Characteristic are burning pains in the diseased parts, intense redness of all orifices (lids, lips, anus), frequent nocturnal urination; morning diarrhoea driving out of bed early, weakness in stomach at 11 A.M. Body odors offensive, all excretions increased, acrid, of foul odor. All complaints are worse nights, in rest warmth of bed, from standing and stopping; especially from washing and bathing, hence patients shun water. Better from dry, warm weather and motion.
AURUM.
Patients of dark hair, skin and eyes of broad bodies, but short, thickset, sturdy (this type Europeans have called “pyknic” lately while the asthenic type is often referred to as “leptosom”), corpulency; gait and bearing are heavy. They are plethoric with red faces, especially, elderly patients with inclination to apoplexy (plethoric type, apoplectic habitus), of sanguine temperament.
The mental make-up is here characteristic: depressive, melancholy. Disposition to look upon the dark side of everything, which leads to despondency, low spirit, melancholy and suicidal tendencies. Such patients love solitude, are anxious and restless. disagreeable or irritable; failing memory.
Tendency to disturbed circulation; palpitation and stitches in heart; congestion to head and chest; insomnia; headache; fear and oppression; chest feels as if squeezed together; hyperemia and congestion in some organs.
Music pacifies the patient, while noise increases the irritability. The symptoms are usually worse during the night or toward morning, while resting, from cold and mental work; better from motion, especially in the open.
IODUM.
Dark haired individuals of dark eyes; pale, yellowish skin, especially face: perspire easily. especially mornings; gums spongy, soft, bleed readily; restless eyes with dilated pupils; tremor of lids, muscles of face, hands; often glands are enlarged and hardened (scrofulosis, goiter, Basedow). Patients are very restless always busy with something; anxiety when resting; impatient, cranky irritable, sad, despondent.
Palpitation of heart from least exertion with anxiety. perspiration. dyspnoea and exhaustion. These patients often have hemorrhages and ulcers and facial acnes. Congestion and pulsation all over body; throbbing headache worse from warmth and motion, better in open; vertigo and insomnia due to internal restlessness with fear of death and suicidal tendencies; fearful dreams.
Prominent is emaciation in spite of good appetite; these patients can hardly wait for their meals, are always hungry, eat greedily, feel better from it, but continue losing weight (marasmus); obesity is found very seldom among Iodum patients.
All secretions are acrid, salty and corroding, as in inflammation processes of eyes, coryza and cough.
Characteristic for Iodum are: irritation, inflammation and tissue destruction. Inclination to skin troubles (acne, furunculosis, pemphigus, roseola), to inflammatory process of mucous membranes, connective tissue, joints; pneumonia, asthma and tuberculosis. Aggravation from warmth, especially being in warm room, rest and moist-cold weather; better from walking around, motion, in the open, cool air and from eating to satiety. PHOSPHORUS.
Its patients have fine, light, translucent skin; blue eyes, often sparkling; soft, silky, blond or reddish hair; they grow tall too quickly, are slim, thin (asthenic); bones and joints are very weak; posture stooping. Tendency to tuberculosis.
These people are of intelligent countenance, are mentally bright and lively, but they tire easily and then become careless, forgetful and lazy, timid, are tired of life, are irritable and nervous; this change usually takes place suddenly. Precipitous changes of mood of is an characteristic as is aversion to being alone and in dust, especially before and during a thunderstorm. It is also characteristic that these patients are of refined tact, sensitive, hyperesthetic and inclined to depend on others, but also hypersensitive to light, nose, scent and touch.
This type is inclined to palpitation of heart, congestion, hemorrhages and fever; sometimes sensorium is clouded, and patient may have delusions, or reduces physical and spiritual reactions, Congestion to head causes throbbing, burning headaches with vertigo, and heat up the back, relieved by cold, but worse from warmth. Blood coagulates slowly, hence wounds bleed long and severely.
Outstanding are also: bulimia nights, or soon after eating; intense thirst; insufficient anabolism. but increased catabolism (consumption, hectic fevers.
Aggravations morning and evenings, after eating, in cool air and from change of weather. Better after midnight and from cold food, of drink.
MAGNESIA CARBONICA.
Women and children especially belong to this type which is characterized by marasmus with tendency to scrofulosis, neurasthenia and hysteria.
Such patients are pale, poorly developed, generally lean, run down, feel miserable, weakly, feeble, easily exhausted, have weak muscles, are nervous, irritable, discontented, uneasy, hypochondriacal, melancholy. They are always chilly, cold and sensitive to cold, have dry skin and dry, burning membranes, suffer from fetid fatty night and morning sweats; photophobia and rim vision; sometimes sudden deafness. Inclination to cramps and hysterical attacks.
These patients have all kinds of pains, usually neuralgic, lightning-like along course of nerves, tearing, boring, forcing patient to walk around nights. Sleep unrefreshing around two to three A.M. they can not find rest, wake up early more tired than when they went to bed; are tired all day.
Characteristic are sour taste and belching, sour vomiting; sour green, foamy and mucous stools; children smell sour.
Symptoms are worse while resting, nights in bed, cold of any form, and touch. Amelioration is had from motion, warmth in any form, and from hard pressure.
BARYTA CARBONICA.
This remedy is suitable for children and old people; infant and senile marasmus with hypersensitivity to cold wet weather; chilliness (lymphatism).
Children of this appear sometimes (as under Calcarea carbonica) bloated and heavy (torpid scrophulosis), but usually they look-sickly, emaciated and old. they are backward in physical and mental development, do not care to play, late in walking and speaking, grow and learn slowly, appear dwarfish, are unattentive, dull, clumsy, cross, timid, take cold easily and then have enlarged tonsils. These enlarged glands and tonsils frequently become inflamed and suppurate (adenoid habitus).
Old people feel weak, feeble, miserable, frail, have vertigo and a weak memory, are absent minded, unsociable, weakminded, cold clammy feet with offensive foot sweat. Old folks itching of skin not relieved by scratching; numbness, nocturnal drooling; headache just above the eye; high blood-pressure; disposition to baldness, hardening of arteries and apoplexy.
Symptoms worse from cold air, change of weather, lying on sick side, when thinking on them.
STANNUM.
Emaciated people with place face and dark rings around sunken eyes; depressed, disheartened; irritable mood; melancholy; always disposed to weeping; even talking or listening to talking them, and they do not care to begin any king of labor. They feel totally miserable and complain of great general weakness, especially in the chest (habitus phthisicus), the chest feels empty, the voice is weak and give out. The extremities are heavy like lead; trembling of arms and legs; every motion causes heart palpitation. During dressing they have to sit down several times, falling into the chair from weakness. They have to rest and lie down frequently. They can hardly climb stairs. They have hardly strength enough to press during stool.
Nervous and physical weakness are the main characteristics of the patients. They are of the asthenic type; flabby muscles, ligaments, tissues with inclination to ptosis (enteroptosis) and depressive hypochondriac moods.
This neurasthenia is followed by insomnia and many pains, periodic headache with nausea, neuralgia, especially tearing prosopalgia or stomach cramps; all the troubles increase and decrease gradually. The chest weakness often is the forerunner of tuberculosis; this is accompanied by sweetish taste and light yellow to lemon color of sputum.
It is a major characteristic of Stannum, that the pains are better from pressure.
KALI CARBONICUM.
Like Kali nitricum, it is a remedy for the hydrogenoid constitution; pale, anemic, bloated persons of flabby muscles and always tired, very sensitive to cold and drafts, always chilly, especially evenings. Inclined to colds and catarrh, weak heart and circulation with small, intermittent pulse; oedemic conditions with sacs above eyes. Neurasthenic manifestations: tires easily in back and legs, which makes walking and standing difficult; backache with stiffness of spine.
The patient is full of pains of a sharp, stitching character, or burning, throbbing and wandering, especially in cold parts; warmth drives them to other locations. Partial perspiration over painful places. Sensation of coldness in chest and extremities. Anemia may lead to congestion and anemic vertigo. The many pains make patient irritable, anxious and full of fright; every noise makes him start and tremble, and especially from touch. Insomnia. Their sleep is disturbed by heavy dreams. Fear and fright upset stomach.
