Shifting pains and sudden pains. “Indolence” is a characteristic of many conditions _ indolent ulcers, indolent inflammation about and of the eyes, slow scrofulous or sycotic ophthalmia, soreness of the canthi, pustules round the eyes, lids adhering and puffed, whites of the eyes yellowish. The face is bloated and blotched, may be yellowish, acne accompanies headaches and gastric conditions. The tongue is thick and broad and takes the imprint of the teeth. The stomach symptoms are very distressing. Painful vomitings, sour, and mixed with clear mucus, may be bitter from the presence of bile, vomiting caused by every attempt to eat or drink, with distress and burning rawness about the stomach. This corresponds to the vomiting of drunkards, especially in beer- drinkers, also to gastric ulcer. The abdomen swells up immediately after a full meal. Food lies like a load as if digestion were suspended. There is aversion to meat, and longing for beer, and for acid drinks. It removes the chronic effects of drinking too much malt liquor, especially lager beer. Some of the workmen found they could not drink coffee as it made them worse, and they were obliged to take to tea instead. (This bears out Hering’s dictum that “wine-drinkers should take coffee and beer drinkers should take tea.” Coffee antidotes wine and tea antidotes beer, so as *Kali-bi. corresponds to bear effects tea will be likely to agree with it better than coffee). *Kali-bi. causes great prostration, discomfort, debility, and desire to lie down. The neuralgic attacks sometimes recur every day, at the same hour. Epilepsy has been cured by it when there was flow of tough, stringy fluid from the mouth in the attacks. In very weak solutions (about I to 2,000) *Kali-bi. has been used with much success as a local application for ulcers, especially treating horses for farcy, using the remedy both externally and internally. In the cough of *Kali-bi. the stringy, difficult expectoration, and early morning worse will generally indicate, or a pain from mid sternum through to back. But there is also a *cough caused by eating. ***W. J. Pierce (*H.W., xxx 567) records the case of James S., 40. For four months past, as soon as he swallowed food (not liquids), a tickling in throat excited a severe cough, which stopped only on vomiting, and was followed by a watery coryza. This was so distressing that for two months he had eaten only two meals a day. There was pharyngeal catarrh with stringy mucus hanging from nasopharynx. *Kali-bi.I, a tablet every two hours, was given. He had no more vomiting, and only coughed twice in the next five days, and was soon quite cured. *Kali-bi. is credited with the cure of a case of Descemetitis (inflammation of the internal (Descemet’s) membrane of the cornea) with redness of right eye, brightness of the lid and lachrymation. *Kali-bi. removed the spots and relieved the other symptoms. *Kali-bi. is especially suited to fair-haired, fat persons, especially fat, chubby children, fat sluggish people. Most of the symptoms appear in the early morning or are worse then: 2 a.m. heat in pit of stomach, awakes with oppressed breathing, with a start. 2 to 3 a.m. croup, early morning cough, morning diarrhoea, 9 a.m. pain in head begins, goes off in afternoon. Shooting from root of nose to external angle of eye begins morning, increases to noon, and cease towards evening (sun-headache). Affections of autumn and spring. Complaints of hot weather are particularly likely to want *Kali-bi., but at the same time there is “great liability to take cold in open air,” and ” moderately cold air is felt very unpleasantly.” Eruptions begin in warm weather (opp. *Rhus). Open air better symptoms generally, especially vertigo, but worse gastric complaints and chilliness. Uncovering worse, wrapping up better. Warmth better cough, undressing worse cough. Cold weather better itching of eruption. worse By eating, eating causes cough, causes weight in stomach. Touch worse most symptoms, but pressure better. But pressure causes pains to shoot along sciatic nerve. Moving the affected part better the pain. Most symptoms are worse at rest and better by motion. Stooping worse, sitting worse.
Relations
In the ordinary text-books the antidotes to Kali-bi. are given as the same as antidotes for poisoning by Acids: Bicarbonates of Soda and Potash, Magnesia, Chalk, Soap, Milk, Eggs, olive or almond oil, also the Hydrated peroxide of iron. But no very brilliant results have been recorded from any of these, and they would be useless unless administered almost immediately after the dose, so rapid is the action of the poison. Among the dynamic antidotes are: Arsenicum, Lachesis (croup, diphtheria, etc.), Pulsatilla (wandering pains). Kali-bi. antidotes: Effect of beer, arsenical vapour, Mercurius, Merc-i. I have found it the best general antidote to the effect of metallic poisoning among brass workers. Compatible: After Cantharis in dysentery, when, though scrapings continue, the discharge becomes more jelly-like, after Apis (scrofulous ophthalmia), after Iodium in croup. It is followed well by: Ant t. in catarrhal affections and skin diseases. Compare: Oxygen, Causticum, Kali-carb. (fat subjects), Kali-i. (syphilis), Chrome-ac. (sudden pains, shifting pains, better motion, ulcerations, rheumatism), Borax (croup, fair subjects), Mez. (bone diseases), nitricum acidum (syphilis), Phytol. (syphilitic bone affections), Spo. (cramp), Silicea (bone affections), Hippoz. (ozena, glanders, farcy), Hecl. (nodes), Hydrast. and Ir-v. (viscous, tough secretions), Lachesis Terebe. (glazed tongue), Kali- ca., Causticum, and Staphysagria ( worse after coitus), Sepia and Teucrium (“clinkers”), Pulsatilla (wandering rheumatism, gonorrheal rheumatism, pains worse in warm room, measles, catarrhal deafness, swelling of salivary glands), Thuja (ozaena in sycotic subjects), Apis (scrofulous ophthalmia), Lachesis (constriction of anus, sensation of plug in anus, diarrhoea brown, frothy, watery, spurting out in early morning and followed by tenesmus ani, dysentery, red, cracked, smooth tongue, blackish stools, typhoid cases, Lachesis has more offensiveness, Kali-bi. more jelly-like or stringy mucus), Cocc. c., whooping-cough (mucus, clear stringy, Kali-bi. yellow stringy), Kaolin (membranous croup _ with Kaolin there is internal and external soreness along course of trachea and upper part of chest _ Farington), Rhus ( better of pain on moving affected part, Rhus has better by warmth, eruptions of Kali-bi. begin in hot weather, those of Rhus in cold), Abies-n., Bryonia, Nux-v., etc. (indigestion with sensation of weight in stomach), Graphites and Rhus (inflammation of external ears, Sul. (sensation of hair in throat).
Causation
Indulgence in beer and malt liquors. Hot weather Autumn. Spring.
SYMPTOMS.
Mind
Ill-humor, low-spirited. Listless. Anthropophobia, taciturnity, misanthropy. Vanishing of thoughts. Aversion to mental (and bodily) exertion. Weak memory. Anxiety arising from chest.
Head
Lightness in the head, across the forehead, on stooping, worse morning. Sudden attacks of giddiness, when rising from a seat. Vertigo on rising up in bed (room seemed to whirl round), on lying down again it became worse and was immediately associated with inclination to vomit. Vertigo, with nausea, inclination to vomit, retching up of sour watery fluid. Frequent sudden attacks of vertigo when standing or walking. Confusion and heaviness in head. Headache in forehead, often only over one eye. Soon after dinner a dull, heavy throbbing about eyes, as if head would burst, better by lying, or pressing head against anything, or in open air, worse stooping or moving about. In morning, when waking, pain in forehead and vertex, later, extending to back part of head. Violent pricking, stinging pain, from root of nose, extending over (left) orbital arch to external angle of eyes, with obscuration of sight, as if scales were before eyes, beginning in morning, increases at noon, and disappears towards evening. Headache comes and goes with the sun. Complete obscuration of sight is followed by violent headache, compelling one to lie down, with great aversion to light and noise, the sight returns with the increasing headache. Stinging headache (in one temple). Periodical attacks of semi-lateral headache, on small spots that could be covered with point of fingers. Morning headache. Headache from suppression of discharge from nose (ozaena). Bones of head feel sore. Stitches in bones of head, as from a sharp needle. Lancinating stitches in right side of head, lasting but a short time. Pressure on vertex, as from a weight. Headache: better by warm soup, by pressure, in open air, by eating, worse by stooping, by motion, by lying on it, at night.
Eyes
Heaviness of upper eyelid on waking, it requires an effort to open it. Eyelids burning, inflamed, much swollen. Watering, itching and burning in eyes, heat in eyes and desire to rub them, with redness of conjunctiva. Dryness, burning pain, itching. The eyes are glued in morning, accumulation of yellow matter in angles. Oedematous swelling of eyelids. Large acute granulations of lids. Large polypus springing from conjunctiva of upper lid. Itching and redness of eyelids, tender to touch, tarsi seem rough, causing sensation of friction, as from sand on the eyeballs when moving them, feeling of sharp sand in eyes. Conjunctiva reddened and traversed by large red vessels. Rheumatic sclero-iritis with excessive pain and photophobia. Syphilitic iritis. Sequelae of iritis, pains pricking, stinging, wandering, worse left, chemosis, photophobia not commensurate with degree of inflammation. Ulcers and pustules of cornea with no photophobia and no redness. Corneal ulcers tend to perforate rather than spread laterally. Dense long-lasting opacities. Albuginea dirty yellow, appears puffy, with yellowish-brown points, like pin-heads. Soreness in right caruncula. Photophobia, only by daylight, when opening lids they twitch. Lachrymation and burning of eyes. Small white, granular pustules on (left) cornea, with pricking pain. Brown spots on conjunctiva. Obscuration of sight, objects appear yellow. Various colours and bright sparks before eyes.
