Magnesia Phosphorica - General symptoms - Nash

GENERAL

General

Cramping pains everywhere, also lightning-like in coming and going.

Spasmodic affections without febrile symptoms. Colic, whooping cough, cramps in calves, etc.

Modalities worse cold air, cold water, touch, better heat warmth, pressure, bending double.

Now we come to the prince of the Magnesias. It is comparatively new and has never been accorded a place in our Materia Medica according to its importance and merits. Dr. H. C. Allen gives the best rendering of it in the transactions of the International Hahnemannian Association for 1889. Magnesia Phosphorus ^phos. takes first rank among our very best neuralgia or pain remedies. None has a greater variety of pains. They are sharp, cutting piercing, stabbing, knife-like, shooting, stitching, lightning-like in coming and going (Belladonna ^Belladonna), intermittent, the paroxysms becoming almost intolerable, often rapidly changing place and cramping. This last is in my opinion most characteristic, and is oftenest found in stomach, abdomen and pelvis. For colic of infants it ranks with Chamomilla ^Chamomilla and Colocynthis ^Colocynth and for dysmenorrhoea of the neuralgic variety, with the characteristic crampy pains, I have found no remedy equal to it. In this last affection I habitually prescribe the 55m. made by myself upon the gravity potentizer, so that I know exactly what it is. So often are we confronted with the question when we report cures with the high potencies, where do we get them, and are you sure they are what they purport to be? Now let me say right here, if I have not done so before, that we have potencies as high as the m. m., made by ourselves upon this accurately self-registering potentizer, that are marvelous for their curing powers. We (Dr. Santee and myself) invented the machine for our own individual use and have never yet offered the potencies for sale. So we can hardly be accused of mercenary motives in reporting cures, from them. Alongside the characteristic cramping pains of Magnesia Phosphorica is its characteristic modality -relief from hot applications. No remedy has this more prominently than Arsenicum Album ^Arsenicum alb., but you will notice that among all the various kinds of pain we have mentioned as belonging to Magnesia Phosphorus ^phos. the one conspicuous for its absence is the one most characteristic of Arsenicum Album ^Arsenicum, viz. -burning pains. I watched this difference and found that if burning pains were relieved by heat, Arsenicum Album ^Arsenicum was almost sure to relieve, while those pains not burning but also relieved by heat were cured by Magnesia Phosphorus ^phos. I think that this will be found a valuable diagnostic between the two remedies. At least I have found it so. During painful menstruation Magnesia Phosphorus ^phos. is quicker in its action than Pulsatilla ^Pulsatilla, Caulophyllum Thalictroides ^Caulophyllum, Cimicifuga Racemosa ^Cimicifuga, or any other remedy that I know. The Cimicifuga Racemosa ^Cimicifuga seems to me to cover better, cases of a rheumatic character or in a rheumatic subject, while Magnesia Phosphorus ^phos. cures those of a purely neuralgic character. The pains cease when the flow begins, for Magnesia Phosphorus ^phos. In facial neuralgia Magnesia Phosphorica has made many cures. In fact, it seems to be applicable to neuralgic pains anywhere if the proper conditions are present. So far as its power to control spasms or convulsions is concerned, I have no experience that proves it unless its power over cramping pains is proof. I have no faith in the Schuesslerian theory in regard to it. Similia similibus curantur has stood the test with other remedies and will with the so-called tissue remedies regardless of theories.

Now in regard to the cramping pains so characteristic of Magnesia Phosphorus ^phos.; when such a symptom stands out so prominently, it is a great leader, and narrows down the choice to a class of remedies having the same. Let me illustrate

Cramping pains. Cuprum Metallicum ^Cuprum, Colocynthis ^Colocynth, Magnesia Phosphorus ^phos.

Burning. Arsenicum Album ^Arsenic, Canthar, Capsicum Annuum ^Capsic., Phosphorus ^Phosphorus, Sulphuricum Acidum ^{Sulph. ac};.

Coldness (sensation). Calc Carb ^Calc. ost., Arsenicum Album ^Arsenic alb., Cistus, Helod.

Coldness (objective). Camphora ^Camphora, Secale Cornutum ^Secale, Veratrum Album ^Veratrum alb., Heloderma.

Fullness (sensation). Aesculus Glabra ^Aesculus hip., Chian, Lycopodium ^Lycopod.

Emptiness (sensation). Cocculus Indicus ^Cocculus, Phosphorus ^Phos., Sepia ^Sepia.

Bearing-down. Belladonna ^Belladonna, Lilium Tigrinum ^{Lilium tig}., Sepia ^Sepia, etc.

Bruised soreness. Arnica ^Arnica, Baptisia Tinctoria ^Baptisia, Eupatorium perf., Pyrogenium ^Pyrogen, Ruta Graveolens ^Ruta.

Constriction. Cactus Grandiflorus ^Cactus grand., Colocynthis ^Colocynth, Anacard.

Prostration or weariness. Gelsemium Sempervirens ^Gelsemium, Picricum Acidum ^{Picric acid}, Acid Phos ^{Phos. ac}.

Numbness. Aconite ^Aconite, Chamomilla ^Chamomilla, Platinum Metallicum ^Platina, Rhus Tox ^Rhus toxicod.

Erratic pains. Lac Caninum ^{Lac caninum}, Pulsatilla ^Pulsatilla, Tuberculinum ^Tuberculinum.

Sensitiveness to pain. Aconite ^Aconite, Chamomilla ^Chamomilla, Coffea Tosta ^Coffea.

Sensitive to touch. China ^China, Hep Sulph Calc ^Hepar Sulphur ^sul., Lachesis ^Lachesis.

Bone pains. Aurum, Asa Foetida ^Asafoetida, Eupat. perf., Merc Viv ^Mercurius.

Sticking or stitching pains. Bryonia ^Bryonia, Kali Carb ^{Kali carb}., Squilla.

Pulsation or throbbing. Belladonna ^Belladonna, Glonoin ^Glonoine, Melilotus Officinalis ^Melilotus.

Haemorrhages (passive). Hamamelis Virginica ^Hamamelis, Secale Cornutum ^Secale, Crotalus Cascavella ^Crotal., Elaps Corallinus ^Elaps.

Haemorrhages (active). Ferrum Phosphoricum ^{Ferrum phos}., Ipecacuanha ^Ipecac., Phosphorus ^Phosphorus.

Emaciation. Iodium ^Iodine, Nat Mur ^{Natrum mur}., Lycopodium ^Lycopod., Sarsapar., etc.

Leucophlegmasia. Calc Carb ^Calc. ost., Graphites ^Graphites, Capsicum Annuum ^Capsicum.

Constitutions (psoric). Sulphur ^Sulphur, Psorinum ^Psorinum, etc.

Constitutions (sycotic). Thuja ^Thuja, Nitric Acid ^{Nitric acid}., Medorrhinum ^Medorrhinum, etc.

Constitutions (syphilitic). Merc Viv ^Mercury, Iodide potassium, Syphilinum (Luesinum) ^Syphilinum, etc.

Blue swellings. Lachesis ^Lachesis, Pulsatilla ^Pulsatilla, Tarentula Hispanica ^Tarantula Cub.

So we might go on and indicate from one to three or more remedies having characteristic power over certain symptoms or conditions, and it is well to have them in mind, for with this start we will be very apt to have, or seek to find out, the diagnostic difference between them. Such knowledge forearms a man, preparing him for emergencies, and often enables the prescriber to make those wonderful snap-shot cures that astonish the patient and all beholders.