Understanding Carbo animalis

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

Carb-an. is confused. She wants to be alone and she avoids any conversation. 

She can’t speak properly, she cannot write, she is so confused. 

 

Confused, did not know whether he had been asleep or awake; morning. 

She is weak, tired and had lost her memory, the words disappeared from her mouth.

She can’t listen properly, she can’t see, the world is involved in a cloud.

Again, she is confused in her senses. Where is she? Who are those shadows in front of her eyes?

She can’t count on herself to distinguish where to go, who is at her side; she will be maybe someone with problems to hear and see. But her clinical tests and examinations will show that there’s nothing wrong with her hearing or seeing – but she doesn’t hear or see properly. Her senses are affected, and she can’t figure them out – “what I am seeing, hearing, touching?” Her senses don’t combine themselves inside her brain; she cannot form any clear images from reality. Everything for him is confused, things are dusky and foggy.

And she feels lonely. Actually, she is lonely, she cannot communicate herself properly or recognize those folks around her.

She is lost and lonely in her own world.

She weeps and cries and shouts for help.

In the morning, he felt abandoned and homesick, . 

Unclouded consciousness and great anguish with sinking of vital forces. 

Sensation of stupefaction in head with dullness in occiput, < from motion in cold, damp air, > when at rest in warm room. 

Carb-an. is probably a child who needs “external” help to hear, to see, to talk and to study; but there’s nothing wrong with her tests.

Again, Carb-an. is confused, sad and lonely. She misses her friends, her parents. She suffers due to a different way of living and perceiving a reality that forms itself inside her.

There is something that must be understood: The world that had been lived and felt by Carb-an. is the only world that she knows, that is the reality that had been always in front of her senses. There’s no other. We must keep it in our minds: that the prover is feeling a difference between his daily normal way to feel and understand what is happening - but now he is confronted with this new perception that the remedy is producing on his senses. On the other side, the real Carb-an. patient can only see the world and his relationships in that specific individual way.

Sudden stupefaction, several times; he did not hear, did not see, and had no thoughts,

He was unable to write a letter, and could not express his thoughts, . 

Weakness of memory; he forgot the word that he was about to speak, . 

Confused, did not know whether he had been asleep or awake; morning. 

Trapped in her own world and unable to find her way out, Carb-an. is losing her strength. Her sadness is pushing her towards loneness and solitude. 

Great tendency to sadness,. 

Extremely melancholy mood, with feeling as of being abandoned,. 

He cannot seem to weep enough, . 

 Very anxious and depressed, especially in the evening and at night; she was unable to sleep quietly on account of internal anxiety; she felt best in the morning, . 

In the morning, he felt abandoned and homesick, . 

Hopelessness,. 

Drowned in mist and darkness, we can understand why Carb-an. is afraid of dark.

She has been afraid of shadows, murders and frightful visions. And then comes darkness, only to increase Carb-an. fears.

Unable to see and to perceive how reality is; unable to build an image of reality inside herself - life around Carb-an. is made of fantasies. And those fantasies are frightful ones.

Fearful in the dark. 

Shy and fearful mood, . 

Fearful and frightened the whole day.

In the evening, he was frightened, even to shuddering and weeping,

Anxious, frightful visions and restlessness, keep him awake.

A group of sentiments are expressed by the provers. There was something in his past life that he doesn’t want to remember. It brings to him a sullen, bad mood and a lot of irritability to the point to bring tears to his face. Unfortunately, it’s not expressed in the proving what are those symptoms and feelings. What had happened before in Carb-an. life that he doesn’t want to remember?

Sullen mood and ill-humor about present and past events; this cannot be overcome; it even amounts to weeping,

Great inclination to get angry. 

Angry and wrathful. 

His sensitiveness is described as a vulnerability towards “passionate impressions”.

Everything that moves towards excitement, passion and strong feelings are so difficult for the Carb-a. patient to deal with. Of course, we can always rely upon his symptoms of strong weakness. Someone weak, tired and longing for his own strengths will feel himself impossible to deal with strong emotions.

Indifferent at first, afterward increased irritability for passionate impressions.

We must consider a few strategic possibilities, one being that the Carb-a. patient may construct a world for himself. He may shut himself up to his very world and then got himself locked and trapped in his own. He wants to be quiet, alone and is very angered when disturbed.

Obstinate; no one could do anything to suit him, 

Fretful; she was averse to talking. 

Desire to be alone; she is sad and reflective; avoids all conversation

There is a symptom related to his intellectual abilities:

Vivid dreams about scientific subjects; in his thoughts he made literary compositions and spoke aloud.

Could he be someone with theoretical activities? Like a teacher, a researcher or simply someone with his own strange and different theories? Giving to poetry and philosophy? Is he trying a way out from his private world or he is trying to justify what he sees and feels, a world different from all the others?

*Definitions of passionate:

(adjective)

showing or caused by strong feelings or a strong belief.

synonyms: intense, impassioned, ardent, fervent, vehement, heated, emotional, 

heartfelt, eager, excite.

Carbo animalis Groups

 

Symptoms from Allen, Hering & Vithoulkas

 

 

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

 

Humor

 

Involuntary jolly whistling,

 Excessively jovial, 

 

Variable mood; alternate cheerfulness and melancholy. 

At times lachrymose, at times foolishly jovial 

 

Anxiety; apprehensive, after an emission. 

Anxiety and orgasm of blood at night, so severe that she was obliged to sit up, . 

Anxiety and uneasiness in the back, without pain, soon after eating, . 

Very anxious and depressed, especially in the evening and at night; she was unable to sleep quietly on account of internal anxiety; she felt best in the morning,  

 

Weeping mood, 

 He cannot seem to weep enough. 

Great tendency to sadness,. 

Extremely melancholy mood, with feeling as of being abandoned,. 

Melancholy and anxious, in the morning on waking. 

Depressed, apprehensive, melancholy, especially in the afternoon, [3].

Discouraged and sad; everything seems so sad and lonely that she desires to weep (third day), . 

 

Low-spirited, heavy and dull early in morning, with irritable mood. 

 Obstinate; no one could do anything to suit him, [4]. 

Great inclination to get angry, [1]. 

Angry and wrathful, [4]. 

 Ill-humor, [2]. 

Fretful, in the morning on waking (first days),. 

 Fretful; she was averse to talking (first day), . 

 Sullen mood and ill-humor about present and past events; this cannot be overcome; it even amounts to weeping, . 

Unsettled mood day and night,.

 Indifferent at first, afterward increased irritability for passionate impressions,. 

Stupid and drowsy in the forenoon, much worse after dinner,. 

 

 

With Oneself

 

Confused, did not know whether he had been asleep or awake; morning. 

Stupid and drowsy in the forenoon, much worse after dinner. 

Desire to be alone; she is sad and reflective; avoids all conversation (first four and after eight days), .

In the morning, he felt abandoned and homesick 

Homesick.

Thoughts of death, . 

Hopelessness,

 

Fearful in the dark. 

Shy and fearful mood, 

Fearful and frightened the whole day.

Such great apprehension and heaviness in the body, in the afternoon, that walking was very difficult, [1]. 

 In the evening, he was frightened, even to shuddering and weeping,  

Sleep full of vivid fancies; talks, groans, sheds tears.

 

 

Towards the Others

 

Dreams of murders, [3].

With the Environment

Anxious, frightful visions and restlessness, keep him awake. 

Vivid frightful dreams, for seven nights in succession,. 

Work

Vivid dreams about scientific subjects; in his thoughts he made literary compositions and spoke aloud,. 

Male Sexuality

Frequent emissions (the first days), [1]. 

 Profuse emissions for three nights in succession; the like had not happened for years. 

Emission at 4 P.M. (fifth day), 

An emission (the first after a very long time), with a voluptuous dream, without an erection

Anxious dreams at night with screaming and crying, followed by sad and then by voluptuous dreams, with emissions,. 

Seminal emissions; parts feel weak; exhausted mentally and bodily. 

Testicles seem to be growing gradually smaller, with complete relaxation of genitals and a feeling of weakness in them.

The usual morning erection was wanting (second day),.

Complete relaxation of the genitals, and feeling of weakness in them,. 

The sexual desire is wanting for a long time, even on provocation,. 

Female Sexuality

Great prostration. θ Induration of uterus. 

After appearance of menses such great weakness that she could scarcely speak, with yawning and stretching. 

Straining and over lifting, easily produce great debility. 

Intellectual

Loss of memory, forgets word just spoken. 

He was unable to write a letter, and could not express his thoughts, 

Weakness of memory; he forgot the word that he was about to speak 

Neurological

Sudden stupefaction, several times; he did not hear, did not see, and had no thoughts.

Sudden stupefaction, when moving the head and on walking,. 

Great stupefaction, while sitting at a table, with great lightness in the head, and anxious dread that he would fall down unconscious at any moment,.

Generals

Unclouded consciousness and great anguish with sinking of vital forces. 

Sensation of stupefaction in head with dullness in occiput, < from motion in cold, damp air, > when at rest in warm room. 

 

GEORGE VITHOULKAS on Carbo animalis:

The disease processes of Carbo animalis usually develop slowly and deeply, 'insidiously', as Kent calls it. This is very close to the other carbon, Carbo vegetabilis, which also has the great weakness and prostration that result even from small vital losses and from exhausting diseases. However, a special feature of Carbo animalis is its tendency to infiltration and induration. 'Just as sure as an organ in the Carbo animalis patient becomes congested it becomes hard and purple from infiltration, and has a tendency to remain so.' (Kent). Hard, frequently purple-red swellings of the lymph nodes in the axillae and neck, or of the glands, especially the mammae, have often been helped with this remedy, as have other infiltrated hypertrophic processes, especially of the abdominal glands and in the genital region. These are 'indolent' processes, in which the tendency to suppurate is almost nil. This is completely different from other remedies such as Hepar sulphuris, Mercurius, and Sulphur in which the inflammatory process is speeded up. 

As far as the remedy action is concerned, the 'sluggish' quality of the mind has already been discussed above. This quality manifests itself on all levels of the organism. Carbo animalis is overall a passive remedy. 'The Carbo animalis inflammation comes on slowly, its progress is slow, and there is no tendency to repair' (Kent). There is a lack of reaction. Along with this, we have extreme prostration: 'Weakness with want of energy of the body, with confusion of the head.' The circulation is also sluggish: the veins tend to be distended, the skin can become cyanotic, especially the hands and feet. Every kind of strain, stress or drain on the system can easily produce great debility, generally or locally - small losses of fluid, over-lifting, cold air or draught, etc. The joints are weak and easily dislocated. The digestion is weak and sluggish, everything eaten may cause complaints, especially flatulence. In gaseous distension of the abdomen, following a surgical operation, the remedy competes with its closest relative, Carbo vegetabilis, and Tyler values it even higher than the latter: 'Nothing could be more striking than its prompt relief of flatulent distension after operations on the abdomen. One has seen that more than once.' 

The pains that Carbo animalis causes and cures are frequently intensely burning in character. In an 'involuntary proving' related by Mezger, where a man was exposed to the smoke of the charring hooves of cattle, on the third day a violent burning came on in the mucous membranes, first in the ears, then the eyes, the pleura region and the kidney region, and also in an old scar from a burn. Interestingly, on the skin, above the left inguinal ligament, an 'eruption' as large as a dove's egg appeared. It was purple or livid colored, took a long time to heal and itched and burned very much. We can also refer to Kent who reports: 'The woman has so much burning in the vagina that she persuades the physician to make a more careful examination than he has done. He will probably find the whole cervix inflamed; purple and somewhat enlarged. She says it burns like coals of fire.' Another feature is a tendency to ulceration and decomposition, along with a foul, acrid discharge. As Noack/Trinks put it, 'Carbo animalis corresponds to the process of putrefaction.' Regarding all the above general characteristics, Kent's indication 'in ulcers and fistular openings, where the walls become hard and burn, and the discharge becomes acrid' is easily seen. 

Small wonder, then, that Carbo animalis has been used in tumors and other infections that are suspected to be malignant, if the characteristic local and general symptoms agree. Kent reports favorable experiences with Carbo animalis in certain cancer cases with hard, infiltrating tumours, dark-coloured, purple surface, burning pain, acrid discharge, much bleeding and night-sweats, though with an important qualification: 

'It has relieved in incurable cases, and has apparently removed the cancerous condition for years, even though it comes back afterward and kills. This remedy is often a great palliative for the pains that occur in cancer, the indurations and the stinging, burning pains. Of course we do not want to teach, nor do we wish to have you infer, that a patient with a well-advanced cancerous affection, such as scirrhus, may be restored to perfect health and the cancerous affection removed. We may comfort that patient, and restore order at least temporarily, so that there is freedom from suffering in these malignant affections. Most patients that have cancer are really in such a state of disorder that only a temporary cessation of 'hostilities' can be expected; and anyone who goes around boasting of the cancer cases he has cured ought to be regarded with suspicion. Do not dwell upon the cancer, for it is not the cancer but the patient that you are treating.' 

Mezger describes his experience with Carbo animalis in a recent case of malignant disease. Dr. Berndt describes a patient who came to him after X-ray treatment of a chronic lymphatic leukaemia. He looked as if he were about to die, with lymph nodes swollen to the size of a fist at the neck, the axillae and the groin; a waxy complexion; listless, apathetic; unbearable pain; extreme meteorism; a cold, purple-colored nose, icy cold hands and so on. Berndt wanted to give him an analgesic injection to help him die without the excruciating pain, but then found out that although the patient said his feet were warm, they seemed to be even colder to the touch than his hands. This symptom 'feet icy cold, but doesn't feel it', together with the general picture, the glandular swellings, the gaseous abdominal distension and the apathy, made him think of Carbo animalis, which he gave intending to palliate, fearing that the patient would die the same night. The next day, however, the patient was much better, the pain had ceased, the lymphatic swellings receded and three months later an examination at the hospital showed that the blood data had much improved! The report said: 'For the time being, further treatment not necessary.' This is certainly not a 'cancer cure', but what kind of treatment could have helped the patient better than homeopathy? 

Geukens's Homoeopathic Practice also reports several cases where (as it turned out) non-malignant mammary tumors, which were also recurrent, were treated. The doctors, following Kent's advice, treated the patient, rather than the cancer. The symptom of great homesickness, together with burning pain (not necessarily at the site of the tumor, but, for example, in the knees or heels), decided the case in favor of Carbo animalis, and again the results were favorable. 

The 'disorderly distribution of material' in the hypertrophic states has its analogy in the circulation system, as pointed out by Kent. There is beating in the blood vessels, 'throbbing and pulsating in the whole body, worse in the evening' (Hahnemann). There are also flushes of heat and ebullition of the blood or local congestion without heat. 'A rushing of heat as though the body was full of steam. Awful sensation through the chest and in the head, like some great earthquake taking place' (Kent). 

A useful indication: 'In pleurisy where everything is cured but 'the stitch', and that remains' (Guernsey). 

Some additional modalities: 

Worse: especially while eating, but often also afterwards, especially from eating fatty food; during and after menses; from shaving; from lying on the side. Worse from cold air and draught, from becoming cold, sometimes from damp cold air, but more frequently from dry cold (Aconitum). Dr. Gaublomme (Small Remedies) observed an aggravation in a Carbo animalis case from a change in weather from wet to dry, an interesting modality, which requires further confirmation. 

Relief of pain comes from laying a hand on the affected part.