Arsenicum Metalllcum

Metallic Arsenic. As (A. W. 74*9). Trituration.

Clinical

Constipation. Coryza. Diarrhoea. Eyes,' affections of. HaemorliMidsw Headache. Itching. Sciatica. Syphilis.

Characteristics

The symptoms of metallic arsenic are very like those of Ars. alb,, but not entirely. The following may be regarded as the most peculiar : Symptoms recur every 14 days ; coryza every 21 days. Pains extend from one part to another ; or leave one part and appear in another. Attacks come suddenly and go slowly, or vice vend. Enlarged or swollen feeling of brain, head, eyelids, hands, and fingers. Cutting, burning, stinging pains. Itching in many parts, skin peels off in small scales. Hot bathing < pain in hip. < Lying on l. side (heart). Washing > itching of anus. Cold bathing > itching of face. < On waking in morning. Thinking of symptoms <. Many symptoms appear on r. side. Ars, met. lights up syphilis after being many years dormant.

Relations

Compare : lod., Merc., Nat. c. in syphilis ; Nux v. (drowsy after sound sleep) ; Rhus (pain in back, hips, &c.) ; Sul. (pulse) ; Ars. alb. Useful in pterygium after failure of Nux v. and Spigel. Antidoted by : Bell, (sore throat) ; Nat. c. (syphilitic symptoms).

Causation

Laughing (headache). Thinking (headache).

Mind

Memory weak, esp. of what is read ; cannot take in what he reads. — Fears will be poisoned.

Head

Heavy, dull feeling in forehead above frontal sinuses in morning. — Fulness ; on waking at night. — As if brain were too large and it would burst — Glow over l. brow. — Pain l. side extending to ear and eye, with nausea. — Headache when writing, thinking, laughing. — Hair falls off.

Eyes

Soreness of eyes ; irritated and red or sore. — Upper lid sore and feeb swollen. — Pterygium (r). round the mouth. — Eruption on the mouth and on the lips, near the red part. — Cancer of the face and lips with burning pain. — Hard knots and cancerous ulcers, having thick scurf with lard-like bottoms on the lips. — Lips excoriated with a sensation of tingling. — Swelling and bleeding of the lips. — Swelling of the submaxillary glands, with contusive pain, and soreness on being touched. — Paralysis of the lower jaw. — Drawing stitches here and there in the face.

Teeth p. 192

Sharp aching pains, or successive pullings in the teeth and gums, chiefly at night, extending sometimes to the cheek, to the ear, and to the temples; with swelling of the cheek and insupportable pains, which impel to furious despair, or which are aggravated when one lies on the diseased side, and mitigated by the heat of the Are. — Convulsive grinding of the teeth.— Sensation of elongation and painful loosening of the teeth, with swelling and bleeding of the gums. — Pain in teeth > by hot applications.

Mouth p. 192

Offensive smell from the mouth. — Secretion of abundant tough, fetid, bloody saliva. — Great dryness of the mouth, or accumulation of saliva, sometimes bitter or bloody. — The mouth is reddish-blue, inflamed, burning. — Tongue bluish or white. — Ulceration of the tongue, with blue colour. — Torpor and insensibility of the tongue, as if it were burnt — Tongue brownish or blackish, dry, cracked, and trembling. — Tongue a bright red. — Tongue white as chalk, as if painted white. — Tongue red with a silvery white coat. — Tongue stiff like a piece of wood. — Ulceration of the tongue on the anterior edge. — Swelling, inflammation, or gangrene of the tongue. — Angina gangrenous (with aphthae). — Aphthae in the mouth. — Speech rapid, precipitate.

Throat p. 192

Burning in the throat. — Scraping, sharp pain, with burning in the throat. — Inflammation and gangrene of the throat. — Spasmodic constriction of the throat and of the oesophagus, with inability to swallow. — Deglutition painful and difficult, as if from paralysis of the oesophagus. — Sensation of great dryness in the throat and in the mouth, which induces continual drinking. — Accumulation of greyish or greenish mucus of salt or bitter taste in the throat ID. Appetite. — Bitter taste in the mouth, chiefly after having drunk or eaten, also in the morning. — Astringent, or putrid, or acid taste in the mouth. — Food appears acid, insipid, or too salt. — Insipidity of food. — Bitter taste of food, particularly of bread and beer. — Complete adipsia ; or violent burning, choking, and unquenchable thirst, making it necessary to drink constantly, but little at a time. — Desire for cold water, for acids, for brandy, for ccee and milk. — Want of appetite and of hunger, frequently with burning thirst. — Insurmountable dislike to all food, chiefly meat and butter. — Everything that is swallowed causes a pressure in the oesophagus, as if it had stopped there. — Continual craving, with want of appetite and prompt satiety. — After a meal, nausea, vomiting, eructations, pains in the stomach, colic, and many other sufferings. — Af ter having drunk, shivering or shuddering, return of vomiting and diarrhoea, eructations and colic.

Stomach p. 192

Frequent eructations, particularly after having drunk or eaten, mostly empty, acid, or bitter. — Regurgitation of acrid matter, or of bitter greenish mucus. — Frequent and convulsive hiccoughs, principally in the night. — Frequent and excessive nausea, sometimes rising even to the throat, with inclination to vomit, necessity for lying down, sleep, swooning, trembling shuddering, or heat, pains in the feet, &c.— Flow of water from the stomach, like water-brash.— Vomitings, sometimes very violent, and principally after EmactaHon.— Trembling of the limbs, chiefly the arms and legs.— Trem* bling of the limbs (in cimnkards). — Stiffness and fixedness of the limbs, sometimes with sharp rheumatic pains. — Paralysis and contraction of the

Limbs p. 193

Paralysis, especially of the lower extremities. — Fainting fits, sometimes with dizziness and swelling of the face. — Fainting, from weakness, with scarcely perceptible pulse. — Sensation of torpor in the limbs, as if they were dead.

Skin p. 193

Desquamation of the skin of the body.— Skin dry as parchment, cold and bluish.— Yellowish colour of the skin.— Shootings, hot itching, and violent burning in the skin. — Reddish or bluish spots in the skin. — Petechias — Inflamed spots, as from morbilli, chiefly in the head, face, and neck. — Miliary eruptions red and white. — Conical pimples, whitish or reddish, with burning itching. — Nettle-rash. — Eruption of painful black pustules. — Eruption of itchy pimples, small and tickling. — Eruption of small red pimples, which increase and change into gnawing ulcers, covered with a scurf. — Vesicular eruptions. — Herpes, with vesicles, and violently burning, esp. at night, or with coverings, like fish-scales. — Skin jaundiced ; general anasarca ; black blisters.— Pustules filled with blood and pus.— Tettery spots, covered with phlyctenae and furfur, with burning nocturnal pains. — Ulcers with raised and hard edges, surrounded by a red and shining crown ; th the bottoms like lard, or of a blackish-blue colour, with burning pains or shooting, principally when the parts affected become cold.— Ulcers, hard on the edges, stinging, burning spongy ; with proud flesh ; turning black ; flat ; pus thin, ichorous (cancers). — Fetid smell, ichorous suppuration, ready bleeding, putridity, and bluish or greenish colour of the ulcers. — Thin crusts or proud flesh on the ulcers. — Spacelus. — Want of secretion in the ulcers.— Carbuncles (burning). — Inflammatory tumours with burning pains. — Warts. — Ulcers in form of a wart. — Chilblains. — Varices. — Discoloured naso.

Sleep p. 193

<constant drowsiness, with strong and frequent yawnings. — Nocturnal sleeplessness, with agitation and constant tossing. — Drowsiness in the evening.— Coma vigil, often interrupted by groans and grinding of the teeth. — Unrefreshing sleep ; in the morning it seems as if more sleep were needed. — Starting of the limbs when on the point of falling asleep. — During sleep, startings with f right, groans, talking, querulous exclamations, grinding of the teeth, convulsive movements of the hands and fingers, sensation of general uneasiness, and tossing. — In sleep, lying on the back, with the hand under the head. — Light sleep ; the slightest noise is heard, though the patient dreams continually. — Frequent dreams, full of cares, threats apprehensions, repeating and inquietude ; anxious, horrible, fantastic, lively and angry dreams ; dreams of storms, of fire, of black waters and darkness ; dreams with meditation.— In the night, jerking of the limbs, heat and agitation, burning under the skin, as if there were boiling water in the veins, or cold, with inability to get warm, stifling sensation in the larynx, asthmatic attacks, great agitation, and anguish at the heart. — Frequent waking during the night, with difficulty in sleeping again. — Sleeplessness, from anguish and restlessness, with tossing about (after midnight).

Fever p. 193

Cold over the whole body, sometimes with cold and viscid

Heart p. 193

General coldness, with parchment-like dryness of the skin, or with profuse, cold, clammy perspiration. — Chilliness without thirst ; worse after of desire.— *Penis flaccid. — Fine shooting pains in course of l. spermatic cord. — Chronic pruritus scroti of twelve years' standing (cured in prover).

Respiratory Organs p. 194

Hoarseness on awaking in morning. — Hoarseness ; expectorates thick mucus. — Rattling of mucus at every full expiration, which disappears in morning. — Excess of mucus in larynx ; increased soreness and great disposition to cough. — Laryngeal symptoms deep-seated and persistent.— As of larynx partly obstructed.— About midnight great oppression of breathing, soon passing off, leaving rattling in larynx and trachea. — Paroxysms of dyspnoea with aching in chest. — Violent asthmatic attacks at night ; from cold. — Loose cough with dry soreness of throat, like catarrh; rattling of mucus ; < lying down at night. — Expectoration thick, heavy, yellowish-white, with continuation of a violent cough. — Hoarse, croupy cough with sore throat ; rattling laryngeal breathing, swelling of air passages threatening suffocation«

Heart p. 194

Heart beats so violently as to shake the walls of the chest. — With increased heart's action, aching in precordial region and down l. arm ; flushing of hands and face. — Pulse full, hard, somewhat jerking, soon becomes small and irregular ; very feeble after a large dose.

Neck and Back p. 194

Shooting pains l. anterior inferior triangle of neck, near clavicle. — Aching along the spine, most between shoulder-blades and in lumbar region. — Great weakness across loins; feeling of extreme prostration continuing to increase, had to retire early.

Limbs p. 194

Fine pricking or tingling sensation in feet and hands, beginning in r. foot, afterwards attacking in regular succession r. hand, l. foot and l. hand.— Aching pains along outer aspect of l. foot, immediately followed by a similar pain in corresponding part of l. hand.

Upper Limbs p. 194

Tingling or slight stinging in fingers ; all over r. hand, which is redder and warmer than l. and appears somewhat swollen. — Aching pain in l. forearm, l. hand, and r. humerus ; r. hand remains red and swollen. — Shooting and aching pains in l. brachial plexus of nerves. — Shooting at styloid process of r. ulna.

Lower Limbs p. 194

Tingling in toes. — Shooting pain down r. thigh. — Burning in soles.

Skin p. 194

Urticaria and other eruptions.