Arsenic alb is a deadly poison. It is said that once it enters the body, it gets absorbed into the bones and hair permanently. Restlessness and anxiety are the main feature. The restlessness is mental rather than physical as in Rhus Tox. Fear of death with anxiety and restlessness. Some women become very anxious following emotional shock or septic fevers. Tidiness - the Arsenic patient is tidily dressed. He keeps his room tidy and in order and soon gets upset if things are disturbed in his room. Diarrhoea - stools are frequent, black and offensive. The patient is restless and can have convulsions, as toxins gets absorbed from the inflamed gut. Prompt treatment with Arsenic Alb will soon restore the inflamed bowel.
Thirsty
- increased thirst for small and frequent drinks is due to anxiety.
Anxiety causes dryness of mouth that leads to increased thirst. In chronic
cases he becomes less thirsty despite having dryness of mouth, but anxiety
persists. He tosses and turns in bed resembling Gelsemium. The main difference
is that there is no restlessness in Gelsemium, while the arsenic patient is
constantly restless in bed with increased frequency of urine. Anxiety and
restlessness with throat or bladder illness indicates that the patient may be
suffering from cancer. Arsenic Alb will
relieve the symptoms but one should treat the case constitutionally. Restlessness
with anxiety can be helped by high potency of Arsenic Alb in cases
of terminal cancer. Restlessness also acts as a stimulant for natural body
defenses. I once gave it to a lady with a terminal illness, whose doctors had
stopped administering her painkillers. It greatly helped and she was peaceful. Kidney
diseases - Arsenic Alb is closely related to renal diseases. Its patient has albuminuria
with inflamed kidneys. Anxiety and
restlessness can also result from mental overwork causing
increased sensitivity of the kidneys. In cases of diseases of the bladder,
prostate and kidneys, where Arsenic alone is indicated but does not help, the addition
of Phosphorus will help when given separately. This combination of Arsenic and
Phosphorus is also useful in the cancer of the prostate. In my experience this
also helped in a case of terminal cancer with limited life expectancy - the
patient was helped by the grace of God and lived peacefully for another year. Chilliness
– the Arsenic patient is very chilly and feels cold. The patient
feels better for heat (feeling of heat) except for stomach ailments and
headaches which is better for cold (feeling of cold). Headache is better with the application of pressure. Nausea
and vomiting - Arsenic Alb patients can have severe nausea and
vomiting.
Periodicity
of symptoms - the relapse of symptoms at a particular time, such as
in migraine, recurs every seven to fourteen days. The headache is better with
cold applications. If acute headache is not treated properly in the Arsenic
individual it can become chronic and move to the joints.
Aggravation
after midnight - the symptoms are worse at night. The patient is
afraid of being alone and is anxious. When the disease progresses the patient
will not find any relief even in company.
Menorrhagia and
menstrual problems - many a time uterine ailments can change into
mental symptoms of anxiety and restlessness, with fear of death and depression.
If menses are stopped suddenly with medicine and the mental symptoms appear
this is not a good sign. The symptoms become chronic with offensive vaginal discharges
with blood clots. The patients have mental symptoms of restlessness as well as
general body pains. Arsenic will relieve all symptoms if indicated and gets rid
of toxins from the body. In these cases Kali Iodide and Arsenic Iodide combined
or given separately are also of benefit. In addition, Sulphur and Pyrogenium
200 given together is very effective in such cases. It will clear the infection
and associated symptoms.
Arsenic and Secale Corn have many similarities. Secale is useful
for offensive and dark colored discharges The Secale
patient feels hot while Arsenic Alb is chilly. Secale, even though he feels
hot, feels better with external heat while the Arsenic Alb patient has
offensive discharges, with fear of dying and increased thirst for small drinks. Dry
cough and asthma – the patients have nasal obstruction with itchy
nose, sneezing, clear runny nose and swollen neck glands as in hay fever.
Arsenic* is useful in dry asthma and chronic cardiac
asthma. In cardiac asthma the pulse is weak and rapid but palpable. In the Aconite
and Belladonna patient, the pulse is palpable. In a Carbo Veg patient, the
pulse is weak but not palpable. It disappears under the finger. Arsenic is
helpful in other cardiac diseases. The patient gets breathless on climbing
uphill and also when flying. Such cases will benefit from Arsenic given before,
during and after the journey. Gangerine and Arsenic Alb -
Arsenic is a very useful remedy in gangerine. In gangerine the afflicted part
gets ischemic and infected. In my
experience, Arsenic has proved life saving in many cases. In some cases where
surgery seemed unavoidable the patient, by the grace of God, was completely
cured with timely use of Arsenic Alb 200. In another case, a young man had his
arm crushed in a machine, the wound became infected and amputation was advised.
I treated him with Arsenic Alb in CM to be repeated weekly over a few weeks. By the grace of God the arm of the patient
soon started regaining normal color and the black colouration disappeared, thus
surgery was avoided. If the case does not respond to Arsenic Alb one should try
other remedies like Silicia or Sulphur in high potency before surgery, otherwise
it is better to have surgery to save the patient’s life. In deep ischemic
ulcers Kali Iodide and Arsenic Iodide can be helpful. *Arsenic on its own always means
Arsenic Album.
Arsenic
Alb and eyes - the whole eye is inflamed. In Kali Carb the inflammation
is confined to the upper eyelid, while in Apis it is the lower eyelid. Premature
ageing - the patient can have symptoms of ageing in Arsenic, but it
is more marked in Sarsaparilla and Chinumum Ars. Arsenic
alb and depression - there is anxiety with depression. The patient
has suicidal tendencies and thinks he is beyond redemption. Malaria
and Arsenic Alb - as in malaria periodicity is also found in Arsenic
Alb, the relapse of symptoms every fourth, seventh or fourteenth day. Arsenic
Alb given in high potency is also effective as a preventative in malaria.
Arsenic should be given during remission of fever and not during the attack.
Natrum Mur is also useful in malaria but one should avoid its use in rising
fever. I have also found Arnica in high potency of great help in the treatment
of malaria. Chinumum Ars is reported to be useful in malaria but this is not so
in my experience. In fact, I have found that Arsenic Alb and Arnica are much
better than Chinumum Ars. Bryonia and Rhus Tox is useful for general bodyache
in the beginning of fevers generally. The
success of treatment in malaria is judged by the fact that the fever will not
return or will be of less severity or if the fever relapse is early or delayed.
These are good signs and indicate that the treatment is effective. Otherwise,
one should change the treatment or start allopathoic treatment.
Retention
of urine after labour - the best treatment is Causticum, but if it
is ineffective Arsenic Alb can be useful.
Hoarseness – Arsenic
Alb is beneficial when the throat is hoarse.
Also, if the patient has earache with offensive catarrh and burning in eyes
and nose. Arsenic symptoms are worse in damp weather, after
midnight, at the seaside, after cold food, with heat and worse for hot drinks.