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Source:
Silver Nitrate
It is most
commonly indicated in the following type of ailments:-
1.Anxiety
2. Ophthalmia Neonatorum 2.
Gastro-entritis 3. Diarrhoea
4.Impotence.
Source of Action:-Like
Aurum Metallicum, it profoundly affects the mind and
also like it (Aurum), it is one of the best remedies for
hypochondriasis. It also affects the brain and spinal
system by causing Paraplegia, Myelitis and disseminated
scleriosis of brain and cord producing symptoms of in
coordination, loss of control and want of balance
everywhere, mentally everywhere mentally and physically;
trembling in affected parts. It
is an irritant
of mucous membranes, producing violent inflammation of
throat, and a marked gastro-enteritis. Destroys red
blood corpuscles, producing anaemia.
Typical Subjects:
Withered, dried up, flatulent, old-looking patients.
Dr. Guernsy says: " we think of this remedy on
seeing a withered and dried up person, made so by
disease."This is especially so in children. "He looks
like little withered old man."(Fluoric acid,
young people look old.). Explosive belching, especially
in neurotics. This picture of senility emaciation and
marasmus is progressive in infants; mot pronounced in
the lower extremities.
Points & Features:-
1. Impulsive; time goes too slow; must walk fast.
1.
Apprehension, on getting ready for church, opera et; has
an attack of diarrhoea.
2.
Vertigo, with buzzing in the ears, and weakness and
trembling.
3.
Canthi, as red as blood; swollen, standing out like a
lump of red flesh.
4.
Irresistible desire for sugar; gastric ailments, with
violent loud belching.
5.
Stool; green mucous, like chopped spinach(Aco.,Cham.)
in flakes; turns green on remaining on diaper; expelled
with much spluttering.
6.
Profuse, sometimes purulent discharges from mucous
membranes, generally.
7.
Dried-up, withered patients, made so by disease.
8.
Craves fresh air.
Mind:-
There is a predominance of mental symptoms. First of
all, disturbance in the memory, disturbance of reason;
he becomes most irrational in his explanations of his
actions and methods. He is irrational and does strange
things and comes to strange conclusions, does foolish
things. He has all sorts of imaginations, illusions,
hallucinations. He is tormented in his mind by the
inflowing of troublesome thoughts, and especially at
night his thoughts torment him to the extent that he is
extremely anxious, and this puts him in a hurry and in a
fidget, and he goes out and walks and walks, and the
faster he walks the faster he thinks he must walk, and
he walks till fatigued. Strange notions, ideas and fears
come into his mind. He has an impulse that his is going
to have a fit or that he is going to have a sickness. A
strange thought comes into his mind that if he goes past
a certain corner of the street, he will create a
sensation, "will fall down and have a fit, and to avoid
that he will go around the block, he avoids going past
that corner for fear he will do something strange. He is
so reduced in his mental state that he admits into the
mind all sorts of impulses. "The sight of high houses
makes him dizzy and causes him to stagger. It seemed as
if the houses on both sides of the street would approach
and crush him." There is bridge or high place the
thought the he might kill himself, or perhaps he might
jump off, or what he should jump off, and sometimes the
actual impulse comes to jump off the bridge into the
water. When looking out of a window the thought comes to
his mind what an awful thing it would be go jump out of
the window, and sometimes the impulsive comes to
actually jump out of the window. There is fear of
death, the over-anxious state, that death is near, and
often at times like Aconite he predicts the moment he is
going to die. Looking forward to times he is anxious .
He excitable, angers easily and as a result of this pain
comes. When he becomes angry he becomes vehement and
pain the head comes on; cough, pain the chest and
weakness follow this anger. The anxiety he has from
these circumstances will bring on complaints.
He is
impulsive, must walk very fast, always hurried.(Lilium
tig.). "Apprehension when ready to go to church or
opera; or any unusual event, it is attended with
anxiety, fear and diarrhoea. (Gel).
Dr. Nash
says "The hurried feeling of both Argentum Nitricum and
Lilium tig have occurred mostly in uterine troubles,
while the diarrhoea on excitement seems to depend upon a
general nervous conditions. Unless indications pointed
strongly to one in preference to the other it might be
well to try the vegetable first. The minerals are
generally longer and deeper in their action, and would
perhaps be preferable the more chronic the case.
He is
Melancholic; apprehensive of serious disease.
Time passes slowly (Cann.in.). Impulsive, wants
to do things in a hurry.
Head:-
Constitutional headaches from brain-fag,
from exertion of the mind. In such mental exhaustion,
headaches, nervous excitement and trembling and organic
troubles of the heart and liver in business men, in
student, in brain workers, inthose subject to long
excitement, in actors who have kept up a long time the
excitement of appearing well in public. [This
state of mind progresses until there is a general state
of weakness; with trembling, paralysis, numbness,
disturbed function,s palpitation, throbbing all over the
body. , with the mental statae. The nervous state
continues until there is disorder of all the organs of
the body and the stomach refuses to digest ]
Chornic Headache.
Caused by excitement or mental overwork. Occasionally
after a journey. Often confined to left side. Pain comes
on gradually, and suddenly eases off. Starts with
feeling of tension, soreness and stiffness at back of
neck. Feels as if head is drawn back. Spreads over head
and localises in left temple. Nausea. Feeling of
soreness in brain. Superficial tenderness of scalp, but
headache better by pressure. Worse at noon time. Worse
using eyes, for motion or exertion (talking, stooping).
Better in fresh air. May occasionally be due to eating
sweets.
One peculiar
symptom belonging to Argentum nitricum in
headache is a feeling of expansion, feels as though head
were enormously enlarged, and like Pulsatilla and
Apis, feels better when tied up tight . This feeling
of expansion is also a general symptom, feels as though
the whole body or part of it were expanding, some
express it as a feeling of fullness (Aesculus hip). It
is found under other remedies also, but very prominently
under this.
Argentum nitricum
has a great deal of vertigo which is often accompanied
with buzzing in the ears, general debility and
trembling. Cannot walk with the eyes closed; the sight
of high houses makes him dizzy. These symptoms call to
remembrance Gelsemium,. Both the remedies have
much vertigo; great tremulous weakness, accompanied with
general debility, actual trembling and tremulous
sensation, and both have been found useful in locomotor
ataxia. Dr. Nash says,"I should, other things
being equal, give preference to Gelsemium in recent
cases, or in the beginning, and Artentu,m nitricum
further along. But there are generally diagnostic
indications which enable us to choose between them."
Eyes:
Inner canthi swollen and red. Spots before the
vision. Blurred vision. Photophobia in warm room.
Purulent ophthalmia. Great swelling of conjunctiva;
discharge abundant and purulent . Eye strain from
sewing; worse in warm room. Aching, tired feeling in
eyes, better closing or pressing upon them. Useful in
restoring power of the weakneded ciliary muscles. Acute
granular conjunctivitis. They sometimes have some
corneal ulceration, but if so, it is not so deep. All
the conditions are better if the eyes can be cool, so
that if the patient goes out into the open air, as long
as they are shaded from light, they feel much better. If
the conditon persists the patient has thickening and
oedema of the lids.
Face:
Sinken old, pale and bluish. Old man's look; tight
drawing of skin over bones.
Nose:
Loss of smell. Itching. Ulcers in septum. Coryza with
chilliness, lachrymation, and headache.
Mouth:
Gums tender and bled easily. Tongue has prominent
papillae; tip is red and painul. Taste coppery, like
ink. Canker sores.
Throat:-
There is a tendency to favor the growth of warts and in
the throat there are little wart-like growths; polypoid
growths in the throat and about the genitals and anus
hence its great use in sycotic constitutions. "Feels
as if he had a stick in the throat when swallowing."
. At once you will see its close relation to Hepar.
In inflammatory conditions of the throat with
ulceration. In Argentum nitricum he wants to be
in a cold room, wants cold air, and to swallow cold
things. In Hepar he wants warm things to drink, a
warm clothing, warm room , and cannot put even his hand
out of bed or his throat will begin paining him.
Things, you see, just oposite, but they both have
"sticks" in the throat. In dry chronic catarrh
Alumina and Natrum muriaticum have "sticks"
in the throat; but the in red throat with tumefaction
and pain these two remedies gives no relief, the former
two are better. Nitric acid, hepar and Argentum
nitricum are the most striking remedies for the
fish-bone sensation. Many remedies have sticking in the
throat, but these are the most prominent. We know how
Argentum nitricum has been used for ulceration in
the throat, and here it comes in as one of the mot
useful remedies in congestion of the throat of long
standing. Catarrhs with loss of voice. Warty growths,
condyulomata, etc. Loss of voice, tumefaction of the
mucous membrane round about the vocal cords and paresis
of the vocal cords. Condylomata on the vocal cords.
Stomach:-
Belching accompanies most gastric ailments.
Eructations releive. Flatulence passes upwards, in
quantities. Frequent eructatiuons. However eructations
do not always relieve. It is more like china in
its eructations. The eructations of Carbo veg.
relieve for some time and he feels better. Nausea,
retching, vomiting of glairy mucus. Flatulence;
painful swelling of pit. Painful spot over stomach
that radkiates to all parts of the abdomen. Gnawing
ulcerating pain; burning and constriction. Ineffectual
effort at eructation. Great craving for sweets.
Gastritis of drunkards. Ulceration of stomach(Gastric
ulcer), with radiating pain. Desire for cheese and
salt.
Abdomen:
The abdomen distended with all this troublesome
flatulence. Colic, with much flatulent distenion.
Stitchy ulcerattie pain on left side of stomach, below
short ribes.
Stool:
Watery, noisy, flatulent; green, like chopped spinach (Chammomilla)
(spluttering stool with much noisy flatus- Calc
Phos.)with shreddy mucus and enormous distention of
abdomen; very offensive. Diarrhoea immediately after
eating or drinking. Fluids go right through him;
after sweets. Afte any emotion with flatulence.
Itching of anus.
Urine:-
"Urine passed unconsciously and uninterruptedly. Day and
night." "Urging to urinate; the urine passes less easily
and freely." Urethra inflamed with pain burning itching
pain as from a splinter. Divided stream. Early stage of
gonorrhoea; Profuse discharge and terrible cutting
pains; bloody urine.
Male:
Impotency. Erection fails when coition is attempted.
Cancer-like ulcers. Desire wanting. Genitals shrivel.
Coition painful.
Female:
Ovaritis- painful affections of left ovary. Inflammation
of all the pelvic organs. Great soreness all over the
pelvis. Coition is painful or impossible. Metrorrhagia.
Complaints of nervous women and at the menstrual
period. Menses suppressed or scanty Leucorrhea
profuse, with erosion of cervix bleeding easily.
Respiratory:-
Chronic hoarseness. Suffocative cough, as if from a hair
in throat. High notes cause cough. Dyspnoea. Palpitation
, pulse irregular and intermittent; worse lying on
right side (Alumen). Angina pectoris, nightly
aggravation. Dyspnoea < crowded room.
Back:
Pain the lumbar region comes on while sitting, but is
better when standing and walking. Pain in the back from
flatulence. Sore pain in the spine. < night. Great
weight in the lumbar region. It is very useful remedy in
locomotor ataxia.
Extremities:-
Cannot walk with eyes closed. Trembling, with general
debility. Paralysis, with mental and abdominal
symptoms. Rigidity of calves. Debility in calves
especialy. Walks and stands unsteadily especially when
unobserved. Numbness of arms. Post-diphtheritic
paralysis (after Gelesemum).
Skin:-
Erysepelas bed sores. Brown,
tense, and hard. Drawing in skin, as from a spider-web,
or dried albuminous substance, withered and dried up.
Irregular blotches.
Sleep:-
Sleepless, from fancies before his imagination; horrible
dreams of snakes, of departed friends and of sexual
gratification. Wakens in excitement and with starting.
Drowsy stupor.
Fever:
Chills with nausa. Chilly when uncovered, yet feels
smothered if wrapped up.
Modalities:- Worse:
warmth in any form; at night; from cold food; sweets;
after eating; at menstrual period; from emotions,
left side.
Better,
from eructations, fresh air; cold; bathing with
cold water; craves wind blowing in the face. pressure;
Relationship:
Antidote:
nat. mur.
Summary of indications:
Anxiety; Ophthalmia neonatorum-gastroenteritis-diarrhoea-impotence.
(The 200th
or 1000th potency in watery solution, the
lotion, is used as a topical application in ophthalmia
neonatorum. It relievs the ophthalmia when the silver
nitrate instillation as used in allopathic eye drops(10%
solution, 2 drops) has failed.)
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