Headache—Neuralgia—Heartburn, etc.

Headache in pregnancy is caused either by uterine irritation, by derangement in digestion, or by both combined.

If caused by uterine irritation, there will be burning pain in the top of the head or at the base of the brain, accompanied by great soreness, which the patient describes as a sore pain. This pain, too, is constant, and likely to affect both vision and memory. It usually increases toward evening, and is relieved by lying down.

For this, take warm sitz baths daily, apply hot fomentations to back of the head, and keep in a reclining position as much as possible. (See Chap. XXI.)

Sick headache is a severe pain in the forehead and through the temples, accompanied by nausea and vomiting, often, too, by coldness of the extremities and great prostration. The attacks are irregular in frequency and duration. The causes are indigestion, biliousness, constipation, fatigue, anxiety, etc.

One under ordinary circumstances ought to be ashamed to have sick headache. A little common sense in the methods of living will do away with the causes.

Tea-drinking as a habit has much to do in producing headaches. Tea is stimulating. One ever so weary, after drinking a cup of tea, feels as good as new, is invigorated, hopeful, chatty, and entertaining. The social cup of tea! Has it really restored wasted tissues? Is it a genuine nerve feeder? Or does it stimulate native forces to greater action? Is it like a whip to the fagged horse, spurring it on to more toil? Very little tea is appropriated to build up worn-out tissues. It gives false strength. In the reaction headache ensues. It is the penalty that follows over-wrought vitality.

Dr. Gregg’s article in the Homeopathic Quarterly on tea as a cause of sick headache is worthy of the attention of those who suffer with this common malady. The doctor alleges that this beverage is the cause of this disease more than all other causes put together, and gives a number of instances where, after leaving off its use, persons who had previously been afflicted were exempt from further attacks. One evidence the doctor gives of the injurious effect of this agent is the fact that tea-drinkers are liable to have headaches if they omit its use at the regular times of taking it, and that the pain ceases on again resuming the cups.

“This latter, with many other facts contained in the article, has often been observed,” says the doctor, “not only on myself but on others, for I had inherited the disease from my mother. It had been the plague of her life as well as my own. We had both been not excessive but regular tea-drinkers; and although she lived to be over eighty years of age, she was never exempt from an attack of greater or less severity, for more than a few weeks at a time, for a period of nearly or quite half a century.

“Knowing this fact, and that from my earliest recollection I had been similarly affected, I was content when the pain returned, to relieve it with the appropriate remedies, with little hope or thought of ever being able to eradicate it. Some twenty years ago I had abandoned the use of coffee and green tea, using only the black and Japan. Pork, pastry, spices, acids and most kinds of raw fruits were sure, if indulged in, to bring on an attack of my old trouble; and this weakness of the stomach seemed to be gradually on the increase, besides a train of nervous symptoms, such as sleeplessness, palpitation of the heart, unsteadiness of the hand when writing, etc., etc., giving me no little annoyance.

“After reading the article referred to, I concluded some three months ago, to use no more tea, substituting in its stead hot water with a little milk. The result for the first week or ten days was much as I had anticipated, being, during the whole of that time, scarcely ever free from headache. At length the pain became lighter and when it did return, was of short duration. My nervous symptoms grew less, palpitation left entirely, my stomach became much stronger. I can now eat with impunity many things which for years had been sure to disagree. The headache now very rarely returns, and never with severity; besides, within the past two months my weight was increased sixteen pounds.”

For many years I was subject to sick headaches at irregular intervals. They would come on from a cold, from want of sleep, or under mental strain. When I began to travel and lecture I gave up the use of butter because I could not always get that which was good. Since that I have never had a severe attack of headache. I have recommended many others to deny themselves of butter and other fats with good results, using honey, fruit juice or milk instead.

With many, potatoes cause sick headaches, especially if mashed with a great deal of butter. They become soggy, and cannot be penetrated by the gastric juice. Some think that they should never be eaten at the same meal with acid fruits.

The very worst sick headaches can be cured by temperate living. A delicate lady was subject to fearful attacks of sick headache, at least twice a month. They would last from twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Her sufferings were simply terrible. She had dyspepsia, with grave uterine complications. She was liable to die in one of these attacks, and could not get well at home. By my advice she went to a hygienic institute where she could get baths, the best diet and proper attention.

After beginning treatment she never had a severe headache. Every attack was warded off, and she returned not only thoroughly cured, but a convert to the belief that fruits and grains afford the best diet for health and longevity. One has not always the appliances or the determination (for long sickness weakens the will) to carry out a settled and desirable course of treatment at home. In such a case, a well regulated hygienic institute should be sought.

For prevention of attacks, the treatment for biliousness and constipation will be effectual. Rubbing, spatting, brushing and combing the head often wards off the pain. Large drafts of hot water, or hot lemonade, or salt and water may give relief. Put hot applications to the feet and fomentations upon the stomach. Also take a hot enema of three quarts of water and two tablespoons of salt. The latter seldom fails to ward off an attack if taken in time.

The following remedies have proved invaluable:

Cimicifuga, 2d.—Sore, aching pain at base of brain, heat in top of head, boring pain in the eyeballs, aching in the limbs, restlessness. Six pellets every hour.

Ignatia, 2d.—Pain in forehead, nausea, fainting, depression of spirits. Pain relieved by lying down. Six pellets every two hours.

Sanguinaria, 3d.—Sick headache, worse from motion, noise or light, pain in back of head and running upward, dull, heavy pain in stomach. Six pellets every half hour.

Nux Vom., 2d trit.—Sick headache with vomiting, pains intermittent, feet cold, congestion, with pale face. Put one grain in six spoons of water, and take a spoonful every half hour.

Puls., 3d.—Pain in top of head, sharp pains in back and limbs. Six pellets every hour.

Gelseminum, 2d.—Pain in right side of head, running down the spine. One feels herself getting blind, pain relieved by tipping head backward, recurs periodically. Six pellets every half hour.

Heartburn is acidity of the stomach, caused by improper food or a failure in digestion. Avoid starchy foods, fats and meats. Avoid gravies. I know a lady who always has extreme acidity after partaking of chicken or turkey gravy, while nothing else has a similar effect. To remedy heartburn, take the meals entirely without drinking. The gastric juice that dissolves the food is not secreted until the liquids have passed from the stomach by absorption. Anything that lowers the tone of the stomach prevents it having power to perform both of these functions, consequently the food remains, to ferment and sour. If acidity is present, the gastric juice can be stimulated by eating a piece of burnt toast, or taking pulverized charcoal. Some, understanding this, make crackers containing charcoal. A few mouthfuls of these after the meal will answer the purpose.

Avoid a variety at one meal. Choose such articles as experience has proved to be best assimilated. Do not take magnesia, lime, soda, or any other alkaline for this trouble. They injure the mucous coat of the stomach, and the difficulty is more likely to recur another day. Drinking copiously of warm water may be resorted to, if the burning is severe. This will cause vomiting, and give relief. Abstain from food until the following day, and eat sparingly until the stomach has recovered a healthy tone.

Flatulence and colic arise from a failure of intestinal digestion. Many of the vegetables are inclined to cause flatulence: beans, sweet potatoes, and cabbage most frequently. Corn meal, oat meal, and rolled wheat will produce flatulence, if not thoroughly cooked. All of these require more time in preparation than is usually given. See chapter on Dietetics for proper cooking of these.

To remedy flatulence, drink hot water warm water enemas, or use the fomenter over the stomach. Avoid such articles of food as cause the trouble.

Hemorrhoids or piles are often caused in pregnancy by inflammation of the rectum or pressure of the gravid uterus. Yet they are many times a local indication of a constitutional disturbance, and local applications can give only temporary relief. The most obstinate cases can be overcome in time by correct living. The diet and exercises should be similar to those for constipation.

Dr. Shew says: “There is nothing in the world that will produce so great relief in piles as fasting. If the attack is severe, live a whole day or even two days, if necessary, upon pure, cold, soft water alone.” I would substitute hot water and hot lemonade, followed for several days by liquid foods only. Of these bran gruel is the best. When there is some internal heat, and even considerable inflammation, tepid sitz-baths and cold compresses are of great benefit. An enema of hot water relieves the pain incident to hemorrhoids. For cases not of long standing, the following recipe will seldom fail to relieve:

Mix.—Apply externally two or three times a day, or inject with a small syringe.

Excessive secretion of saliva is only another indication of indigestion, and rarely troubles one who lives plainly. Drinking hot water will relieve it. Also holding in the mouth very hot or very cold water, or pieces of ice, will give temporary relief. It rarely fails to disappear under the fruit diet. Eating a few almonds or a peach kernel after a meal frequently produces desirable results. Indeed, these are often valuable for indigestion.

Greedy appetite is more to be feared than loss of appetite. One is hungry at all times, complains she can not get enough to eat. This is strong evidence that there are morbid conditions. The system is likely to take on excess of fat, and become loaded with poisonous elements.

To fight an excessive appetite is the hardest battle of the pregnant woman. If convinced herself that over-eating is injurious, her friends are delighted to see her enjoy her food, and furnish everything that pleases her taste, and she eats in season and out of season. She even “gets so hungry she can not sleep,” and in the night partakes of a pantry feast. If the best conditions are sought for self and child, this morbid appetite must be overcome.

Observe religiously a few rules:

Loss of appetite is seldom sufficiently persistent to occasion anxiety, unless accompanied by nausea, or constipation. (See Chapter V.) Usually it is nature’s method of restoring normal conditions, and if let alone completely will right itself. One, however, is so imbued with the fear of not being nourished that she forces herself to eat, and hence thwarts nature. If there is no appetite, eat nothing, for the food will not be digested. If in following this rule one feels a faintness or a “goneness” at the stomach, drink thin bran gruel hot, or a cup of wheat coffee. Wait for the next meal—if still there is no appetite, pursue the same course.

Longings.—Many women all through pregnancy seem possessed to fill their systems with the vilest trash. They must have chalk, slate pencils, magnesia, starch, condiments, etc. Sometimes these longings are from an actual want in the system; then, again, morbid conditions crave what they feed upon. No one lives a sufficiently natural life to depend upon the instinct for food. Without knowing the case it would be hard to say whether the fancy should be gratified. Hundreds, however, can testify that by adopting the diet laid down in this book, the system is naturally fed, is fully nourished in all the elements, and one seldom suffers from craving demands. If the article desired is known to be injurious, like cloves, pickles, alcoholic stimulants, magnesia, starch, etc., it is better to overcome the desire. The juice of a lemon in hot water, a brisk walk, a ride, or a merry chat with a friend will dissipate the fancy. Put the mind on something above physical desires. Commit to memory a poem, learn a song, paint a picture, make a garment, or do a good, generous deed. If possible, rise above appetite.

Diarrhea in pregnancy is not of frequent occurrence. Ordinarily, it is only an effort of nature to correct abnormal conditions; in such cases it requires no attention. If, however, it becomes persistent and troublesome, it will, contrary to common prejudice, usually yield to the use of acidulated drinks or the fruit diet. It may be best for a few days to keep quiet and avoid solid food. Enemas of hot water are frequently beneficial.

The following remedies are indicated:

The symptoms of pregnancy treated thus far are usually the result of some disturbance in the operations of alimentation. The few remaining to be considered would scarcely ever occur, if the entire system were rightly nourished. Still, not being immediately the result of failure in the digestive act, they merit special attention.

Neuralgia and neuralgic toothache are common and distressing symptoms during gestation. The child of the forest, the peasant girl of Europe and the dusky cotton picker of the South probably have no conception of a neuralgic pain.

Our cultured civilization incurs the infraction of so many physical laws that it is difficult to find the cause of any disease. Neuralgia is not unfrequently the constant companion of the bilious, overfed, or perhaps, I should say, the carbonaceously fed subject. Too much fuel, and too little oxygen!

Lack of nerve food is another cause. The phosphates and other saline elements are insufficient. Also exhausted and weakened nerves, making an effort to recuperate, give the possessor great suffering. The mother, who already has several children, wearied and worried by their many wants, whose domestic cares are a continual burden, who has no surcease from the sexual relation, is the one likely to suffer from neuralgia. Often the pregnant woman strains every nerve that her house be put and kept in order. She spends anxious days and sleepless nights in weary watching over a sick child or husband. Suffering must surely follow. The tonics, stimulants and opiates prescribed by most physicians cause worse symptoms than the original trouble. Nature demands only rest. The relief obtained by drugs is at too great a sacrifice of vital force. Nearly all that take opiates attest that on the following day sufferings ensue from nausea, headache, loss of appetite, constipation, etc.

In most cases hot applications will give sure relief. Why is it, that simple measures are the last thought of? Use the fomenter locally; if that is not sufficient, give a full hot or thermal bath. (See Chap. VIII.)

Human magnetism is superior to all other agents for neuralgia. Nearly every family has some member that possesses the gift of healing by the “laying on of hands.” The spine and extremities should be manipulated, and then the affected part. The patient will fall into a restful sleep, awaken refreshed, if not cured, and have no poisonous drugs to be eliminated from the system.

Some years ago I was called late at night to a lady who for days had suffered untold agony from facial neuralgia. Her face was greatly swollen and the pain was so intense that she had nearly lost her reason. An eminent physician, under the popular delusion that it was malaria, had prescribed quinine. As she had protested against its internal administration, he ordered her bathed in an unction of quinine and cosmoline. Each day finding the patient worse, he increased the frequency of the quinine bath.

Upon my entering the room, she seized my hand with a vise-like grip and cried: “Doctor, give me something, or I must die of this agony!”

I assured her that she should have help. Turning to her husband, I said: “Bring me a wash-bowl with hot water and ammonia in it. Put four bricks in the furnace as soon as you can.”

Quickly the whole surface was cleansed of the obstruction to the pores. The heated bricks were wrapped in wet cloths and one placed each side of her face. Friction was applied to the extremities, and in less than half an hour after I entered the house the anxious husband and friends were rejoiced to see the patient enjoying a restful sleep. She made a speedy recovery. There are few cases of neuralgia that can not be relieved by this, or similar means. “Will not the pain return?” Perhaps, but not as likely as where the nervous sensibility has been benumbed with drugs.

If the mother has facial neuralgia or toothache, and can not be spared from family cares to take the needful bath and rest, or can not get magnetic treatment, temporary relief can be obtained by bathing the affected part in the tincture of aconite. This is rarely followed by unpleasant results, but should be used cautiously and only externally.

Burning feet are best relieved by bathing them in very hot water. A sand bath, too, is excellent. Have a box of moist sand, in which bury the feet for thirty or forty minutes. In summer one will find it very grateful to allow the bare feet to come in contact with green grass or freshly turned earth.

Cramps in the limbs are occasioned by pressure upon the crural and sciatic nerves; are frequently the direct result of pressure from clothing. For temporary relief lie flat upon the back, head and shoulders low, and hips elevated. Apply hand friction to the limbs and back. The only permanent relief is to take the exercises that will expand the ribs and walls of the abdomen, thus giving more room for fetal house-keeping.

Swelling of the extremities is caused from biliousness and sluggish circulation. Oftentimes the venous circulation is so deficient that varicose veins are the result. Sometimes these swell and form knots and tumors of great size. I recall a patient who had a varicose tumor as large as the doubled hand, situated upon the labia. These knotted veins give great distress, and cause much anxiety. I have never known of their annoying a person who had adopted the fruit diet and other hygienic measures.

Temporary relief can be obtained by bathing the limbs in cold water, and putting on a roller bandage made of strips of rubber. This should be from an inch and a half to two inches wide. It must be put on smoothly and equably. Begin at the toes, lap the edges about half an inch, make reverses to prevent creases, and extend above the swelled veins.

Pain in the side, either right or left, may be from the same cause as cramps or pains in the limbs. Put on hot fomentations and follow the directions for cramps. These pains may extend to the abdomen, and may be neuralgic in their character, or may assume an intermittent form, producing what is called false pains. They often simulate labor pains so closely as to deceive patient and friends. To distinguish them, place the hand upon the abdomen during the pain. If contraction of the uterus is felt, there is true labor, but if there is no change in the walls, they are false pains. Frequent warm sitz-baths will give relief. The temperature should be about 95° Fr.

For rigidity of the integument of the abdomen, bathe in hot water, then rub in olive oil or cosmoline. This symptom is not likely to be troublesome if the exercises recommended are being taken.

Insomnia is the result of reflex nervous action from stomach or uterus. The causes must be removed. Bathing feet and legs in cold water, or taking a sitz-bath, temperature 90 degrees, followed by thorough friction, will usually give sound, refreshing sleep. A compress applied to the back of the neck is good, especially if there is heat in the head. Try changing from the customary bed to a lounge or another apartment. Hand magnetism or the magnetic cap will afford relief to many. Tea and coffee often produce wakefulness, and should be omitted.

In place of the evening meal, take a cup of hot water or wheat coffee. When all other means are without avail, this abstinence seldom fails to secure sound, refreshing sleep, that is truly “Nature’s sweet restorer.”

Avoid opiates. Mother and child suffer less from insomnia itself than from the effects of drugs that produce sleep by their anodyne effects. By these the processes of nature are disturbed and all the operations of the body deranged. After going to bed sip slowly a cup of hot water and milk, equal parts. This is especially desirable where there is nervous irritability and weak digestion.

For many years I was subject to insomnia. I found temporary benefit from looking steadily at one object, keeping the eyes wide open. It is better to have the object above and back of the head, so that the eye is forced to roll backward and upward. Keep the eyes open as long as possible. When at last they close, still in imagination look at the object, keeping the mind steadily upon it. There is one measure still better than this for insomnia; that is, to become entirely indifferent as to whether you sleep or not. Possess yourself of the belief that sleep is unnecessary for you, that you are as well off without it. Occupy your mind by reciting poetry, recalling the past, or planning work for the future, assuring yourself that your body is getting rest. If you can become entirely convinced of this fact, with no lurking combative belief, you will be surprised to see that you have obtained a condition which will soon result in oblivion.

Leucorrhea.—A thin, milky greenish or watery discharge is not unfrequently a great annoyance in pregnancy, and a drain upon the vitality. It is usually the result of inflammation in the uterus and vagina, or an irritation set up by hardened feces in the rectum. Leucorrhea is not a disease, but is simply the symptom of a disease, as the cough or sputa are symptoms of bronchitis. This is nature’s effort to throw off inflammation. She fails in the attempt, and such a condition is produced that the discharge becomes chronic.

Do not use astringents for leucorrhea. They only palliate by drying the secretion for a short time. When the remedy is omitted the discharge returns, or more grave symptoms appear. The cause should be treated. For many cases good results will follow the use of hot injections of carbolic soap suds. Two hours a day, wear cotton in the vagina saturated with glycerine. This temporarily increases the discharge, but aids to remove irritation. Like other symptoms this yields to thorough hygienic measures.

Pruritus of the vulva often becomes very troublesome; may be the result of a sanious leucorrhea, excessive dryness, inflammation or eruptions. For the first cause, treat accordingly. For inflammation of the labia apply cloths in a cold lotion of borax, one teaspoonful to a quart of water. For dryness apply glycerine upon cotton. Pruritus will usually be relieved by the following lotion:

Apply upon absorbent cotton or oakum. Cleanse the parts frequently with carbolic soap suds.

As hygienic treatment of pregnancy is fully given, other symptoms are omitted. Remember that suffering is the result of violated laws. With physical as moral law: