GUERNSEY, Keynotes, gives the fever symptoms of Natrum mur. thus: “The most characteristic and reliable symptoms are: intermittent fever with the mentioned sores (herpes) on the lips, the approach of fever being heralded by excessive thirst before the chill and during the chill, no thirst during the fever; during the fever, or at its close, the above hammering headache begins (headache as though a thousand little hammers were knocking upon the brain), which lasts for a long time after the fever and perspiration have passed away. The attack comes on in the forepart of the day: after it passes off, the patient wishes to retain a recumbent position, does not ‘feel able’ to get up, or go about anything. Pulse intermitting, or irregular. Chilliness with thirst.
So one sees how different prescribers find their leading symptoms differently; and one can only learn from all.
One remembers an early out-patient case of severe asthma, unable ever to lie down in bed. Patient “worked out” to Nat. mur., which was given, and rapidly cured. Then, on further inquiries it turned out that he had been in the habit of eating large quantities of salt. One wonders, was he poisoned thereby, and did the potentized remedy antidote, as so often it does, the crude drug? or, was it a case of inability to assimilate salt, and therefore of salt famine; and did the potentized drug stimulate him to take what he needed from his food?
“Dirty, unhealthy skin”.
One remembers a malarial sailor, during the War, with a dreadful condition of the face, from blackheads and boils and abscesses, who cleared up astonishingly on Natrum mur., and went out re- humanized.
The following recent case shows the value of Natrum mur. even in epilepsy, the great indication being its curative power in diseases that supervene on malaria and quinine.
Middle-aged man, strong T.B. history: many vaccinations, the last unsuccessful: injections for enteric-plague: -many years in India, where he had dengue and malaria, and months of 30 grains of Quinine. Came for severe and frequent epileptic attacks; bites tongue. Thuja did not help much: but, with Nat. mur., the attacks lessened, and it is now a year and a half since he had an attack, while he had regained his old energy and power for full work.
Natrum mur. is one of the few remedies that has “mapped tongue”, “geographical tongue”. Here it shares the honours with Tarax., Ranunc. sc., and one or two others.
And now we will dig for a few gems from KENT:
Natrum mur. is a remedy of many hysterical conditions. Weeping and laughing: rage with cursing and blaspheming. The remedy of unrequited affections, and the inability to control affections: knows they are unwise, but cannot help it. Of awful headaches, with no relief to the head till after sweat: or, on the other hand, headache, and the greater the pain, the greater the sweat, which does not relieve.
Nat. mur. is a deep-acting, long-lasting remedy. Kent says “it takes wonderful hold of the economy, making changes that are lasting.” Like Sepia, it bears very seldom repetition in chronic cases. Kent says “it operates slowly, bringing about its results after a long time, as it corresponds to complaints that are slow and are long in action. This does not mean that it will not act rapidly: all remedies act rapidly, but not all act slowly; the longest-acting may act in acute disease, but the shortest acting cannot in chronic disease.”
BLACK LETTER SYMPTOMS
i.e. those most often caused and cured by Natrum muriaticum.
Very much inclined to weep and be excited.
Depression. Hurriedness with anxiety and fluttering at heart.
Sad and weeping mood without cause. Involuntary weeping.
Sad and weeping: consolation aggravates.
Melancholy mood, preferred to be alone.
The more he was consoled, the more he was affected.
Hypochondriacal, tired of life.
Trifles provoke anger.
Indifferent.
Distraction: disinclined for mental work.
Head dull, heavy.
Pressing pain, as if head would burst.
When coughing, as if forehead would burst.
Redness of whites of eyes with lachrymation.
Eyes give out in reading; writing.
Pressure in eyes, when looking intently.
Unsteadiness of vision. Letters and stitches run together.
Ophthalmia, after abuse of nitrate of silver.
Spasmodic closures of lids.
Upper lip swollen.
Great swelling lower lip followed by a large vesicle.
Crack in middle of lower lip.
Blisters on tongue.
Blister taste in mouth.
Loss of taste; food has no taste.
Tongue coated, with insular patches.
Tongue heavy, difficult speech. Children slow in learning to talk. (One remembers one such very tardy child who started to talk the next day after a dose of Nat. mur.)
Very violent thirst. Unquenchable thirst.
Great longing for bitter things, beer; for farinaceous food; for sour things; for salt, oysters, fish, milk.
Aversion to meat, bread, coffee.
Acid eructations and malaise after eating.
Chronic diarrhoea, watery: with fever, dry mouth: worse as soon as he moves about, and after farinaceous food. With much flatus. Sensation of contraction in rectum during stool: hard faces evacuated with greatest exertion, so that anus is torn, bleeds and is sore.
Constipation. Obstinate retention of stool. Seat worms.
An unusually hard, dry, crumbly stool.
Increased desire to urinate, with very light watery urine.
Involuntary escape of urine while walking, coughing, sneezing.
Intermittent heart beat.
Heart’s pulsations shake the body.
Emaciation: great emaciation.
Easily fatigued.
Great weakness and relaxation of all physical and mental powers from exertion or after long talking.
Paralysis from intermittents, nervous exhaustion, sexual excesses, from diphtheria, from anger or emotions; from pain: of flexors.
Dreams: anxious: vivid: frightful. Of robbers in house, will not believe the contrary till search is made.
Eruptions especially margin of hair at nape of neck.
Herpes about mouth, arms and thighs.
White scales on scalp: dandruff.
Nettlerash; large red blotches with violent itching.
Tetter, bends of joints, oozing of an acrid fluid: crusts with deep cracks. Scaly eruptions on flexor surfaces.
Fever with headache: much heat in face: great thirst, drinks much and often; with nausea and vomiting: stitches in head: unconsciousness; blindness, blurred sight; faintishness; aversion to uncover; without chill, 10 to 11 a.m.
Or chill predominates, with thirst, yawning, severe headache bursting headache; nausea and vomiting; tearing pains in bones; chattering of teeth; internal, as from want of animal warmth.
A remedy of periodicity.
7 a.m. regularly, neuralgia of ophthalmic branch of trigeminus.
9 to 10 a.m. chill.
11 a.m. hard chill, lasting till 1 p.m.
Every morning wakes with headache.
Every morning at 8 till 11 a.m. muscles of back and extremities stretched, while wrists and joints of feet are flexed.
After midnight, sweat.
Morning till noon, sick-headache: diarrhoea (<) chill.
From 1 to 3 p.m. quotidian.
2 a.m. wakened by heavy chill.
4 a.m. fever sets in.
5.30 p.m. chill begins and lasts an hour.
Daily, at regular time, lachrymation.
Attacks of sick headache, lasting 24 hours.
Neuralgia right eye, coming and going off with the sun.
Headache from sunrise to sunset, (<) at midday.
Every other day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. headache: toothache; every other day, constipation.
And so on: great periodicity: (Arsenicum-Clock-like periodicity, Cedron.)
Queer symptoms.
Cold wind blowing through head.
Throbbing in head as from little hammers. Bursting.
As if stepping on air.
Dazzling before eyes.
Fiery zigzags. Eyeballs as if too large.
Plug in throat.
Has to swallow over a lump.
Lungs too tight.
Feet filled with lead.
Back as if beaten: broken.
Water trickling into joints.
Terrible pain in head. Violent pain.
Numbness one side of nose; of lips; of tongue; of arms and hands; of fingers and toes.
Fluttering of heart.
Emptiness in head: in epigastrium.
Cold sensation: vertex: in stomach: about heart: in back.
By the way, a word of warning! Nat. mur. may be needed to cure the most terrible headaches, but do not give it during a severe attack, at risk of a fearful aggravation. Give its “acute”, Bryonia, for the immediate pain, and to palliate; and the curative drug later on, when the attack is over.
