Abroma augusta
Devil's cotton. N.O. Sterculioideae
Abroma augusta, indigenous to India, is an evergreen large shrub or a small tree with drooping branches. The roots and bark are used as an emmenagogue. The fluffy seeds look like cotton balls. The best-known genera in this family are Theobroma [chocolate tree] and Cola [kola nut]. Both contain plentiful amounts of caffeine and theobromine. Abroma also contains fair quantities of potassium, sodium and magnesium.
Mind.
Irritability, moroseness. Easily excited and easily angered. Contradiction unbearable. "One prover quarrelled with his colleagues which was rather unusual. Another prover who used to be irritable became calmer."
Physical. Loss of appetite (Choc, Cola); or voracious appetite, desires many kind of food. Very thirsty; dryness of mouth not relieved.
Absence of sexual desire in males. Extreme exhaustion after coition. Dysmenorrhoea or amenorrhoea. Colicky pain in lower abdomen before or during menses. Worse Commencement of flow.
Menorrhagia. Yellowish white leucorrhoea with offensive odour and pain in the lower abdomen. In menstrual period Abroma patient is bad-tempered and easily angered.
Experience with cases
For what we have seen now of patients needing remedies of this family we could say that they all have something like nice, happy, naughty, hyperactive and defiant. They may draw all the attention they can get by being nice and charming, but also by restlessness and difficult behaviour. The higher the fever the more restless and exited they become.
Interesting is the pace of the remedies of the Sterculaceae. The Abroma patient came once; the mother did not think it was usefull to come a second time since mother was to busy and the patient was doing well.
The girl T de G that got Chocolate only came once in 1991 because mother forgot the appointment. In 1994 she came for consultation, but now at my consultation; I did not record why she did not go to her former homeopath, a collegue at our centre. When the remedy works the next consultation is forgotten; they phone but do not come again.
The Abroma patient comes from a family with much ‘nervous and chaotic’ family members. The Chocolate girl T de G lives in a chaotic house with many strangers (asylum seekers and nine foster children) and her mother lived alone during the first years of her live.
They may sleep notably well inspite of caffeine -like quality; and on the other hand during illness all they coffeine qualities may show: sleeplessness, restlessness, mirth, playfullness. They may have tantrums.
Physically the bronchitis is well represented and two of the patients are relatively long for their age.
Both very thirsty and have ravenous appetite; desire for strong tastes. Fish is an item (aversion/desire).
They are warm, may uncover.