# Berberis Vulgaris (HMT)

## Remedy Classification
- **Type:** Remedy
- **Alternative Names:** Bar Berry
- **Miasm:** Psoric Miasm
- **Temperament:** Neutral
- **Aggravation Time:** Neutral/Anytime

## Keynote Indications
The plant of Berberis Vulgaris grows in hilly areas.  Its fresh leaves
are used in the treatment of typhoid fever. Berberis is normally used in
the form of Mother Tincture and most homoeopath physicians use it in
the treatment of kidney problems.  However, it is a very effective
remedy for gall bladder stones and deeply-rooted illnesses of the
liver.  When liver dysfunction has affected the heart also, Berberis
Vulgaris will be useful, though by itself  it is not a tonic for the heart.
Primarily, it is a remedy for liver dysfunction.  The ailment of the
heart, secondary to the liver failure  would certainly be responsive to
Berberis Vulgaris.

Berberis is also very effective for joint pains.  Its use promotes the
excretion of injurious acidic substances through the urine and the body
feels relieved.   The joint pains decrease.  The Berberis patient feels
irritation and itching as if somethi ng is creeping inside the nose.
Often, the cold settles in the left nostril and becomes chronic.  The
mouth is dry and the tongue sticks due  to dryness.  It feels burnt and
abrased.  Sometimes, there is frothy sputum at the mouth with the
consistency of thrashed cotton which does not, however, make the
mouth moist.  Sometimes blisters develop on the tongue.

In men, there is undulating pain al ong the course of the spermatic
cord, which becomes worse during infection of the kidney and the
bladder.  The patient cannot empty his bladder completely and keeps
on straining to evacuate himself full y.  Sometimes the urine contains
pus or mucus and sometimes, also red cells.  The urine smells
extremely foul.  The undulating type of pain at the shoulders, arms,
hands, legs, feet and the nails, asso ciated with generalised weakness,
are the special symptoms of Berberis Vulgaris.

The typical sign of Berberis pain is  that it starts at one point and
spreads out, radiating like the spokes of a bicycle wheel.  The kidney
pain also behaves in the same way.  The throbbing pain radiates
downwards towards the bladder and upwards towards the back and the
liver.  The pain radiating downwards reaches the testicles through the
nerves.  Often, the patient feels inte nse desire to pass urine when he

stands or walks, and the urge is un controllable.  At the urinal, when
one passes urine, although a major por tion is passed, the weak stream
of urine is never-ending.  It app ears as if the kidney is continuously
making urine.

Regarding the urinary symptoms of Be rberis, either the urine is plenty
and dilute or sparse but thick and smelly due to an excess of waste
products.  The frequency or relative  infrequency of urination are both
present in Berberis Vulgaris.  When the urination is copius, the
kidneys are washed out and the bad smell of the urine dissipates.
When the urine becomes less in qu antity, it becomes deep-coloured
and offensive.  When the quantity of the urine is decreased, the patient
feels a burning sensation along the urethra.

The kidney pain of Pareira Brav a usually radiates only in one
direction and that is often from the kidney down into the thigh.  In
Berberis Vulgaris, however, the pain from the kidney or the gall
bladder radiates in all directions .  In this particular symptom
pertaining to the gall bladder pain , Berberis is very effective.  In a
week to ten days, the stones of the gall bladder start breaking and are
excreted in the stools.

In Berberis Vulgaris, the joint pains resemble gout in that they affect
the small joints of the hands and th e feet much more, as compared to
the joint pains involving the big join ts (in Rheumatism).  The pains in
the hands and the fingers, like Benz oic Acid, are deeply related to
Berberis Vulgaris.  The pain at the hip or the leg starts as soon as the
person stands up and worsens after wa lking a short distance.  The feet
also hurt, especially th e heels and the soles.  In gouty pains, Benzoic
Acid may prove to be the best substitute of Berberis Vulgaris.  Both
may also be used alternately.

Experienced homoeopaths believe that when the heart becomes weak
secondary to liver failure, Berberis first corrects the state of the liver
and as a result, the heart becomes normalized automatically.  When
there is a retention of acidic produ cts and urea in the body, Berberis
Vulgaris mobilizes them from there and redirects them to the blood.
They are then excreted through th e kidneys.  When acidic matters
increase in the blood, they can affect  the heart.  The heart will not
improve unless these acidic waste pr oducts are excreted.  Otherwise,
Berberis Vulgaris does not have an y direct effect on the condition of

the heart.  If during the use of Berberis Vulgaris, the heart is adversely
affected, the patient should be made to drink a lot of water so that the
amount of urine increases.  The wa ste products and acidic matter can
be washed out of the body rapidly thus preventing them from affecting
the heart again.  During a severe cr amp, the Berberis Vulgaris patient
cries uncontrollably.  The gouty pains of Berberis become worse on
movement.  The patient walks very slowly and guardedly.  The
symptoms take time to disappear.

The patient feels as if the head is  wrapped in something.  In Glonoine
also, there is a feeling of the head being tied up in a bandage.  A cap
and buttoned-up collars are unbearable .  But in Berberis Vulgaris,
even if there is nothing covering the head, the person feels as if
something is holding tight.  As in Psorinum, the patient also feels
bouts of hunger pains.  One symptom of Berberis is that the person
feels as if he has been stabbed in  his liver and gall bladder with a
knife.  The pain radiates like fire works in all directions from the
affected part of the body.

In Berberis, the patient is jaundiced and the stools become clay-
coloured.  In this condition, Card uus Marianus may also be given
along with Berberis Vulgar is to enhance its beneficial effect.  These
two remedies work as adjuvants to each other.  In the case of liver
diseases, I give Berberis Vulgaris in the form of mother tincture,
while in kidney troubles and gout, I use it in potency 30. Berberis
Vulgaris and Carduus Marianus have similar constitutions.

Berberis Vulgaris is useful in the treatment of severe kidney pain as
well as kidney stones, but it has to be used over a long period so that
the stones gradually dissolve and are excreted.  Berberis Vulgaris has
no affect on the Oxalic Acid stones.  The oxalate stones are very hard,
and they are treatable by using ul trasound rays.  In my experience,
Silicea and Calcarea Flour 6X given together for some time, dissolve
and then expel the oxalate stone.

In Berberis Vulgaris, one of the symptoms is that the mouth feels
sticky due to thick, sticky sputum.  Small spots develop on the
tongue that feels raw.  In the morn ing, one feels nauseated and has a
burning sensation in the chest.  In  Berberis, with movement and on
standing, the legs start hurting, and the urinary symptoms intensify.

Antidotes: Camphor, Belladonna
Potency: Mother Tincture (Q)

## Symptoms by System