Tincture acris sine Kali. Potassium Hydrate. Obtained by distilling a mixture of slaked lime and a solution of potassium sulphate. Tincture with spirit.
Clinical
Acne rosacea. Agalactea. Amaurosis. Apoplexy. Arthritis deformans. Bladder, affections of. Bronchitis. Burns. Cataract. Chorea. Coccygodynia. Constipation. Convulsions. Cough. Deafness. Dentition. Diphtheritic paralysis. Ears, otorrhoea. Emaciation. Enuresis. Epilepsy. Eyes, affections of. Facial paralysis. Fistula. Fistula dentalis. Goitre. Haemorrhoids. Headache. Heart affections. Heel, blistered. Herpes zoster. Hip disease. Hydrogenoid constitution. Impotence. Influenza. Intermittent fever. Intertrigo. Laryngitis. Lead poisoning. Leucorrhoea. Locomotor ataxy. Meniere’s disease. Menstruation, disorders of. Myalgia. Nails, crippled. Neuralgia. Nose, crusts in, acne on. Paralysis. Pemphigus. Pregnancy. Prostatitis. Ptosis. Rheumatism. Scabies. Scrofula. Skin, eruptions of. Small-pox. Stammering. Syphilis. Tendons, contracted. Throat, affections of. Tongue, affections of, paralysis of. Ulcers. Urethritis. Urine, disordered. Varicose veins. Voice, lost. Warts. Whooping-cough.
Characteristics
*Causticum is one of the great polychrest medicines of the *Chronic Diseases. It is both antipsoric and antisycotic and antisyphilitic. The leading feature of the *Causticum effects is *paralysis, showing itself both in voluntary and involuntary muscles. The weakening effect of potassium in allopathic overdosing is well known, and is strongly brought out in the *Causticum provings. Paralytic weakness. Paralysis of single nerves or single parts. Ptosis, facial paralysis, paralysis of tongue, of extremities, of vocal cords, of bladder, of rectum, lead paralysis. Allied to paralysis are convulsions, chorea, cramps, starting, restlessness, twitching. Contraction of flexor tendons. Trembling. Neuralgic and rheumatic affections, tearing, drawing pains. There is a headache which draws and tears through the body. Glandular indurations are prominent. In children there are many symptoms of scrofula. There is a weakened and emaciated appearance, especially about the face, the abdomen being large. Skin dirty-white. Scrofulous inflammations about eyes, ears, and scalp. The paralytic element comes out in slow learning to talk and walk, and stumbling on attempting to walk. In chorea the right side is more affected than left, words seem to be jerked out. During the night the legs are constantly “on the go.” This kind of restlessness is characteristic of *Causticum The mental state is timid, nervous, anxious. Apprehensive of impending misfortune. Conscience-stricken as if she had committed a crime. Full of fearful fancies, worse at twilight. Sees fearful images when closing eyes. Melancholy. Taciturn and distrustful, inclined to fits of anger with scolding. Memory fails (mental paralysis), any attempt at mental exertion causes symptoms, such as stitches in temples, tension in head and scalp, especially forehead to temples. There is a sensation as if there was an empty space between the bone of the skull and the brain, better by warmth. Headache, cannot keep upper eyelids up. Vertigo, excitement of brain and spine, incapable, tends to fall forward or sideways (locomotor ataxy), with anxiety, weakness in head, sight as if through a fog, skin dry and hot, constipation. Eruptions on scalp behind ears. Sounds re-echo unpleasantly, an ordinary voice sounds loud. Facial paralysis from cold drought, neuralgia of right cheek-bones to mastoid process worse at night. Jaw joints affected with rheumatism. Sickly, sallow, low-spirited expression. Nash cured an obstinate case of Prosopalgia with *Causticum The patient was emaciated and debilitated by long suffering, pains came in paroxysms, and were of a drawing nature. She had suffered from eczema at times before the neuralgia appeared. *Sulph. had been given in vain. *Causticum 200 rapidly cured. The *Causticum weakness may result from grief of long standing or from disease. Accumulations of mucus in larynx and fauces, catarrh of throat and Eustachian tubes with tinnitus and reverberation. Difficult swallowing of liquids. Constant sensation as if lime were burning in stomach, with water-brash. Pressure and Fulness in abdomen as if it would burst, much worse by food. Griping cutting better by bending double, worse after least food or tightening clothes, menstrual colic (*Causticum will cure after failure of *Coloc.). Obstinate constipation (paralysis of rectum), stools covered with shiny coating of mucus, piles, unbearable by walking, by thinking of them, by touch. No remedy has such well-marked aggravations of anal symptoms as *Cause. A characteristic is “Passes stool best standing.” Spasm of rectum prevents walking. Painful pustules near anus discharging pus, blood, serum. Itching at orifice of urethra. Difficult, frequent micturition, with spasm of rectum. Paralysis of bladder is apparent. Enuresis, especially during first sleep, worse winter, better in summer. Tendency to escape during the day, from any extra exertion, laughing, walking. Epilepsy has been cured by *Causticum, when fit occurs in sleep and urine escapes. Coughing expels urine. (Kraft has cured cases of incontinence following over-distension of the bladder owing to want of opportunity to attend to the call to urinate at the time, such as occurs in shop-girls and school-girls, who cannot leave their tasks.) Prostatitis and urethritis. Itching scrotum, cannot retain urine. Blood with semen. Sexual appetite in women is abolished. Constant indifference, the only time there is any inclination is after the period. Sadness during period. Period too early, too abundant, after it, a little blood passes occasionally, smelling badly. Nursing women lose their milk after exertion or long sleep. Hoarseness (with dry cough and redness of fauces), the result of weather or catching cold, worse in morning. Aphonia: paralysis of vocal cords. Dry, hollow cough with mucus on chest, patient cannot expectorate, must swallow phlegm raised. A characteristic is: “Cannot cough deep enough for relief.” Rawness and burning down throat and trachea. Rheumatism tends to stiffen joints and contract limbs. Warts are a notable feature in *Causticum on hands, on face, and especially on margins of eyelids. When on hands they are usually found on finger-tips or close to nails. Nails are crippled. Old, large, inflamed and indurated warts. Burning itching on face, discharging acrid fluid which forms crusts. Guernsey commends *Causticum in the after-effects of burns and scalds. Patients say, “I have never been well since that burn.” Its *caustic properties may be its “signature” here. “Burning,” indeed, is one of the notes of *Causticum Guernsey gives “sensation as if lime were being slaked in the stomach.” “Soreness” or “rawness” are also very characteristic, appearing in piles and anal affections ( worse walking or sitting), in which *Causticum is in the very first rank among remedies. Soreness and rawness accompany cough symptoms and urinary symptoms. Malcolm Macfarlan confirms the following symptoms: “Forearms in front very sore to touch and pressure, muscles of extremities sore generally.” “Sudden severe pain commences in *left hip-joint, lasts a short time, feels as if it had been injured, legs very sore, or rather the lower extremities ache and feel tired.” *Causticum is a remedy to be remembered in intermittent fevers. One peculiar symptom is, “sweat coming after the chill without intervening heat.” Teste places *Causticum at the head of a group (including *Cocc., *Coffea, *Cor-r., *Nux-v., *Staphysagria, *Arsenicum) the common characteristic being according to him: “Two series of successive and opposite phenomena, the former of short duration, consisting in a sort of universal exaltation of all the functions, the latter, which succeed the former more or less rapidly, consist in a general depression of the vital forces, and constitute the real and permanent action of the drugs of this group.” Among instances, he gives mirthfulness followed by ill-humour, sleeplessness followed by Yawning and drowsiness, moisture of skin followed by dryness, flow of saliva followed by dry mouth and throat, coryza fluent, then dry. Teste found *Causticum of great efficacy in small-pox in alternation with *Merc-c. Periodicity is marked: periodic, paroxysmal attacks, twice a day to every two, three, or four weeks an attack, at new moon. Symptoms are worse at night (great restlessness of body, especially legs). worse Early morning (cramp). worse On waking. Worse In morning: hoarseness. Worse Evening: 6 to 8 p.m. heat. *Causticum is one of Grauvogl’s hydrogenoid remedies, hence is a chilly medicine, worse washing, bathing, open air, drought, becoming cold, after wetting, worse every change of weather. Heat, especially getting warm in bed better (rheumatism ceasing on getting warm in bed, but beginning again as soon as he gets up.) On the other hand cold water better face and eruptions, and a swallow of cold water better cough, headache is worse entering a warm room, damp weather better pains in scalp, ulcers, rhinitis. Heat worse eruptions. Worse In dark, fear of darkness. Worse From coffee. Worse After stool. Worse From walking. Worse From taking hold of anything. Worse In clear, fine weather. Suited to dark-haired persons with rigid fibre, delicate skins, lymphatic, torpid temperament.
