In acid dyspepsia (178) we have sour risings and vomiting an hour (177) or so after eating and in ulcer of the stomach (181), with its nausea and vomiting, we have soreness located in a small spot in the stomach.
The diarrhoea occurs periodically, or is worse in the morning and after drinking beer, and the stool is of brown, frothy water (58).
In dysentery there is periodical aggravation, recurring in the spring or early summer, the movements worse in the morning, gelatinous and bloody, and followed by tenesmus (61). The tongue would be red, dry and cracked, or with large insular patches (192), but there is no especial thirst or fever. It is to be thought of in constipation, that is chronic or periodical (recurring every three months), the stools hard, dry and painful to pass; with both the loose and constipated stools there is burning in anus after a movement (61).
There is found at times soreness at the anus, making walking painful, or a sensation of a plug in the anus (160) which is so painful that it is almost impossible to sit down.
While no mention is made in the provings of the action of Kali bich. on the kidneys, it will be well for us to remember that all the potashes cause degenerative changes in the structure of the kidneys and if we are giving this remedy low, it should not be continued for too long a time.
In subacute or chronic inflammation of the urethra, calling for Kali bich., there is a sensation as if a drop of urine remained behind after urinating and could not be expelled. This sensation continues for a long time and not only worries the patient, but it is associated with burning (194) either far back in the urethra or in the fossa navicularis. In gonorrhoea or gleet (83) we would have addition, the ropy, tenacious discharge.
It is a very valuable remedy for venereal ulcers and especially for the chance, with the characteristic appearance and the cheesy, tenacious exudation.
In the female, Kali bich. is useful for yellow, tenacious (126), ropy leucorrhoea, associated with weakness in the small of the back, for membranous dysmenorrhoea (138), for prolapsus of the uterus (203), especially when it is worse during hot weather, and for “subinvolution of the uterus” (Minton). It is to be thought of for pruritus of the vagina (156), with great itching and burning and sexual excitement.
The pulse in Kali bich. is soft, sometimes very weak, even fluttering, and we may “have a cold sensation about the heart” (Allen, Trans. Am. Inst. Hom.,’ 83) (109).
The rheumatic pains are mostly shifting (149), deep-seated and rarely associated with any inflammatory process. There is a general aggravation from cold. It is useful for rheumatism of the large as well as of the small joints (161), with shifting pains, for rheumatic pains and stiffness of the fingers, and for soreness of the heels (71) when walking. In chronic rheumatic conditions the pains are apt to appear and to leave suddenly (148) and wander from place to place. It is a remedy to be thought of for rheumatism that recurs every spring, and Lippe says “the rheumatic and gastric affections alternate” (163) or “the gastric symptoms supercede the rheumatic symptoms.” It is useful for gonorrhoeal rheumatism (Farrington) (161), for syphilitic periostitis.
It is of value for neuralgia of the coccyx (34), aggravated by sitting, and for sciatica, mostly of the left side, with relief from motion (164) and bending the leg (163), as in kneeling on a chair, and worse from standing sitting (164), lying or pressure (164).
Kali bich, is indicated in a variety of skin lesion, with papules, pustules, tubercles and ulcers, and especially when associated with rheumatic or catarrhal conditions. It is of value in acne (14) due to indigestion (15) and for lupus (128) with burning pain, but especially for lupus of the sluggish, painless type.
Keep in mind this differentiation: In Kali bich. the ulcers are circumscribed with tendency to penetrate deeply, while in Mercurius the ulcers are irregular in outline with tendency to spread superficially.
I use Kali bich. 3d.
