Antimonium Crudum ( Antim Crud ) – Antimonium Crudum Materia Medica

• Nosebleed when washing face and hands in the morning, from left nostril, after eating
• Pressing teeth together sends shocks through the head, eyes and ears
• Cholera-like symptoms at the commencement of menses
• Children dislike washing

Source: Mineral kingdom
Synonyms: Black antimony, Sulphide of antimony
Prover: Dr Caspari and Dr Hahnemann in 1828
Duration of Action: Upto one month
Miasmatic Background: Psora
Temperament: Peevish
Diathesis: Gouty and rheumatic
Thermal Relationship: It is neither hot nor cold because patient gets affected by both heat and cold

Introduction and History: It is a very good polychrest remedy. It is compared with the race of swine. It is a chemical compound of antimony and sulphur. It is a grayish crystalline powder and is obtained by purification of native antimony sulphide. The sulphur element in this accounts for its antipsoric action. Like Sulphur, it is suited to chronic affections which are traceable to suppressed skin eruptions or ulcers.

Description: It is found in crude form as a mineral in some parts of Europe and Italy.

Preparation and Parts Used: For preparation, sugar of milk is used with antimony sulphide and trituration is performed.

Constitution and Physiognomy: Especially suited to young people, children, old people and people who are inclined to grow very fat with a loathing for life. Skin is very thick and ugly looking.

Ailments From: Cold bath, wine, vinegar, disappointed love, by taking fruits, acids, alcohol, indigestion, by heat and cold, suppressed eruptions, heat of the Sun.

Seat of Action (Pharmacodynamics): Digestive tract, mind, skin, soles, mucous membranes, etc.

Physiological Action

• All mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract are affected, especially the stomach, producing slow digestion.
• Mucous membranes become loaded with mucous.
• In large doses, produces severe nausea and vomiting.
• Slow digestion produces fermentation; flatulence.

Physio-pathological Changes (Pathology)

1. It acts on the skin and produces skin disease.
2. Acts on the mucous membrane of the digestive tract and produces disturbances in digestion, also diarrhoea and constipation.
3. It acts on the mind and brain producing mental symptoms.

Characteristic Mental Symptoms (Psychology)

• Disgust of life, great sadness with weeping.
• Child is very fretful and peevish; cannot bear to be touched or looked at.
• Anxious predictions in relation to his present and future.
• Sentimental mood in moonlight, particularly ecstatic love.
• Slightest things affect her, anxious, lachrymose mood; thoughts of suicide by drowning or shooting himself.
• Fear of company, sulky, does not wish to speak with anybody.

Characteristic Physical Guiding Symptoms

Nausea and vomiting: Terrible vomiting with nausea, vomiting is bitter, of bile and slimy mucous. Vomiting without nausea is a very striking feature.

Perspiration: Profuse and exhausting perspiration at night time by slightest exertion.

Abnormal growth and degeneration: It is a very prominent feature of Antimonium crudum. Skin becomes dry, thickened, cracked, ulcerated and hard; corns on the soles.

Headache: From taking cold, after river bathing, with catarrhal conditions, better by vomiting.

Loss of voice: Loss of voice due to cold bathing and overheating, with whooping cough.

Gastric complaints: Due to overeating there is fullness of the abdomen; the stomach feels distended although the abdomen is flat. Tongue white, coated and thick.

Gout: Gouty pain in joints, fingers, throbbing with troublesome piles.

Diarrhoea: Alternate diarrhoea and constipation of old people. Constant discharge of flatus with belching.

Whooping cough: Hacking cough in paroxysms, worse on being overheated, cold bathing and in a warm room.

Piles: Haemorrhoids are very common; worse by a cold bath, by taking sour Wine and food.

Craving: Great desire for pickles, wines and acids.

Coating: A thick milky white coating on the tongue is a characteristic symptom of Antimonium crudum.

Change of locality and side: When symptoms reappear, they change their locality or go from one side to the other.

Important Characteristic Features

Child: Antimonium crudum child is very fat, dirty and thick skinned. The baby is very fretful, peevish, irritable, weepy and sad; cannot bear to be touched or looked at; sulky, does not want to speak or be spoken to; angry at every little attention. There is great aversion to cold bathing. Weeps at the time of bathing, headache from cold water, gastric and intestinal affections from bread and pastry; great desire for acids and pickles. The child always suffers form gastric complaints, tongue is thick and coated milky white. All symptoms are aggravated by a cold bath, heat of the sun, by eating and drinking acids and sour wine, and better from rest and open air.

Skin complaints: The skin of the patient becomes very thick and dirties at various places. There is a tendency for abnormal growth of skin. Nails of the fingers crack, grow in and can split, Warts and horny spots. Eczema with gastric derangements. Pimples, vesicles and pustules. Urticaria, measles like eruptions. Itching when warm in bed. Dry skin. Warts. Dry gangrene. Pustular eruptions with burning and itching, worse at night. Large horny corns on soles of feet, very painful when walking, especially over hard surfaces. Corners of mouth cracked and fissured. Nostrils are sore, cracked and crusty. Skin looks very dirty and unhealthy.

General Modalities

Aggravation: Worse in the evening, from heat, cold bath, after eating. acid or sour wine, extremes of cold or heat, wet poultices after heat of sun or fire.

Amelioration: During rest, in open air, after a warm bath.

Remedy Relationships

Complementary: Squil.

Follows well: Puls, Merc, Sulph.

Antidotes: Hep, Calc.

Comparison

Craving for acids, pickles and solar things: Ant-c, Ant-t, Hep.

Sour food and drinks disagree: Ant-c, Car-v, Nat-m.

Extremes of temperature aggravate: Ant-c, Ip, Lach.

Pastry disagrees: Ant-c, Lyc, Puls.

Potency: 3x, 6x, 12x, 30, 200, 1000.

Dosage 

1. Lower potencies from 6 to 12 advised in syphilitic affections.
2. Higher potencies from 30 to 200 advised in gastrointestinal and mental characteristic symptoms.

Repetition

• To be given in single doses and not repeated unless required, when constitutional symptoms call for it.
• To be repeated in syphilitic affections in lower potencies.

Therapeutic Value: Catarrh, Constipation, Corns, Diarrhoea, Fever, Gout, Lung affections, Menstrual disorder, Nausea, Piles, Rheumatism, Skin affections, Stomach disorders, Typhoid, Vomiting, Warts, Whooping cough.