(Arsenious Acid) – Arsenic Trioxide
Arsenic alb is a deadly poison. It is said that once it enters the body, it
gets absorbed into the bo nes 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 restless ness. 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 become s 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. Anxiet y and restlessness with throat or
bladder illness indicates that the pa tient 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. Re stlessness also acts as a stimulant
for natural body defenses. I once gave it to a lady with a terminal illness, whose doctors had stopped ad ministering her pa inkillers. It
greatly helped and she was peaceful. Kidney diseases – Arsenic Alb is closely re lated to renal diseases. Its
patient has albuminuria with inflamed kidneys . Anxiety and
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 peacef ully for another year.
Chilliness – the Arsenic patient is very chilly and feels cold. The
patient feels better for heat (f eeling of heat) except for stomach
ailments and headaches which is be tter 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 i ndividual 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 depressi on. 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 pa tients have mental symptoms of
restlessness as well as general bo dy pains. Arsenic will relieve all
symptoms if indicated and gets ri d 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 Album 91 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 a nd 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 pul se is palpable. In a Carbo Veg
patient, the pulse is weak but not palpable. It disappears under the
finger. Arsenic is helpful in othe r cardiac diseases. The patient gets
breathless on climbing uphill and al so when flying. Such cases will
benefit from Arsenic given befo re, 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 cure d 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 colourat ion disappeared, thus surgery was
avoided. If the case does not respon d to Arsenic Alb one should try
other remedies like Silicia or Sul phur 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 Album 92 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. Arseni c 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 begi nning 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 Arse nic 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.
Adjuvants: Rhus Tox, Carbo Veg, Phosphorus and Thuja
Antidote: Opium, Carbo Veg, China, Hepar Sulph, Nux Vomica
Potency: 30 to CM.
