Repertory › Remedies in the repertory

Kalium carbonicum (Kali‑c.)

Kalium carbonicum (Kali‑c.) appears in 1,104 rubrics in the Repertory. Of these, 58 are single-remedy rubrics in which only this remedy is listed, and 67 are small rubrics with at most two other remedies. The emphasis lies on the rubrics for Children, Fear, Delusions and Anxiety, as well as Sadness, Thoughts, Irritability and Weeping. The picture is that of a dutiful, conservative and resilient person who holds to the familiar and to the family, is beset by anxiety at night, and closes his eyes to his problems.

Key-pin symptom: closing the eyes

The key-pin symptom is the rubric "Closing the eyes – amel." It describes the attitude of a patient who is aware of his complaints and problems but shuts his eyes to them; by closing himself off from reality he feels better, because for a moment he no longer sees the problems. Correspondingly, there is a single-remedy rubric for Dullness that is ameliorated by closing the eyes. The picture of a repression that brings relief is characteristic of the whole remedy: the person holds on to what he knows and evades what threatens him.

Duty, habit and conformity

A series of rubrics describes a reliable, adapted attitude: obedient, constant, conformist, optimistic with determination. Clothing and dressing are conservative, endurance is great, and the person clings to the familiar and saves everything. He works in order to achieve something and has the feeling that he must work. Fear of unemployment belongs here. In children it is the wish to go to school despite fever, and heightened self-control; a dogmatic way of being a child is a single-remedy rubric. This impression of reliability has its breaks. Affection is not shown; the person longs for company but treats those who approach him terribly, and he quarrels with the family and with himself. Children who want company are unfriendly or abominable.

Anxiety and fear, especially at night

Fear has 85 rubrics, Anxiety 54. The fear concerns being alone, although there is at the same time a desire for being alone, and it returns at fixed hours, after midnight until 3 a.m. The anxiety occurs at night between 2 and 4 a.m., after breakfast, with cramp in the stomach, with desire to belch, and in fever between 2 and 5 a.m. with sleeplessness. Single-remedy rubrics trace the anxiety to bodily states: when lying on the right side from flatulence, after bloody stool. Moaning at 3 a.m. at night is likewise assigned to this remedy alone. The person wakes early, three or four hours after falling asleep. He is easily startled by touch; Fear of having the feet touched is a single-remedy rubric, as is Aversion to having the feet caressed.

Delusions: emptiness, abyss, hollowness

The delusions describe a lack of support. Behind the person there is an abyss or an emptiness as soon as he turns around; the body is hollow, a feeling of emptiness pervades the whole body. The nape or the outer throat is too large, vertigo begins in the stomach, and thoughts have vanished or suddenly vanish. The person believes he is sinking, must lie down and die, sees masks, old, repulsive figures in sleep, and pigeons in the room that he wants to catch. One group concerns intoxication: he was intoxicated, as if excited, and the bed sinks when lying down.

Screaming, mania and excitement

Screaming comprises five specific rubrics, among them screaming over trifles, screaming with pain on inspiration, and calling for help or support in sleep. Mania occurs early in the morning and in sleep, and raving in bed in the morning. Excitement alternates with mental exhaustion and is aggravated by hunger. Impatience occurs with sadness, and anger alternates with calmness. Anger arises at lunch, irritability while eating; jokes offend. Two rubrics combine timidity and hopefulness in alternation, and becoming resolute can be panic-like.

Clarity and the body

A peculiar group records clear thoughts and abundance of ideas during convulsions, with clear consciousness. In addition there are mental symptoms that are aggravated in the morning and in the evening, dullness with palpitation, confusion after long sleep and absentmindedness after the menses. Voluptuousness before the menses is listed twice. A small rubric reports on diagnoses: the person reports diagnoses and theorizes about health.

Summary

In the Repertory, Kali‑c. shows a person who holds to duty, habit and family and whose outward resilience is great. At night anxiety breaks through, at fixed hours between two and four o'clock, accompanied by bodily sensations, hollowness and delusions of abyss and emptiness. The key-pin symptom, amelioration by closing the eyes, describes the pattern at its core: the problem is not solved but blotted out. The lack of tenderness, the readiness to quarrel with the family and the proneness to being startled belong to the same picture.

A reference work for professionals; it does not replace diagnosis or treatment.