COLD & FLU REMEDIES
KEYNOTES for 21 commonly needed REMEDIES
COLD + FLU are natural processes established by the body as a means to eliminate the accumulation of cellular debris and toxins. They are essentially processes of cleansing that re-calibrate the system. Although acute illnesses such as these may be activated by exposure they are primarily the result of our frequency - illness can only manifest where we have the vulnerability to it.
Rather than suppress what the body is attempting to with medications there is an opportunity to support this process homeopathically.
Following are 21 KEY REMEDIES that commonly arise in COLD + FLU
ACONITE
MIND: panic, fear, fear of death, fear of the future, anxiety, restlessness, unbearable pain, anxious dreams, insomnia
FEVER: high fever with chills, sudden onset
EYES: fearful, panicked, red inflamed, lids swollen, profuse watering
HEAD: headache, as if hair being pulled, face red, flushed, swollen, one flushed cheek
BODY: stiff, numb back, sensation bruised between scapula
DIGESTION: vomiting
RESPIRATORY: shortness of breath, throat constricted, red, dry, oesophageal burning
SENSATIONS: burning, bursting, pressure, tingling in cheeks and jawbone
PAINS: intolerable, unbearable, fearful
WORSE: dry, cold winds, evening, night, warm room, rising, aversion to light,
BETTER: open air,
THIRST: very thirsty for cold water
ANTIMONIUM TARTARICUM
MIND: anxious, fearful of being alone, hopeless, despairing, irritable
EYES: sunken, sore, burning, tearing
HEAD: tongue painful, flaccid, dry, red, coated, face pale, sickly, band-like feeling over head, mouth sore difficult to swallow
BODY: cold, clammy perspiration, copious cold and clammy perspiration
DIGESTION: nausea, constipation, diarhhoea, vomiting, stools watery, mucusy, bloody, grass green, offensive
RESPIRATORY: rattling of mucus in chest, lungs feel full of mucus, painful swallowing, difficult expectoration, thick white mucus when able to eliminate, dizziness with cough, suffocative shortness of breath, severe pneumonia, gasping for air, nausea in waves
SENSATIONS: roaring, quivering, rattling, fluttering, numbness, electric shocks on falling asleep
PAINS: violent, heaviness, sharp, inflamed
WORSE: swallowing, warmth, warm room, warm weather, overheating, cold dampness
BETTER: open air, lying on right side, belching, vomiting
FOOD: total aversion to food, loss of appetite, desires apples
THIRST: thirsty for cold water in frequent small sips, thirstlessness
ARSENICUM ALBUM
MIND: great anxiety, restlessness, anguished, highly sensitive, fastidious, fearful, fear of death, of health
FEVER: cold sweat, internal chills with external heat, desire for warm drinks during fever
EYES: burning acrid discharge, pupils either contracted or dilated, swelling around eye
HEAD: headaches better cold, icy scalp, periodic,
BODY: oedemas, burning pains in the back, weakness of limbs
DIGESTION: diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, retching, indigestion, heartburn
RESPIRATORY: wheezing, anxiety in chest, tightness of chest, cough exhausting, after drinking, deep, dry, suffocative sensation when sleeping, pneumonia, expectoration frothy, bloody, thick, yellow, green, scanty
SENSATIONS: chilly with burning sensations, as if torn, ice cold parts, stiffness, trembling, jerking, twitching, spasms
PAINS: burning, itching, drawing, darting, convulsive
WORSE: after midnight, lying down,
BETTER: warmth, fresh air, warmth, sitting up, moving
FOOD: loss of appetite with thirst and nausea, many foods aggravate, craves lemons and sour foods
THIRST: very thirsty but tends to only sip drinks, desires warm/hot drinks
BAPTISIA
MIND: indifferent, as though drunk, bewildered, feels broken in to parts and scattered, confused, despair about recovery, fears sleep in case of suffocation, drowsiness
FEVER: sudden onset, low grade fever, hot, dry, burning face, with rheumatic pains, gastric fever
EYES: soreness, severe pain when trying to read, eyelids heavy, half closed
HEAD: mouth very dry, tongue feels burnt, sweating, headache,
BODY: heaviness, aching muscles, prostration, feels separated, painless sore throat
DIGESTION: nausea, vomiting, abdomen distended, rumbling, sore on pressure, burning in the anus
RESPIRATORY: weakness in chest, suffocative, craves air, chest feels tight, compressed, feeling of suffocation, sharp pain in chest, chronic cough
SENSATIONS: sore, bruised, stiffness, scattered, tightness, aching, dryness
PAINS: root of nose, back, limbs, when walking, sharp, stitching, burning
WORSE: swallowing makes gag, walking, cold air, cold dampness, washing
BETTER: open air, when alone, standing, cold foods,
FOOD: loss of appetite, aversion to sweet foods
THIRST: very thirsty, thirst during chill
BELLADONNA
MIND:
FEVER: a key fever remedy, sudden onset high fever
EYES: glistening, dilated pupils
HEAD: flushed face, tearing pain in middle ear, acute hearing, humming noises, headache
BODY: radiating heat, cold hands and feet
DIGESTION: empty retching, nausea, vomiting, distended, cutting pain left worse coughing
RESPIRATORY: dry, hot, barking, whooping cough. Stitching chest, painful larynx, dry nose, throat, hoarse voice, difficult breathing
SENSATIONS: body jerks, extreme sensitivity stomach. lump in throat, vertigo
PAINS: throbbing, stitching, sharp, needle like
WORSE: afternoon and night around 9pm, lying down, often worse on right side, dryness
BETTER: sitting up slightly
FOOD: loss appetite, desire lemon/lemon taste, averse meat and milk
THIRST: dread drinking, thirstless, dryness with thirst
BRYONIA ALBA
MIND: grumpy, cross, desire to be left alone, irritable,
FEVER: dry burning heat, blood feels hot, rheumatic fever, painful, ongoing fevers, profuse perspiration
EYES: burning, worse movement, light sensitive
HEAD: migraines, headache, sinus, occipital, tongue feels dry, vertigo
BODY: muscles stiff, severe back pain or neck, perspiration oily, sour, profuse
DIGESTION: nausea, vomiting worse after eating, stomach sensitive to touch, constipation, pain in the liver region
RESPIRATORY: breathing hurts, cough hard, hacking, dry may automatically hold chest, tough mucous, hoarse, desire to take long breath, discomfort extends to right shoulder
SENSATIONS: dryness, parched, splitting, sensitive to touch, as if stone in abdomen, stiffness
PAINS: sharp, stitching, swelling, sticking, pressure, tearing, bursting, splitting
WORSE: movement, warmth, morning, eating, arguing, coughing, deep breathing, bread
BETTER: being left alone, pressure, cold thing, cloudy damp days
FOOD: aversion to greasy foods, milk, aggravated by cabbage
THIRST: very thirsty for large quantities of cold water or thirstless, strong desire for coffee, desires warm drinks
CAMPHORA
MIND: fearful of being left unattended, alone, afraid of own thoughts, fearful at night, insomnia, restlessness, frenzied, hysterical, awkward, anguished, anxiety, insomnia
FEVER: chills with shaking, sudden fever, icy coldness of the whole body, runs hot and cold
EYES: dilated pupils, objects appear too bright
HEAD: headaches, headaches with sneezing, face pale, cold perspiration, head drawn to one side, terrible breath on waking
BODY: cold hands, sudden collapse, cold sweats, ice cold feet, tension in neck and shoulders, cramping in the calves, coldness of the body, skin sensitivity,
DIGESTION: vomiting, abdominal cramps, sensation of fullness, cold or burning heat in the upper abdomen, palpitations after eating, black stools,
RESPIRATORY: oppressed, sighing, anxious breathing, dry cough, cold feeling in the chest, stopped up nose, sneezing
SENSATIONS: shaking, coldness and burning, numbness, tingling, stiffness, as if cold air being blown on the skin, tongue feels cold
PAINS: throbbing, cramping, stitching,
WORSE: touch, sitting, tobacco smoke
BETTER: lying down, being covered, warmth, free flowing discharges like sweat
FOOD: tastes bitter
THIRST: excessive thirst, desires cold drinks
CARBO VEG
MIND: weakness, exhaustion, debilitated, lifeless, confusion,
FEVER: burning in specific places, hectic fevers, exhausting perspiration, warm head yet cold limbs
EYES: muscles painful when looking up
HEAD: hot, face blue, pale, cold, sweaty, teeth sensitive when chewing, nosebleeds, perspiration on face sour, headaches, hair feels sore,
BODY: blood stagnates leading to coldness and low vitality, severe pain in lumbar, throat feels closed,
DIGESTION: flatulence, bloating, distended abdomen, painful diaarhoea, stool escapes when passing wind, stools acrid, burning, moist
RESPIRATORY: air hunger, breath cold, thick, acrid discharges, hoarseness
SENSATIONS: lack of vitality, lack of reaction, bruised, soreness, heaviness, slowness, numbness
PAINS: tender, dull, compressive, heavy
WORSE: tight clothing around waist, from the smallest amount of food, rich food, extremes of temperature, from depletion or since a recent illness
BETTER: cool air, belching, elevating feet
FOOD: aggravated by coffee, butter, milk, wine
THIRST: coldness with thirst
CHINA officinalis
MIND: overactive, indifferent, muddled thoughts yet clear mind in the evening, irritable, sensitive, mistakes in speech and writing, insomnia from ideas
FEVER: debilitating sweats, canine hunger during fever
EYES: inflamed, itching
HEAD: headache accompanied by ringing in ears, headaches congestive, throbbing, face sallow, pale, lips deep blue,
BODY: exhaustion, drenching sweats,
DIGESTION: constipation, extreme distention of abdomen, diarrhoea, dehydration, flatulence
RESPIRATORY: cough spasmodic, violent, hacking, dry, irritable, cutting pains in abdomen during cough, difficult expectoration, violent dry sneezing, chest feels sore, heightened sensitivity to smells
SENSATIONS: numbness, trembling, heaviness, bruised, as if stone between scapulae
PAINS: throbbing, neuralgic, bursting, intolerable, periodic, pressing, stinging
WORSE: loss of vital fluids, talking, laughing, hot foods, milk, bad meat, impure water,
BETTER: open air, hard pressure, bending double
FOOD: voracious appetite or complete loss of appetite, desires sour fruit, food tastes bitter
THIRST: thirsty for cold water
EUPATORIUM-PERFORATUM
MIND: restlessness, anxiety, frightened
FEVER: intermittent, alternating hot and cold, chilliness preceding thirst, insatiable thirst before and during chill and fever
EYES: glistening, yellow, painful, redness,
HEAD: headache throbbing, with sore eyeballs, heavy, violent, headache coming on with chill
BODY: back, neck pain, back weakness, dark or alternatively clear urine, pain in calves,
DIGESTION: abdominal distension, hiccoughs,
RESPIRATORY: cough loose, ticking, hectic, chest sore, hoarse voice, holds chest when coughs, sore behind sternum, pain right lung on inhale, difficulty breathing
SENSATIONS: bruised, as if bones would break, trembling, soreness
PAINS: deep in the bone, aching, beating, intense, spasmodic, sharp
WORSE: night, motion, 7am to 9am, cold air, smell of food, tight clothing,
BETTER: on hands and knees, vomiting bile,
FOOD: voracious hunger, craves ice cream
THIRST: thirst for cold water, desires acidic drinks
FERRUM PHOSPHORICUM
MIND: talkative, funny, excited or alternatively angry, apathetic with the need for quiet
FEVER: night sweats, fever with sore throat, chills while eating, chills with desire to stretch
EYES: sensation of something inside upper lid, inflamed, stye on lower lid
HEAD: nosebleeds, earache, face alternating red to pale,
BODY: hot with sweaty hands, stiff neck, back pain, night sweats,
DIGESTION: sour belching, vomiting, stomach pain aggravated after eating, diarrhoea, stools yellow, watery, bloody, undigested
RESPIRATORY: tickling or hacking, short, spasmodic cough, dry, persistent, painful cough, tonsils red, swollen, watery discharge from nose, chest feels heavy, sore,
SENSATIONS: roaring, buzzing, stiffness,
PAINS: rheumatic, throbbing, stinging, neuralgic,
WORSE: going into open air, morning, evening, shaking head, stooping, tea, coffee, 4am to 6am, noise, cold drinks, sour food
BETTER: night, cold applications, lying down
FOOD: desire sour tastes, stimulants, loss of appetite
THIRST:
GELSEMIUM
MIND: anticipation, worse bad news, dullness, apathy, lack of fear, heaviness, listless, desire for quiet, fear of falling, of doctors, fright
FEVER: chills especially in the back alternating with heat, chills run up and down the spine
EYES: double vision, pupils may be dilated or contracted, heavy eyelids, dullness, inflamed
HEAD: dizziness, dusky complexion, facial neuralgia, face is hot, heavy, flushed, fatigued, headache dull, band-like, heavy, occipital
BODY: aching muscles all over the body, muscular weakness
DIGESTION: diarhhoea,
RESPIRATORY: breathless, breath slow, sore chest,oppressive sensation on chest, heaviness at the centre of the chest, loss of voice, swollen throat, cough ticking, dry, croupy, convulsive, spasmodic, irritable
SENSATIONS: fatigue, relaxation of muscles, lump in throat, tickling, itching, from throat to ears. lightness in the head, body, band-like headaches, trembling
PAINS: shooting in to ears, dull, aching, heavy, back, hips, legs, lumbar, sacral
WORSE: damp weather, 10am, swallowing, wine, motion, anticipation
BETTER: open air, continued motion, profuse urination,
FOOD: low appetite,
THIRST: thirstlessness
IGNATIA
MIND: sighing, sobbing, changeable, sadness, worse from a shock, grief, disappointment or loss, anger
FEVER:
EYES: inflamed, red, light sensitivity, stabbing, blue rings around eyes,
HEAD: sour taste, face red or pale, lips dry, cracked, headaches sudden, congestive, following extreme emotion
BODY: painful, jerking, heavy limbs,
DIGESTION: colic, cramping, sinking sensation, intestinal rumbling, flatulent, diarrhoea, nausea, hunger and nausea simultaneously
RESPIRATORY: sharp pains in left chest, chest feels constricted, cough spasmodic, hacking, irritating, tickling, in quick succession, dry, hoarse, nervous, sighing, oppressive breathing, slow inhale quick exhale, choking breath
SENSATIONS: stitching, tendency to choke, lump in throat, jerking, twitching, weakness
PAINS: trachea, calves, soles feet, throbbing, cramping, aching, stabbing, spasmodic
WORSE: coffee, smoking or smelling tobacco smoke, grief, shock, worry, slight touch
BETTER: belching, deep breathing, pressure, lying on back
FOOD: tastes bitter, loss of appetite
KALI CARBONICUM
MIND: discontent, changeable moods, anxiety, anxious about state-of-health, obstinate, highly sensitive to pain, worry, desires company
FEVER: surging fever with throbbing sensation
EYES: stitching sensation in eyes, lids stick together, swollen eyelids, vision of spots, pain shutting eye
HEAD: tongue burning, tip of tongue feels raw, headache from cold wind, in to eyes, when sneezing, coughing, congestive
BODY: back pain, burning in spine, kidneys, right scapula, offensive sour perspiration, skin dry, sensitive
DIGESTION: chokes when eating, anxiety in stomach, acidity and burning, flatulence, constipation, diarrhoea, burning in rectum or anus, anxiety felt in the stomach, nausea
RESPIRATORY: nose stopped up, post nasal drip, yellow discharge, sore nostrils, nosebleed, sore throat, wheezing, hoarseness, dry hard cough, accumulation mucous worse morning,
SENSATIONS: stitching, stiffness, paralysis, oedema, back, thighs, lump in stomach, trembling
PAINS: cutting, stitching, extreme sensitivity, congestive, pulsating, throbbing, burning
WORSE: warm room, washing face, 2am to 4am, right lower chest, exertion, loss of fluids
BETTER: warm weather, moving, open aire, sitting with elbows on knees
FOOD: desires sweets, perspires after eating, aversion to food or ravenous
LACHESIS
MIND: restlessness, paranoid, suspicious, talking, quick speech,
FEVER: chilly felt in back, hot flushes,
HEAD: gums spongy, painful facial bones, swollen tongue,
BODY: pain in neck, coccyx,
DIGESTION: pain in pit of stomach.
RESPIRATORY: sore throat, constant need to hawk, throat painful to touch, sensitivity in the windpipe
SENSATIONS: neuralgia, dryness,
PAINS: swollen, sensitivity to touch, burning
WORSE: rising from sitting, swallowing liquids, scarf around throat, lying down
BETTER:
FOOD: gnawing pressure with desire to eat
THIRST: craves alcohol
LYCOPODIUM
MIND: sad, anxious, angry on waking, weak memory, very sensitive, difficulty with change
FEVER:
EYES:
HEAD: headache, pain in temples, teeth, dry mouth, foul breath, cracked and swollen tongue,
BODY: limbs fall asleep, calf cramps, painful heels and soles of feet,
DIGESTION: abdominal fullness, bloating, flatulence,
RESPIRATORY: tickling cough, burning in chest, pneumonia that has been neglected, sore throat, laryngitis,
SENSATIONS: swelling, moves from right to left, dryness,
PAINS: throbbing, tearing,
WORSE: bread,
BETTER:
FOOD: desire for sweets, hot drinks and food, hungry during the night
THIRST:
MERCURY VIV/SOL
MIND: underlying sense of restlessness and anxious, tired, weary, loss of will, slow response
FEVER:
EYES:
HEAD: band-like sensation around head, nosebleed, metallic taste, excessive saliva,
BODY: profuse perspiration, offensive odour, skin can seem oily, oedema especially feet and legs
DIGESTION:
RESPIRATORY: foul smelling breath, loss of voice, sneezing, pain sternum,
SENSATIONS: chilly, bruised, burnt, spongy
PAINS: tearing, band-like. stinging, burning, raw, sore, sharp,
WORSE: night, damp weather, in bed, lying right side, cold or hot,
BETTER:
FOOD:
THIRST: very thirsty,
NUX VOMICA
MIND: dramatic, sensitive,irritable, nasty, demanding, fault-finding, fastidious, restless, fear of death, weak memory, insomnia,
FEVER: sour perspiration, chilly, aching back and limbs
EYES: bloodshot, twitching, sensitive to light
HEAD: migraines, headache over eyes, occiput, frontal, toxic, from sunshine, alcohol, tongue red, sore, yellow, vertigo
BODY: liver congestion, limbs feel stiff,
DIGESTION: flatulence, cramping, sour and bitter belching, nausea, vomiting, sensation of emptiness, constipation, sensation of incomplete passing of stool, indigestion
RESPIRATORY: tight, dry, hacking cough, blocked nose at night and when outside, violent sneezing, oppressive breathing, loud snoring during sleep, sensation of suffocation, cough aggravates headache
SENSATIONS: numbness, as if weight in stomach, loss of power, tickling
PAINS: tearing, cramping, aching, spasmodic,
WORSE: over exertion, stimulants, pressure, warm room, after 3am
BETTER: warmth, after a nap, damp weather, moist air
FOOD: desires stimulants, craves pungent foods, hungry yet aversion to food
THIRST: thirstless during heat but thirsty during chills
PHOSPHORUS
MIND: wants company, excitable, brain fog, anxiety, fearful, highly sensitive,
FEVER: excessive perspiration, unnatural hunger, chilly in the morning
EYES: blue rings under eyes,
HEAD: head pain with dry cough,
BODY: palpitations with anxiety, fast pulse,
DIGESTION: sour belching, nausea, vomiting, h
RESPIRATORY: hard, dry, hacking cough, congestion of lungs, for symptoms going to the chest and/or threatening to turn into pneumonia, cold air aggravates chest, throat and neck symptoms, as if heavy weight on chest, larynx very painful
SENSATIONS: sensitive to light and noise, abdomen feels cold, cold knees in the evening, body trembles with cough,
PAINS: sharp, cutting, burning, neuralgic,
WORSE: in the dark, cold food, cold water, left side, lying on left, cough worse from laughing and talking,
BETTER: stomach pain better cold food,
FOOD: hunger even after eating
THIRST: cold drinks, craves icy water, desire to drink huge quantities, desire for cola
SULPHUR
MIND: irritable, apathetic, depressed, sadness, forgetful, easily bored, ambitious, workaholic
FEVER: flashes of heat, night sweats, dry skin,
EYES: inflamed, trembling, styes
HEAD: bright red lips, headache, white tongue with red tip, face appears sickly, headache with pressure in temples, sweaty scalp
BODY: jerking, twisting, offensive discharges, unhealthy skin,
DIGESTION: nausea, feeling of faintness mid-morning, diarrhoea, nausea, haemorrhoids, abdomen sensitive to pressure, colic after eating, acidic system
RESPIRATORY: loose cough, throat burning, red, dry, shooting pains through chest,
SENSATIONS: burning, dryness, pressure, heat on top of head, ball rising in the pharynx, throat pressure as if from splinter, as if band around the chest or bones
PAINS: throbbing, shooting, beating, burning, heavy
WORSE: milk, 11am, warmth, bathing
BETTER: open air, dry weather, warm weather, lying on right side
FOOD: loss or alternatively excessive appetite, bitter, sour, sweet taste
THIRST: very thirsty
veratrum album
MIND: low mood, brooding, indifferent, haughty, sits in a stupor, despairing, mania, wakes during the night trembling, fearful, fear of death, anguish, religious mania, guilty as though had committed a crime
FEVER: chilly with extreme and external coldness and internal heat
EYES: dark rings, dry, heavy lids, as if eyeballs are bruised
HEAD: headaches, face very pale, bluish, sunken, red cheek, sensitivity to noise, cold sweat,neck feels too weak to hold head up, icy coldness at nose tip
BODY: palpitations with anxiety, very cold, cramping pain between scapulae,
DIGESTION: nausea, vomiting, thirsty but vomits as soon as swallowed, irritable digestion, belching of froth, very weak after vomiting, abdomen sensitive to pressure, stools large, thin, watery, ribbon like, odorless
RESPIRATORY: oppression of the chest, pain on inhaling, as though air is too hot, rattling in chest, barking cough, cough aggravated entering warm room from being in cold air
SENSATIONS: contractions, tingling, bruised, pinched, tearing, coldness, as though lump of ice on top of head
PAINS: neuralgic, shooting, cramping, cutting
WORSE: warm foods, exertion, drinking, wet cold weather, exertion, cold drinks, fright, damp, touch, pressure
BETTER: warmth, eating meat, being covered, lying, walking
FOOD: voracious appetite, aggravated by potatoes, green vegetables, fruits
THIRST: thirsty for cold water, craves iced water, mouth dryness not relieved by drinking
If there is a failure to respond to otherwise well-indicated remedies then it is important to contact your Homeopath. If you would like to make an appointment then please do so via my BOOKINGS page.