Understanding Calcarea carbonica

Dr. Claudio C. Araújo, M.D., F.F.Hom. (Lon.) et al.

 

1. An irritable child with developmental difficulties.

2. Scared and frightened.

3. Irritated, offended, and critical of everyone, but with a desire for company.

4. Industrious, successful in his profession.

5. Exhausted, aversion to work, depressed.

The first thing we ought to know is: what has reality first build up inside the mind of any person; what particular scene was kept in one’s memory - knowing that this scene /impression may repeat itself during one’s life?

When a newborn child gets in touch with his surroundings, his mind - due to an unknown reason - chooses certain details, information, feelings, colors, building and keeping the first memories that will provide the child with his first knowledge of his own reality, the first information about the world he lives in. The first information will become part of his impressions about the world he’s into and later, what he must do in order to survive. Surviving means basically fighting for food, shelter, affection against cold, death, disease and solitude. Coming to homeopathy: when reading the pathogenetic symptoms, we must ask to the text - What has reached and stayed in our patient eyes and memories? What he has kept on his mind, what has been stored in his early memories? Because there is most probable that this early first impressions of his life will become the guidance and orientation of the patient’s life. 

Now, coming back to the Calcarea carb. proving and clinical symptoms – what has been registered as the Calc. first symptoms?

Milk disagrees with infant.

Milk has a disagreeable, nauseating taste; child will not nurse, and cries much. 

Child will not take breast, cries itself hoarse, has swollen gums and swollen, sore tongue; slimy stool; at times thin, sour fluid from breast, child takes it, but draws too lightly, then cries and makes body stiff, has large blood-boils and lumps; often has pains in lungs and chest, groaning in sleep; severe cutting in abdomen, with urging to stool without passing anything. 

Violent screaming spell every day at 5 P. M., so hard as to cause a scrotal hernia; infant, æt. 5 weeks.

Children sad and unhappy. Weary of life. θ Catarrh.

Child is afraid of everything it sees. θ Inflammation of brain.

Children self-willed, inclined to grow fat.

Child cross, fretful and restless. θ Scarlatina.

Children very fretful and stubborn. θ Rachitis.

Child restless and cross during day. θ Keratitis.

Active, full of fun. θ Boy with chronic diarrhœa.

Child has been slow about teething and walking. θ Tinea capitis. 

Difficult teething of children. 

 This baby is refusing his mother’s milk. Against all expectancy, even against the baby instinct, his mother’s milk is not to be taken. If we carefully read the text, it says that there is a problem with his mother’s milk, it has a disgusting taste and smell - it’s not an impression from the child, but it’s something coming from his mother. Could we count on it to justify the other symptoms? His early developments, his early fears, his fretfulness and stubbornness? The child has been observed and diagnosed as a sad and unhappy child.

From a general overlook, this is a child that could not be fed by his mother due to the taste and quality of her breast milk - so he was fed by the bottle. He has difficulties in his early developments and grew a peevish, stubborn and sad child.

Now this sad, peevish and undeveloped child will grow into a teenager and later on as an adult. Back in his memories something has remaining from his first years. He was a fearful child, scared and easy frightened. He will become an adult that fears noises, fear the darkness and ugly faces. How is the world to him now? What has become of his fears? What has happened with his relationship with his friends, his family, with the others? What has become pf his fears, in what sort of new fears they have changed to?

Coming back to the text, what is in front of his eyes now? How seems to him the world he’s living in? What has become of the child’s world he once had lived?

Weary of life, hopelessness, anxiety. The world is black.

Frightened, apprehensive mood, as if some misfortune were about to happen to him, or someone else, which he could in no way overcome.

Mental aberration with horrid visions. Sees dogs crowding around him, fights them off.

"Fear of death; of consumption; of misfortune; of being alone."

Mind full of concern about imaginary things that might happen to her. θ Chlorosis.

Desire to go home. θ Insanity.

Many other symptoms are present in the text on the same subject and we select those symptoms above to represent what is before his eyes: The world is black, he wants to go home, there’s some bad things prone to happen to him and to the others and he can’t overcome.This is a very important sensation in the Calc-c. patient: he can’t help himself nor the others. His fears have increased in number and type, he is now overwhelmed by delusions and possible diseases.

Fear excited by reports of cruelties.

Apprehensive mood, as if some misfortune was about to happen; about his health; that he might have an organic disease of the heart.

Fear, that something sad or terrible will happen.

Timid and restless, as if evil was impending over her (aft. 4 d.).
Fearful, anxious forebodings, as if evil would befall him or someone else, and as if he could not evade it (aft. 23 d.).
Sorrowful and peevish; she looked upon everything from the worst side, and imagined everything evil, [1]. 

Mania-a-potu, with delirious talk about fire, rats, mice and murder.

Mania: sees many curs (vira-latas) crowding around him, fights them off. θ 

Illusion of fancy when going to sleep, as if she heard noises and clattering about her bed, which caused shuddering, [1]. 

Every near sound frightened him, especially in the morning, [1]. 

Dread and anxiety of the future, with fear of consumption, [1]. 

"Fear that something sad or terrible will happen. Fears that she will. lose her reason, or that people will observe her confusion of mind."

Fear abounds, especially when the voluntary system is disturbed. She is startled at every noise. He can't sleep sq that the body rests or the mind rests. He is disturbed in his sleep with horrible dreams. His sleep is a restless one.

Helpless, unprotected, unable to count with himself to face all the evil that is coming on his direction and towards the others, also powerless to help those at his side - here is how we’ll find our Calc-c. patient.

Two more questions must be asked to the symptoms, being the first one: how he has built his relations with the people near him? His loves, his affections, his sexual life – what has become of it? Once again, the text must answer: 

Imagines someone walking beside her; that something hanging over back of chair is a person sitting there, etc

Visions of faces and persons, when eyes are closed. θ Typhus.

Cries and complains about the long-past offences,.

Weeping when remonstrated with,. 

Repugnance, aversion, disgust for most persons,. 

Thoughts of former vexations irritate him to anger.
Aversion, dislike and repugnance to most men.
 

Taciturn, with a dry tongue.

 

Calc-c. doesn’t like to be alone. He will be probably someone surrounded by friends, friends from the office and co-workers. But the text gives us also something opposite to it: how can he become so unsympathetic and distant, being someone that needs people at his side? 

Desire for company. Steady inclination to work with mental anxiety.

Solitude is a burden to him, with coldness of the face, of the hands and feet.
Loneliness is very oppressive, with coldness of the face, hands, and feet,. 

He is cheerful, and would like to be among men, to talk with them.

 

Unnaturally indifferent, unsympathetic, taciturn (aft. 8 d.).

Excessive mischievousness, with obstinacy.

Disinclined to talk, and very irritable.

Easily offended; takes everything amiss. 

Vexation causes vertigo.

Grief and complaints over insults long past.

Affections from egotism.

Violence and anger.

 

As we read the proving symptoms, Calc. is also full of resentment, he felt as he has suffered many offenses that he can’t forget or forgive. He has become someone “indifferent and unsympathetic”

It seems that the Calc-c. patient barely has any affection for his friends; on the contrary, feeling unsympathetic, carrying within an egotistic attitude. From these symptoms it’s now easy to understand Calc-c. sexual behavior – sex without love. 

Male

Voluptuous and lascivious fancies.

Increases sexual desire and provokes emissions, but unusual weakness follows indulgence and ejaculation is tardy. 

Excessive sexual desire, caused by lascivious fancies, but penis failed in erection, which was only induced by rubbing; scarcely had coition commenced when semen was emitted; this was followed by excessive weakness and great excitability of nerves; he was discontented and angry, and knees seemed to give way from weakness. 


Impotente. 


Consequences of onanism or of too frequent coitus: pressing pain in head and back; lassitude and weakness in lower limbs; knees seem to give way; sweats easily, debility, hands tremble; chorea; palpitation ; epilepsy. 


Gleet; fat, lymphatic persons. 


Female:

Nymphomania.

Great lassitude after coitus. 

Before menstruation: indisposition; disposed to frights; amorous dreams; headache; heat of head; chills and nocturnal colicky pains; aching of back and hips; pain in armpits; pain and swelling of breasts; leucorrhea.

 

 Threatened by evil and unable to cope with it; needing people at his side but at the same time despising them – what the text may offer us to help us understand this patient? So now we reach Calc-c. peevishness and lack of humor. Many symptoms are describing how Calc-c. establishes a relationship with people around: 

 

Changeable mood; easily laughing or crying. θ Neurosis cordis.

Disinclined to talk and very irritable.

Taciturn, with a dry tongue.

Does not care to get well or to do anything to assist recovery. 

Very peevish and indisposed to speak, as soon as he comes from the open air, where he feels well, into the room with increased headache. [Fr.].
Peevish, morose, very cross and most indifferent to the most important things; the also did everything repugnantly and as if by compulsion.
Intolerable ill-humor and perverse disposition.
Contrary mood.
Contrary, dejected humor.
Everything is repugnant to her, with much crossness.
Troubled and cross, she looked at the worst side of thing, and sought out all the evil.

 Irritable, weak, and despondent, in the morning, after a little work,. 

Fretful, with persistent obstinacy for three days (after twenty-eight days),]. 

Frequent attacks of irritability and anxiety. 

 Peevish about trifles, and very irritable, in the morning, before the stool; he gets angry at everything,. 

Frequently peevish, and she spits out saliva,. 

Peevish and restless,. 

Obstinate disposition,. 

Obstinate, depressed mood,. 

Insupportable and sullen mood,. 

Everything is disagreeable, with great peevishness,. 

 

The text brings to us this side (we can read above) of the Calc-c. patient. And also bringing us another aspect: how sad, anxious and depressed this patient may be. This aspect of his mood may explain what seems the Calc-c. patient is bringing inside himself his whole live, since his childhood days. We have the description Kent wrote about how exhausted and weak the Calc-c. patient is, how exhausted he became after “had giving everything to his work” to succeed, only to turn his back on it. The text gives us many symptoms of sadness, despair, anxiety and all those symptoms could be related to his internal anguish and anxiety – being his industriousness only a strategy to overcome his fears and his longing for affection and company. Getting himself occupied, producing wealth and protecting himself from evil through money is probably one of the most important strategies the Calc-c. patient build for himself – only to see his health and energy shattered by the excess of working and caring for his business.

 

As soon as he is idle and sits still, he becomes peevish and drowsy, and everything goes against him. [Fr.].
As the text says, he can’t stop otherwise his humor may change. He must go on and on until he is so exhausted to the point that he decides to leave everything behind. 

 

Kent: He is tired of business, and when he goes to his business again it seems as if it would drive him crazy. He does not want to see it, he does not want to know anything about it. Of course, you can readily see that it is not so much in the Calcarea patient that he is driven to, weakness and fatigue from distress in business, although it has that, but that which I am speaking about is that he has overworked until he has given out, and right in the midst of his success he quits his business and goes home and leaves all-it looks just as if he were lazy.

If you look at him, you come to the conclusion that he is lazy. Yet it is an insanity; not the laziness that belongs to tramp nature, though that also might be cured many times. He has been industrious, and all at once takes a turn. A great change occurs in the mind, and he takes on symptoms. It is not such persons as were born that way, born lazy, never would work; but those that become lazy.

 

After been fighting against his fears, against his unnatural distance and criticism to the others, against his moments of anxiety and anguish, against his longing for company and his uncontrollable desire for sex, our patient is exhausted. He had saved enough money to live but he is alone. He couldn’t accept a long relationship because he despised people, because he carries inside a strong criticism for them. He is maybe a good lawyer, a successful entrepreneur, he is respected by his colleagues, but he is alone, he couldn’t stand people at his side. And now he is very sad to the point - the text describes – of having longings of stabbing himself:

 

Mental aberration with horrid visions before eyes and cardiac anxiety; he despairs of his salvation and wants to stab himself.

Low-spirited and melancholy, with weeping and despair of life. 

Low-spirited and depressed. θ Diarrhœa. θ Muscular atrophy. θ Phthisis pulmonalis. θ Chorea.

Despondent and melancholy, in highest degree, with a kind of anguish.

Hopelessness; despair.

Hypochondriacal mood. θ Coryza.

Apprehension about present and future.

Inclination to weep, with mental depression; weeps when admonished. Feels as if she would like to run up and down and scream. She thinks and talks of nothing but murder, fire, rats, etc.