– VERMEULEN Frans

Phosphoricum acidum

Ph-ac.
I reject get-it-done, make-it-happen thinking. I want to slow things down so I understand them better.
[Jerry Brown]
Signs
Phosphoric Acid. Orthophosphoric acid. White phosphoric acid.
SUBSTANCE An inorganic acid, phosphoric acid exists either in the form of unstable, orthorhombic crystals [anhydrous] or as a clear, syrupy liquid. Pure anhydrous phosphoric acid is a white solid that melts at 42.35o C to form a viscous liquid. Depending on its purity, the liquid ranges from a clear, through green, brown to a blue-black viscous liquid of high density. The solid is very soluble in water and will even liquefy in the air. The liquid can be cooled below normal freezing point without freezing or crystallization occurring. Phosphoric acid is the most commercially important derivative of phosphorus, accounting for over 90% of the phosphate rock mined. It is produced by the addition of sulphuric acid to phosphate rock. Acid of higher purity is made from white [elemental] phosphorus by burning the phosphorus in excess air, followed by hydrating and cooling the resulting phosphorus pentoxide and then collecting the acid mist. Commercial acids are aqueous solutions of mostly orthophosphoric acid in water and are strongly corrosive towards metals and such fabrics as cotton, wool and nylon. It is incompatible with strong caustics and most metals, readily reacting with the latter to form flammable hydrogen gas. The hot concentrated acid attacks porcelain and granite ware.
USES Most of the acid is used in the production of agricultural fertilizers, with the remainder being used for detergent additives, cleaners, insecticides, and cattle feed additives. Also used in the food and beverage industries [as an acidulant and flavour, synergistic antioxidant and sequestrant]; as a pharmaceutical aid [solvent]; in dental cements; process engraving; rustproofing of metals before painting; coagulating rubber latex; cotton dyeing; extracting penicillin; in the manufacture of yeast, opal glass, waxes and polishes, and gelatine; as a sequestrant and antioxidant in hair tonics, nail polishes, and skin fresheners. The diluted acid provides a tart, acidic flavour to food and beverages, and is commonly used as a flavouring agent [E338] in carbonated beverages [particularly cola soft drinks], beer, jams and jellies, and cottage and processed cheeses. In the manufacture of detergents, phosphoric acid is used to produce water softeners [phosphates], which remove calcium and magnesium ions from ‘hard’ water.
TOXICOLOGY Phosphoric acid has significantly less effect on the skin than other mineral acids [e.g. sulphuric acid and nitric acid] at comparable strength, but is nonetheless a corrosive acid which can cause severe toxic effects. It can burn the skin, mouth, and eyes, and cause dermatitis, a sour acrid taste, coughing, conjunctivitis, tearing, blepharospasm, severe gastrointestinal irritation, nausea, vomiting, bloody diarrhoea, difficult swallowing, severe abdominal pains, extreme thirst, acidemia, difficult breathing, convulsion, shock, and even asphyxial death. It can cause circulatory collapse with clammy skin, weak and rapid pulse, shallow respiration, and scanty urine. 1 Phosphoric acid has a low vapour pressure at room temperature and is, therefore, not normally irritating to eyes, nose, throat or respiratory systems through vapour contact. If swallowed, large quantities of water and/or milk are suggested. The acid has been used to treat lead poisoning. Consumption of large amounts of soft drinks with phosphoric acid has been reported to increase the risk for the development of hypocalcemia.
PROVINGS •• [1] Hahnemann – 13 provers; method: unknown.
•• [2] Various self-experimentations: Heinicke with 3c, 5 drops 2 or 3 times daily, for 7 days; Schelling with 12x, four doses; Robinson with 1M, a dose every third morning; Andrews with increasing doses of acid; Woodward with one dose of 1x; Gale with 30c.
[1] National Safety Council [USA].
Affinity
MIND. Nerves. Sexual system. Spine [sensory nerves; muscles]. Bones. * Right side. Left side.
Modalities
Worse: DEBILITY from [LOSS OF FLUIDS; sexual excesses; fatigue; fevers]. EMOTIONS [grief; chagrin; mental shock; unhappy love; homesickness; bad news]. Drafts. Cold. Music. Talking. Masturbation. Snowy air. Too much study. Noise. Acids.
Better: Warmth. Short sleep. Stool. Motion or pressure [> pains].
Main symptoms
M Ailments from GRIEF [prolonged or from a sudden loss].
M Ailments from DISAPPOINTED LOVE.
listless, dislike to talk, short answers, repeat the same sentences over and over again:
“Life is useless”, “I don’t want to live anymore”, “Everything is dark”, etc.
• “Indifferent to those things that used to interest her the most.” [Kent]
• “The ‘archetypal field’ of Phosphorus embraces such concepts as ‘interest and enthusiasm’, ‘expansion and penetration’, ‘liveliness and reactivity’, ‘growth’, ‘change’, ‘contact, openness, permeability’, and so on. If these principles are withdrawn, we are left [in Phosphoricum acidum] with ‘dissolution of any interest = complete indifference’, ‘withdrawal’, ‘weakness and lack of reaction’, ‘cessation of growth, or destruction’, ‘dulness and introversion’, and so on.”1
M Change and homesickness.
• “A further characteristic is the aggravation of symptoms whenever ‘phosphoric’ themes are on the agenda. This applies in all those phases of life were change, growth or expansion are involved: Changes in relationships [e.g. mother going back to work], moving house, or even going on holiday [homesickness], changing schools, or increased academic demands in school [maths is the most typical subject], end of a phase of life with change in the pattern of social contact, change of job, etc. The stage of life which involves the greatest measure of change is probably puberty, and my leading triad of remedies for this is without doubt Ph-ac., Calc-p. and Ign. Can anyone not have met these young people, who suddenly lose all interest in everything except saturation with TV or loud music [Ph-ac.: ‘headache and earache from music’] or later on in dancing all night to excessively dull ‘heavy metal [1999: ‘techno’] music [Ph-ac.: unconscious dancing, insanity with dancing]. Another favourite occupation is: reading comics [Ph-ac.: disappearing thoughts and dulness while reading]. Puberty is also the time par excellence for one’s first disappointments in love and for broken friendships – both very delicate points in the Phosphoricum acidum constitution.”2
M Persons with a MILD, YIELDING disposition who are easily overwhelmed by emotional events or are suffering from the sequelae of an acute disease, leading to:
M APATHETIC, burned-out STATE.
INDOLENCE.
• “Corresponding to its inertness Ph-ac. lacks the varying, erethistic, sensitive, exalted character of Phos., and is at the same time a relaxed Phosphorus. The mental and bodily weakness and exhaustion stands in the foreground in Ph-ac. States of exhaustion from overwork, after diseases, from sorrow and grief, from excesses in venery, esp. masturbation, or from lactation, night sweats, diarrhoea, in general exhaustion after excessive demands upon the vital functions, are held as esp. suitable for Ph-ac.” [Leeser]
M WEAKNESS, starting on the emotional level.
INDIFFERENCE to everything.
Indifference to affairs of life when sick, debilitated or from grief.
M Slow grasp.
Can’t collect his ideas; hunts for words.
Poor memory.
• “He cannot rid himself of a thought, and the connecting ideas do not come.”
• “He dare not be alone without falling into absence of thought and unconsciousness [in the morning].”
• He cannot reflect on anything properly on account of want of ideas and weakness of mind; he became giddy on attempting to think about anything.” [Hahnemann]
G CHILLY.
< Becoming cold. G Profuse PERSPIRATION at night and towards morning; as a sequel. G Loss of APPETITE from GRIEF. G Lassitude after eating. G Craving for FRUIT, JUICY and REFRESHING things. G > After SLEEP.
G MASTURBATION, when the patient is DISTRESSED by the culpability of his indulgence.
Masturbation and strong feeling of guilt. [Nash]
G Too RAPID GROWTH in children.
And Weakness due to masturbation or mental strain from over-study.
• “Christopher, 15 years old, is in a stage of rapid teenage growth. He has been depressed ever since his parents moved to a different region of the country for professional reasons. He had to leave all his friends. Oily hair, craves cold milk, falling grades at school. I ask the parents about his early childhood and about the pregnancy, since teens often relive problems linked to the first days of life, when they had to leave the mother’s womb. In adolescence, it is the family nest that must be left, one day soon, to enter adulthood. In answer to my question, the mother nonchalantly informs me that Christopher was an unwanted child. His eyes fill with tears. A certain uneasiness pervades the room. I look the boy in the eye and tell him: ‘You know, there are two kinds of people on earth. Some are here because their parents wanted them; others because they are the ones who wanted to come into the world. In that case, it is because they have something very important to do.’ Christopher perks up quickly on hearing these words. By the time he leaves, he seems almost cheerful, and everything is soon set in order with Phosphoricum acidum 15 CH.” [Grandgeorge]
G DEHYDRATION.
• “Weak or debilitated, with free secretions.” [Boger]
G Pains go to part lain on.
[compare Generalities, change of position >]
P Sensation of a CRUSHING WEIGHT on VERTEX.
[1-2] Karl-Josef Müller, Phosphoricum acidum: New Aspects of the Remedy with Clinical Confirmation.
Rubrics
Mind
Ailments from, embarrassment [1], deceived friendship [1], homesickness [3], rudeness of others [1]. Anger when obliged to answer [2]. Answering, abruptly [2], incoherently [2], in monosyllables [3], reflecting long [3]. Delusions, being laughed at and mocked at [1], standing on head [1/1]. Dulness, when alone [1/1]. Dwells on disappointments [2; Nat-m.]. Indifference in morning on waking [2]. Reproaches others in morning [2/1]. Sadness, only while walking, the longer he walks the worse he gets [2/1]. Vanishing of thoughts on reading [3].
Vertigo
Sensation as if feet rose [1/1]. Sensation as if floating, while lying [1/1]. Sinking sensation [1]. While standing > [1].
Head
Heat, vertex, after grief [2]. Pain, compelled to move from pain [1; Chin.], > rolling head from side to side [1]; pressing, vertex, after grief [2/1].
Vision
Colours before the eyes, rainbow, all colours [1]. Fiery, falling points [1/1]. Lost, by bright objects [1]. Snow surface [1].
Ear
Noises, > while lying [3]; fluttering sounds as of a bird [2].
Hearing
Acute, to music [1].
Nose
Discolouration, redness tip in dyspnoea [1/1]. Pulsation in tip [1/1].
Throat
Choking if looked at when drinking [2/1].
Abdomen
Flatulence from sour food [2].
Rectum
Diarrhoea, after acids [2], ameliorates all symptoms [1].
Bladder
Urination, interrupted after coition [2/1]; involuntary, in first sleep [2].
Urine
Colourless during menses [1]. Copious during menses [3]. Milky before menses [2].
Back
Itching, coccyx, during menses [1; Dros.; Graph.].
Limbs
Coldness of hands from mental exertion [2; Lach.]. Heaviness from mental exertion [2/1]. Pain, legs, growing pains [3], > warmth of bed [2].
Food
Aversion: [2]: Bread. [1]: Alcohol; beer; brandy; coffee; farinaceous; milk; milk, mother’s; sour; sweets; wine.
Desire: [3]: Fruit; juicy things; refreshing things. [2]: Carbonated drinks; cold drinks; milk; sour; tonics; warm food. [1]: Beer; coffee; hot food; liquid food; marinade; milk, cold; pungent.
Worse: [2]: Black bread; coffee; cold drinks; cold food; fruit; fruit, sour; hot food; warm food. [1]: Bread; cheese, old; dry food; milk, mother’s; sausages, spoiled; sight of food; sour; vinegar.
Better: [2]: Cold food. [1]: Hot food; milk; soup.

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