POTASSIUM BICHROMATE, K2 CR2 O7.
Introduction
Kali bich. was first proved by Dr. Drysdale, of England, and the report published in 1864. A year later the Austrian Society published the result of their proving.
Symptoms
It is a powerfully irritating drug, causing profound changes in the tissues, with consequent weakness and depression. Its chief action is on the skin and mucous membrane and about the joints. It must be kept in mind that in this remedy the action of potash is modified or intensified by the chromic acid in the chemical combination.
Your attention has already been called to the fact that while as homoeopaths we cannot alternate or mix drugs, a proved chemical combination is not only a homoeopathic remedy, but many consider that each element of such combination works better, or at least quicker, when broken up in the system than it would if used alone. While the mixing of two or more drugs in the same glass is very seldom seen at the present time, one reason, among many, for not doing so is, that the drugs have not been proved as a mixture and without such proving no one is capable, in most instances, of reasoning out what injurious effects one drug would have on another in such mixture.
The heart’s action in Kali bich., as in all the potashes, is weak; there is rarely any fever.
The ulcers on the skin and mucous membrane round, with well- defined edges and tend to penetrate deeply, and have been likened to a conductor’s punch.
The secretions form the mucous membranes are profuse, more so than in any of the other potashes, and are more tenacious, due to the added quality derived from the chronic acid.
The symptoms, of Kali bich. are markedly periodic, although no one hour is characteristic of them all, some groups being worse in the morning, others in the evening; again their periodicity is in reference to the time of year, for instance, rheumatism that is apt to recur in the spring, or dysentery coming on every spring or in the beginning of summer.
The pains are sharp and shifting (149), wandering from one place to another, and with periodical aggravations.
It is a remedy that seems to be especially adapted to fat (80) and light-haired people (88) and particularly to fat, short- necked children who are inclined to be sluggish. It is also a frequently indicated remedy in beer-drinkers.
In the head we have periodic (99), neuralgic headaches, confined to one side to the head in a small spot, as over one eye, or “spots that could be covered with the point of the finger” (Lippe), “preceded” (Lippe) or accompanied by dimness of vision (104) or blindness, and associated with nausea and
vomiting. We frequently find headache at root of nose, worse in the morning and due to an acute or chronic nasal catarrh (96).
In the eye it is of value in catarrhal inflammation, generally of an indolent character, with stringy secretions and without much photophobia (76). It is useful for trachoma, or granular lids, in the later stages of syphilitic iritis (74) and of especial value in ulcers (77) and pustules (76) of the cornea and conjunctiva, the ulcers small and penetrating, without much pain, photophobia or lachrymation.
In the ears we can think of Kali bich. in eczema externally (64), with watery oozing, and in chronic suppuration of the middle ear, with perforation of the drum and thick, tenacious, yellow discharge. It is frequently indicated in catarrh of the middle ear (63), involving the Eustachian tube (65) and associated with naso-pharyngeal catarrh.
In nasal catarrh it is a remedy in constant use. In acute conditions, when a cold in the head has reached the catarrhal stage, with profuse, stringy and tenacious mucus requiring a good deal of blowing to remove it. In the morning on rising the nose is filled with an accumulation of dried mucus,”clinkers” and scabs (143), and considerable time must be spent before one is able to appear at the breakfast table. During the day there are several periods of continuous blowing to get rid of the tenacious mucus, which is thinner in the open air, and the patient is inclined to gauge the severity of the case by the number of her father’s handkerchiefs that she appropriates for daily use.
In older and in chronic catarrhal conditions as well as in ozaena (148), we have this same dry, adherent mucus, with bleeding of the mucous membrane after its removal, and, as Allen says, “the formation of `clinkers’ in the nose, the detachment of which leaves very sore places or ulcers, is a strongly marked characteristic of the drug.” In this way the round ulcers start and increase in size whenever the mucus is removed, resulting, if the condition is not cured, in perforation of the septum and Kali bich. is one of our best remedies for, or rather to prevent, such perforation (145).
The sensations in the nose, besides the dryness, obstruction or swelling, are of pressure at the root of the nose (96), as if mucus had lodged there and that if one could only blow hard enough it would afford relief.
In post-nasal catarrh (143) Kali bich. is very valuable and very frequently indicated; the mucus either plugs up the posterior nares and cannot be loosened by blowing or hawking, or it hangs down into the throat and can be seen in strings attached to the posterior wall of the pharynx. I have known of patients who could remove it only by means of a button-hook, it being so thick and tenacious.
Kali bich. is frequently of use when the face is blotched, as seen in beer-drinkers or spotted with pimples, or for acne (14) the result of indigestion (15).
The tongue is smooth, red and cracked in dysentery, or with a thick, yellow fur at the base (192) in catarrhal conditions of the stomach. Remember that if you give Kali bich. low, 2x or 3x, it will result in a black streak along the center of the tongue, a good deal as if the patient had been eating licorice.
It is useful for epithelioma of the tongue (192) and for syphilitic ulcerations, the ulcers being round and penetrating, with stinging pains. It is of value in aphthous inflammation of the mouth (140) the edges of the ulcers indurated and well defined. There is a sensation of a hair on the back of the tongue or in the fauces (190), which is “not relieved by eating or drinking” (Lippe).
Kali bich. is of great value in catarrhal inflammation of the pharynx (and the more chronic the condition the more apt it is to be indicated), with dark redness (191) of the posterior wall and profuse tenacious exudation, which necessitates much hawking, especially in the morning. It will prove of service in chronic inflammation of the pharynx (149) and in ulceration of the posterior wall, the ulcers having the well defined edges and filled with a cheesy exudation.
In laryngitis and bronchitis the profuse, tenacious, stringy expectoration (69) is a prominent feature calling for the remedy. “Expectoration of tough mucus so viscid that it drew in strings down to the feet” is a general effect noted among those employed in “chrome works” and we find that the expectoration calling for this remedy is very stingy, that it sticks to the pharynx and tongue, causes great hawking and scraping of the throat in the effort to get rid of it, and often has finally to be wiped off the tongue.
The cough is worse in the morning after rising, when, as patients express it, they have a “clearing-out spell.” The mucus is so tenacious that the continued effort to remove it causes nausea and often vomiting. As it seems to me another indication for the remedy is that after coughing and raising the mucus there is need to blow the nose.
If they do not have the “clearing-out spell” before breakfast, it seems as though eating loosened the mucus and they then have a paroxysm of cough, which is apt to result in the total loss of their meal. Of several remedies having cough worse after eating (41), Kali bich. and Hyosc. are two prominent ones that I always keep in mind.
The Kali bich. cough is better form warmth (40), and sometimes better from lying down (40).
In diphtheria and croup (52) this remedy is often indicated in a late stage. Besides the round and deep ulcerations, we have the soft pulse, profound prostration, stringy expectoration, general lack of acute painful sensations, little fever and tendency to perspiration.
It rarely does any good in the febrile stage of these affections.
“In croup especially, it follows Iodium well when the fever and exceedingly dry, ringing cough has given place to weakness and coldness and a hoarse, barking cough, with tough exudation. kali bich. is followed well by Ant. tart.” (Allen, Trans. Am. Inst. Hom.,’ 83).
Nausea and vomiting are frequently associated with other conditions calling for this salt of potash. It is of value for duodenal and gastric catarrh (178), with jaundice (122), thickly- coated tongue, bilious vomiting or vomiting of glairy mucus and discharge from the bowels of stringy mucus. It is of benefit in dyspepsia associated with nausea and vomiting, in the dyspepsia of beer-drinkers, with flatulence and vomiting of mucus, and in nausea and vomiting of drunkards (176).
