Note: It is recommended that you follow the remedies listed on this page, under the supervision and guidance of your doctor (Allopathic / Ayurvedic / Holistic practitioner)
English Name: Fever nut, Psychic Nut
Scientific Name: Caesalpinia bonduc
Tamil: Kalarchikai / Telugu:Gachchakaya / Kannada: Gajike / Marathi: Sagargota, Gajaga/ Hindi:Karanjwa / Malayalam: Kalanchi
Quick Overview:
For those of you, who don't want to read my long stories :)
1. This is a remedy for Colic, stomach spasms / cramps, severe indigestion, stomach bloating and pain.
2. Take a Fever Nut seed, hold it with a pair of tongs over a flame, and let the outer layer burn. Take care as it does tend to start burning on its own and bursts open as it heats up.
3. After it cools down, extract the seed from inside the nut and powder it
4. Take this powder along with 1/2 tsp of honey. If you are a vegan, just swallow the powder with little water.
5. And yes, even if you do get relief after trying this remedy, it is best that you don't eat anything for an hour or two.
Please note: The dosage given above is only for adults. The dose for infants varies with their age and body weight. If you intend on using this remedy for infantile colic, please email us at feedback@prehealing.com so that we can guide you with the dosage.
Fever-Nut seed is one of the best remedies for Colic or so I had read, as I went through my grandfather's notes on different Ayurvedic herbs and their uses. In his times many herbs were being used, but, they were not as common now as they were then, so I had let this herb slip my mind. Moreover, colic to me did not mean anything much. Besides, there are so many Ayurvedic herbs and herbal preparations for Colic that I did not even bother to study more about Fever-Nut.
Fast forward to the year 2006. My son was 3 months old and boy, he had infantile Colic. That is when I realized as to how persistently painful Colic could be. Here was a little baby, looking helplessly at us, as he writhed in pain, flailing arms, kicking his legs and crying incessantly for 2-3 hours till he slept of exhaustion ! Researching on Infantile colic did not help either.
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If you were to search online, all that you would be told is that:
1) This is not life a threatning condition. 10- 40 % of infants might suffer from this condition, but they eventually grow out of it.
2) There aren't any specific allopathic medications to heal infantile Colic, and that it would go away on its own. Of course you could use Simethicone, that could help ease some symptoms, but would not heal colic. Moreover its efficacy as a safe and efficacious drug for Colic has not yet been proven.
3) Though the child appears to be in severe pain, the child is too young to register pain, so parents can be comforted with the fact that after all the child might not be really suffering
( Even though this fact- Pont no 3- might be true, it doesn't help much when you see your little one struggling with what seems to be excruciating pain).
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Well none of that really helped. Colic came back with clockwork precision every evening from. 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm till the little traumatized baby slept of exhaustion.....
It had been almost a week and no matter what we did, there wasn't much improvement. It was a nightmarish week. Colic had proved to us that it was a force to reckon with.
There is a poignant saying
For those who believe in God, No Explanation Is Necessary
For those who don't believe in God, No Explanation Is Possible.
Saint of Bernadette
Well for us, that experience of Infantile Colic was like Oh My God ! and I know that no matter how hard I try, you will not be able to fathom as to what we went through, until and unless you too have been through this experience.
Back to my son's story. When my father heard of our ordeal, he seemed surprised that we could not address this issue. He crosschecked with me about the list of herbs and ayurvedic treatments that I had tried- Well I had tried most of them- almost all of them. But, when he asked me about Fever-Nut, I expressed my doubt if Fever-Nut could do what the best of Ayuredic herbs hadn't. Moreover, I did not have Fever-Nut seed with me.
The next morning, dad was at home, with a couple of Fever-Nut seeds. The colic was back at 5:30 pm. Dad was confident, I was doubtful. We administered it. And then there was this MIRACLE.
He stopped crying in 10-15 minutes ! We continued the treatment for the next 3-4 days and when there were absolutely no symptoms of him being colicky, we discontinued using the miraculous Fever nut.
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I realized that many parents would find this information useful. Of course, I would recommend that they try such remedies under the guidance of their doctor. Besides using Fever Nut, the parents would also have to make certain lifestyle changes so as to help the baby heal faster.
Though we have been using this remedy in the Prehealing community for a very long time, not many people are aware of the healing power of this wonderful seed. Moresoever, we don't have any cure for infantile colic as yet in allopathy, and hence till scientists can come up with something better and easier, we can depend on the humble Caesalpinia bonduc.
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Additional read:
Colic has been a real challenge to the medical community as well. Given below are a few links on the research and findings pertaining to colic
Conclusion:
Colic continues to be a noisy phenomenon for parents. While efforts have been made to discover dietary resolutions for colic, and changing diet is often effective in children with protein sensitivity or carbohydrate malabsorption, for most babies, no definitive solution has yet been found. Cimetropium and fennel oil preparations look more promising than other remedies, but their effectiveness and safety for infants should be further investigated. In most cases of colic, no underlying cause can be found, and addressing parental concerns is the best way to cope with it.
Conclusion:There is some scientific evidence to support the use of a casein hydrolysate formula in formula-fed infants or a low-allergen maternal diet in breastfed infants with infantile colic. However, there is little scientific evidence to support the use of Simethicone, Dicyclomine hydrochloride, Cimetropium bromide, lactase, additional fibre or behavioural interventions. Further research of good methodological quality on low-allergenic formulas and maternal diets is indicated.
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Please Note: Most of the remedies that I have shared with you have been tried out by members of the Prehealing Community. Prehealing community members not only rely on remedies listed on this site, but also follow a lifestyle that is healing centric.
Not being a Prehealing community member should not stop you from using these remedies, but you should be aware that a good lifestyle and a happy body would help make these remedies more efficacious.