Argentum nitricum [Arg-n]:
- Jan Scholten
Argentum nitricum is a good example of a remedy that has been over prescribed. This was a result of the fact that we didn't know many other Nitricums, so it was often given when another Nitricum would have been more appropriate. The Argentum part of the picture was not very well known until recently. The fact that Argentum nitricum was so well known was mainly due to its use in allopathic medicine against a.o. eye infections in babies, hence it was high on the list of early provings.
The result was that the Argentum picture became very big and almost got too many symptoms, many of them non-specific, as we will see later on in the Expressions.
Before I wrote this chapter I looked at six old Argentum nitricum cases, most of them taken about 5-6 years ago. There were several things that I noticed. First of all in every single case the prescription had been based on the main symptom of severe fright: fear with palpitations, fear of heights, fear of narrow spaces, fear of shops, streets etc. Secondly it struck me that I had not bothered to dig out a deeper theme in any of these cases, they were what you might call very superficial cases. At least this is how I view them now, and with hind sight I realise I could have asked many more questions. So I have chosen the best out of these six, a case that provides at least a little background information.
Concepts
Argentum Nitricum
Preserving art Assertive
Preserving ideas Enthusiasm
Mecenas Tension Congestion
Conservative Relaxation
Arrogant Enjoying
Condescending Sociable
Group analysis
Holding on to ideas in order to be assertive.
Preserving art from an idealistic point of view.
An idealistic mecenas.
Enjoying art.
Holding on to success causes tension.
Cannot relax because of creative tensions.
Fear of not having enough space to show himself.
Being arrogant in order to enjoy life.
Conservative ideas lead to tension.
Failure through tension.
Picture of Argentum nitricum
Essence: holding on to ideas in order to be assertive.
Holding on to ideas in order to be assertive
These people feel they have to prove themselves, they have to preserve their creative talents otherwise they wont be able to assert themselves any longer. They like to be in the foreground, to take over the lead, especially at parties and other festivities. The love being the centre of attention at a social gathering.
Preserving art from a sense of idealism
Their involvement with art and philosophy is often based on idealistic motives. Without the arts a person cannot develop himself into a fully cultured human being, so they need to preserve all forms of art to make the world a better place to live in. This is often their motive to become a mecenas, to stimulate the development of art and science.
Enjoying art
They love to go to the theatre, to the opera, to art exhibitions etc. and it is something they enjoy sharing with their family and friends and with the artists themselves, whom they often invite out for dinner to talk about their work.
Holding on to success leads to tension
The need to hold onto success once they have made it as an artist is often the cause of much tension. They are not sure whether they will be able to handle the pressure. It worries them that they might not be able to relax anymore because of all this tension around their creative talents.
Fear of not having enough space to show their creations
Eventually they develop a fear of failure and they no longer dare to show their work. It is a fear that they can't deliver the goods anymore. The pressure makes them feel suffocated and they are afraid they will never be able to escape. They begin to look for a way out before every single performance, they feel terribly nervous before every speech etc.
Failure through tension
Their fear of being assertive can also be the cause of failure. The tension rises to such a degree that they no longer want to undertake anything. Their conservative outlook only adds to this problem. They daren't change their designs, their performance, their style. But their is no progress without change so they are often confronted by explosive situations when change has become inevitable. This is the reason of their fear of confrontation and their fear of narrow spaces. Their conservative attitude places them in an isolated position and they can't hold on to the status quo. Their work comes to a standstill and they live in perpetual fear.
Expressions
Fears: vague, unknown, heights, narrow spaces (3), locked up, performances, speeches, exams, falling, failure, arriving late, work, business, high buildings, streets, shops, restaurants, trains, planes, travelling, tunnels, caves, crowds, eating, heart disease, disease, epilepsy, AIDS, deterioration of the brain, cancer, death; enjoying, life, strangers, future, anticipation, accidents, animals, insects, spiders, snakes, dark, evil, murder; easily frightened (<) sun, noises. Dreams: heights, falling, animals, fish, snakes, stung by insects, dead friends, well known places, ghosts, hunger, lascivious, monsters, dirty water; being pursued by black apes, saved by a white elephant; clairvoyant, erotic, violence, water. Delusions: falling, failure, passage getting narrower, buildings will fall down on top of him, parts of body expanded, heart stopping, death, heart attack, walls coming towards him, world is doomed, neglected by family, everything has changed at home, animals, black snakes, weakness of brain, surrounded by heavy black clouds, abandoned, dying, incurable disease, large distances, floating, neglected, ghosts, bottle of sodawater, swollen, forgetting something, predicts the time of his death. Irritability: grumpy, irritable, disdainful, rage, murderous impulses, (<) excitement, (<) humiliation. Mood: haughty, frivolous, childish, lively, eccentric, excited, hysterical, extroverted, stubborn, restless, impulsive, hurried, impatient, nervous, precise, indifferent, helpless, complaining, discontented, moody, gloomy, suicidal by jumping from window or drowning, crying. Mental: clear, imaginative, absent minded, dull, confused, thoughtless, dreamy, forgetful, lost in well known places, aphasia, numb. foolish, irrational, insane, mania, dementia; (<) writing. Contacts: (>), (<), (>) (<) talking, shy, reserved, (<) crowds, (<) alone (2), deceitful, lying, sympathetic. Religion: (>), superstitious.
Work: (<). Professions: artist, painter, writer, musician, teacher, scientist, doctor, priest, vicar, bishop, shaman, governor, secretary, representative, public relations officer, advertising agent, top sportsman or woman. Causes: disaster, humiliation, wounded pride, annoyed, worries, adultery, neglect, incest, parents absent, abuse. Generals Type: obese (3). Locality: left. Weather: warm; (<) heat, (<) inside, (>) outside, (<) damp. Time: (<) 9 am and 1 pm, (<) summer; complaints come and go suddenly. Desires: sweet (3), fruit, fresh (2), sour, chocolate, alcohol, wine, whiskey, coffee, salt, sauces (2), fried bacon (3!), fat, fatty meat, ham, cheese (3), salt, carbonated drinks. Aversion: fat (2), meat, (2), cheeses (2), bacon, ham, beans, sour, drinks. Food: (<) peppers (2), cabbage (2), sprouts, cucumber (2), tobacco, alcohol, apple, meat, cheese, fat, bacon, beans, coffee; (>) coffee.
Menses: profuse, (<) before menses. Sleep: difficulty falling asleep, (<) beautiful images; on right side; sleepy; somnambulism. Physical: (<) rest (3), sitting, (>) motion, (<) touch; (<) coition, (<) pressure, pressure of clothes, (<) shocks, (>) driving, (<)(<) great change in atmospheric pressure. Complaints Pains: bruised, stitching,like splinters (3!), congestive, pulsating (3). Stiff, tight, band. Discharges are grey, foul smelling and putrid. Cancer. Weakness. Epilepsy. Vertigo. Headache in forehead, temples and vertex. Neuralgia with shooting electric pains, tingling, numbness. Paralysis. Eye infections. Strabismus, divergent, left. lazy eye, poor vision. Ear: infections, blocked. Nose: colds with watery coryza, nosebleeds. Crusts, difficult to dislodge and painful. Sneezing. Hayfever. Throat infection left side, (<) swallowing, (>) cold drinks.
Laryngitis, hoarseness, (<) talking, singing, loss of voice, (>) breathing in.
Voice problems: hoarseness, stammering, loss of voice.
Lung complaints, sighing.
Laryngitis, hoarseness, (<) talking, singing; loss of voice, hoarseness, stammering. Heart and vascular diseases (3); angina pectoris. Palpitations, arrhythmia. Arteriosclerosis. Claudication, cerebral haemorrhage. Palpitations (>) lying on left side, (>) inspiration.
Hot flushes (3), (<) night, (<) after urination. Stomach complaints. Bowels: rumbling, flatus, odourless or stinking, diarrhoea and constipation. Pain in abdomen with distension, rumbling, flatus and eructations. Diarrhoea acrid. Inflammation of bladder. Kidney diseases with oedema. Incontinence (<) coughing. Inflammation of vagina, ovaries, testes, may lead to cancer. Pain in neck and stiffness (<) morning. Pain in arms. neck feels swollen. Writers cramp. Inflammation of joints of hands, with congestion, swelling, stiffness. Pain on the front of the left shoulder, radiating and shooting through arm to hand, accompanied by feeling of paralysis, numbness and tingling, (<) rest or staying in same position for a long time, (>) motion. Tennis elbow. Stiff hands.
Back ache, sciatica, shooting down leg, (<) sitting (3), (<) drawing up legs, (>) motion.
Skin: eczema, itching, red patches, allergies. Melanoma.
DD: Carbon series, Silver series, Stage 11-15, Nitricums.
Case
A 30 year old man complains about pressure on the chest and many fears. He is afraid of criticism and afraid of failure. It started about 3 years ago after his house had been burgled. When he and his wife came home one evening they discovered that there were burglars in the house. He didn't dare to go inside and went to the neighbours to call the police. He had been too afraid to confront the burglars while he had always said that if anything like that were to happen he would teach them a lesson. The strange thing was that his wife hadn't been afraid at all and this is what irked him, because a man should be able to protect his wife. All this happened at a time when he had been very busy at work because he was about to be promoted to head of department. After these events he started to develop vague pains in his stomach, accompanied by much belching and flatulence. He often woke up in a fright at around 4 am, which later on turned into palpitations with a pressing pain in his chest, worse lying on the left side. It was also worse when he thought about it or when he thought about his work. He is always in a hurry, especially at work. He had to spend some time off work because the fears and the palpitations became too bad. He was afraid in restaurants and shops and afraid that someone would criticise his work.
He couldn't bear having people around him at work, afraid that he couldn't get away quickly if he suddenly started to feel bad. He also had a fear of narrow spaces (3) and a fear of planes.
He likes the type of work he is doing but he doesn't like the mentality of his colleagues, they are very bureaucratic. He likes socialising but has become more reserved since his complaints started. He still plays football and likes to take the lead.
He is quite closed and often bottles up his feelings for days. He explains that he feels very insecure deep inside, although he comes across as someone who is very self assured. He likes to be prepared before he meets people, tries to imagine what they might think and feel.
He has a fear of heights and can't stand being late. He sometimes dreams about quarrelling with his colleagues.
Generals
Weather: cold, (<) heat; fear of thunder; (>) and (>) fresh air (3).
Time: (<) 11 am. Desires: sweet (3), spices, cheese, meat, vegetables, milk. Aversion: potatoes. Food: (<) chocolate. Sleep: good; on left side. Analysis The pattern of fears and tensions is a classic example of Argentum nitricum: fear of heights, narrow spaces, fear of disease, fear of failure, anticipation etc. The palpitations and general tension complete the picture. But it would be interesting to see whether we can find any of the themes of the group analysis in this case. First of all there is the theme of failure, which is common to all the metals. Next we see that he wants to be special and different, he wants to be head of department, which is typical of the Silver series (There is too little evidence of heaviness in this story to indicate the Gold series). The stage we are looking for can be deduced from the incident of the burglary: he can't put his words into practice. He had a certain image of himself, but this image proves to be invalid, he can no longer maintain the ideas he had about himself, which is typical of stage 11. And so we get to Argentum. But there are also several symptoms that don't belong to Argentum, like the stomach complaints and the eructations for instance. These are typical Nitricum complaints, as is the fear of disease and the fear of narrow spaces. The burglary might initially remind us of Arsenicum, but it is also a Nitricum symptom, as reflects the theme of loss belonging to stage 15.Other Argentum symptoms: fear of being criticised about his work, fear of heights, (>) sweets, (>) sweets.
Nitricum symptoms: fear of narrow spaces, planes, restaurants, (>) cheese, (<) heat, (>) fresh air.
Reaction One month after Argentum nitricum he feels 60 percent calmer. He went back to work 2 weeks after taking the remedy. He had a dream that he had the courage to confront someone else for the first time since ages. A year later he was still doing well and since then I haven't heard from him.
Argentum nitricum is a good example of a remedy that has been over prescribed. This was a result of the fact that we didn't know many other Nitricums, so it was often given when another Nitricum would have been more appropriate. The Argentum part of the picture was not very well known until recently. The fact that Argentum nitricum was so well known was mainly due to its use in allopathic medicine against a.o. eye infections in babies, hence it was high on the list of early provings.
The result was that the Argentum picture became very big and almost got too many symptoms, many of them non-specific, as we will see later on in the Expressions.
Before I wrote this chapter I looked at six old Argentum nitricum cases, most of them taken about 5-6 years ago. There were several things that I noticed. First of all in every single case the prescription had been based on the main symptom of severe fright: fear with palpitations, fear of heights, fear of narrow spaces, fear of shops, streets etc. Secondly it struck me that I had not bothered to dig out a deeper theme in any of these cases, they were what you might call very superficial cases. At least this is how I view them now, and with hind sight I realise I could have asked many more questions. So I have chosen the best out of these six, a case that provides at least a little background information.
Concepts
Argentum Nitricum
Preserving art Assertive
Preserving ideas Enthusiasm
Mecenas Tension Congestion
Conservative Relaxation
Arrogant Enjoying
Condescending Sociable
Group analysis
Holding on to ideas in order to be assertive.
Preserving art from an idealistic point of view.
An idealistic mecenas.
Enjoying art.
Holding on to success causes tension.
Cannot relax because of creative tensions.
Fear of not having enough space to show himself.
Being arrogant in order to enjoy life.
Conservative ideas lead to tension.
Failure through tension.
Picture of Argentum nitricum
Essence: holding on to ideas in order to be assertive.
Holding on to ideas in order to be assertive
These people feel they have to prove themselves, they have to preserve their creative talents otherwise they wont be able to assert themselves any longer. They like to be in the foreground, to take over the lead, especially at parties and other festivities. The love being the centre of attention at a social gathering.
Preserving art from a sense of idealism
Their involvement with art and philosophy is often based on idealistic motives. Without the arts a person cannot develop himself into a fully cultured human being, so they need to preserve all forms of art to make the world a better place to live in. This is often their motive to become a mecenas, to stimulate the development of art and science.
Enjoying art
They love to go to the theatre, to the opera, to art exhibitions etc. and it is something they enjoy sharing with their family and friends and with the artists themselves, whom they often invite out for dinner to talk about their work.
Holding on to success leads to tension
The need to hold onto success once they have made it as an artist is often the cause of much tension. They are not sure whether they will be able to handle the pressure. It worries them that they might not be able to relax anymore because of all this tension around their creative talents.
Fear of not having enough space to show their creations
Eventually they develop a fear of failure and they no longer dare to show their work. It is a fear that they can't deliver the goods anymore. The pressure makes them feel suffocated and they are afraid they will never be able to escape. They begin to look for a way out before every single performance, they feel terribly nervous before every speech etc.
Failure through tension
Their fear of being assertive can also be the cause of failure. The tension rises to such a degree that they no longer want to undertake anything. Their conservative outlook only adds to this problem. They daren't change their designs, their performance, their style. But their is no progress without change so they are often confronted by explosive situations when change has become inevitable. This is the reason of their fear of confrontation and their fear of narrow spaces. Their conservative attitude places them in an isolated position and they can't hold on to the status quo. Their work comes to a standstill and they live in perpetual fear.
Expressions
Fears: vague, unknown, heights, narrow spaces (3), locked up, performances, speeches, exams, falling, failure, arriving late, work, business, high buildings, streets, shops, restaurants, trains, planes, travelling, tunnels, caves, crowds, eating, heart disease, disease, epilepsy, AIDS, deterioration of the brain, cancer, death; enjoying, life, strangers, future, anticipation, accidents, animals, insects, spiders, snakes, dark, evil, murder; easily frightened (<) sun, noises. Dreams: heights, falling, animals, fish, snakes, stung by insects, dead friends, well known places, ghosts, hunger, lascivious, monsters, dirty water; being pursued by black apes, saved by a white elephant; clairvoyant, erotic, violence, water. Delusions: falling, failure, passage getting narrower, buildings will fall down on top of him, parts of body expanded, heart stopping, death, heart attack, walls coming towards him, world is doomed, neglected by family, everything has changed at home, animals, black snakes, weakness of brain, surrounded by heavy black clouds, abandoned, dying, incurable disease, large distances, floating, neglected, ghosts, bottle of sodawater, swollen, forgetting something, predicts the time of his death. Irritability: grumpy, irritable, disdainful, rage, murderous impulses, (<) excitement, (<) humiliation. Mood: haughty, frivolous, childish, lively, eccentric, excited, hysterical, extroverted, stubborn, restless, impulsive, hurried, impatient, nervous, precise, indifferent, helpless, complaining, discontented, moody, gloomy, suicidal by jumping from window or drowning, crying. Mental: clear, imaginative, absent minded, dull, confused, thoughtless, dreamy, forgetful, lost in well known places, aphasia, numb. foolish, irrational, insane, mania, dementia; (<) writing. Contacts: (>), (<), (>) (<) talking, shy, reserved, (<) crowds, (<) alone (2), deceitful, lying, sympathetic. Religion: (>), superstitious.
Work: (<). Professions: artist, painter, writer, musician, teacher, scientist, doctor, priest, vicar, bishop, shaman, governor, secretary, representative, public relations officer, advertising agent, top sportsman or woman. Causes: disaster, humiliation, wounded pride, annoyed, worries, adultery, neglect, incest, parents absent, abuse. Generals Type: obese (3). Locality: left. Weather: warm; (<) heat, (<) inside, (>) outside, (<) damp. Time: (<) 9 am and 1 pm, (<) summer; complaints come and go suddenly. Desires: sweet (3), fruit, fresh (2), sour, chocolate, alcohol, wine, whiskey, coffee, salt, sauces (2), fried bacon (3!), fat, fatty meat, ham, cheese (3), salt, carbonated drinks. Aversion: fat (2), meat, (2), cheeses (2), bacon, ham, beans, sour, drinks. Food: (<) peppers (2), cabbage (2), sprouts, cucumber (2), tobacco, alcohol, apple, meat, cheese, fat, bacon, beans, coffee; (>) coffee.
Menses: profuse, (<) before menses. Sleep: difficulty falling asleep, (<) beautiful images; on right side; sleepy; somnambulism. Physical: (<) rest (3), sitting, (>) motion, (<) touch; (<) coition, (<) pressure, pressure of clothes, (<) shocks, (>) driving, (<)(<) great change in atmospheric pressure. Complaints Pains: bruised, stitching,like splinters (3!), congestive, pulsating (3). Stiff, tight, band. Discharges are grey, foul smelling and putrid. Cancer. Weakness. Epilepsy. Vertigo. Headache in forehead, temples and vertex. Neuralgia with shooting electric pains, tingling, numbness. Paralysis. Eye infections. Strabismus, divergent, left. lazy eye, poor vision. Ear: infections, blocked. Nose: colds with watery coryza, nosebleeds. Crusts, difficult to dislodge and painful. Sneezing. Hayfever. Throat infection left side, (<) swallowing, (>) cold drinks.
Laryngitis, hoarseness, (<) talking, singing, loss of voice, (>) breathing in.
Voice problems: hoarseness, stammering, loss of voice.
Lung complaints, sighing.
Laryngitis, hoarseness, (<) talking, singing; loss of voice, hoarseness, stammering. Heart and vascular diseases (3); angina pectoris. Palpitations, arrhythmia. Arteriosclerosis. Claudication, cerebral haemorrhage. Palpitations (>) lying on left side, (>) inspiration.
Hot flushes (3), (<) night, (<) after urination. Stomach complaints. Bowels: rumbling, flatus, odourless or stinking, diarrhoea and constipation. Pain in abdomen with distension, rumbling, flatus and eructations. Diarrhoea acrid. Inflammation of bladder. Kidney diseases with oedema. Incontinence (<) coughing. Inflammation of vagina, ovaries, testes, may lead to cancer. Pain in neck and stiffness (<) morning. Pain in arms. neck feels swollen. Writers cramp. Inflammation of joints of hands, with congestion, swelling, stiffness. Pain on the front of the left shoulder, radiating and shooting through arm to hand, accompanied by feeling of paralysis, numbness and tingling, (<) rest or staying in same position for a long time, (>) motion. Tennis elbow. Stiff hands.
Back ache, sciatica, shooting down leg, (<) sitting (3), (<) drawing up legs, (>) motion.
Skin: eczema, itching, red patches, allergies. Melanoma.
DD: Carbon series, Silver series, Stage 11-15, Nitricums.
Case
A 30 year old man complains about pressure on the chest and many fears. He is afraid of criticism and afraid of failure. It started about 3 years ago after his house had been burgled. When he and his wife came home one evening they discovered that there were burglars in the house. He didn't dare to go inside and went to the neighbours to call the police. He had been too afraid to confront the burglars while he had always said that if anything like that were to happen he would teach them a lesson. The strange thing was that his wife hadn't been afraid at all and this is what irked him, because a man should be able to protect his wife. All this happened at a time when he had been very busy at work because he was about to be promoted to head of department. After these events he started to develop vague pains in his stomach, accompanied by much belching and flatulence. He often woke up in a fright at around 4 am, which later on turned into palpitations with a pressing pain in his chest, worse lying on the left side. It was also worse when he thought about it or when he thought about his work. He is always in a hurry, especially at work. He had to spend some time off work because the fears and the palpitations became too bad. He was afraid in restaurants and shops and afraid that someone would criticise his work.
He couldn't bear having people around him at work, afraid that he couldn't get away quickly if he suddenly started to feel bad. He also had a fear of narrow spaces (3) and a fear of planes.
He likes the type of work he is doing but he doesn't like the mentality of his colleagues, they are very bureaucratic. He likes socialising but has become more reserved since his complaints started. He still plays football and likes to take the lead.
He is quite closed and often bottles up his feelings for days. He explains that he feels very insecure deep inside, although he comes across as someone who is very self assured. He likes to be prepared before he meets people, tries to imagine what they might think and feel.
He has a fear of heights and can't stand being late. He sometimes dreams about quarrelling with his colleagues.
Generals
Weather: cold, (<) heat; fear of thunder; (>) and (>) fresh air (3).
Time: (<) 11 am. Desires: sweet (3), spices, cheese, meat, vegetables, milk. Aversion: potatoes. Food: (<) chocolate. Sleep: good; on left side. Analysis The pattern of fears and tensions is a classic example of Argentum nitricum: fear of heights, narrow spaces, fear of disease, fear of failure, anticipation etc. The palpitations and general tension complete the picture. But it would be interesting to see whether we can find any of the themes of the group analysis in this case. First of all there is the theme of failure, which is common to all the metals. Next we see that he wants to be special and different, he wants to be head of department, which is typical of the Silver series (There is too little evidence of heaviness in this story to indicate the Gold series). The stage we are looking for can be deduced from the incident of the burglary: he can't put his words into practice. He had a certain image of himself, but this image proves to be invalid, he can no longer maintain the ideas he had about himself, which is typical of stage 11. And so we get to Argentum. But there are also several symptoms that don't belong to Argentum, like the stomach complaints and the eructations for instance. These are typical Nitricum complaints, as is the fear of disease and the fear of narrow spaces. The burglary might initially remind us of Arsenicum, but it is also a Nitricum symptom, as reflects the theme of loss belonging to stage 15.Other Argentum symptoms: fear of being criticised about his work, fear of heights, (>) sweets, (>) sweets.
Nitricum symptoms: fear of narrow spaces, planes, restaurants, (>) cheese, (<) heat, (>) fresh air.
Reaction One month after Argentum nitricum he feels 60 percent calmer. He went back to work 2 weeks after taking the remedy. He had a dream that he had the courage to confront someone else for the first time since ages. A year later he was still doing well and since then I haven't heard from him.
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