Werkboek Klassieke Homeopathie

By Valerie Sadovsky, RSHom(NA), CCH

Remedy chart

Sodium Sulphate (Glauber’s salt) was discovered by Glauber in 1658. Along with Thuja, it was the main remedy used by von Grauvogl for hydrogenoid constitutions (the constitution characterized by an excess of Hydrogen and consequently of water in the blood and tissues à extreme sensitiveness to damp, wetting, bathing, watery foods, and residence near fresh water, especially standing water.) It is also one of the tissue remedies of Schüssler. Small doses are laxative and diuretic. It stimulates the activity of the liver and pancreas and markedly increases the secretions of the intestines.

ESSENCE

Natrum features: feel very insecure w/o a relationship; prone to disappointment and grief if they lose a relationship; have a feeling that in a relationship they will never be able to have the level of intimacy they really need; reserved. Sulphur features: strong ego; strive for recognition. Nat-s needs to be recognized in the one to one relationships. Not too much of emotional expression; show their love by taking well care of the person(s) they love. If the relationship doesn’t work out, they will be trying to "fix" it (Sulph. aspect). They will stay in the rel. out of duty (children) or practical reasons, won’t express their disappointment, will keep taking care of everything, but emotionally distance themselves from the other person and suffer in silence à bitterness and melancholy à deep depression (very often suicidal).

MENTAL SYMPTOMS

- MENTAL CHANGES arising from INJURIES to the head (sadness, irritability, confusion, weakness of memory, etc.)

- Strong sense of DUTY and RESPONSIBILITY

- Very industrious … systematic … fastidious … organized … PATHOLOGICAL PLANNERS

- OBJECTIVE … realistic … always adhere to matters of fact … down to earth

- Hypersensitive and closed … only moved to tears by MUSIC and soft light

- Sadness and SUICIDAL DISPOSITION (esp. by shooting; "must use self-control to prevent shooting himself"; too responsible to kill himself) … one of the most depressed remedies, certainly the most depressed of all the Natrums

GENERAL SYMPTOMS

- General aggravation from damp weather and/or warm humid weather

- General aggravation from injury to HEAD or spine

- General amelioration AFTER STOOL

- Green colored discharges or discolorations

- SYCOSIS … history of gonorrhea

PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS

Lymphoma or leukemia from GRIEF

Mouth: dirty greenish, grayish or greenish-brown coating of tongue

Head: history of repetitive HEAD INJURIES … yellowish complexion (= liver) … HA is accompanied by increased salivation … gastric or bilious HAs (bitter taste in the mouth, vomiting bile, indigestion) … PHOTOPHOBIA, esp. with HA … chronic nasal catarrh (post-nasal; greenish discharge)

Chest: humid ASTHMA (< cold/wet, exertion, 4 a.m.; copious green expectoration; offensive breath and harsh asthmatic breathing, audible even at distance; concomitant: diarrhea with each attack) ... babies born with asthma … asthma after grief … asthma after a suppression (e.g. colon surgery) … great and constant dyspnea (strong inclination to take deep and long breath; slightest exertion à short breathing; << damp, cloudy weather) … cough with stitching pains in the left lower chest … chronic bronchitis … weak feeling in chest

GI: any problem with LIVER (in acutes want to lie on the r. side with legs curled up) … DIARRHEA, esp. in the mornings … diarrhea of nursing infants with asthmatic mothers … rectal cancer or malignant colorectal polyps … gastritis … peptic ulcers … desire for or aversion to YOGURT

Urinary: recurrent kidney infections … REFLUX

Extremities: rheumatoid arthritis

Skin: WARTS of the hands … planter's warts … Sulph like skin symptoms

ETIOLOGIES

Exposure to COLD, WET WEATHER … INJURIES TO THE HEAD … SUPPRESSED GONORRHEA … living in a cold, dump place … GRIEF

AFFINITIES

HEAD … LIVER … respiratory system (Kent considered it the only Rx that can cure asthma) … skin … joints … mucous membranes

MODALITIES

<: DAMP in any form (weather, food, residence near the water, esp. standing) … change of weather from dry to wet … night air … watery food (vegetables, fruits) … cold food & drinks … touch … pressure … morning … lying on the left side … autumn

>: DRY (weather, air, regions, residence) … OPEN AIR … lying on the right side

SENSATIONS

Tingling … heaviness … HEAT … heat of single parts

PAINS

Contractive, colicky (in diarrhea) … stitching … cutting

DISCHARGES

PROFUSE, YELLOW, watery … THICK, yellow-green and purulent

CHILDREN:

Often look like little adults: mature, well mannered, serious, obedient, helpful … as teenagers may absolutely turn around and become wild, almost like Med., but there will be always some grief over broken relationships (Med. usually doesn’t care)

PRIME INDICATIONS

1. Aggravation from moist, damp weather.

2. Diarrhea with great flatulence after rising in the morning.

3. Liver symptoms worse lying on the left side.

4. Stitching pain in the lower left chest.

5. Loose cough with severe pain the chest, better on sitting up and from pressure.

NOTES

- Nat-s is the chief remedy for asthma aggravated in damp weather and in the early morning hours. In humid asthma of children who begin to wheeze every time they catch cold, it is almost specific (Ipecac).

- Great anti-sycotic remedy and is complementary to Thuja

- Morrison’s combined symptoms: asthma and diabetes ... asthma and depression … asthma and colitis or colorectal polyps or malignancies

DIFFERENTIALS

Diarrhea: The diarrhea of Nat-s is < in the morning (Sulph & Thuja); Sulph. drives the patient out of bed, long before it is time for him to get up. Thuja gets an urgent call us soon as he takes his first cup of tea in the morning; but Nat-s like Bry starts getting his stools after he gets up moves about. Bry has less flatus and is aggravated by hot weather (Nat-s by wet weather). The urging is sudden and the gushing stool is accompanied with flatulence. The stools are dark, bilious or of green bile. Before stools, contractive pain in the abdomen extending into the chest. But the most important part is that after stools there is immediate relief of colic and patient feels distinctly happy and cheerful (Choudhuri). See more diarrhea diffs in: Farrington H., Homeopathy, lecture on Nat-s, #20-25.

SOURCES

Choudhuri, Studies of MM

Farrington H., Homeopathy

Morrison, Desktop Guide

Vermeulen, Synoptic

Roger notes

Natrum Sulphuricum

This is a hard remedy to prescribe accurately, I think. They are coarser than Natrum Mur. They are more basic. Responsibility is sort of the key to what goes wrong with them. Does anybody remember how George did that whole sort of pantomime at Esalin about Natrum Sulph , the responsibility and this little child that feels the responsibility very much and so he gets into this, "I have to do the right thing", and then goes into the asthma. He did this beautiful pantomime of it. Of course, asthma will be just about the main physical pathology of Natrum Sulphuricum. The asthma of course is as they are in general worse from damp weather. The asthma is very much worse in humidity. The aggravation of the asthma should be 4:00 to 5:00 A. M. If you hear asthma aggravated 4-5 A.M., think immediately of Natrum Sulphuricum.

Q. Can you give like infants or little children with asthma, do you give Medorrhinum first then Natrum Sulph?

A. Yeah, I would say if you didn’t have any other symptoms other than asthma, I would say that Medorrhinum is probably more common than Natrum Sulph, which is contrary to what Kent says, I know. But it is not as common a remedy.

Now, along with the affection of the lung, the other main organ that is affected is what? It is the liver. It is also the colon. The liver is affected very much. It is a remedy in hepatitis, in acute or chronic inflammations of the liver. Gallstones, even. With a lot of biliousness, which means sort of belching, of sour belching, and especially headaches that are associated with this sort of sour bitter belching. Natrum Sulph will come up a lot.

Q. How would you distinguish between bilious headache and gastric headaches?

A. Well, gastric headaches would be headaches where people vomit. Bilious headaches would be headaches where people are belching and have indigestion.

Q. I had a really nice case where a woman developed severe migraines after Bell’s palsy, after an injury to the head, and Natrum Sulph stopped the migraines, and she would have a lot of nausea. She wouldn’t act nauseous. She wouldn’t actually vomit, but she felt very, very nauseous.

A. Did she have with the nausea, though, belching, that kind of thing? It would be hard to separate between gastric and bilious headaches. Theoretically there is a difference.

Q. Surely, the bilious headaches should have the stomach disturbance before the headache?

A. No, not necessarily. They can notice the headache about the same time. Of course, the colon, as a result I think more of the liver, they can end up with diarrhea especially urgency to stool after arising in the morning. Sudden urging to stool. Other areas of pathology -- it is the hip, especially the left hip. It is one of the main remedies in hip disease.

Of course it is one of the main remedies after injuries to the spine or the central nervous system. Head injuries, back injuries which will cause either headaches, depression, and of course, Natrum Sulph is one of our main remedies for suicidally depressed people. And there is the keynote that they hold themselves back because of that sense of responsibility, because of their family they hold themselves back from suicide and it is a real battle going on inside. Yes, I have to kill myself. No, I won’t. I can’t. Yes, I have to kill myself. No, I won’t. That sort of back and forth. As we mentioned just recently, they are very sensitive to music, weeping from music. They are sensitive also to light. It is one of the main remedies in photophobia.

I think those are the main points just to keep in mind.

Oh yes, there is either a craving or aversion for what? Yogurt. It’s the only remedy. I saw George cure a case one time of bronchiolitis in a six week old baby. By reasoning that the bronchiolitis was like asthma and the child had a craving for yogurt.

Memory card

Natrum Sulphuricum

1. Hydrogenoid constitutions; subjects with sycotic history.

2. Depression; lively music saddens; satiety of life; irritability, especially when spoken to; inability to think.

3. Mental traumatism; mental effects of blow on the head, etc.

4. Catarrhs of mucous membranes with free discharge of greenish-yellow muco-pus; sometimes bloody.

5. Diarrheas, especially chronic; on first rising and moving about in a.m.; sudden urging, gushing, with much flatus; fluid, yellow stools; < after vegetables and farinaceous foods.

6. Loose coughs with soreness and pain through left chest especially lower lobe left lung; > sitting up and holding chest with both hands.

7. Spinal meningitis with violent crushing, gnawing pain at base of brain; delirium; opisthotonos.

8. Rheumatic complaints in sycotic or hydrogenoid patients always < damp; restless, must change position but little or no >.

9. Warty growths on skin and mucous membranes; granules on eyelids like small blisters.

10. Modalities; < all forms of damp; sea air; by day; lying left side; > open air.