By Anja Hey

This is charcoal; wood that is only partly burned due to lack of oxygen. When you look at an extinguishing wood-fire you will surely have noticed that on the outside the wood already looks cold while inside it is still glowing.
This is exactly the picture of homoeopathic Carbo vegetabilis:
These people lack oxygen; they want all windows open, they desire to be fanned, they somehow wish more fresh air. It is not unusual to see them hang out of a window in order to catch the wind blowing over their face.
When you touch their body it feels cold; the extremities, the tongue, the breath, the nose are all cold, the skin looks pale or blue, yet these persons experience internal heat.

The background of Carbo complaints is a very sluggish circulation leading to a lack of oxygen.
Mentally this results in dullness, slowness of thought, indifference, irresolution and from time to time lack of memory. When they are ill they don't care whether they will live or die. Carbo personalities may have fixed ideas; their minds lack the fluidity and flexibility to adapt another point of view.
Physically we often notice the need for Carbo in a slow blood circulation: tendency to faint, slowness, purplish-red discolored skin, haemorrhoids and varicous veins, chilliness and fatigue. In serious cases there can be heart complaints, faintness, a superficial pulsation and a fast and superficial breath. Carbo's react very strong on even a little bit of alcohol.
Carbo often is a good remedy for exhaustion, weakness and lack of vitality after a longlasting disease or an operation. It can do good work in cases of shock, especially after operation, when the skin feels cold and the patient looks pale and half dead, yet feels inner heat. Or when a person never has recovered from a severe disease. And ofcourse it helps in cases of bad circulation with above described symptoms.

Often the digestion is disturbed too due to lack of oxygen.
Usually Carbo's are not fat but they are bloated, the belly is filled with gas what leaves less room for the lower lungs. That leads to tightness of the chest. So Carbo can also be a good remedy in case of asthma with relief from eructations, asthma getting worse by a filled stomach, or asthma during pregnancy. Other symptoms of partly digestion are heartburn, gas in the intestines, diarrhoea or constipation. And the morning headache after a copious meal the night before, together with nausea and dizziness.

For homoeopaths it is important to know that Carbo vegetabilis is one of the remedies to consider if a patient does not respond on well chosen remedies - namely because of a lack of reaction power.

Carbo personalities especially aggravate by eating fat food or butter. They prefer salt food above sweet food.
These people feel worse by darkness. Lying down aggravates the shortness of breath.
Also warm wet weather makes them feel worse, and consuming milk, fat food, coffee or sine.
Carbo's ameliorate by cold fresh air, feeming wind, being fanned, and eructations.

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