Ignatia is a hysterical remedy as it is known. But it can’t cure a patient who is born hysterical. Hysteria is more prevalent in women so that it is called a woman remedy. It doesn’t mean it has no action on men. A patient who manifests Ignatia like symptoms can be relieved by it. Ignatia is a nervous, hysterical, delicate, and moody lady. It can be aggravated from grief, disappointed love, and loss of a loved one or near one. Such type of shocks may drive him to go in to hysteria. The patient may manifest the hysterical symptoms which are queer and strange in nature e.g. the patient may feel there is a complete paralysis of one hand or a leg that is not caused by cerebral hemorrhage. But after a day or many hours the paralyzed part becomes perfectly all right. The patient doesn’t want to meet any one and sit alone in a corner of the room. She sobs and sighs. She is taciturn too.
There are so many alternating symptoms present. One moment she laughs spasmodically and controllably but soon she starts crying. One time she meets everyone joyously and the next moment she may be violent. She may have vivid imaginations like Hyocyamus but without fever though delirium occurs generally in fever. She will talk unrequitedly. She may be overexcited, sensitive and overwrought due to overstrain of work even like music, art etc. She may start to love with a married man but is unable to control herself in overwrought condition. She says Mom I know this is not good but is unable to get rid of these thoughts.
The medicine is full of paradoxes. You see a patient who has a pain in knee with lot of swelling, redness and heat. The patient says you may examine it by pressing but to your utter surprise, he doesn’t feel pain rather feels better by lying on it or pressing it hard. Every patient has thirst at the stage of heat, but in Ignatia the patient has thirst only during chill and at no other stage.
The patient has headache, he feels as if a nail is driven in head through temples but feels better either lying on it or by pressing hard on it. This is a strange symptom.
It is a chilly remedy but its stomach disorder is better by taking cold food. He can’t tolerate soft meal like milk and toast but raw onion and cabbage which are hard to digest, agree to his stomach. He is better in warm room and by wrapping up.
Cough generally comes when there is irritation in larynx or in throat. That irritation is relieved by coughing. But in Ignatia the more he coughs the more he desires to cough even sometimes he may go in spasm.