Kalium nitricum Case
A man, aged 60, comes with a problem in his left leg. His leg gets very tired and when he is out walking, he has to stop every 100 metres. The leg is always sensitive, it feels numb and tingling, and he has the sensation that it is very cold, although it feels warm to the touch. These complaints are worse in cold and damp weather.
A second complaint is pain in the stomach. For the past 20 years he has had a burning sensation with acidity which comes up in the oesophagus. He also often has a stabbing pain in one spot. The complaints are worse on drinking brandy, eating green peppers, cabbage, spicy food or beef. The complaints usually start at 2 or 3 h. Sitting bent forwards, or lying on the abdomen with a fist pressing into the stomach, ameliorates the pains. The complaints always start after tension and stress at work.
Past history: In 1968 he suffered from right sided renal colic. In 1970 he had a septum correction done by surgery. This was at a time when he suffered from many colds with sneezing and a watery, green discharge. In 1977 he had a minor heart attack and spent 9 months at home to recuperate. This had been caused by the pressure at work. In 1979 he suffered from hyper-ventilation with fears that he would have another heart attack, tingling in his right hand and a feeling of suffocation < 2 till 3 h.
General characteristics:
Temperature: he is rather cold and the complaints are worse in damp, cold weather.
fresh air and mountain air ameliorate.
Desires: sweet (3), game (3), fish, veal, bacon< smoking (2), alcohol (2).
Aversion: sour.
Sleep: good, wakes refreshed; sleeps on left side.
Mind: He is a nervous and intense person, very precise in his work. He used to have 70 people working for him and they had to be on time every day. He himself has only been late for work once. He also sets a good example, by working very hard himself. He used to be very short tempered, especially if someone was lazy or late coming to work. He is also very impatient.
He loves music, he plays the piano and after coming home from work takes out his tension by 'hammering away' at he piano.
He gives the impression of being a lively and jovial person, someone who enjoys life but who also works hard to do his duty.
The marriage is fine; he has two grown up daughters.
Analysis
He has many symptoms of Nux-v: short tempered, hard worker, impatient, the stomach complaints, < cold, desire for tobacco, alcohol and meat. He doesn’t have the competitive elements, however.
But the Kali elements are very strongly represented: in the first place the strong sense of duty, but also the stabbing pains, stomach pains, < 3 h., desire for sweet, < cold.
My first choice was Kali-bi, upon the keynote of pain in one spot, and also the desire for beer and the good family relationships. But Kali-bi did nothing. And in hindsight this is not surprising. He doesn’t have the element of the 'apple polisher', he is far too intense, even violent, always to be polite. Symbolic of this aspect is perhaps the nasal discharge, which in Kali-bi. is tough and stringy, whilst in this case it is watery.
While I was searching among the other Kali’s I hit upon Kali nitricum. A keynote of Kali-n is < veal. In this case we had a desire for veal and an aggravation from beef. One often sees the two extremes together in one remedy, for instance in Nat-m the desire and the aversion for salt. This case shows the different characteristics of Kali and Nitricum. On the one side there is the sense of duty of the Kali's, and on the other side there is the desire to enjoy life, which belongs to the Nitricums.
Reaction
Nux-v 1M had no effect, neither had Kali-bi. But after Kali-n he immediately had the feeling that his leg was quite all right again. That feeling disappeared after 15 minutes but after that the complaints started to decrease gradually. Three months later the complaints had improved 80%. The stomach complaints were temporarily worse after one month.