Let us now discuss Iodine’s modalities. I have already mentioned relief from motion. It is an important general modality of the patient’s remedy. Patient is always better by walking in cool open air. Even palpitation, which is worse o beginning to walk and more while standing, is relieved when walking slowly. I could hardly imagine that continued walking will make it better as on least exertion, otherwise, I felt distressing palpitation. This symptom appeared after the 50M. (Recently my assistant complained …)
of great aching and pains all over the body and felt worse when lying down. Felt better when moving about. Felt more feverish while resting, better walking about. He had some low temperature also. Rhus tox. and Pulsatilla did not make appreciable impression. He seemed to be losing weight. I felt worried and sent him to be Xrayed. It was incipient T.B. of lung. On taking the case, found him warm-blooded; emaciating. Prescribed Iod.200. Temperature came down to normal, aches and pains better, although pulse rate continued to be fast. He is now much better).
Another main characteristic feature of the drug is its hunger and relief from eating. its voracious hunger is proverbial but there are cases where there may be anorexia. Iodum patients may not feel any appetite, but on starting to eat, he eats a lot, i.e., more that he expected (cf. Lyc., etc.). This symptom is more constant. In a case of chronic amoebiasis, the patient did not feel hungry, but on starting to eat, she could take an enormous amount, and was fast losing her weight. Iodum 200., one dose, put her on the road to recovery.
More characteristic than voracious appetite is the relief in all its complaints by eating. This is indeed a gem-the most dependable characteristic.
In my diary I have:.
… fits of ravenous hunger, taking to meals like a hungry wolf and eating with vengeance. Committed mistakes and forgot things when hungry. Hurried in eating with no other thought. Could not even take part in table talk.
At meal time patient is extremely restless; he must eat or do something, take up a book or paper or get busy with something.
Hungry Iodum is an extremely ugly sight. While eating he is in best of moods. Iodum patients cannot keep a fast. Most of the pains, mental symptoms or physical ailments, are relieved as long as he is eating. Headache, palpitation, anxiety, even pain in stomach are better from eating. Even diarrhoea and distension of abdomen are better from eating for sometime. Such is the universal application of this modality. Such a symptom with such an intensity is not marked in any other drug of our materia medica. Amongst the halogen group Fluoric acid has it to a fairly strong degree. Our repertories should give this modality under various rubrics. This modality in my understanding of the drug is one of the pivotal points around which the whole symptomatology of ……
Iodum moves. I remember that if I had a very urgent desire for stool in diarrhoea and I happened t o eat something, I would be relieved temporarily from it. Ravenous hunger after stools.
Another feature of the drug is its emaciation. Patient eats well, but he seems to be losing weight for no apparent cause. In chronic cases, emaciation may not be evident in the earlier stages, except that in spite of good food and appetite, the patient does not flourish. It may be noted that emaciation is more marked in hot weather. I remember that as soon as hot weather came, I used to start losing weight without apparent cause. Often my digestion also was upset during the hot weather.
It seems that metabolism is accelerated with lack of proper absorption of fat. Stools show abnormal fat contents in such cases. This drug may be useful in disturbances of the pancreas.
With emaciation it h as been found that glands in general become large and indurated with the exception of mammae and testes. These two glands dwindle with general wasting.
Thermal Modality
The typically Iodum patient is a very hot blooded patient, likes to be in cold open air. In winter he likes to have the windows open. In debilitated conditions he may feel lack of vital heat, but practically all these symptoms are worse from heat and relieved by cold in general. The patient and his complaints will be aggravated in a warm atmosphere; in hot weather. As I have mentioned above, the patient loses weight rapidly in summer. Most of his complaints will come in summer. I remember that as soon as summer came, I had diarrhoea and headaches which were relieved if I went to hill stations.
Once I was sitting in an examination hall, and it was the cold month of January. Electric heaters had been placed near the candidates. Within few minutes of my entering the hall I had a strange headache with a vise-like sensation. Thinking was impossible. I failed in examination. Later I realised heaters were responsible for my mishap. There are flushes of heat all over the body; face and ears especially. It is better while eating and in cold open air. Cold bathing relieves many of the complaints. I used to have pain in my stomach after stools, which was better either by eating something or by having a cold bath. Even my headache was temporarily relieved by a cold bath.
Iodum like other hot blooded remedies is venous in type.
Like Sulphur, standing is the worst position. Feels very uneasy and gets easily tired while standing. He may walk for hours but standing upsets him in a few minutes. It s quite logical to expect varicose veins and venous stagnation in the symptoms. Here it may be compared with Fluoric acid.
Iodum exhibits great prostration-unusual weakness at times out of proportion to the apparent cause. There is a funny strange symptom that he feels extreme weakness when ascending stairs although he does not feel tired while walking on a level. Great weakness when hungry; when stomach is empty after stool. I quote from my diary, “Got easily tired-even while talking; did not feel like undertaking even least exertion. Getting up, even from sitting posture, seemed like an ordeal”.
He is usually hurried in everything. Perhaps it is the result of the anxious restlessness mentioned as above.
Particulars
I I shall take up a few particulars which stand out boldly in my experience. Beginning with headache, the only pain that I experienced was band-like constriction and the band would tighten if the patient goes into a warm place or near a fire. Headaches are better as long as one is eating, in the cold open air, and from tight bandage.
Catarrhal discharges are thick, yellow and acrid, e.g. leucorrhoeal discharge. Expectoration is acrid and seems to corrode the tongue if held for some time in the mouth. Cold is better in open air. It has loud croupy cough, like Spongia, in evenings usually before midnight.
We do not usually associate Iodum with skin troubles, but it is a deep antipsoric. It has weeping eczema, extensive impetigo. Itching of the skin alternated with headache in my case. Numbness after itching. After a potency of Iod. 50M., I had virulent type of impetigo, an oozing eruption, especially on the feet. Since that experience, I have had a healthier respect for Hahnemann’s theory of Psora.
In Iodum patient it is noticed that the rate of metabolism is increased. Pulse rate is higher than normal; hair and nails grow at a rapid rate; hunger is increased; lymphatic glands enlarge and all this at the cost of the body which emaciates.
There are gnawing pains in the stomach worse after stools in the morning, better after eating or bathing in cold water. There are loud empty, eructations, sometimes tasting like rotten eggs. In flatulence Iodum vies with China, Lyc. and Kali carb. Everything ….is felt in left hypochondrium. Like Nux it has ineffectual urging to stool, “not done” sensation.
At times copious and frequent urination which would wake me at night. This symptom often appeared after a potency. Another interesting symptom which I recall is the passage of excessive phosphates, a number of times during the day, and each time I felt very hungry after passing urine loaded with phosphates. Sometimes hunger was before urination. I know of no other drug with this peculiar symptom, it should go into repertory.
In the chest I experienced an oppressive bandlike sensation, especially over the praecordial region. I felt anxious during this pain which lasted for a few minutes.
Feels sleepy but cannot sleep. Feels sleepy for sometime, but then wakes up and cannot sleep for hours. Insomnia.
Sexual desire is extremely increased during the earlier stages but later on the desire may die down with the dwindling of the testicular glands. it has violent erethism and the patient walks about the room with violent sexual excitement. Cannot sleep for nights because of violent erections (Personal experience).
Toothache like that of Mag. carb., is better walking about rapidly, worse from hot drinks, better from drawing in cold air.
(To be continued)
12/90 CONNAUGHT CIRCUS
NEW DELHI, INDIA.
