Agrimony in Dysuria.

There is a form of dysuria which affects women and often girls, especially those who are suffering from some form of dysmenorrhea or those in which the establishment of the menstrual function is accomplished only with great distress and with very many unpleasant or painful symptoms. It will be found that while this is due sometimes to an irritable condition of the bladder it is so often accompanied with hysterical symptoms and other evidences of uterine irritation or ovarian congestion, that the treatment must be such as will relieve both conditions. When the nervous system is excitable the desire may occur almost at the will of the patient and at certain times existing conditions will cause an immediate desire and the discharge of a large quantity of urine. At other times but a small quantity is passed and the patient will find it necessary to rise many times during the night to evacuate the bladder.

The older physicians used agrimony to correct this condition. Some of the symptoms will be relieved by thuja, the sharp cutting pain will be benefited by hydrangea. Gelsemium will relieve a portion of the general nervous irritability. But one of our old writers claimed that agrimony will more effectually relieve the entire group of symptoms than any other remedy which he could prescribe. When he first used it he gathered the herb from the garden, and made a strong decoction of it, giving this in ounce doses every two or three hours. Later he prescribed the specific agrimony and obtained as nearly good results. In a number of cases he gave agrimony, macrotys and pulsatilla, and succeeded in correcting the entire train of symptoms.

The proportions were about as follows:

Agrimony, five drams, macrotys, one dram; pulsatilla, one dram; water to make eight ounces. If any of our readers have had experience with this remedy in the treatment of this distressing condition I should like re ports of that treatment.

Ellingwood's Therapeutist, Vol. 2, 1908, was edited by Finley Ellingwood M.D.