Neuralgia and the diseases that resemble itAnstie, Francis Edmund
Science
Neuralgia and the diseases that resemble it
Anstie, Francis Edmund
Neuralgia
The earliest symptoms from which the patient usually suffers in these
cases are insomnia, and intense depression of spirits, which, however,
is not incompatible, indeed is frequently combined, with a morbid
activity and restlessness of thought. There is generally marked loss of
appetite, but often there is none of the morning nausea so
characteristic of the common forms of alcoholism. Nor is there,
ordinarily, any special unsteadiness of the muscular system. The pains
are usually first felt in the shoulder and down the spine; but as the
case progresses they especially attack the wrist and ankles; and it is
in these latter situations that I have found them to be most decidedly
complained of. Their similarity to neuralgia consists (_a_) in their
somewhat paroxysmal character; (_b_) in their frequently recurring at
about the same hour of the day, most commonly toward night; and (_c_) in
their special aggravation by bodily and mental fatigue.
Their differences from neuralgia are--(_a_) that they never follow the
course of a recognizable single nerve; (_b_) that they are nearly always
present in more than one limb, and usually in both halves of the body,
at the same time; and (_c_) especially, that they are far less promptly
and effectually relieved by hypodermic morphia than are the true
neuralgias; indeed, opiates very frequently only slightly alleviate the
pain, while they excite and agitate the patient and render sleep
impossible. On the contrary, a large dose of wine or brandy will never
fail to procure temporary comfort and induce sleep, at least until the
patient reaches an advanced stage of the disorder, and is, in fact, on
the verge of delirium tremens.
I am not quite sure that I am right in believing that there is a special
physiognomy for this form of chronic alcoholism, and yet I am much
inclined to believe that there is. All the patients whom I have seen
suffering with it have presented a peculiar brown sallowness of face,
and a general harsh dryness of the skin, which has usually lost its
natural clearness, not only in the face, but even more remarkably in the
hands, which are so dark-colored as to appear as if they were dirty.
There is usually considerable leanness of the limbs, and, though the
abdomen may be somewhat prominent, this does not seem to depend much on
the presence of fat, but rather on relaxation of the abdominal muscles,
and sometimes flatulent distention of the stomach and intestines. The
hands are usually hot, sometimes quite startlingly so.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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