Common Name: Common Salt (NaCl)
Constitution.-- Great emaciation. Losing flesh while living well.
Indications.-- Anaemic and sick persons who have suffered from loss of vital fluids like profuse menses, seminal losses, or mental affections. For the bad effects of anger due to offence. Bad effects: of acid foods, bread, quinine, excessive use of salts, cauterization with the silver nitrate; of grief, fright, vexation, mortification or reserved displeasure.
Generalities.-- Great liability to take cold.
Mind.-- Irritability: child cross when spoken to; crying from slightest cause; gets irritated from silly things, especially when consoled. Awkward, hasty, drops things from nervous weakness. Weeping disposition; worse by consolation. Great aversion to read.
Head.-- Headache: anaemic, of school girls; from sunrise to sunset; left sided clavus; as if bursting; before, during and after menses with red face, nausea and vomiting; during fever as though a thousand little hammers were knocking in the brain; better by perspiration.
Headache; beginning with blindness; with zigzag dazzling, like lightning in eyes, ushering in a throbbing headache; from eye strain.
The hair falls out when touched, in nursing women. Herpes on borders of hair at nape of neck.
Eyes.-- Lachrymation on coughing.
Nose.-- Hay fever: due to exposure to hot sun or intense summer heat; sensation as of small worm moving in the nostril.
Face.-- Face oily, shining as if greased.
Mouth.-- Tongue: mapped, with red insular patches; like ringworm on sides; heavy, difficult speech, children slow in learning to talk. Pearl like fever blisters about the lips. Lips dry, sore, cracked and ulcerated. Sensation as of a hair on the tongue.
Throat.-- Emaciation of throat and neck of children during summer complaints.
Stomach.-- Craving for salt.
Rectum.-- Herpes about the anus.
Stool.-- Constipation: stool dry, hard, difficult, crumbling; sensation of contraction of anus; anus torn, bleeding, smarting afterwards; stitches in rectum. Stool involuntary, does not know whether flatus or faeces escape.
Urine.-- Urine: involuntary when walking, coughing, laughing; has to wait a long time for urine to pass, if others are present; cutting in urethra after urination .
Male.-- Seminal emission soon after coition, with increased desire. Weakness of sexual organs with retarded emission during an embrace. Impotence, spinal irritation and paralysis after sexual excesses.
Female.-- Pressing, pushing towards genitals every morning; must sit down to prevent prolapsus.
Heart.-- Fluttering of the heart with a weak faint feeling. Worse lying down. The pulsation of the heart shakes the body.
Extremities.-- Hangnails: dry and cracked skin around the nails. Warts on palms of hands. Painful contractions of the hamstrings.
Sleep.--Dreams of robbers in the house, and on waking will not believe to the contrary until search is made. Dreams of burning thirst.
Skin.-- Eczema; raw, red, inflamed, especially in edges of hair; worse from eating too much salt, at sea shore, or from ocean voyage. Acute or chronic urticaria over whole body after violent exercise.
Fever.-- Intermittent: paroxysm at 10 or 11 A.M.; old chronic and badly treated cases, especially after suppression by quinine. Headache with unconsciousness during chill and heat. Perspiration relieves pains.
Aggravation.-- At 10 or 11 A.M; at the seashore or from sea air; heat of sun or stove; mental exertion, talking, writing, reading; lying down.
Amelioration.-- In the open air; cold bathing; going without regular meals; lying on right side.
Relationship.-- Complementary: to, Apis; acts well before and after it.
Natrum mur. is the chronic of Ignatia, which is its vegetable analogue.
Is followed by Sepia and Thuja.
Cannot often be repeated in chronic cases without an intercurrent, called for by the symptoms. Should never be given during fever paroxysm. Nux will relieve if vertigo and headache persists, or prostration prolongs after Natrum.