The urine dribbles with severe scalding. In Cactus, along
with the burning sensation, there is also cramping at the bladder.
The special feature of the cactus is that wherever there is pain, there
must be spasms/cramps also.
Cactus adversely affects the circular muscle fibres and
valves. Its ailments come on suddenly. The heart
also gets afflicted suddenly as if somebody has been caught in a
powerful vice. Cactus proves to be very effective in the treatment of those
diseases of the heart in which there is dilatation of the muscles and the
damage to the valves.
The spasm of the muscles at the throat can cause the sensation of
tightness. The blood tends to accumulate everywhere. The congestion of the heart, kidneys, intestines and face with
accumulation of blood is also found in Belladonna. Palpitations and
cramps are also present in both. But in Cactus, there is no fever. In
Belladonna, the affected part of the body becomes warm. Warmth is a special
sign of Belladonna. In Cactus, the affected part gets congested with
blood, but there is no feeling of warmth and there is no fever.
Cactus patients become extremely terrified with sudden attacks of the
disease, and symptoms resembling those of Aconite appear. In
view of the sudden onset of the illness and the specific nature
of Cactus, it is only natural to have a fear
of death. The severe muscular
cramps of the
affected part of the body resembles the feeling of being tied up in steel wires. There is feeling of tightness and
generalized suffocation. The patient cannot even tolerate a buttoned-up collar. This symptom, to some extent, is also found in Lachesis and Glonoine. In Cactus, the affected part becomes badly hurt
due to severe muscular contraction. A similar situation develops inside the uterus.
Cactus is a very important remedy for the treatment in newly wed women for
severe pain due to spasm (Vaginismus). The feeling of tightness and cramps in
that part of the body which does not usually suffer from actual cramps, is a
salient feature of Cactus. Violent muscle spasms are well known in rheumatoid
arthritis and rheumatism. Blood accumulates locally. In Colchicum and Benzoic Acid,
the big toe swells but does not show any cramping. In Cactus such an afflicted
part also has cramps.
Cactus will be of use for the heart. If the ailment is
confined to the heart and there is the feeling
of tightness, the pain over the central bone of the chest called
sternum, is angina.
When the heart becomes enlarged
and beats irregularly, there is a piercing pain in the chest, along
with hissing. Such a patient is not only relieved by Cactus but by the grace of
God can be cured permanently. When the diseases of the kidneys become
chronic, soft pitting edema develops in the body, especially at the feet and
the legs. If other symptoms of Cactus are also evident, Cactus can offer cure
of the whole body by God’s grace. Sometimes, even if the salient symptoms of
Cactus are not present, sudden tightness and its extreme severity may be
indicative enough of Cactus. In these kinds of symptoms, Cactus should be
administered without any hesitation. If the symptoms of the patient match that
of Cactus, the relief will be prompt and if the patient is not of Cactus, no
harm will be done. So Cactus should always be kept in the emergency kit for
use.
Rheumatic
pains indicative of Cactus do not present signs of tightness and spasms in the arm and thigh muscles because
Cactus is related only to circular (smooth) muscle fibres. It does not
have an effect on long (skeletal) muscles. Colocynth is an important
remedy which works on the long muscles. Belladonna also is useful
whereas Cactus has no effect on the long muscle fibres. In
Belladonna, when there is an excessive flow of blood towards the brain, there
will be a feeling of severe tightness at the head as in Cuprum. But in
the case of Cactus, there is no such feeling at the brain because
there are no circular muscle fibres within the brain substance. In Cactus,
when the brain is afflicted, the patient becomes unconscious or
semi-conscious
but exhibits no convulsions. In Belladonna, the tension in
the brain can show its effect and even reach the big toe which may
present severe cramps or spasms. In Cactus, giddiness is very common
which gets worse with physical labour and fatigue, and is
relieved by rest. Movement makes it
worse. The headache is on
the right side, and is aggravated by noise and bright light. In
Cactus, palpitation is also present. Sometimes, the entire body throbs. This
also happens in Belladonna, where the body is warm and feverish, but is absent
in Cactus.
The tendency of numbness
of the left arm along with the feeling of pull demands the use of
Cactus. These symptoms sometimes develop in the beginning of a heart problem.
However, it is not necessary that the pain in the left arm should always be due
to a heart ailment. This can be caused by acidity of the stomach. In case there
is tightness and sensation of suffocation (as if somebody has strongly squeezed
the chest) or there is palpitation and numbness, the obvious treatment should
be Cactus.
In Cactus, if at all there is fever, it starts at 11 o’
clock in the morning. Before noon, the
patient feels severe chill. Along with thirst, headache and the feeling of
warmth at the time of contracting fever, there is difficulty in breathing. The
feeling of warmth on the head on mental exertion is a characteristic of Cactus.
The head feels as if caught in a vice. There is a fear of having apoplexy. The
eyes are red. The hearing is affected due to congestion of ears with blood. The
feeling of warmth and buzzing in the ear, spasm at the gullet (oesophagus),
dryness of the tongue and difficulty in swallowing food without water, the
feeling of tightness and
twitching of the stomach, with the sensation of heaviness, blood-mixed vomiting, hard
and dark stools, morning diarrhoea,
painful swelling of piles and
heaviness at the anal verge, are all the symptoms of Cactus. In malarial fever,
as well as during heart trouble, the intestines may also bleed. In Cactus, there is contraction of the
bladder neck, causing difficulty
in passing urine. Sometimes, there is bleeding in the bladder and
the blood may clot in the urethra, making the suffering still more grave. Swollen
hands and feet, soft ice-cold hands and the feeling of feet being
big, with restlessness in the legs, are all symptoms of Cactus which aggravate
at night and on lying on the left side, along with noise light heat sun and
hard work.