Repertory › Remedies in the repertory

Nux moschata (Nux‑m.)

Nux moschata (Nux‑m.) appears in the repertory in 761 rubrics. Of these, 52 are single-remedy rubrics in which only this remedy appears, and 56 are small rubrics with at most two other remedies. The emphasis is on Delusions, Mistakes in talking and writing, Unconsciousness, Laughing, Thoughts, Speech, and Memory. The picture is that of a person who loses herself: consciousness flickers, memory and speech fail, and what is present appears strange.

Loss of self

The core lies in dissolution. A single-remedy rubric simply knows the sensation of dissolution, others the delusion of being double and watching the other self play, the cleaved and the cracking brain, the head that would fall off. Added are two heads, shrunken body parts, and the sensation that whatever one says, someone else is speaking. The personality also changes, especially in pregnancy. The person no longer experiences herself as a unity but as something slipping out of its structure.

Estranged surroundings

Like the self, the surroundings lose their solidity. The delusions show that the familiar appears strange and ridiculous, that space expands, that the surroundings do not exist. The person confuses present and past, and her memory affects even her past life: two single-remedy rubrics record loss of memory of one's own past life. She is unconscious of what she has said or done, and on waking does not know where she is or what to answer.

Loss of consciousness

Unconsciousness is among the most frequent rubrics and has particular occasions: the sight of blood, excitement, the time before menses, and standing while a dress is being fitted. The person remains standing rigid in one place and starts up on regaining consciousness. Dullness and intoxication are listed, mental confusion in pregnancy, and a dreamlike state after lunch. The term "Organic psychodrome" stands alone, and the sleepiness is accompanied by delusions.

Speech and writing

The loss of consciousness reaches into speech. The single-remedy rubric "Speech – disordered" stands by itself; the person uses wrong words, with headache, also opposite ones, such as hot instead of cold, and must stop in mid-sentence to change it completely. She answers what is beside the point, her voice sounds muffled, as if speaking through linen, and she talks aloud to herself. In writing she unintentionally changes alphabets and jumps from one subject to another. The thoughts wander, vanish before menses, and control over them fades around 2 p.m.

Laughing and mood

Laughing is among the peculiarities. It occurs in the open air, in the forenoon, and during menses, at times hysterical, and it alternates with being quiet and the desire to be silent. The person behaves foolishly in the open air, and her gestures are ridiculous, even when standing in the street. The mood changes, with fever and with heat, and cheerfulness alternates with anxiety, in connection with the position of the uterus. The exuberant one becomes sad.

Fear, body, and pregnancy

The fear concerns death and falling asleep, from fear of dying. It comes at a particular hour, at half past five in the afternoon. Hypochondriasis occurs in the forenoon and in fever. Rubrics relating to women are conspicuously frequent: scanty menses as an occasion for fear and for hysteria, anger in pregnancy, aversion to company during this time, stupor during menses. The voice suffers in northeast wind and stormy weather, and on waking it fails.

Summary

In the repertory Nux moschata is a remedy of wavering consciousness. A person who does not keep herself present loses words, memory, and at times the sense of her own self; the world around her becomes strange. The mood depends on bodily states such as menses, pregnancy, and fever, and the laughing can occur as unmotivated as the silence.

A reference work for professionals; it does not replace diagnosis or treatment.