Healing with Thea: The Surprising Homeopathic Remedy for Tea-Drinkers' Troubles

Overview of THEA

Thea is primarily indicated for conditions such as delirium (including delirium tremens), suicidal or homicidal mania, hernia, megrim (migraines), nervousness, neuralgia, paralysis, and sleeplessness.

It is particularly noted for treating the nervous sleeplessness, heart troubles, palpitations, and dyspepsia found in old tea-drinkers.

Mental & Emotional Symptoms

• Impulses & Mania: Suicidal and homicidal impulses. Experiences the sensation of being impelled to commit suicide, jump out of a window, or harm her baby (e.g., put it in a boiler with clothes, cut its throat while slicing bread, or throw it downstairs). Note: These symptoms, stemming from excessive tea-drinking, were noted as cured with Thea cm (Fincke).

• Mood: Disposition to quarrel at the most harmless speech. Talkative, ill-humored, nervous, restless, and depressed (especially around 5:00 p.m.). Experiences temporary mental exaltation.

• Aversions: Averse to work, particularly writing.

• Hallucinations: Hallucinations of hearing; for example, waking four nights in succession thinking he heard the doorbell distinctly.

Head, Face, & Senses

• Headaches: Sick headaches radiating from a single point (megrim). Thea produces most of the sick headaches.

• Temperature Sensations: Cold, damp feeling at the back of the head (occiput), with pain spreading from there to the eyes. Intense coldness passing over the whole head.

• Ears: Neuralgic pains in the ear cartilages accompanied by icy coldness (impossible to warm); pains extend to the malar (cheek) bones. Roaring in the ears.

• Nose: Sensation at the root of the nose as if a nosebleed (epistaxis) is about to occur.

• Teeth: Frequently decayed.

• Face: Face and hands as cold as marble, bedewed with clammy perspiration.

Stomach & Digestion

• Sensations: An empty, "all-gone," faint, or sinking sensation in the epigastrium (stomach). The stomach feels weak, relaxed, and seems to hang in the body like an empty bag. Sensation of a foreign body in the throat.

• Thirst & Cravings: Thirst, but every mouthful of cold water affects the head like a shock. Craves acids (e.g., lemons).

• Nausea & Vomiting: Nausea and vomiting after eating. Vomits bile—never food—when the pain is at its worst.

• Pain: Epigastric pain going through to the back, accompanied by a feeling of wanting to vomit but being unable to. (Note: One case was cured by Thuja 30 when the patient found relief by sitting down and stretching out).

• Bowel: Borborygmi (rumbling). Liability to hernia.

Heart, Chest, & Circulation

• Palpitations: Palpitations with the inability to lie down or lie on the left side.

• Chest Sensations: Anxious oppression and precordial (chest) distress.

• Pulse: Irregularity of pulse.

Urinary & Reproductive

• Kidneys & Urine: Very marked increase in urine. Persons with sensitive kidneys must pass water almost immediately after drinking tea and cannot drink it before going anywhere.

• Female Symptoms: Nosebleeds before menses. Soreness and tenderness in the ovaries.

Nervous System & Extremities

• Paralysis: "Tea-tasters' paralysis," which mostly affects the lower limbs, accompanied by a loss of sensation in both the upper and lower limbs.

• Nerves & Convulsions: Trembling, languor, faintness, and nervousness. Feeling as if on the verge of fainting. Epilepsy (noted in a child after swallowing a concentrated infusion) and convulsions.

• Sensations: Feels as if the weight of a simple sheet on the feet would crush the toes.

Sleep & Dreams

• Sleep Patterns: Sleepy during the daytime. Sleepless and restless at night, accompanied by vascular excitement and dry skin.

• Nightmares: Waking suddenly as if from a struggle with an incubus. Nightmares, especially from green tea.

• Dreams: Horrible dreams (e.g., of murdering people) that surprisingly cause the dreamer no horror.

Skin & Body Temperature

• Skin: Dry skin; the skin on the fingertips peels from excessive dryness.

• Swellings (Teste): Enormous, indolent swellings or tumors appearing successively on the back, thighs, hands, scrotum, and penis, with each lasting two days.

• Temperature: Lowered body temperature. Excessive internal heat with quick flushes of heat on the surface. Disposition to perspire; bedewed with chilly moisture.

Modalities (Triggers & Relief)

• Worse (<): At night, walking in the open air, after meals, cold water, and in the afternoon.

• Better (>): Warmth, a warm bath, applying a hand or warm clothes to the occiput, and sitting down while stretching out (for stomach pain).

Antidotes & Comparisons

• Antidotes: Kali hypophosphoros, Thuja, Ferrum, Kali hydriodicum (material doses specifically for tea-taster's cough), Tabacum, and Beer.

• Beverage Notes (Hering): Coffee-drinkers should drink wine; tea-drinkers should drink beer. Beer relieves nausea, irregular pulse, weakness, sleeplessness, nervousness, and lack of confidence in tea-drinkers. (Note: In one tea-drinker, beer caused bowel relaxation, which was then improved by Port wine).

• Comparisons:

  • Sepia: Gone/faint feeling; sick headache radiating from one point; pain in the left ovary.

  • Hydrastis: Averse to work, especially writing.

  • Ipecac: Relaxed feeling in the stomach.

  • Veratrum, Sulphur, Antimonium crudum, Phosphorus, Sbi: Desire for acids.

  • Other comparisons: Hyd, Oleand.