Ignatia amara
Abbreviation: Ign. · Homeopathic materia medica (patient information)
English patient information. Some clinical wording may still reflect the German source text. Not for self-prescription.
There are similarities between Ignatia and Natrum muriaticum in their effect on the psyche.
Both help with grief, for example through disappointed love or the death of parents, friends, relatives and the complaints that arise from this (for example suppressed menses or insomnia). Both prefer to be alone in their grief and have an aversion to comfort, which only worsens their grief. Ignatia patients are sensitive, nervous, excitable temperaments.
Contradictory and alternating states are typical for Ignatia, which is why it was previously associated with the clinical picture of hysteria. Patients laugh at serious matters or their mood changes rapidly so that they alternately laugh and cry. Paradoxical symptoms can also be found on a physical level, for example a sore throat that gets better when swallowing (if this symptom is present, Ignatia also cures tonsillitis); Thirst only in feverish chills; nausea, better with food; Hemorrhoids, worse after stool, better during stool; Toothache, worse after eating, not so bad when eating; Cough that is worsened by continued coughing; Vomiting of light foods, but foods such as cabbage are retained in the stomach; Empty stomach, not relieved by eating; Anal prolapse, not improved even if the stool is soft; loose stools difficult to pass; red face in the chill of fever; Thirst in a fever, thirstless in a fever; Pain that quickly changes character.
The relationship to purely nervous (formerly: hysterical) suffering is also shown by the symptom of globus hystericus (feeling of a rising lump in the throat).
Another Ignatia trait is increased sensitivity. Patients laugh or cry at every opportunity. They are extremely sensitive to pain and cannot tolerate dental treatment, for example.
Other indications of Ignatia include: Frequent sighing or sobbing; strong aversion to tobacco, which worsens many symptoms; the patient bites his tongue or cheek when chewing or speaking.