Mirza Tahir Ahmad James Tyler Kent
Natrum Carbonicum is composed of Sodium and Carbon elements, and exhibits the symptoms of both. The Natrum Carb patient quivers even on the slightest noise so much so that the heartbeat becomes irregular, even with the rustling sound of paper. The Natrum Carb patient is recognized through these peculiar symptoms. It is strange that, no matter how loud the noise is, if the level is constant it does not bother the patient. However, any change in the volume level badly affects the nerves. The ups and downs in noise level become unbearable. A sudden explosion or loud noise is very harmful for Natrum Carb patient. If such a patient is scared suddenly, his heart may stop. Therefore, one should be very careful around him.
When the ailments of Natrum Carb become chronic, the patient starts to feel indifferent, even towards his own family members. The patient feels indifferent. The circle of friendship and relationship shrinks. The situation worsens to the extent that the patient becomes disgusted and disconnected from the whole of humanity. The patient cannot tolerate anyone. Disgust is more prominent than fear.
The urine of a Natrum Carb patient smells like horse’s urine. This symptom is found in Benzoic Acid also. The patient needs to urinate again and again, while the patient may also wet the bed during the night. Urination is associated with a scalding sensation.
In the skin diseases of Natrum Carb, swellings develop at the edges of the fingers and of the toes, but especially over the finger joints. On the rest of the body the spots are itchy areas of raised circular shape (Urticarial). This remedy is also useful against herpes, though it is not easy to pick this remedy specifically from the symptoms of herpes alone. If the symptoms of Natrum Carb are present in a patient and the other remedies have not been effective against herpes, then Natrum Carb should also be tried. Both Sodium and Carbonate are linked with nerve tissue. Since herpes is basically a disease of the nerves, the herpes patient can benefit from Natrum Carb.
Natrum Carb plays a prominent role in the treatment of bad aftereffects of heatstroke. Sometimes, after a heatstroke, nasal catarrh starts dripping in to the throat and becomes a permanent menace (Post-nasal drip). For this condition, Natrum Carb is very useful. It is also very effective against bouts of headache and sensitivity to heat. In Natrum Carb, raw-looking sores start to appear at the tip of the nose. A peculiar symptom of this remedy is that the tip of the nose always exhibits a skin disease of one kind or the other. It is also valuable in the treatment of boils on the nose. Once, a patient was not benefiting from Natrum Carb and so I treated him with a Propolis ointment. (Propolis is a bactericide that the honeybee prepares for herself). His wounds became fully healed in less than a week. Honey is extraordinarily effective against cancerous wounds and chronic sores of the eyes, etc. Propolis is a powerful medicine, but chemically it is very light. Once, research was carried out in France to find out the types of bacteria various insects carry. All the insects in the world are supposed to carry some bacteria. The scientist who conducted the research on honeybees was surprised to discover that there was no trace of any kind of bacteria on the body of the honeybee. He found that the honeybee was absolutely free of bacteria. This was an astonishing discovery and it led to the beginning of a new era of research to find out why the honeybee is free from all sorts of bacteria. The words of the Holy Quran “feehi shifaa-unnaasi” (In it lies cure for mankind) carry a deep meaning hidden within them. During the research in France, it was discovered that the honeybee likes cleanliness so much that it puts a chemical called Propolis at the edges of each honeycomb. The honeybee prepares Propolis from the wax exuding from the white eucalyptus and other trees and rubs it at the edges of her honeycomb. Whenever the honeybee enters the honeycomb, it puts its feet on the edge of the honeycomb and does the same when it comes out of the honeycomb. In doing so, the antibacterial material (Propolis) sticks to the feet of the honeybee and keeps it free of bacteria. This is the reason why bacteria cannot enter the honeycomb. After this discovery, a wise and able farmer in Denmark prepared a special farm and bred the honeybee. From this farm, he used to collect Propolis in large quantities.
Propolis mixed in glycerine or vitamin E cream is very useful against common pimples and boils.
In Natrum Carb, sores not only form on the surface of the nose, but also inside it. The nasal catarrh is quite foul smelling and becomes chronic. It produces constant irritation in the throat. The sense of smell is also lost.
Usually, the face is pale. Circles develop around the eyes. Sores and blisters form inside the mouth. Natrum Carb is particularly effective against sores inside the mouth of nursing mothers. It is also effective against the infertility of women who suffer permanently from leucorrhoea. These symptoms are also found in many other remedies. However, a special symptom of Natrum Carb is that the woman patient is of a cold constitution, has been sterile for a long time and suffers from persistent leucorrhoea. If all these symptoms are present together in a patient, then by the grace of God, Natrum Carb will be found very effective in curing her infertility.
In Natrum Carb, there is a tendency of permanent weakness of the ankles (flail ankles). In such patients, feet usually twist easily. Such a weakness is a part of the patient’s constitution and not due to any kind of accident or injury. For this condition, Natrum Carb is a very useful remedy. However, the most effective treatment for sprained ankles is Ruta or Bellis. To abate the bad effects of severe sprains, Arnica given in a high potency, combined with Belladonna, shows positive effects immediately and the symptoms of the disease completely disappear. However, if these are not used in the beginning of the disease, then Ruta will relieve the residual bad effects. Sometimes, it becomes necessary to treat the patient with Bellis or Rhus Tox also. Natrum Carb alleviates the tendency of ankle sprains due to structural weakness.
Natrum Carb patient remains sad and worried most of the times. The patient remains deeply occupied with sad thoughts, is cowardly and loses the power to think and understand. The mind feels fickle. The cold, and any change of weather, becomes unbearable. The patient becomes very restless when the clouds thunder. Music aggravates his symptoms. The patient has no tolerance for certain people. The patient becomes bad tempered and irritable after eating food. The slightest mental fatigue leads to severe headache, which worsens in the sunlight or the lamplight. He also feels dizzy. Physical as well as mental hard work, make the symptoms worse. He feels very weak and staggers while walking. The patient feels cramps in the muscles and the glands become hard and swollen. The patient dislikes the cool breeze. Apparently, these symptoms should not appear due to heatstroke; however, in some patients of Natrum Carb, these are the permanent symptoms following a heatstroke. One should remember that Natrum Carb is a cold remedy by nature.
In Natrum Carb, black spots appear before the eyes. On waking up, the vision is blurred. There is a feeling of pinpricks and burning in the eyes. There is a kind of piercing pain inside the ears. Brown moles, yellow spots and acne appear on the face. Furthermore, the upper lip appears swollen to the touch, the face becomes pale, blue circles develop around the eyes and the eyelids become swollen.
The stomach of the Natrum Carb patient is very sensitive to touch and appears to be swollen. Drinking cold water aggravates the symptoms. The patient feels hungry in the morning at five o’ clock. The digestive system becomes very weak. The patient feels very sad after eating food and the mouth tastes bitter. Drinking milk causes diarrhoea and the patient needs to rush to the lavatory.
The cough of the Natrum Carb patient is a dry cough, which worsens when the patient enters a heated room. The feeling of cold on the left side of the chest increases the cough. The heart palpitates quite fast when lying down on the left side at night and also on climbing the stairs. The patient wakes up very early in the morning and his suffering is worse by five o’ clock in the morning. The patient sweats a lot in the morning and feels burning of the soles of the feet.
Antidotes: Camphora, Arsenic
Potency: 30 to 200. However, Dr. Boericke has described its use only in potency 6
by Mirza Tahir Ahmad
NATRUM CARBONICUM
Proved by Hahnemann, Hering and others.
Persons who are in the habit of taking carbonate of soda for sour stomach get a proving of this remedy. I have met some of these people and been able to confirm many Natrum symptoms.
Old dyspeptics who are always belching and have sour stomach and rheumatism; after twenty years they are stoop-shouldered, pale, sensitive to cold, chilly, aggravated by the least draft; require much clothing; unable to resist the cold or the heat; require a medium climate; are worse from the changes of the weather; their digestive, rheumatic, and gouty troubles are all worse from the weather changes.
Mind: A state of trepidation from the slightest noise, the slam of a door; nervous excitement and palpitation with great prostration; nervous weakness with trepidation; weakness from slight exertion of mind or body; internal and external trembling.
The rattling of paper causes palpitation, irritability and melancholy. Estrangement from family and friends. Aversion to mankind and to society; to relatives, to strangers; feels a great division between himself and them; sensitive to, certain persons.
Music causes a tendency to suicide, melancholy, weeping and trepidation; playing the piano is so exhausting that she must lie down; music causes great sadness which increases to religious insanity.
This is true of all the Sodiums, but especially so of Natrum carb.; aggravation from the slam of a door, a pistol shot, which causes headache and complaints in general, aggravated from music.
Digestion: The more soda these patients take, the more flatulent do they become; they are stoop-shouldered; digestion is difficult, and finally milk will not digest at all, bringing on a diarrhoea with undigested, lienteric stools; also, starch causes flatulence and looseness of the bowels, Many symptoms from drinking cold water when overheated.
Urine offensive like that of a horse, from a vegetable or milk diet. This is not so marked as in Nitric ac., but resembles it.
Skin: Natrum carb. throws out eruptions upon the knuckles and fingertips; also the toes; vesicular eruptions open up and form ulcers on the joints of finger-tips.
Borax, Sepia, Ars., and Natrum carb. are the remedies most inclined to produce ulceration of the tips and knuckles of the fingers, and also the toes.
Vesicular eruptions on the body in patches and circles; the herpes family is especially, related to Natr. carb.; zona, herpes labialis, herpes preputialis; patches as large as a dollar on the hips, thighs and back. Smaller patches show vesicles containing a white serum, burning, smarting and itching, better from scratching.
The eruption passes away with a crust, but will often ulcerate, it does not heal and an ulcer forms. Circulation feeble; wounds suppurate. Feet and skin burn. Crusty eruptions on the skin that have not been vesicular; but most Natr. carb. and Natr. mur. eruptions are of the vesicular form. Tingling, biting, itching, changing place, now here and now there; cold skin; sweaty body.
Mind: Nervous exhaustion, physical exhaustion, weakness of mind and body.
Book-keepers lose the ability to add up figures. In reading a page, the one previous to, it soon goes out of the mind. The memory will not hold out from the beginning to the end of a sentence. Forgets what he reads.
Confusion of mind follows and then he is unable, to perform any mental labor. Men become so fatigued from the details of business that a confusion of the mind comes over them, they get brain fag.
Oversensitive to heat, especially after sunstroke, even some years after; has to be well shaded when walking in the sun, must seek a cool or dark place the patient has not had the proper acute remedy during the attack the remedy is aggravated by both cold and heat, but this is a special aggravation from the heat of the sun; head troubles are not worse from cold in Natr. carb.
Old cases of brain fag with weakness and trepidation. The body troubles are aggravated from cold and in the winter; as cold as if he had no blood in the body, extremities cold, and he cannot get them warm; cold as ice to, the knees and elbows.
The body and extremities are worse in winter, the head in summer.
Anxious trembling and sweating during pains.
The senses are all disturbed; oversensitive to light pain in the eyes from a bright light.
Oversensitive hearing; little noises seem enormous, like thunder; the crumpling of paper seems like the crashing of a waterfall.
Taste perverted, too sensitive, so that the tasting of things ordinarily grateful becomes painful; sometimes loss of taste.
Loss of smell. Hay fever, catarrhal fever; where catarrhal conditions are present there is copious, thick, yellow, purulent discharge from the eyes, nose, vagina.
The vesicles are filled with thin, white serum, but the pustule, when it ruptures, throws out a thick, yellow discharge. Leucorrhoea thick, yellow, ropy; gonorrhea of the same character; thick, yellow, ropy, purulent discharge from the bladder which clogs up the urethra when urinating.
Otalgia, with sharp, darting, piercing pains when the mental state, the chilliness and other generals are present. The discharges are commonly offensive.
Coryzas trouble much; always has a cold in the head the watery discharge is of short duration and is soon followed by a thick copious flow of yellow mucus.
Ulceration, thick crusts; sleeps at night with the month open; dry, yellow crusts are blown out with pain and bleeding. The catarrh increases with each fresh cold, until it becomes foetid; the bones of the nose are affected; almost a constant headache over the eyes, in the forehead, at the root of the nose; congestive headaches, worse from change of weather, cold room, damp weather; increased by every storm.
Most foetid ozoena, mucous membranes ulcerated and destroyed.
Pale face with blue ring around the eyes, yellow blotches on the forehead, puffiness. There is puffiness in general; the hands, feet, face pit on pressure; infiltration of the cellular tissue; those states of the heart and kidneys that favor dropsies; old malarial cases, flesh doughy; urine albuminous.
Enlargement of the glands with induration, axillary, inguinal, abdominal, salivary. Especially suitable for enlargement of the prostate in old men. Chronic enlargement of the parotids, slow and of long duration; of the tonsils.
Ulcerations of the mouth; nursing sore month in women; thrush in infants; little white aphthous patches, especially in nervous, withered infants who cannot stand any kind of milk, who have diarrhoea from milk; they thrive better on cereals; when asleep the child jumps, cries, springs up and grasps the mother; a nervous, cold baby, easily startled like the Borax baby.
So are the Natrum babies in general.
Accumulation of mucus in the throat and posterior nares, generally yellow in color, while with Natr. mur. it is white; the latter spits up copious, thick, white mouthfuls.
Natr. carb. is ameliorated by eating; when chilly, he eats and is able to keep warm; the pains are ameliorated after eating; he has an all gone feeling and pain in the stomach which drives him to eat; he gets hungry at 5 A.M. and 11 P.M. 5 A.M. is the favorite time for the Natr. carb. aggravation; he becomes so hungry at this time that he is forced out of bed to eat something, which also ameliorates the pain.
Headache, chilliness, and palpitation better from eating (Ignat., Sepia, Sulph.).
Nervous hunger in pregnant women, who cannot sleep unless they get up at night and eat crackers, calls for Psorinum.
Locomotor ataxia with its fulgurating pains, amel. by eating; gnawing, all-gone, hungry feeling in the stomach. Soles numb, in males erections and priapism, sensitive thighs, hypersensitive spine; the results of too much excitement.
Emissions; ejaculation of semen premature.
Thirst in the afternoon, incessant; thirst between chill and heat great desire for cold water a few hours after dinner. Extreme aversion to milk.
Flatulency and accumulation of wind in the bowels; diarrhoea; stool yellow, soft with violent tenesmus and urging; a yellow substance like the pulp of an orange in the stool; diarrhoea from milk.
The most troublesome constipation; stool hard, dark, smooth and crumbling. All the Natrums take away the desire to go to stool; no ability to bear down; stool large and hard, great effort to pass it.
Prostatorrhoea after urinating and a difficult stool.
Sterility, a constitutional state in a woman where she is unable to, conceive; she is nervous, cold to the knees and elbows; cold body in winter, hot head in summer; always tired; relaxation of the sphincter vaginae causing the seminal fluid to gush out as soon as ejaculated by the male, thus causing sterility.
There may be a spasm of the sphincter, producing the same effect, or a clot of blood or mucus shoots from the vagina with noisy flatus. Nervous, fidgety, excitable, lean, dyspeptic women, not hysterical. Menses too soon or too late; neuralgias, oversensitive to drafts and dampness, sensitive spine, legs numb; leucorrhea yellowish-green, copious.
Paralytic states; ptosis or spasms of the lids; difficult swallowing, must drink much water to wash the food down on account of paralysis of the pharynx; paralysis of the bowels, cannot bear down at stool; stool like sheep's dung; paralysis of the left lower extremity with tingling.
Palpitation at night when ascending and while lying on left side. Many spinal symptoms. Goitre.
Stiffness of the neck, violent backache after walking. Rheumatic pains in the extremities. Jerking in all the limbs. Stumbling while walking. Weak ankles in children. Heaviness of the legs. Pains in the hollow of the knees on motion. Tension in the bend of the knee. Easy dislocation of the ankle.
The soles burn while walking. Ulceration of the heel from blisters. Icy cold feet. Weakness of the legs. Vesicles on tips of fingers and toes. Spots and tubercles on the skin. Skin dry and cracked. Itching and crawling.
by James Tyler Kent