Know Your Remedies: Capsicum Annuum (Caps.)

Common Names: Cayenne pepper; chilli.

General Information

Capsicum Annuum (Caps.) is a remedy for sadness, nostalgia, and homesickness. Those who need it may flush easily and have a tendency to obesity, flabbiness and clumsiness.

Pains are burning or smarting in nature, are often accompanied by chilliness, are worsened by cold air or drafts, and mostly involve the mucous membranes of eyes, nose, mouth, throat, or anus, especially on the left side. Kidneys may also be affected.

A strong liking for stimulants, pepper, coffee, or alcohol is common.

Mental-Emotional Symptoms

• Sadness or depression – can become suicidal.
• Nostalgia – longing for the past.
• Homesickness.
• Ailments after moving house or changing countries.
• Dislike change to the daily routine.
• Laziness or lack of motivation.
• Indifferent to cleanliness.

Head

• Red or flushed cheeks.
• Reddened face with dilated or broken blood vessels.

Eye

• Watering of eyes during cough.

Ear

• Chronic middle ear infection (otitis media) that may involve the mastoid bone (mastoiditis).
• Chronic discharges from the ear with burning pains.

Cough

• Cough, including whooping cough, that causes the eyes to water.
• Cough causes pain in distant parts of the body.

Rectum and Anus

• Haemorrhoids with burning pain and a flushed face.

Where do I find it?

Capsicum Annuum (Caps.) is available from our online store as a single remedy in either pills or liquid, and as part of the following Complex (combination remedy): Homesickness.

Important

While above self-limiting or acute complaints are suitable for home treatment also contact your healthcare provider during emergency situations or if symptoms worsen or fail to improve. Chronic or persistent complaints, which may or may not be mentioned above, require a different treatment and dosage protocol so are best managed by a qualified homeopath for good results.

Dosage Instructions (suitable for babies to adults)

For the home treatment of acute and self-limiting complaints take one pill or five drops of the remedy every 1 minute to 4 hours (1 minute for intense or emergency symptoms (plus seek emergency help), 4 hours for milder ones). Once an improvement is noticed, stop dosing and repeat the remedy only if symptoms return. If there is no improvement at all by three doses, choose a different remedy or seek professional guidance.

Note: Chronic symptoms or complaints require a course of professional treatment by a qualified homeopath to manage the changes in potencies and remedies that may be required.

More Information

Guidelines on which potency to use

From Past Masters

Homeopathy is a 200-year system of medicine. Early medical homeopaths recorded initial provings, remedy relationships, and their early experiences with each remedy in great detail.

These writings were then shared with others to advance homeopathic knowledge and practice.

Today, these same writings give a fascinating insight into the symptoms and clinical conditions for which each remedy was used.

The following extract, with minor editing, is one example.

Leaders In Homoeopathic Therapeutics by E. B. NASH M.D.

Capsicum Annuum (Caps.)

Burning pains, especially in mucous membranes, or smarting, as from red pepper, on the parts.

Cough with pains in distant parts as head, bladder, knees, legs, etc.

Chill or shuddering after every drink; begins between the shoulders and spreads all over.

* * * * *

Capsicum is also a good remedy for dysentery or one later stage of gonorrhoea, or in throat complaints, when there is great burning in the mucous membrane of the affected part. In short, it is a remedy to be remembered in all affections, accompanied with burning of mucous membranes in any locality.

The characteristic burning is not like that of Arsenicum, but feels as if red Pepper had been applied to the parts; nor is it relieved by heat applied, as is that of Arsenic.

Capsicum has pain in head when coughing as if it would burst.

I cured a very bad case of years’ standing; the patient would cry out and grasp head with both hands at every cough. It finally became so bad that he had to lie in bed, because the hurt was so much < when sitting, Capsicum cured very quickly.

Other remedies having similar < are Bryonia, Natrum mur., Squilla, Sulphur.

Capsicum also has pain in distant parts on coughing, such as bladder, knees, legs, etc.

Chilliness or shuddering after every drink.

Chill begins between shoulders and spreads.

Lack of reaction especially fat people.