Genus: Carapichea
Common name: Ipecac, Cephaelis Ipecacuanha
Family: Rubiaceae (includes Coffee, Cinchona, Gardenia)
The small herbaceous shrub Cephaelis ipecacuanha is native to Brazil and produces small white flowers in January and February. In early summer, a small berry is produced. The name of this plant means, “roadside sick making plant.” When prepared as a syrup, the toxic roots have been used medicinally to treat dysentery, a type of gastrointestinal illness that causes bloody diarrhea. Ipecac syrup has been used to induce vomiting in cases of poisoning. Dust of the powdered roots is irritating to the eyes and skin, and inhalation of the dust causes difficulty breathing, sneezing, and cough.
The homeopathic remedy Ipecac is useful whenever constant vomiting and nausea are prominent symptoms, for example in gastric flu or some types of morning sickness during pregnancy. This remedy is helpful for croup or whooping cough to help raise choking mucus. Other uses include uterine hemorrhage, bleeding hemorrhoids, profuse nosebleeds, and dysmenorrhea, which is accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and faintness.
Keynotes:
- Persistent nausea and vomiting, nausea not relieved by vomiting
- Travel sickness, motion sickness, morning sickness of pregnancy
- Chilliness but becomes hot and sweaty during nausea and vomiting
- Migraines with severe vomiting and nausea
- Despite constant nausea, the tongue is clean
- Dry spasmodic cough with gagging and choking, difficulty breathing and a blue face
- Whooping cough, croup, asthma, bronchitis with suffocative cough, retching, vomiting
- Stomach flu with persistent nausea and vomiting
- Hemorrhages, nosebleeds
- Severe dysmenorrhea, miscarriage, uterine hemorrhage with bright red gushing blood, faintness, nausea, vomiting
- Abdominal cramping, colic
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