Amyl nitrosum
Made from amyl nitrite — the first drug ever given for angina, the burst-capsule of the Victorian pocket, and the classical remedy of the surging flush.
The whole picture, in one breath
Think of a surge of blood with a pounding heart: violent flushing and heat of the face, the sensation of blood rushing upward, palpitations with anxiety and weakness, and the books' portrait of the flush that the first angina drug itself produced. The surging-flush remedy: that is Amyl nitrosum.
The substance, in plain words
Amyl nitrite is the volatile liquid of the Victorian pocket capsule — crushed and inhaled, it flushed the face and relieved the heart within moments. In 1867 it became the first drug ever given for angina pectoris, eleven years before nitroglycerin — a genuine milestone in cardiology. The proving gave the remedy the flush and surge it caused.
The traditional picture Classical sources
The inner state
- Anxiety with the surging. Fear and anxiety with the rush of blood and the palpitations, worse at night.
- Restlessness. Cannot settle with the surging heat and the pounding heart.
- Irritability. Cross, worse from heat and from contradiction.
The body
- Violent flushing and heat. The keynote: sudden, violent flushing of the face and head with the sensation of blood rushing upward.
- Palpitations with anxiety. The heart pounds with the anxiety and weakness — the drug's own action as symptom.
- Surging to the head. The books record the rush of blood to the head with the faint, weak state after.
- Spasmodic asthma tendency. The books add it to the spasmodic breathing of the flush constitution.
- Worse heat and exertion. Warmth and effort bring the surge.
- Better for open air and rest. Cool air and rest let the surge subside.
Modalities (worse and better factors)
| Worse from ⬇ | Better from ⬇ |
|---|---|
| heat and warm rooms; exertion; emotional excitement; stooping. | open cool air; rest; quiet. |
Where it acts (organ affinities)
Circulation and flushing, heart and palpitations, head, respiration.
Where the classical picture comes from
The first angina drug's proving gave the surging-flush portrait; Amyl nitrosum became the classical remedy of the violent flush and the pounding heart — the pocket capsule's own action recorded as a remedy.
The substance in real medicine Pharmacology
What this section is: the pharmacology and toxicology of the source substance. It is not clinical evidence that a homeopathic preparation of it treats any condition. What controlled trials do and do not show is set out on the Evidence page.
Amyl nitrite is genuinely a landmark of cardiology: Brunton's 1867 use for angina was the first time any drug relieved the condition — the opening shot of cardiovascular pharmacology, eleven years before nitroglycerin. Its volatile chemistry and dramatic flush made it the Victorian emergency capsule; its successor nitroglycerin remains a first-line heart drug today.
Look-alikes (how the classical authors told it apart)
| Remedy | Looks similar because… | Tells it apart because… |
|---|---|---|
| Glonoinum | Surging blood | Glonoinum surges in waves after the sun with the jarring; Amyl nitrosum flushes and pounds with the anxiety. |
| Belladonna | Hot congested states | Belladonna is hot, red, dry and throbbing; Amyl nitrosum is the sudden flush with the weak state after. |
| Kali nitricum | Heart and breathing | Kali-nit is the 3 a.m. asthmatic; Amyl nitrosum the flush and the pounding. |
| Sanguinaria canadensis | Flushing headaches | Sanguinaria's is the right-sided sick-headache; Amyl nitrosum the violent flush itself. |