Abies Canadensis – Remedy Profile

Below is a brief discussion of Abies Canadensis (the Hemlock Spruce) drawing on characteristic points from Boger, Hering, and Farrington.

1. From Boger’s Synoptic Key

• Gastric distress and excessive appetite: Abies Canadensis is noted for a sensation of gnawing or emptiness in the stomach as if the patient can never get enough to eat. The appetite may become insatiable, yet eating often worsens the discomfort.
• Weak digestion: Complaints can stem from errors in diet or overeating. Dyspepsia, heaviness in the stomach, and constipation often accompany the remedy picture.
• Sense of sinking in the epigastrium: A frequent keynote is a sinking, “goneness” feeling in the pit of the stomach, leading to a constant urge to eat to relieve this empty sensation.

2. From Hering’s Guiding Symptoms

• False sensations of internal growth: Some patients report sensations as though there is an internal lump or tumor in the abdomen or epigastrium, with an uncomfortable fullness or weight.
• Marked craving for coarse foods: A peculiar symptom is craving or wanting certain indigestible items—pickles, turnips, radishes, or other unusual or crude articles of diet. The patient may feel better momentarily after eating, but the discomfort soon returns.
• Subdued vitality: Hering notes that these gastric and constitutional complaints often appear in persons whose vitality is lowered, leading to sluggish digestion and a tendency to accumulate gas.

3. From Farrington’s Clinical Materia Medica

• Emphasis on the “hungry, faint feeling”: Farrington highlights the remedy’s hallmark—persistent hunger with a sinking feeling in the epigastrium. Patients may describe a dull “gone” sensation that compels them to eat frequently.
• Affinity for digestive complaints in older individuals: Farrington mentions the remedy’s usefulness in individuals with weakened digestion or slow metabolism, especially those prone to gastric irritability and poor nutrient absorption.
• Use in chronic gastric troubles: He places Abies Canadensis among remedies addressing longstanding dyspepsia, especially when the symptom picture includes a strong craving for food and the paradoxical worsening after satisfying the appetite.

Key Themes Across All Three

1. Unrelenting hunger or “gnawing emptiness”: Characteristic of Abies Canadensis is the compulsion to eat, sometimes combined with unusual cravings.
2. Gastrointestinal complaints: Dyspepsia, constipation, and discomfort in the epigastrium are prominent. Overeating worsens the condition, but patients believe that only eating will relieve their emptiness.
3. Sensation of fullness or tumor in the stomach: A subjective feeling of a lump or weight in the stomach area appears in Hering’s and aligns with Boger’s mention of a “gone” feeling relieved by eating.
4. Suited to individuals with lowered vitality: The remedy often applies to those who are chronically weak, elderly, or burdened by long-term digestive troubles.

Clinical Tips

• Abies Canadensis can be compared with China (Cinchona) in cases where there is debility and a craving for food, but China’s hallmark is bloating and relief through belching or passing gas, whereas Abies Canadensis is more about persistent hunger and a sinking sensation in the epigastrium.
• It may also be compared with Lycopodium, which has marked bloating, especially < 4–8 pm, but Lycopodium’s cravings are different (often sweets) and revolve around “gastric fermentation” rather than the “gnawing hunger” typical of Abies Canadensis.

In summary, Abies Canadensis is a notable remedy when there is a pronounced sensation of emptiness in the stomach—patients feel they must constantly eat, yet find only momentary relief, if any. Boger, Hering, and Farrington each emphasize its role in chronic, nagging digestive complaints characterized by that persistent “gnawing” in the epigastrium, unusual cravings, and weakness of the digestive apparatus.