• Discharges of tough, stringy mucous which adhere to the parts and can
  be drawn into a long strings
• Pain in small spots which can be covered with the point of a finger
• Pains shift rapidly from one part to another
• Neuralgia everyday at the same hour
• Uvula oedematous

Source: Mineral kingdom
Synonyms: Bichromate of potash, Potassium bichromate
Prover: Dr Drysdale of London
Duration of Action: 30 days
Miasmatic Background: All three miasms, but is dominated by the syphilitic miasm
Temperament: Nervous and irritable
Thermal Relationship: Chilly patient

Introduction and History: Kalium bichromicum is a very important medicine in homeopathic materia medica. This is an antisyphilitic remedy of great repute and wide application. The effect of the drug on the entire human economy includes characteristics which are of utmost value to the prescriber, rendering the drug one of the most important members of the homeopathic materia medica. It is also a remedy with some very marked and characteristic features of its own.

Description: These are large, orange-red, transparent crystals or a crystalline powder. It is odourless while the taste is metallic. It is stable in air, soluble in water, insoluble in alcohol and commonly prepared from chrome iron ore.

Preparation: Triturations are prepared with sugar of milk. Higher potencies are prepared from lower potencies in alcohol.

Constitution and Physiognomy

1. It is best suited to fat, light haired, sluggish people; to fat, chubby children; to scrofulous and syphilitic diseases.
2. ‘Fat, chubby, short necked children disposed to croup and croupy affections.’

Ailments From: Hot weather, alcohol, beer, malt liquors, cold nights, spring, after hot days, etc.

Seat of Action (Pharmacodynamics): Mucous membranes, stomach, skin, periosteum, kidney, glands, fibrous tissues, etc.

Physio-pathological Changes (Pathology)

1. It is a pure irritant of the mucous membranes; it produces a discharge which is tough and stringy; erosion and ulceration of membranes.
2. It acts prominently upon the mucous membrane of the respiratory and alimentary tract, in a lesser extent upon the uterus. It is characterised by excessive secretion of mucous and at times goes on to erosion and ulceration.
3. Sometimes it produces false membranes in the respiratory passages.
4. It acts on the glandular system and kidneys producing congestion, inflammation and albuminuria.
5. It acts on skin producing papules and pustules.
6. Acts on fibrous tissues producing irritation and tearing pains.
7. It acts on the periosteum producing congestion, inflammation, disorganization, destruction and hard swelling.
8. It has the power of destroying the cartilages of the nasal septum.

Characteristic Mental Symptoms (Psychology)

1. Anxiety arises from the chest, with distress in the stomach.
2. Indifferent or low spirited after the least annoyance, with distress in the stomach.
3. Listlessness, great disinclination for mental or physical labour.
4. Anthropophobia, ill-humoured; low spirited.
5. Weak memory, aversion to mental and physical exertion.

Characteristic Physical Guiding Symptoms

Pain: Pains are shifting in type. This is the keynote symptom of Kalium bichromicum. Flying type of pain, goes from side to side, pain comes suddenly and disappears suddenly. Pains in small spots, can be covered with the point of a finger.

Oedema: Oedeomatous swelling of eyelids. Oedeomatous bladder-like appearance of uvula.

Rheumatism: Rheumatism alternating with dysentery. Rheumatism alternates with gastric symptoms.

Indolence: Indolent inflammations, indolent ulcers. Ulcers of cornea with no photophobia and no redness. Slow, scrofulous and sycotic ophthalmia.

Secretions and excretions: Stools, yellowish, watery. Thick yellow coating at the base of the tongue. Expectoration of tough yellowish matter.Yellow, ropy leucorrhoea. Yellow, viscid discharge from ears.

Dysentery: Bloody, jelly-like stools, gleet with jelly-like mucous.

Discharges: Discharges from mucous membranes of tenacious, stringy mucous which adhere to the parts and can be drawn out into long strings.

Ulceration: Tendency to ulcerate is a marked keynote of the remedy. Chronic intestinal ulceration. Ulceration of septum, with bloody discharge or large flakes of hard mucous.

Cough: Violent rattling, with gagging from viscid mucous in the throat.

Headache: Unbearable headache, blurred vision, must lie down; aversion to light and noise.

Gastric complaints: Loss of appetite; complaints from bad effects of beer, weight in pit of stomach; flatulence; vomiting of ropy mucous and blood.

Sexual desire: Sexual desire absent in fleshy people.

Diphtheria: Pseudo-membranous deposit on tonsils; firm, pearly, fibrinous, prone to extend downwards to larynx and trachea.

Cracks and cracking: Pharynx is fissured. Red, dry, smooth, cracked tongue. Cracking of all joints from least motion.

Nose: Discharge of plugs, ‘clinkers’; tough, ropy, green, fluid mucous; in clear masses. Pressing pain at the root of nose and in the forehead.

Desires and aversions: Great desire for acids and beer, but aversion to meat, water, to move about, to rise from bed.

Periodicity: Periodical pains, appearing at regular times. Eruptions begin to form in warm weather. Periodical wandering pains. Daily headache in the morning at the same hour.

Sensation: Burning sensation in throat.

Allergy: Allergy to beer, produces diarrhoea or vomiting.

Flatulence: Flatulence worse soon after eating.

Coryza: Coryza fluent, excoriating, with loss of smell. Snuffles and nasal catarrh in damp cold weather.

Important Characteristic Features

Asthma and cough: Potash produces asthmatic conditions, and under Kalium bichromicum we find the attacks coming on at about three or four o’clock in the morning, compelling the patient to sit up to breathe; he sits up and bends forward which relieves somewhat, this is characteristic of the remedy.

It is similar to Arsenicum except for the feature of tenacious mucous. Kalium carbonicum has asthma worse towards morning, with a feeling as if there were no air in the chest. Kalium phosphoricum has been successfully used in asthma, especially in the nervous variety.

Gastrointestinal derangements: It is generally indicated in peptic ulcers and duodenal ulcers which are due to the bad effects of alcohol and beer. There is loss of appetite and stomach is full of gas. Patient feels weight in the pit of the stomach. Ulcers with pain in small spots which can be covered with the tip of the finger. Pains are shifting in type; come suddenly and disappear Suddenly. There is vomiting of ropy, stringy mucous and blood. Also a great desire for beer and acids but aversion to meat and water.

Gastric symptoms alternate with rheumatism. Dysentery with jelly-like mucous. Stool is brown, ropy and stringy accompanied with great tenesmus. Dysentery alternates with rheumatism.

Rheumatism: Useful in syphilitic rheumatism. Rheumatism, especially that which occurs in spring or in summer weather, when there are cool days or nights. The joints are affected considerably and there are more pains about the fingers and wrists, than in any other part of the body. Pains wander about, suddenly jumping from one part of the body to another and are better by moving the affected part.

Gastric and rheumatic symptoms often alternate. Tearing sensation in the tibia, with swelling and stiffness of joints. Pain in small spots which can be covered with the tip of a finger. Pain comes suddenly and goes suddenly. It is also called for in gonorrhoeal rheumatism; the pains are better in a warm room.

General Modalities

Aggravation: In winters, from cold damp weather, periodically, in summers, in hot weather, from 2 to 3 am, during morning and night, undressing, from beer.

Amelioration: Eating, vomiting, from a short sleep, skin symptoms in cold weather, by lying down, in open air.

Remedy Relationships

Complementary: Ars.

Follows well: Puls, Ant-t, Berb, Iod.

Inimical: Calc.

Antidotes: Ars, Lach, Puls.

Compare: Iod, Hep, Brom, Canth.

Comparison

Pain at a spot: Ign, Kali-bi, Lil-t.

Headache, blindness precedes the attack: Gels, Kali-bi, Lac-d.

Coldness of single parts: Calc, Kali-bi.

Pain extends from throat to ear: Hep, Kali-bi, Lac-c.

Crusts and elastic plug in the nose: Kali-bi, Lyc, Teucr.

Distress in stomach while eating or just after eating: Kali-bi, Nux-m.

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

Dosage

1. In syphilitic conditions, second to sixth trituration.
2. In rheumatic and neuralgic conditions, mid potencies upto 200c give good results.
3. For external application on ulcers, a solution of one grain to eight ounces of distilled water is useful.

Repetition: Bears repetition very well.

Therapeutic Value: Abdominal and stomach disorders, Anaemia, Asthma, Bone affections, Bronchitis, Catarrh, Constipation, Diphtheria, Dyspepsia, Exostosis, Eye affections, Fever, Gout, Headache, Lung affections, Neuralgia, Nose affections, Peptic ulcer; Rheumatism, Skin troubles, Throat ulcers, Vomiting, Warts, Whooping cough.

Note: Calcarea carbonica is to be thought of in acute or chronic nasal catarrh after Kalium bichromicum.