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Tissue Salts by Schussler
previous chapter: NATRUM PHOSPHORICUM
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Sodium Sulphate. Sodse Sulphas. Sodii Sulphas.
Glauber's Salt. Sulphate of Soda.
Formula, Na2S04, 10H2O. It occurs rather abundantly in nature: sea water, saline springs, Russian salt lakes, etc. It is prepared by the action of sulphuric acid on common salt and purified by recrystallization. It forms large, colorless, transparent, oblique, rhombic or six-sided prisms, having a cooling, bitter saline taste. They effloresce in warm air at 30° C. They melt in their own water of crystallization, melting also freely at 33° C.; above or below that temperature the solubility decreases.
The pure sulphate of sodium is triturated as directed in the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeias.
The sulphuric acid formed by the oxidation of the albuminoids would destroy the tissues were it united in its nascent state with carbonates, by which the carbonic acid is set free. This salt does not appear in the cells, only in the intercellular fluids. It aids and regulates the excretion of superfluous water—e. g., that which arises from the decomposition of lactic acid with the phosphate of sodium, oedemas, etc. Disturbance of the molecular motion of this salt prevents the elimination of such water from the tissues as is produced by oxidation of organic substances.
The action of Natrum sulph. is opposite to that of Natrum mur. Both have the property to attract water, but for opposite purposes. Natrum mur. attracts the water which is to be used in the organism, while Natrum sulph. attracts the water due to retrograde metamorphosis and secures its elimination from the organism.
Natrum mur. furthers the division of cells for purposes of increase. Natrum sulph. takes away water from worn-out leucocytes, and thereby accomplishes their disintegration. It is, therefore, the remedy for leucaemia. It irritates epithelial cells and nerves, as will be seen in the following facts:
In consequence of the induced activity by the Natrum sulph. of the epithelial cells lining the uriniferous tubes, superfluous water, holding in solution or suspension products of metamorphosis, is sent to the kidneys. This leaves the organism by way of the ureter and bladder as urine.
Natrum sulph., by stimulating the epithelial cells of the bile ducts, pancreas and intestinal canal, furthers the normal secretion of these organs. It also has the function to stimulate the nerves of these parts.
If the sensory nerves of the bladder are not stimulated by Natrum sulph. the impulse to urinate is not reported to consciousness and involuntary urination—enuresis—results. If the motor nerves of the detrusor are not irritated, suppression of urine results.
In consequence of an irregular action of Natrum sulph. on the nerves supplying the gall apparatus, we may have an increase or diminution of that secretion.
If a diabetes mellitus is caused by a lessened secretion of pancreatic fluid, Natrum sulph. may be the remedy required.
If the motor nerves of the colon are not influenced sufficiently by Natrum sulph. constipation and flatulent colic result. If in consequence of disturbed molecular motion of Natrum sulph. the elimination of superfluous water from the intercellular spaces is rendered tardy, hydraemia results.
The hydraemia and the functional disturbances within the gall secreting apparatus are the conditions for the development of the following diseases:
Intermittent and bilious fevers, influenza, vomiting of bile, bilious diarrhoea, oedema, oedematous erysipelas, vesicular eruptions, filled with yellow serum; moist eczema, herpes, sycotic growths, catarrhs, with yellowish-green or green secretions.
Natrum sulph. corresponds to the hydrogenoid constitution of Grauvogl, flabby, watery, hydremic.
Persons suffering from hydraemia are worse in damp weather, near water, in close, damp dwellings, cellars, etc., and are better under opposite conditions.
Like other alkaline sulphates, an active cathartic. It excites the secretion of the intestines and stimulates the activity of the intestinal glands, liver and pancreas. In addition, however, it exhibits a marked similarity to the uric acid diathesis in general, and is certainly a valuable remedy in combating numerous phases of that polymorphous malady. (T. F. Allen.) Gastric bilious conditions, accumulation of water in the areolar tissues, yellow, watery secretions on the skin, or yellowish scales forming an eruption of vesicles. Excessive secretion of bile, liver affections, gravel, sand in the urine, diabetes, gout, figwarts, etc. The chief characteristic is a dirty greenish-gray or greenish-brown coating on the root of the tongue and aggravation from lying on the left side. Natr. sulph. combines.in a measure the wonderful effects of Natr. mur. and of Sulphur in the Western climate as an active malarial agent. Its complaints are those that are brought on by living in damp houses, basements and cellars. Complaints are worse in wet weather, correspond to the hydrogenoid constitution and sycotic dyscrasia, constitutional conditions in children that result in chest catarrhs and asthmatic complaints. The morbid alterations caused by Natr. sulph. begin to be observable near the end of the ileum and in the lower part of the colon. In the latter the follicles appear swollen, with a bright red margin of capillaries; the mucous membrane between is either pale or shows inconsiderable dentritic injections. In the lower part of the ileum the mucous membrane shows a saturated bright red coloring, mostly equal. It is the chief ingredient in the Carlsbad water, so largely used for its action on the liver; also contained in the cold springs of the Isle of Wight, of Pullna, Marienbad and Franzensbad.
Sulphate of Sodium as a Haemostatic. Reverdin, in a paper read before the French Surgical Association, advocates the employment of the sulphate of sodium as a haemostatic. He has employed it a number of times successfully; it is used in small doses (10 centigrams—gr. 1^) every hour, in dangerous capillary haemorrhage either of spontaneous or traumatic origin. As an example, after the removal of a subcutaneous benign tumor there followed a haemorrhage which resisted all treatment for eight weeks. The.same was true of other cases of traumatic origin, and also in cases of menorrhagia.
This remedy was used by Kussmaul, and is apparently popular in the North of Germany in cases of haemophilia.
By experimental and clinical observation the author determined that this drug should be given by the mouth only, as it is ineffectual when used in subcutaneous injections.
Its continued use has expelled tape worm. Chorea with constipation was treated by Rademacher with a 6 per cent, solution. Dose, a glass during the day, until three or four stools set in.
Guiding Symptoms and Characteristic Indications.
Suicidal tendency, must exercise restraint, attended with wildness and irritability followed by sleepless nights, irritability due to biliousness; delirium. Music, especially melancholic strains, aggravates symptoms; worse in morning. Disheartened. Mental troubles arising from a fall or other injuries to the head.
Head and Scalp
Violent pulsating headache, worse on top of head. Vertigo, dizziness from gastric derangements, excess of bile, with bilious coating on the tongue, or bitter taste in the mouth. Sick headache with bilious diarrhoea, or vomiting of bile, bitter taste, colicky pain. Headache with giddiness. Occipital headache. Ill effects of falls on and injuries to the head, and mental troubles arising therefrom. Congestion of blood to head. Violent pains at base of brain, as if crushed in a vise or something gnawing there. Delirium. Burning in top of head. Brain feels as if loose. Scalp sensitive; hair is painful on combing it.
Yellowness of the conjunctivae. Large, blister-like granulations with burning lachrymation; burning of the edges of the lids. Chronic conjunctivitis, with granular lids, green pus, terrible photophobia. Agglutination of lids in morning with photophobia. Maculae on cornea.
Earache, as if something were forcing its way out, worse in damp weather. Ringing in ears as of bells. Lightning-like stitches through ears.
Nosebleed during menses. Ozsena syphilitica, worse every change from dry to wet weather. Stuffing up of nose. Great dryness and burning in nose. Itching of wings of nose. Pus becomes green on exposure to light. Nasal catarrh; hawks up salty mucus.
Sallow or jaundiced with biliousness. Pain in the zygoma. Vesicles and pimples on face.
Bitter taste in the mouth, full of slime, thick and tenacious, white, must hawk up constantly from oesophagus, trachea and stomach. "It wells up from the stomach, always foul and slimy." Burning in mouth. Bad taste in mouth and always full of slime. Vesicular eruptions around the mouth and chin. Roof of mouth sore to touch. Palate very sensitive; better on taking cold things.
Dirty, brownish-green coating or grayish-green. Palate very sensitive, better taking cold things. Taste bitter; slimy tongue. Burning blisters on the tip; red tongue.
Toothache better by tobacco smoke and cool air, also better holding cold water in mouth (Coffea). Gums burn. Blisters on gums.
In diphtheria when green vomiting occurs as an intercurrent. Sore throat, feeling of a lump on swallowing; throat dry. Ulcerated sore throat. Pharyngeal catarrh, profuse, thick, tenacious, white mucus. Hawking of salt mucus in morning.
Thirst every evening. Stomach feels distended and heavy; constant nausea. Vomiting of bile with bitter, sour taste, giddiness and headache. Vomiting of salty, greenish water. Biliousness, excess of bile, vomiting of bitter fluids, greenish-brown or greenish-gray tongue. Bilious colic with the above symptoms and dark stools. Cannot digest starchy food. Jaundice arising from vexation. Green evacuations, sallow skin, yellow eyeballs. Lead colic (given often and low, lx, 2x). Sour rising, heartburn and flatulency. Wind colic, worse in the sigmoid flexure; worse before breakfast when the stomach is empty. Aching and cutting pains in region of liver. Liver engorged, worse lying on left side. Pain in left hypochondriac region often accompanied by a cough with purulent expectoration. Stomach feels distended. Sensitive to clothing over hypochondria. Gall stones.
Abdomen and Stool
Great flatulence with cutting pains in abdomen and congestion of the liver. Cannot bear tight clothing around the waist. Tympanites in bilious fevers. Flatulent colic, often beginning in right groin and spreading over the whole abdomen. Heat in the lower bowels with green bilious discharges. Diarrhoea, stools dark, bilious or of green bile. Hereditary looseness of bowels in old women. Itching of anus. Irritable liver, sometimes after excessive study or mental work. Soreness of the liver to touch, to jars, with sharp, stitching pains in it. Typhlitis. Loose morning stools, particularly after a spell of wet weather. Wart-like eruptions on anus and between thighs, sycosis.
Urinary and Sexual Organs
Urine loaded with bile. Chief remedy in diabetes. Chronic nephritis, urethral discharge, yellowish-green. Lithic deposits in the urine, brick dust-like coloring matter in the water, often associated with gout. Burning during micturition. Gravel, sandy deposit in the urine. Polyuria simplex, excessive secretions of urine, especially if diabetic. Preputial and scrotal oedema. Enlarged prostate; pus and mucus with the urine. Condylomata, soft, fleshy excrescences of syphilitic origin, with greenish discharges. Itching of genitals. Chronic gonorrhoea. Gonorrhoea and sycosis. Gonorrhoea suppressed. Female genitals inflamed, swollen and covered with vesicles; nosebleed before menses. Menses are profuse, acrid and corrosive, with colic and constipation, or morning diarrhoea and chilliness. Leucorrhoea, acrid, corrosive; parts inflamed.
Vomiting in pregnancy with bitter taste. Phlegmasia, alba dolens. Herpetic vulvitis.
Hoarseness. Asthma, worse every change to damp weather. Humid asthma, rattling of mucus. Asthma developing from general bronchial catarrh. Sensation of all-goneness in chest. Cough with thick, ropy, greenish, pus-like expectoration; soreness of chest, which is better by pressure, hence patient holds his chest while coughing. Piercing pains, especially in left chest. Dyspnoea during damp weather. Bronchial catarrh, cough worse in early morning (Kali carb.).
Pressure and anxiety in heart region, must go into open air for relief.
Back and Extremities
Bruised pain in small of back and sacrum. Soreness up and down the spine and neck. Spinal meningitis, very important remedy, with drawing back of the neck and spasms in the back. Swelling and suppuration of axillary glands. Panaritium. Stitches in the left hip, trembling of the hands, languor and oedema of the feet. Paronychia. Inflammation and suppuration around roots of nails. Tingling ulcerative pain under nails. Itching of toes. Sciatica when getting up from sitting or turning in bed; no relief in any position. Pains from hips to knees. Rheumatic pains in the limbs if gastric symptoms correspond. Cracking of joints. Locomotor ataxia. Podagra, gout in the feet, acute and chronic cases. Burning in soles and extends to knees. Arthritis.
Prostration; tired, weary feeling, especially about the knees. Restless desire to move. Exhaustion with colic. Chorea with retarded stools. Trembling of the whole body. Twitching of hands and feet during sleep. Hands tremble on writing.
Drowsiness, often the precursor of jaundice, with bilious symptoms, worse in the forenoon and when reading. Heavy, anxious dreams, awakes at night with attack of asthma. Much dreaming soon after falling asleep, starting as if in a fright. Is awakened by flatulent pain.
Ague, intermittent fever in all its stages, bilious vomiting. Remittent bilious fever, yellow fever, assuming form of severe bilious remittent fever, greenish-yellow vomit, brown or black. Internal coldness. Chill with icy coldness towards evening. Hot feeling on top of the head. Sweat without thirst. "Soreness in the hepatic region, shifting flatus and tendency to diarrhoea." (J. W. Ward, M. D.)
Tendency to warts around eyes, scalp, face, chest, anus, etc. Chafing of the skin in children with bilious symptoms. Eczema. Vesicles, eruptions containing yellow, watery secretions. Fingers swollen and stiff. Palms of hands raw and sore, and exude a watery fluid. Erysipelas, smooth, red, shiny, tingling or painful swelling of the skin. Pemphigus, watery vesicles or blebs over the body, wheals, containing a yellow, watery secretion. Ringworm. Yellow scales after the breaking of vesicles or blisters on the skin. Moist skin affections with bilious symptoms. (Edematous inflammations of the skin. Jaundiced skin, itching while undressing. Sycotic excrescences. Fistulous abscesses of years' standing, discharging, watery pus, surrounded by a broad, bluish line, burrowing.
Regulates water capacity of venous system. Oedema, smooth swelling. Infiltration. Simple dropsy invading the areolar tissues of the body. Sections which are yellow, watery, etc. Sycosis and leucaemia. Hydrogenoid constitution. Consumption. Pyaemia. Sciatica.
Always worse in damp, wet weather, feels best in warm and dry weather and in open air. Symptoms such as arise from living in damp houses, basements and cellars, worse from water in any form. Complaints from eating plants that grow near water, fish, etc. Pains make him change position often (Rhus). General aggravation from lying on the left side.
Proved first by Schretter in 1832, and by Nenning. The best arrangement of symptoms appeared in Hering's Materia Medica, transferred with some additions to Allen's Encyclopedia. But the credit of greatly enlarging our philosophical conception and therapeutic application of this drug belongs to Grauvogl, who showed the correspondence of this drug to the so-called hydrogenoid constitution and chronic effects of gonorrheal infection. His observations have been repeatedly verified.
In lead colic low, lx and 2x, and often. Schussler recommends the 6x trituration. Grauvogl used mainly the 2x to 6x potency, while the 30 and 200 have been used by Hering and others.
Natr. sulph. has many symptoms in common both with the Natrums and Sulphur. In the eye symptoms compare Graphit., which also has the extreme aggravation from light in chronic eye affections. In the cough Bryon. corresponds to Natr. sulph., in the all-gone sensation in chest, soreness and need of steadying the chest, hence relief by pressure ; but Natr. sulph. has much more the muco-purulent, thick, ropy, yellowish-green expectoration, hence in later stages, Bryon. more to the earlier, when cough is more irritable, with much rawness, constriction, burning and sensation of tearing in chest. In asthma compare also Silicea as a radical remedy. In gonorrhoea Natr. sulph. competes with Thuja and Mercur. It is painless with Natr. sulph., and the discharge keeps up a yellowish-green, thick discharge. Complementary to Thuja for deep-seated sycotic constitutional affections, or where a sycotic condition is engrafted on a hydrogenoid base. In polyuria, Ferrum phosph., Phosph. acid precede it. Compare Stillingia in hip disease.
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