The homeopathic remedy Belladonna is made from the deadly nightshade plant, also known as Atropa Belladonna or Belladonna, which is characterized by shiny blue-black berries that ironically are slightly sweet, with lovely purple or pink flowers. Belladonna, which means beautiful lady in Italian, derives its name from the practice of Venetian women putting drops made from this plant into their eyes to dilate their pupils. Doing so had the effect of making their eyes appear larger and they believed this made them more beautiful. The atropine in Belladonna is what creates this eye widening effect and is used by optometrists today for pupil dilation during eye examinations.

The Deadly Nightshade plant has a long and interesting history.

In Roman times, Emperor Augustus’ wife allegedly used it to poison him, and Roman soldiers used a paste made from the plant on the tips of their arrows to render them more deadly. It is said to have been used by witches in concoctions which when applied to their skin induced hallucinations of flying. Midwives used it to make labour easier and prevent miscarriage. In ancient Greece, it was used for insomnia. Although in its original state this plant is poisonous to people, the homeopathic remedy made from it which is highly diluted and shaken vigorously between dilutions, is non-toxic and has a wide range of healing properties.

Belladonna is one of the most well known homeopathic remedies for a high fever that has a sudden onset. Within the feverish state, the patient may have a flushed face with redness of skin, burning heat, ice cold feet, lack of thirst, delirium, and a tendency to hit or bite others.

This remedy can be used for many mental symptoms including visions and hallucinations which may be frightening, such as monsters and horrible faces. Dominated by such illusions, the Belladonna patient may be living in their own world apart from the physical world they are actually surrounded by. It is not hard to understand why such a patient might be flying into a rage with the desire to hit or bite those around them, have a fear of dogs and also have a feeling that they need to escape. The senses may be unusually acute and the person could be quite impressionable and changeable. Interestingly when a person needing this remedy is not sick, they tend to be quite mentally stable.

Headaches and migraines can be healed with Belladonna.

With headache or migraine that is suited to treatment with Belladonna, the pains start at the back of the head and then travel to the temples, forehead or right eye, and are worse on the right side of the head. The patient’s head feels hot and the pain is throbbing or pulsating. The pain is worse from noise, light, movement, lying down and in the afternoon.

Belladonna can help with earaches where there is throbbing and tearing pain deep in the ear or tearing pain in the external ear and where the hearing is very acute, the person is sensitive to loud sounds, and the pain leads to to delirium.

This remedy can be useful for sore throats where the throat is dry, hot and red, is worse on the right side, the tonsils are swollen, the throat is constricted, swallowing is difficult, there are throat spasms and there is a feeling of a lump in the throat.

Many heart problems can also be alleviated with Belladonna.

In such cases, the heart may be violently pounding or racing and this can occur with a very small amount of exertion. There may be pulsations throughout the body, difficulty breathing and a feeling as though the heart is too large.

Additional areas where Belladonna may be useful are acne, rosacea, boils, facial nerve pain with twitches, loss of appetite, nausea, mastitis, breast tumors, vertigo, stomach pain and cough.

If you feel you may benefit from homeopathic treatment, I invite you to get in touch. Let’s discuss it.