Natrum carbonicum appears in 12 of the 13 classic books on Similia. Each was written to do a different job — here is what each adds on this remedy, with the opening of its entry.
- Allen HC — The keynotes that separate this remedy from its nearest neighbours.
“Carbonate of Soda (Na2CO3,10H2O.) Constitutions with aversion to open air and dislike to exercise, mental or physical; imbecility. Great debility : caused by heat of summer (Ant. c.); exhaustion from least effort , mental or physical; ready to drop after a walk; chronic effects of sunstroke . Chronic effects of…”
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Sodium carbonate or Disodic carbonate, Na2 Preparation , Triturations of the crystals. Authorities. Emotional. Lively, sociable mood, 1. Excessively lively all day, with great joyous talkativeness, 4. Every event makes a strong impression upon her; a wavy trembling in the nerves, with a sensation of faintness, 1. So…”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Carbonate of Sodium (NATRUM CARBONICUM) All the Natrums stimulate cellular activity and increase oxidation and metabolish. Great debility caused by summer heat ; chronic effects of sunstroke; exhaustion; anæmic; milky, watery skin; very weak ankles, are all peculiar Natrum carbonicum conditions. Unable to think…”
- Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“DIGESTION. Nerves. Skin. Hands (Dorsæ). Heels. HEAT: Sun. Weather. (Head). Sultry air. Gas-light. Periodically; Winter (Body), 5. A.M. Music. Mental exertion. Onanism. Dietetic errors. Milk. Drafts. Thunder-storms. Motion. Rubbing. Eating. Sweating. Irritable weakness. Puffy , relaxed, easily exhausted. Easy…”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Sodium carbonate. (The common "Soda" of the shops, purified; not the Bicarbonate of Soda, NaHCO 3 ). Na 2 CO 3 1O H 2 O. Trituration. Solution. Albuminuria / Anidrosis / Ankles, weak / Burns / Cornea, ulcers on / Corns / Coryza / Deafness / Dysmenia / Dyspepsia / Goître / Hands, chapped / Headache / Heels, blisters on…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Sodium Carbonate. NA 2 CO 3 , 10H 2 O. Introduced by Hahnemann and proved by himself, Gross, Hering, Langhammer, etc. (Materia Medica Pura, vol. 3, p. 290). CLINICAL AUTHORITIES. Effects of overstudy , Hering, Hah. Mo., vol. 10, p. 457 ; Pain in head , Berridge, Raue's Rec., 1875, p. 208 ; Loss of hearing , Berridge…”
- Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“Proved by Hahnemann, Hering and others. Persons who are in the habit of taking carbonate of soda for sour stomach get a proving of this remedy. I have met some of these people and been able to confirm many Natrum symptoms. Old dyspeptics who are always belching and have sour stomach and rheumatism; after twenty years…”
- Lippe (KN) — Only the symptoms Lippe considered reliable enough to prescribe on.
“Involuntary twitching of the muscles and limbs. Instability of the whole body. Great weakness in the limbs, especially in the morning. Cramp-like tearing in the arms and legs. After a short walk the patient is very weak. Dry skin or violent perspiration after the latest exertion. Aversion to the open air. Dry cough…”
- Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Restlessness, with attacks of anxiety, especially during a thunder-storm. Aversion to man and society. Hypochondriacal mood, tired of life. Mind much agitated, every event (music) causes trembling. Out of humor, peevish, irritable, angry. Vertigo from drinking wine and from mental exertion. Inability to think and to…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: carbonate of soda. Debility and headache from the sun (Lach., Nat-M.) (D.). Vertigo from drinking wine, or from mental exertion, from sun, or working under gas-light (N.). Involuntary twitching of the muscles and limbs (Bell., Ign., Mag-P.). Instability of the whole body (Nux-V.). Great weakness in the…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“One of the most frequently corroborated symptoms of this remedy is the modality—aggravated by mental exertion. The patient is unable to think or perform any mental labor without headache (Argentum nit., Sabadilla), vertigo or a sense of stupefaction. This symptom alone makes it an invaluable remedy, as we often come…”
