{"id":13588,"remedy_name":"Cactus Grandiflorus (HMT)","remedy_type":"Remedy","alternative_names":["Night-Blooming Cereus"],"miasm":"Syphilitic Miasm","temperament":"Neutral","aggravation_time":"Neutral\/Anytime","keynote_indications":"The Cactus plant grows in the desert .  Although it is considered as an\nunattractive plant, in the desert it  exhibits its own unique beauty.\nBlooming in full all around, it is pleasing to the ey e.  The fruit of the\nCactus is very nice and looks good too, while its juice is also quite\ntasty, though it leaves an unpleasant odour.  Excessive use of its fruit\naffects the kidneys adversely.  Urination becomes very painful .  A\nburning sensation is also associated with cramping of the bladder.  In\nCantharis also, there is severe burning sensation on passing urine.\nThe urine dribbles with severe sc alding.  In Cactus, along with the\nburning sensation, there is also cram ping at the bladder.  The special\nfeature of the cactus is that wherev er there is pain, there must be\nspasms\/cramps also.\n\nCactus adversely affects the circular  muscle fibres and valves.  Its\nailments come on suddenly.  The heart also gets afflicted suddenly\nas if somebody has been caught in a powerful vice.  Cactus proves to\nbe very effective in the treatment of those diseases of the heart in\nwhich there is dilatation of the muscles and the damage to the valves.\nThe spasm of the muscles at the throat  can cause the sensation of\ntightness.  The blood tends to accumulate everywhere.  The\ncongestion of the heart, kidneys, intestines and face with accumulation\nof blood is also found in Belladonna.  Palpitations and cramps are also\npresent in both.  But in Cactus, there is no fever.  In Belladonna, the\naffected part of the body becomes wa rm.  Warmth is a special sign of\nBelladonna.  In Cactus, the affected part gets congested with blood,\nbut there is no feeling of warmth and there is no fever.  Cactus\npatients become extremely terrified with sudden attacks  of the\ndisease, and symptoms resembling t hose of Aconite appear.  In view\nof the sudden onset of the illness and the specific nature of Cactus, it\nis only natural to have a fear of death.  The severe muscular cramps\nof the affected part of the body  resembles the feeling of being tied\nup in steel wires.  There is f eeling of tightness and generalized\nsuffocation.  The patient cannot even tolerate a buttoned-up collar.\nThis symptom, to some extent, is also found in Lachesis and\nGlonoine.  In Cactus, the affected part becomes badly hurt due to\nsevere muscular contraction.  A similar situation develops inside the\n\nuterus.  Cactus is a very important remedy for the treatment in newly\nwed women for severe pa in due to spasm (Vaginismus).  The feeling\nof tightness and cramps in that part of the body which does not usually\nsuffer from actual cramps, is a salient feature of Cactus.  Violent\nmuscle spasms are well known in rheumatoid arthritis and\nrheumatism. Blood accumulates locally.  In Colchicum and Benzoic\nAcid, the big toe swells but does not show any cramping.  In Cactus\nsuch an afflicted part also has cramps.\n\nCactus will be of use for the heart. If the ailment is confined to the\nheart and there is the feeling of tightness,   the pain over the central\nbone of the chest called sternum, is angina.  When the heart becomes\nenlarged and beats irregularly, there is a piercing pain in the chest,\nalong with hissing.  Such a patient is  not only relieved by Cactus but\nby the grace of God can be cured permanently.\n\nWhen the diseases of the kidneys become chronic, soft pitting edema\ndevelops in the body, especially at the feet and the legs.  If other\nsymptoms of Cactus are also evident, Cactus can offer cure of the\nwhole body by God\u2019s grace.  Sometimes, even if the salient symptoms\nof Cactus are not present, sudden tightness and its extreme severity\nmay be indicative enough of Cactus .  In these kinds of symptoms,\nCactus should be administered without any hesita tion.  If the\nsymptoms of the patient match that of Cactus, the relief will be\nprompt and if the patient is not of  Cactus, no harm will be done.  So\nCactus should always be kept in the emergency kit for use.\n\nRheumatic pains  indicative of Cactus do not present signs of\ntightness and spasms in the arm and thigh muscles because Cactus is\nrelated only to circular  (smooth) muscle fibres .  It does not have an\neffect on long (skeletal) muscles.  Colocynth is an important remedy\nwhich works on the long muscles.  Belladonna also is useful whereas\nCactus has no effect on the long musc le fibres.  In Belladonna, when\nthere is an excessive flow of blood towards the brain, there will be a\nfeeling of severe tightness at the h ead as in Cuprum.  But in the case\nof Cactus, there is no such feeling at the brain because there are no\ncircular muscle fibres within the brain substance.  In Cactus, when the\nbrain is afflicted, the patient becomes unconscious or semi-conscious\nbut exhibits no convulsions.  In Be lladonna, the tension in the brain\ncan show its effect and even reach the big toe which may present\nsevere cramps or spasms.  In Cactus, giddiness is very common which\n\ngets worse with physical  labour and fatigue, and is relieved by rest.\nMovement makes it worse.  The headache is on the right side, and is\naggravated by noise and bright light.   In Cactus, palpitation is also\npresent.  Sometimes, the entire bod y throbs.  This also happens in\nBelladonna, where the body is warm a nd feverish, but is absent in\nCactus.\n\nThe tendency of numbness of the left arm  along with the feeling of\npull demands the use of Cactus.  These symptoms sometimes develop\nin the beginning of a heart problem.  However, it is not necessary that\nthe pain in the left arm should always be due to a heart ailment.  This\ncan be caused by acidity of the stomach.  In case there is tightness and\nsensation of suffocation (as if somebody has strongly squeezed the\nchest) or there is palpitation and numbness, the obvious treatment\nshould be Cactus.\n\nIn Cactus, if at all there is fever, it starts at 11 o\u2019 clock in the morning.\nBefore noon, the patient feels seve re chill.  Al ong with thirst,\nheadache and the feeling of warmth at the time of contracting fever,\nthere is difficulty in breathing.  Th e feeling of warmth on the head on\nmental exertion is a characteristic of Cactus.  The head feels as if\ncaught in a vice.  There is a fear  of having apoplexy.  The eyes are\nred.  The hearing is affected due to congestion of ears with blood.  The\nfeeling of warmth and buzzing in  the ear, spasm at the gullet\n(oesophagus), dryness of the tongue and difficulty in swallowing food\nwithout water, the feeling of tightness and twitching of the stomach,\nwith the sensation of heaviness, blood-mixed vomiting, hard and dark\nstools, morning diarrhoea, painful swelling of piles and heaviness at\nthe anal verge, are all the symptoms of Cactus.  In malarial fever, as\nwell as during heart trouble, the intestines may also bleed.\n\nIn Cactus, there is contracti on of the bladde r neck, causing difficulty\nin passing urine.  Sometimes, there is bleeding in the bladder and the\nblood may clot in the urethra, maki ng the suffering still more grave.\nSwollen hands and feet , soft ice-cold hands a nd the feeling of feet\nbeing big, with restlessness in the legs, are all symptoms of Cactus\nwhich aggravate at night and on ly ing on the left si de, along with\nnoise light heat sun and hard work.\n\nAntidotes: Camphor, Aconite, China\nPotency: 30","modalities":"","symptoms_by_system":[],"schema_version":"1.0","api_provider":"Allahshafi"}