Cyclamen
Made from the sowbread — the cyclamen of the Mediterranean windowsill, its saponins genuinely poisonous, and the classical remedy of the cycle and the dimming sight.
The whole picture, in one breath
Think of a woman whose cycle and sight are joined: menses delayed or suppressed with the visual dimming and the spots before the eyes, the jerking and twitching of the proving, the digestive upset worse for fats, the sadness that lifts when the flow arrives — the books' sowbread portrait. The cycle-and-sight remedy: that is Cyclamen.
The substance, in plain words
The sowbread is the cyclamen of the Mediterranean windowsill, its tuber carrying cyclamine — a genuine saponin poison of the primrose family, dangerous to grazing animals and real in its action. The proving gave the tuber the cycle-and-sight portrait.
The traditional picture Classical sources
The inner state
- Sadness lifting with the flow. The keynote of the mind: the low mood that lifts the moment the menses establish — the books' celebrated observation.
- Anxiety and fear. Worry over the delayed cycle, worse at night.
- Irritability. Cross before the flow, worse from contradiction.
The body
- Delayed menses with visual dimming. The keynote: the suppressed cycle with the dimming sight and the spots before the eyes.
- Jerking and twitching. The proving's motor chapter — the twitches and jerkings of the books.
- Digestive upset worse fats. The fats and butter disagree — the quoted dietary keynote.
- Saliva and thirst. The books add the increased saliva and the thirst of the state.
- Worse cold damp and before the menses. Wet weather and the days before the flow aggravate.
- Better for the flow and open air. The flow's arrival and fresh air lift the whole state.
Modalities (worse and better factors)
| Worse from ⬇ | Better from ⬇ |
|---|---|
| fats and butter; cold damp weather; before the menses; the quiet. | the flow established; open air; motion. |
Where it acts (organ affinities)
Female cycle and organs, eyes and sight, digestion, nerves.
Where the classical picture comes from
The windowsill tuber's poisonous saponins gave the cycle-and-sight portrait; Cyclamen became the classical remedy of the delayed menses with the dimming vision — the sowbread serving the cycle it was said to move.
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.
Cyclamine is genuinely poisonous — the primrose family's saponin weapon, documented in veterinary toxicology as the danger of the tubers to stock. The cycle and vision it portrayed are now gynaecology and ophthalmology's: the delayed menses investigated hormonally, the visual symptoms examined — the tuber's chemistry real, its portrait's answers modern.
Look-alikes (how the classical authors told it apart)
| Remedy | Looks similar because… | Tells it apart because… |
|---|---|---|
| Senecio aureus | Delayed menses | Senecio's is delayed by cold and emotion; Cyclamen's with the visual dimming and the fat-worse stomach. |
| Pulsatilla nigricans | Gentle, changeable female | Pulsatilla is tearful and changeable; Cyclamen is the cycle-sight remedy with the sadness that lifts. |
| Caulophyllum thalictroides | Irregular cycle | Caulophyllum's is the irregular labour and small joints; Cyclamen's the delayed flow and the eyes. |
| Zincum metallicum | Twitching | Zinc twitches and fidgets; Cyclamen twitches with the cycle and the sight. |