: Stomach, Abdomen and Stool.--Continuous bitter taste,

disturbing the rest, especially nights; heavily covered tongue, which

does not become clean in spite of the use of anti-gastric remedies, and

only cleanses itself at the return of abundant urinating; chronic

catarrh of the bowels; diarrhoea, with scanty, dark urine; dysentery;

costiveness; sensation of pain in the abdomen on both sides of the

navel, upon deep pressure; physconia of the abdomen by gases; severe

pricking in both hypochondria to the region of the kidneys, reaching to

the lower extremities, with continued bitter taste in the mouth,

especially at night, with very scanty brown and sour urine.



Female Parts.--Haemorrhage, chronic leucorrhoea, in connection with

copious, watery urine and sediments of mucous particles and uriniferous

tubules; epithelium.



Respiratory Organs.--Heavy expectoration in coughing; croup, with

little blotches on the hands and diminished urine; chronic catarrh of

the lungs; continuous dyspnoea; periodical asthma, with nightly

dysuria.



Trunk and Lower Limbs.--Rheumatism of the intercostal muscles; chronic

pains in the loins; limping, dragging gait; rheumatic pains in the

legs; pains in the thighs; the legs can be moved horizontally, but when

moved perpendicularly they feel lame.



In connection with these symptoms the description of a few cases of

sickness, in which Virga-aurea proved itself, might be of some

interest.



CLINICAL.



During the spring of 1886 scarlet-diphtheria appeared in this place. On

March 28th I was called to attend the 8-year old son Matthias, of

Wernerus, a weaver, in the hamlet of Niepert, that showed symptoms of

the above disease. Cynanche was at high degree, and the throat was

filled with diphtheritic coating, so much so that I had reason to fear

the worst, on account of the accompanying fever and of the choked-up

condition and weakly (scrofulous) habit of the patient. But the

well-known remedy of Viller, given alternately with Belladonna, proved

itself also in this case, and the symptoms in the throat assumed, after

a few days, a less dangerous character. Not so with the fever, which

gradually assumed the form of typhoid, and ran very high, while the

scarlet-rash grew quite pale. On the morning of April 5th, his

temperature was 42.5 deg., the patient unconscious, the pulse weak and

intermittent, the feet swollen. Upon inquiry the parents told me that

the boy urinated very little. His urine, of which I had taken a quantity

the day previous for examination, contained a considerable amount of

albuminous sediments. I prescribed Kali arsenicosum in the fourth

centesimal potency, which had been recommended in similar cases by Dr.

Hock in the international homoeopathic press; but, although the

temperature decreased after using this remedy, the dropsical swelling of

the feet increased more and more, and after a few days the entire body

of the patient was swollen very much. The discharge of urine grew

continually less. Under these circumstances I examined the patient again

thoroughly, and found great sensitiveness of the kidneys against

pressure, in spite of his otherwise apathetic condition. These symptoms

reminded me of Virga-aurea. This remedy was immediately applied, and I

had no reason to regret it. Within one day the urinal discharge became

profuse, the general condition improving at the same time; the peeling

off took place without further trouble, and after the patient had taken

Virga-aurea for two weeks, and, on account of anaemia, for one week

three times a day, a dose of Ferrum peroxydatum in the 2d trituration,

he had so far recovered that I did not consider it necessary to give

further medicine.



In 1885 a 45-year-old Belgian mine official (his work was office-work)

consulted me on account of sleeplessness and pain in the back. The

patient had no other complaints, only he carelessly added it sometimes

took him a long time to urinate, because of want of the necessary

pressure. He considered this weakness as the result of gonorrhoea,

from which he had suffered years ago. The sleeplessness, for which he

had tried all remedies possible, would make itself known from the time

he went to bed until 3 o'clock in the morning, at which time he could

get sleep, but not a refreshing one, and on arising he would feel very

tired, especially in the upper part of the thighs, and then would

commence the pain in the back, which extended to the loins, and lasted

until he went to bed in the evening, without being prompted by external

influences (warmth, cold, rest, motion). Also sleeplessness nights, pain

in the back daytimes. At first I considered Nux vom. proper, and I

prescribed the same for the patient, in the 3d decimal potency, four

drops twice a day. At the same time I requested the patient to bring a

sample of his urine at his next visit. After some time he came back with

the sample, and declared that the prescribed remedy had not shown the

least effect.



The urine was dark and slimy, reddish, slightly acid, and had at the

bottom of the bottle brick-dust settlings. Heat did not show albumen,

but by heating it the dark urine became clearer, and contained also

salts of uric acid. I examined the kidneys of the patient, found them

sensitive against pressure, and the diagnosis pointed to chronic catarrh

of the kidneys. Sleeplessness, pain in the back and the tired feeling in

the upper parts of the thigh were additional symptoms of this malady,

and I determined to use Virga-aurea. The patient took this for three

months three times a day, after which he wrote me that he was entirely

well. About a year afterwards he had a relapse, but not in the form of

former symptoms, but in the form of ischias, against which disease

Golden Rod proved itself beneficial.



In conclusion, may be mentioned a double case of the curative power of

Virga-aurea, which also contributes to the heredity of disease. Some

time ago, the wife of a farmer, 53 years old, asked me for a

prescription for a trouble which she had had for twenty-six years, since

her first confinement. The patient, a stout and fresh-looking person,

made the following statement: After the confinement, which was very

laborious, and which was followed by prolapsus uteri, the latter still

existing, her legs began to swell, and an itching rash broke out by

degrees. Menstruation had always come at the proper time, but suddenly

stopped six months ago.



Since that time the itching had become almost intolerable, the legs more

swollen and always cold, but she did not feel a continuous heat in her

head. The appetite was very poor; she had always a bitter taste in the

mouth, and the tongue was thickly coated. At the same time she had

rising from the stomach, as if she should suffocate, and at the least

exertion she lost her breath. She urinated very little, and this mostly

at night. My question, if there were pains in the back, was answered in

the negative, but the kidneys of this patient were also sensitive

against pressure. The appearance of the lower limbs of the patient

frightened me. From knee to heel they formed a bluish-red mass in the

shape of a stove-pipe, which were covered with little blotches and

crusts. This kind of an eruption, together with the other symptoms, led

me to the use of Virga-aurea, the prolonged use of which, although it

did not affect a cure, produced a mitigation of the whole body, so that

the lady induced her eldest son to come to me for help. This man had

also trouble in his lower limbs not unlike his mother. He had a year ago

passed through a severe throat difficulty, after which his lower limbs

began to swell and to itch; they were also tainted bluish-red and

covered with vesicles; he also complained of scanty urine, and his

kidneys were sensitive against pressure. What better could I, under the

circumstances, prescribe than Virga-aurea?



The result was good. After a few months the patient had no more

difficulty.



In the cases above mentioned, I prescribed the 3d decimal dilution of

the tincture of the whole plant of Golden Rod. The water of Golden Rod,

recommended by Rademacher and others, I have never tried.