Calcarea carbonica is a very broad remedy with many ramifications. Perhaps the best way to describe it is to take each of the three levels separately.
The fundamental disturbance of calcium metabolism which Cal. carb. epitomises seems to manifest in two different body types. Most Calc. carb. cases, of course are the fair, fat, flabby types so well described in the literature. These people gain weight easily and have difficulty losing it even when consuming very few calories. This is so characteristic of Calc. carb. that it is almost always present. There is another type of appearance which can occasionally be seen; a lean, thin, person with a lean face covered by fine wrinkles. The fine wrinkles are arranged in horizontal and vertical lines producing small squares; the overall appearance is of a person who has suffered a great deal. This lean type of Calc. carb. patient undergoes all the typical stages of Calcarea pathology, even though his or her appearance does not resemble the classic stereotype.
It is interesting that a large percentage of infants and children seem to need Calc. carb. Although it should never be prescribed routinely, to infants or children, it is nevertheless true that it is probably the most commonly prescribed remedy in the age group. To me, this fact suggests that one of the most fundamental disturbances in the human organism is that which affects calcium metabolism.
It is for this reason that whenever you encounter a patient 60 or 70 years of age who clearly needs Calc. carb., you can be assured that the patient has a basically strong constitution. Typically, these elderly Calc. carb. patients have lived active lies with very few health problems. Finally perhaps due to over-exertion or excessive life stresses, they show some pathology. In such cases, the prognosis is quite good. Anyone who can maintain into old age the same remedy image which is characteristic of childhood can be said to have a basically sound constitution.
Calc. carb. children present a fairly typical picture. They are generally somewhat plump, soft, and flabby. Their compleions tend to be rather waxy and pale. They do not have much stamina, so they generally avoid physical activities. By nature they are rather reserved, withdrawn and self-reliant. They would rather sit and watch than, actively join the games of other children.
Calc. carb. children definitely display a tendency to profuse perspiration. This may arise after even slight exertion, but most characteristically it comes on within the first ten minutes or so of sleep. The perspiration is most prominent in the (cervical region) then in the head and face, and finally the upper torso. In children, the lower torso is almost never affected, although adult Calc. carb. patients may perspire there as well. In adults, there is a clammy sweat of the palms and feet. Also adults are likely to sweat even in a cold environment; there is some unusual reaction in the body which causes them to perspire in the cold.
Calc. carb. children usually have a history of frequent colds during the winter and a strong tendency toward glandular swellings. Calc. carb. are usually constipated, but they do not notice it themselves, nor dot hey suffer from it. It is the mother who notices that the child has gone 3 or 4 days without a bowel movement, and then she becomes concerned. This is characteristic for Calc. carb. children and they generally feel better when they are constipated. It is when the diarrhoea comes on that they begin to whine and complain and feel discontented.
The situation is reversed in adulthood. The condition of the bowels is frequently a major focus of attention in adult Calc. carb. patients. Here, the opposite situation holds true; diarrhoea relieves and constipation aggravates the patient. It is interesting how frequently such reversals occur in different stages of many remedies in homoeopathy.
The typical aggravation from cold wet weather seen in adults is not exhibited in Calc. carb. children. Sometimes one might be misled into believing they are actually warm-blooded people because of the perspiration. They perspire from the slightest exertion. Also, the perspiration during early sleep may cause them to throw covers of the upper half of the body.
Calc. carb. children exhibit a definite desire for soft-boiled eggs and for sugar.
Calc. carb. children usually are good students once they get into school. They are intelligent, but their comprehension may be a bit slow. It takes them a bit longer to understand the material being presented, and for this reason they often feel hurried in their work. They are capable of hard work, however, and they may spend hours completing their homework.
If Calc. carb. pathology reaches into the emotional plane during childhood, you may see a lot of whining and moaning, a discontentment. You ask the child what he wants, and he cannot tell you. It is a state of complaining and dissatisfaction.
Also, between the ages of about six and twelve Calc. carb. children commonly develop an intense curiosity about supernatural things, the unknown, the beyond. The seriously ask such questions as, "What is God? What does God intend to do with us? Who are the angels? How do angels behave? Why do people die? What happens to us after death?" These questions, of course, depend on the type of background of the child, and they are natural in many children. In Calc. carb. children, however, this curiosity can be carried to a pathological extreme. Such a child may say she is actually waiting for an angel to come and take her to paradise.
I cannot exactly explain this predilection in Calc. carb. children. It seems to arise out of the observation of the world around them. They see suffering and injustices; perhaps there is some conflict between the parents. Then someone mentions God and this concept seems to penetrate readily into their minds. God, angels, and supernatural influences seem to explain the world to them. They keep on thinking about these things, asking questions and imagining various fancies.
In adulthood, this predilection expresses itself as a fear of insanity. In Calc. carb. the fear of insanity is fear of losing control, a fear of the unknown. These people have learned to resort to the mind a great deal, to rely upon it to overcome difficulties. Consequently, when they finally collapse under too much stress and overexertion, the major fear is that of losing the mind, their primary means of maintaining control.
In Calc. carb. pathology comes on under the demands of stress and a prolonged effort to overcome it. They are able people, generally healthy under ordinary circumstances. However, prolonged stress and overexertion finally leads to a breakdown, first on the physical level, and later on the emotional and mental levels. Overexertion - either physical or mental - is the greatest enemy of Calc. carb. patients.
Pathology on the physical level in the adult Calc. carb. patient primarily affects the musculo-skeletal system. Rheumatism and arthritis are the main manifestations on the physical level. In the adult, there is definitely an aggravation from cold, wet weather, and an amelioration from warmth. The first region affected in Calc. carb. patients is the lumbar region. The trouble starts there and then spreads to the cervical region and out to the extremities. Whenever you see a patient who is slightly obese, affected by cold wet weather, and his main complaints centre around arthritis and rheumatism, there is already a strong possibility of Calc. carb.
Calc. carb. patients have cold extremities. They wear socks to bed at night. However, they end up taking the socks off later in the night because the feet begin to burn.
Simultaneously with the emotional plane, the mental level begins to break down as well. They tend to focus on little things, to obsess about irrelevant details. They make silly little jokes, or they keep talking about insignificant things which are unimportant to anyone else.
At this point, the previous anxiety about the future gives way to anxiety about health. There is fear of infectious diseases, of tuberculosis, of heart disease, of cancer etc. Nowadays, Calc. carb. patients are particularly susceptible to fears of cancer and heart disease. Naturally, there is a strong fear of death.
Eventually, this fear-ridden state leads of a hysterical state. they seem to lose their powers of comprehension and concentration. They don't know what they want, and they become very agitated. They pace up and down. They have impulses to smash things, to jump out of the window, to shout and scream. All this is without provocation, or very little provocation. They are in a state of turmoil, and they just want to shout or do something desperate.
At this point, these patients truly are on the verge of insanity. If they do progress into true schizophrenia or other psychosis, however, Calc. carb. is not indicated in an actually psychotic patient.
A characteristic symptom which appears in Calc. carb. as the mental plane breaks down is the fear that others will observe their confusion. They are aware of the dullness of mind, the inability to sustain their concentration, and the resulting confusion. They live in dread that this confusion will be discovered by others. This, however, is a symptom, that Calc. carb. patients will never voluntarily divulge. You must ask this question directly in order to confirm it. Usually they will answer you with an emphatic "Yes"! and a tremendous expression of relief. They feel so grateful that someone else understands.
During the development of mental and emotional pathology, you will very likely see a disappearance of many physical symptoms. First to go, of course, is the perspiration. These deeply suffering people may not be as affected by cold wet weather. They may still feel the cold, but not nearly so emphatically as previously. The desire for eggs and sweets may disappear altogether.
At this stage, it can be easy to confuse Calc. carb. with Phosphorus. If the patient retains the typical thirst for cold drinks, the desire for ice cream, and the desire for salt, the decision can be quite difficult. The anxiety about health, fear of death, and suggestible fears of cancer and heart disease can suggest Phosphorus as well as Calc. carb. Calc. carb. can have fear of thunderstorms and fear of the dark. Calc. carb. often had heart palpitations which resemble Phosphorus.
There are a few points which can differentiate Calc. carb. from Phosphorus, however. Calc. carb. does not need company nearly as much as Phosphorus. Calc. carb. tends to sleep on the left side, whereas Phosphorus prefers to sleep on the right. Calc. carb. prefers hot food, whereas Phosphorus wants cold food. Both can be very thirsty for cold water, but this is much more strongly emphasised in Phosphorus; such thirst in Calc. carb. would be underlined once, or at the very most twice, whereas it would be underlined two or three times in Phosphorus. Finally, the physical appearance is quite different. Phosphorus is tall, thin, and delicate. Calc. carb. usually is obese and flabby; even the lean Calc. carb. patient is full of wrinkles and not so delicate in appearance.
The fundamental disturbance of calcium metabolism which Cal. carb. epitomises seems to manifest in two different body types. Most Calc. carb. cases, of course are the fair, fat, flabby types so well described in the literature. These people gain weight easily and have difficulty losing it even when consuming very few calories. This is so characteristic of Calc. carb. that it is almost always present. There is another type of appearance which can occasionally be seen; a lean, thin, person with a lean face covered by fine wrinkles. The fine wrinkles are arranged in horizontal and vertical lines producing small squares; the overall appearance is of a person who has suffered a great deal. This lean type of Calc. carb. patient undergoes all the typical stages of Calcarea pathology, even though his or her appearance does not resemble the classic stereotype.
It is interesting that a large percentage of infants and children seem to need Calc. carb. Although it should never be prescribed routinely, to infants or children, it is nevertheless true that it is probably the most commonly prescribed remedy in the age group. To me, this fact suggests that one of the most fundamental disturbances in the human organism is that which affects calcium metabolism.
It is for this reason that whenever you encounter a patient 60 or 70 years of age who clearly needs Calc. carb., you can be assured that the patient has a basically strong constitution. Typically, these elderly Calc. carb. patients have lived active lies with very few health problems. Finally perhaps due to over-exertion or excessive life stresses, they show some pathology. In such cases, the prognosis is quite good. Anyone who can maintain into old age the same remedy image which is characteristic of childhood can be said to have a basically sound constitution.
Calc. carb. children present a fairly typical picture. They are generally somewhat plump, soft, and flabby. Their compleions tend to be rather waxy and pale. They do not have much stamina, so they generally avoid physical activities. By nature they are rather reserved, withdrawn and self-reliant. They would rather sit and watch than, actively join the games of other children.
Calc. carb. children definitely display a tendency to profuse perspiration. This may arise after even slight exertion, but most characteristically it comes on within the first ten minutes or so of sleep. The perspiration is most prominent in the (cervical region) then in the head and face, and finally the upper torso. In children, the lower torso is almost never affected, although adult Calc. carb. patients may perspire there as well. In adults, there is a clammy sweat of the palms and feet. Also adults are likely to sweat even in a cold environment; there is some unusual reaction in the body which causes them to perspire in the cold.
Calc. carb. children usually have a history of frequent colds during the winter and a strong tendency toward glandular swellings. Calc. carb. are usually constipated, but they do not notice it themselves, nor dot hey suffer from it. It is the mother who notices that the child has gone 3 or 4 days without a bowel movement, and then she becomes concerned. This is characteristic for Calc. carb. children and they generally feel better when they are constipated. It is when the diarrhoea comes on that they begin to whine and complain and feel discontented.
The situation is reversed in adulthood. The condition of the bowels is frequently a major focus of attention in adult Calc. carb. patients. Here, the opposite situation holds true; diarrhoea relieves and constipation aggravates the patient. It is interesting how frequently such reversals occur in different stages of many remedies in homoeopathy.
The typical aggravation from cold wet weather seen in adults is not exhibited in Calc. carb. children. Sometimes one might be misled into believing they are actually warm-blooded people because of the perspiration. They perspire from the slightest exertion. Also, the perspiration during early sleep may cause them to throw covers of the upper half of the body.
Calc. carb. children exhibit a definite desire for soft-boiled eggs and for sugar.
Calc. carb. children usually are good students once they get into school. They are intelligent, but their comprehension may be a bit slow. It takes them a bit longer to understand the material being presented, and for this reason they often feel hurried in their work. They are capable of hard work, however, and they may spend hours completing their homework.
If Calc. carb. pathology reaches into the emotional plane during childhood, you may see a lot of whining and moaning, a discontentment. You ask the child what he wants, and he cannot tell you. It is a state of complaining and dissatisfaction.
Also, between the ages of about six and twelve Calc. carb. children commonly develop an intense curiosity about supernatural things, the unknown, the beyond. The seriously ask such questions as, "What is God? What does God intend to do with us? Who are the angels? How do angels behave? Why do people die? What happens to us after death?" These questions, of course, depend on the type of background of the child, and they are natural in many children. In Calc. carb. children, however, this curiosity can be carried to a pathological extreme. Such a child may say she is actually waiting for an angel to come and take her to paradise.
I cannot exactly explain this predilection in Calc. carb. children. It seems to arise out of the observation of the world around them. They see suffering and injustices; perhaps there is some conflict between the parents. Then someone mentions God and this concept seems to penetrate readily into their minds. God, angels, and supernatural influences seem to explain the world to them. They keep on thinking about these things, asking questions and imagining various fancies.
In adulthood, this predilection expresses itself as a fear of insanity. In Calc. carb. the fear of insanity is fear of losing control, a fear of the unknown. These people have learned to resort to the mind a great deal, to rely upon it to overcome difficulties. Consequently, when they finally collapse under too much stress and overexertion, the major fear is that of losing the mind, their primary means of maintaining control.
In Calc. carb. pathology comes on under the demands of stress and a prolonged effort to overcome it. They are able people, generally healthy under ordinary circumstances. However, prolonged stress and overexertion finally leads to a breakdown, first on the physical level, and later on the emotional and mental levels. Overexertion - either physical or mental - is the greatest enemy of Calc. carb. patients.
Pathology on the physical level in the adult Calc. carb. patient primarily affects the musculo-skeletal system. Rheumatism and arthritis are the main manifestations on the physical level. In the adult, there is definitely an aggravation from cold, wet weather, and an amelioration from warmth. The first region affected in Calc. carb. patients is the lumbar region. The trouble starts there and then spreads to the cervical region and out to the extremities. Whenever you see a patient who is slightly obese, affected by cold wet weather, and his main complaints centre around arthritis and rheumatism, there is already a strong possibility of Calc. carb.
Calc. carb. patients have cold extremities. They wear socks to bed at night. However, they end up taking the socks off later in the night because the feet begin to burn.
Simultaneously with the emotional plane, the mental level begins to break down as well. They tend to focus on little things, to obsess about irrelevant details. They make silly little jokes, or they keep talking about insignificant things which are unimportant to anyone else.
At this point, the previous anxiety about the future gives way to anxiety about health. There is fear of infectious diseases, of tuberculosis, of heart disease, of cancer etc. Nowadays, Calc. carb. patients are particularly susceptible to fears of cancer and heart disease. Naturally, there is a strong fear of death.
Eventually, this fear-ridden state leads of a hysterical state. they seem to lose their powers of comprehension and concentration. They don't know what they want, and they become very agitated. They pace up and down. They have impulses to smash things, to jump out of the window, to shout and scream. All this is without provocation, or very little provocation. They are in a state of turmoil, and they just want to shout or do something desperate.
At this point, these patients truly are on the verge of insanity. If they do progress into true schizophrenia or other psychosis, however, Calc. carb. is not indicated in an actually psychotic patient.
A characteristic symptom which appears in Calc. carb. as the mental plane breaks down is the fear that others will observe their confusion. They are aware of the dullness of mind, the inability to sustain their concentration, and the resulting confusion. They live in dread that this confusion will be discovered by others. This, however, is a symptom, that Calc. carb. patients will never voluntarily divulge. You must ask this question directly in order to confirm it. Usually they will answer you with an emphatic "Yes"! and a tremendous expression of relief. They feel so grateful that someone else understands.
During the development of mental and emotional pathology, you will very likely see a disappearance of many physical symptoms. First to go, of course, is the perspiration. These deeply suffering people may not be as affected by cold wet weather. They may still feel the cold, but not nearly so emphatically as previously. The desire for eggs and sweets may disappear altogether.
At this stage, it can be easy to confuse Calc. carb. with Phosphorus. If the patient retains the typical thirst for cold drinks, the desire for ice cream, and the desire for salt, the decision can be quite difficult. The anxiety about health, fear of death, and suggestible fears of cancer and heart disease can suggest Phosphorus as well as Calc. carb. Calc. carb. can have fear of thunderstorms and fear of the dark. Calc. carb. often had heart palpitations which resemble Phosphorus.
There are a few points which can differentiate Calc. carb. from Phosphorus, however. Calc. carb. does not need company nearly as much as Phosphorus. Calc. carb. tends to sleep on the left side, whereas Phosphorus prefers to sleep on the right. Calc. carb. prefers hot food, whereas Phosphorus wants cold food. Both can be very thirsty for cold water, but this is much more strongly emphasised in Phosphorus; such thirst in Calc. carb. would be underlined once, or at the very most twice, whereas it would be underlined two or three times in Phosphorus. Finally, the physical appearance is quite different. Phosphorus is tall, thin, and delicate. Calc. carb. usually is obese and flabby; even the lean Calc. carb. patient is full of wrinkles and not so delicate in appearance.
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