# Crotalus Horridus (HMT)

## Remedy Classification
- **Type:** Remedy
- **Alternative Names:** Rattle Snake
- **Miasm:** Tubercular Miasm
- **Temperament:** Neutral
- **Aggravation Time:** Neutral/Anytime

## Keynote Indications
This remedy is prepared from th e venom of a very poisonous and
dangerous type of snake commonly ca lled the rattlesnake.  The snake
keeps on constantly rubbing its body producing a rattle-like sound.
This snake is found in almost all the countries of the world, especially
in the deserts and rocky areas that  abound in salt in the soil.  The
snake likes to live in moist areas where it stays asleep.  When stepped
on by somebody or by its prey, it attack s suddenly.  Its poison is very
quick in action. The face of the pa tient becomes extremely fearful and
dreadful, and he dies within no time at all.  Mostly, there is no time for
treatment to be administered.  The farmers in the province of Sindh in
Pakistan are quoted to say that when this snake bites, it seems to tell
its victim to fall away from him so as  not to crush him, since death is
so instantaneous.

The effects of the snakebite are ge nerally very long lasting and show
up in the spring season.  The snakes, which normally hibernate in the
cold weather, become active in th is season.  After hibernation, when
they become active, their poison is very deadly.  In case the person
bitten by a snake happens to survive, due to a relatively small dose of
the poison, his symptoms reactivate in that particular season again and
this happens repeatedly every year.  In the spring season, snakebite
wounds start hurting and the ailments  related to the snakebite are
aggravated.  The spring season is known for allergies of many kinds,
which respond to the treatment with Lachesis prepared from the snake
venom.  It does not do equally well on everybody rather, other
remedies also need to be given.  Apart from Crotalus, Alumina and
Sabadilla can be useful but Lachesis is the most effective.

The main effect of Crotalus is on the liver.  By the grace of Allah it
will rapidly control progressive jaundice.  The patient of Crotalus is
extremely nervous and tremulous.  The tongue also quivers when
pulled out of the mouth.  The patien t feels tired on simple movement.
Paralysis develops.  The blood becomes dark  in colour and exudes
from everywhere, especially the junc tional areas, where the outer skin
and the inner lining meet.  Sudden severe illnesses like paralysis and
spontaneous bleeding from any part of the body should remind one

of the snakebite.  The exuding blood is liquid and of dark colour.
Within the circulatory system, the blood coagulates like the curdling
of milk.  The blood that exudes is li ke dirty water mixed with blood.
In the case of some other snakebite s, the venom, rather than clotting
the blood, makes it thin.  This kind of venom affects specifically the
nervous system.

Crotalus is very useful in the treatment of strange mental conditions
like delirium, mumbling and shortness of temper.  When somebody
wants to talk to the patient, he wi ll immediately interrupt, shut him up
and then start talking himself.  He cannot tolerate anybody else talking
in his presence.  In order to continue the conversation, he will devise
some story, but will definitely cut everybody else’s conversation.
Excessive talking is also noticed in a patient of Lachesis whose
conversation is irregular and confus ing.  A patient of Crotalus also
talks very fast and keeps on making stories, but he is not mentally
aggressive.  Rather, he is slow and te nds to be sleepy.  He is fearful of
death, tends to cry and experiences cold sweats.  The headache and
dizziness alternate.  When resting, he suffers from headache, and
when moving he feels dizzy.  Sleep aggravates  the symptoms,
especially the headache which becomes very severe.  Sometimes, the
patient wakes up due to a headache that he did not have before he
went to bed.  Raising the head up also aggravates the suffering.
Waves of severe headache undulate fr om the back to the front of the
head, resulting in severe weakness.

Whenever the patient of snakebite su ffers from some special illness,
dark offensive blood exudes from the previous snakebite wounds,
especially in the spring season.  In the presence of diabetes, large
dangerous kind of abscesses (carbuncles) form on the neck and the
back, which spread rapidly and deep into the tissues.  There is
associated marked swelling around them.  Crotalus would be very
useful for the treatment of both th ese conditions. In such carbuncles
Arsenic and Anthracinum are also effective. When women develop
typhoid during pregnancy  resulting in abortion, Crotalus will
prevent against the subsequent possible complications.

In Crotalus, sometimes, the patient either sleeps too much or does not
sleep at all and both these conditions alternate with each other.  When
drowsy, it is difficult for him to get up.  Once he is awake, it is
difficult for him to go back to sleep.

One thing is common in Crotalus and other snake venoms that the
patient becomes suspicious minded.  He does not trust anybody and
thinks that somebody will poison him.  The patient has a strong desire
to drink alcohol.  The best treatment to break the habit of drinking
alcohol is Sulphuric Acid i.e., one drop of Sulphuric Acid dissolved in
a glass of water, given three times a day.  Crotalus is ideal remedy for
a grossly obese alcoholic who has a craving for spicy food.

The eyes of a Crotalus patient are yellowish, with the appearance of
dark rings around the eyes .  The eyes have burning pain as if
somebody has pierced them with a knife.  There is a tendency to bleed
inside the eye.  The vision becomes hazy.  Sometimes, due to extreme
weakness, the eyesight may be totally lost.  Light is unbearable
(photophobia).

There is bleeding from the ears .  The right ear becomes deaf due to
the affliction of the nerves of the ears .  The dysfunction of the ears
causes vertigo.  There is mild earache, throbbing sensation and
hypersensitivity to loud noise.  In Crotalus, the nasal discharge  is
mixed with blood.  There can be a nosebleed (Epistaxis), the blood
being dark and clotted in the form of woven thread.  The lips swell
and become numb, the face also becomes pale and swollen.  The
dryness of the tongue and the throat makes speaking and swallowing
difficult.  The tongue is red, dry an d swollen.  When such a patient
develops cancer of the tongue , the condition would warrant the use
of Crotalus.

A Crotalus patient cannot tolera te any kind of clothing around the
stomach area.  His stomach cannot hol d anything and it throws up its
contents.  The material thrown up contains bile.  The vomiting may be
of pure blood.  The stomach feels em pty.   Either the patient is
constipated or has diarrhoea.  The diarrhoeal stools are dark in
colour, rather thin, but smell offensive and are mixed with blood.  The
urine is red or yellowish in colour.  The kidneys become inflamed.
There is a pain in the liver area.  The heart feels weak but beats fast.
The pulse is generally very rapid or becomes very weak.

Joint pains  are also a symptom of Crotalus.  The glands become
swollen.  The hands and feet also sw ell and there is stiffness and pain
in the toes.  The headache and stomach symptoms get better in the

open but the cough becomes more severe.  The entire body shakes, the
skin becomes hypersensitive and pale in colour with the tendency
towards boils.  The face is pale and listless .  If a girl fails to have
periods and her face becomes covered with acne then  Crotalus would
be the ideal remedy for this condition.  This will restore her periods
and reduce the congestion on her face.

Crotalus is not only an acute remedy  in fact it is very useful in the
treatment of chronic illn esses also.  When the body becomes weak ,
the hands shake and tremors develop in the middle-aged people,
Crotalus would not only be f ound useful, but its use becomes
unavoidable.

The symptoms of a patient of Crotalus become worse when lying on
the right side.  There is a feeling of  intense cold in the stomach and in
the abdomen, as if ice has been placed over them.  This sensation can
be an early sign of cancer of the intestines or stomach.  Timely use of
Crotalus will obviate the formation of cancer.  Such symptoms must
well be kept in mind to avoid unnecessary complications.

Crotalus is also used for the tr eatment of wind in the stomach and
stomach ulcers.  Crotalus can cure the excessive bleeding originating
from the cancer of the uterus .  The eyes of such a patient become
pale as if she has developed jaun dice.  This is a typical sign of
Crotalus.  The weakness of the heart is also a sign of Crotalus.  This
symptom is found in almost all the cases of poisoning due to
snakebites.  In particular, there is  a feeling of the trembling of the
heart during the menstrual period.  The hands also shake and become
swollen.  The legs become numb and there is a possibility of
developing left-sided paralysi s of the body (hemiplegia).  The
menstrual periods last longer than usual .  Severe pain radiates
down the legs.  There is a feeling of weakness of the stomach.  There
is excessive bleeding and a feeling of  prolapse of the uterus after the
childbirth.  Due to severe stiffne ss and pain, the patient feels great
discomfort over the legs and keeps moving the legs constantly.

Antidotes: Lachesis, Camphor
Potency: 30 to 200

## Symptoms by System