# Capsicum (HMT)

## Remedy Classification
- **Type:** Remedy
- **Alternative Names:** Cayenne Pepper
- **Miasm:** Tubercular Miasm
- **Temperament:** Neutral
- **Aggravation Time:** Neutral/Anytime

## Keynote Indications
Capsicum is prepared from red pe pper.  As a common notion, when a
thin, lean person is found to be restle ss, it is said that it is his reaction
to the pepper. However, the Capsicum patient is different altogether.
He is fat, flabby and shows venous spiders on his face.  His
complexion is that of an alcoholic .  The alcohol affects the small
blood vessels of the face, which turn into reddish looking spider webs.
The ingestion of chillies also causes enhancement of the circulation to
the skin.  Whether the food is hot or  cold, the patient is hypersensitive
to both.  Hot things feel hotter and co ld things seem colder than they
actually are.  When a person, in th e habit of taking too much pepper,
gives it up, his appetite become s suppressed because his digestive
glands and the lining of the stomach  have been tuned to work under
the stimulating effect of the chillies.  When he resorts to taking pepper
again, his glands become active a nd produce acid for digestion, which
in turn stimulates the appetite.

Even though hot pepper causes burning and gives the feeling of
warmth, nevertheless the Capsicum pa tient is of a cool nature and
likes to live in well-heated room.  A strange quality of the patient is
that he does not like to live outsi de his home for long.  He feels
homesick even if he is not in the habit of taking too much hot pepper.
A mere administration of two do ses of Capsicum may somewhat
diminish his anxiety to return home.

A Capsicum patient is stubborn in natu re.  It has been seen that in
areas where a lot of hot pepper is consumed, the people there are
usually of a stubborn nature, but not everyone who eats pepper is
essentially of such a nature.  An angry nature with irritability and
dissatisfaction resembles Chamomilla.  One cheek is red and the
other is pale.  This is commonly seen in diseases of the children.  The
scalp sweats. The patient thinks of committing suicide but does not
dare.  He is rather scared.  He likes  to live alone.  The head or some
other part of the body feels magni fied.  It can also happen in
Sabadilla.  In Capsicum, there is a feeling of throbbing.  His severe
headache becomes worse while resting, while movement makes it
subside.

The bone behind the ear becomes red and swollen (mastoiditis)
after a sore throat.  This then becomes chronic.  Phytolacca and
Conium are also useful in treating this condition.

In cold, due to Capsicum, the face of the patient is flushed but cold.
The tip of the nose is red.  There is  feeling of burning and irritation
inside the nose.  The nose may even be blocked.  The Cough is
associated with a foul smell and there is pain inside the throat.  Small
blisters form on the tongue , which are painful to touch and cause
difficulty in swallowing.

In a patient of Capsicum, premature wrinkling of the skin is usual.
The skin loses its elasticity and thick lines become prominent.
Capsicum is useful in treating flabby muscles associated with
defective circulation.

Capsicum may be used in the treatment of measles when the face is
markedly congested and no other tr eatment works.  Another special
characteristic of Capsicum is that the tonsils swell  but they are soft
and can be reduced in size by pressure, like a sponge.

In Capsicum, burning in the stomach  after food is very pronounced.
Dysentery and diarrhoea are associated  with a feeling of warmth
inside the belly.  The burning sens ation (tenesmus) continues after
defecation.  There is an intense desire to drink cold water.
Haemorrhoids burn and are swollen and red.

Persistent hoarseness of voice  is also a symptom of Capsicum.  If
other symptoms of Capsicum are present, this remedy will prove
effective.  For the hoarseness  of voice, Phosphorus, Causticum,
Sulphur, Lycopodium, Coca, Psorinum and Borax are used.

The irritation of the larynx (voice box) and trachea provokes dry
cough, along with a hissing sound in the chest and pressure on the
bladder on coughing.  There is chest pain on breathing and pain on the
left lower ribs in the heart area.  Other symptoms of Capsicum are a
dislike for the open air, relief of symptoms with heat and taking food,
aching over different parts of the body, random twitching of the facial
muscles, and prominence of the bones at the temple associated with
inflammation.

Capsicum is useful for the treatment of elderly people who have been
involved in intellectual work throughout  their lives but in later years
of life, due to changing circumstances could not afford an easier
lifestyle.

Antidotes:  Cina, Caladium
Potency: 30 to 200

## Symptoms by System