Lithium carbonicum
Lithium carbonate · Lithium carbonate. · Mineral
People for whom this remedy is best suited are prone to anxious, excitable, and confused behavior.
The classic symptom picture for Lithium carb. is of hip pain, gout, distorted joints, and arthritic conditions, possibly with associated heart problems. The limbs may feel stiff, as if they have been beaten, and the bones, joints, and muscles are sore. The joints, particularly the small joints, tend to be swollen, tender, and red.
Key symptoms
- Chronic rheumatism connected with heart lesions
- Uric acid diathesis; gout and tophi; whole body sore
- Headache ceases while eating
- Pain in heart extending to head; trembling and throbbing
- Pain in heart before menses, associated with bladder pain
- Heart pain better after urinating
- Half vision; right half invisible; photophobia
- Turbid urine with mucus and red deposit; cystitis
Worse (aggravation)
Better (amelioration)
Carbonate of Lithium
Chronic rheumatism connected with heart lesions and asthenopia offer a field for this remedy. Rheumatic nodes. Uric acid diathesis Whole body is sore. Gout and tophi.
Head
Tension, as if bound; better, sitting and going out. Externally sensitive. Headache ceases while eating. Trembling and throbbing. Pain in heart; extends to head. Dizzy states with ringing in ears. Both cheeks covered with dry, bran-like scales.
Eyes
Half vision; invisible right half. Photophobia. Pain over eyes. Dry lids. Eyes pain after reading.
Stomach
Acidity, nausea, gnawing, relieved by eating (Anacard). Cannot endure slightest pressure of clothes (Laches).
Urine
Tenesmus. Turbid urine, with mucus and red deposit. Pain in region of right kidney. Free and colorless. While urinating, pressure in heart. Cystitis, subacute and chronic.
Respiratory
Constriction of chest. Violent cough when lying down. Air feels cold when inspired. Pain in mammary glands, which extend into the arms and fingers.
Heart
Rheumatic soreness in cardiac region. Sudden shock in heart. Throbbing, dull stitch in cardiac region. Pains in heart before menses, and associated with pains in bladder, and before urinating; better, after. Trembling and fluttering in heart, extending to back.
Urinary
Soreness of bladder; pain in right kidney and ureter. Turbid urine with mucus, scanty and dark, acrid; sandy deposit.
Extremities
Paralytic stiffness all over. Itching about joints. Rheumatic pains throughout shoulder-joint, arm, and fingers and small joints generally. Pain in hollow of foot, extending to knee. Swelling and tenderness of finger and toe joints; better, hot water. Nodular swellings in joints. Ankles pain when walking.
Skin
Scabby, tettery eruption on hands, head, and cheeks, preceded by red, raw skin. Dull stitch, ending in itching. Barber's itch (use high). Rough rash all over body, much loose epithelium, tough, dry, itchy skin.
Modalities
Worse, in morning, right side. Better, rising and moving about.
Relationship
Compare: Lyc; Ammon phos; Benz ac; Calc; Lithium chlor (symptoms of cinchonism, viz.: Dizzy head, full, bluring of vision Ringing in ears; marked tremors; general weakness; marked muscular and general prostration; no gastro-intestinal effects. Nose sore, heartburn, pain in teeth). Lithium lacticum (rheumatism of shoulder, and small joints relieved by moving about; worse, resting). Lithium benzoicum (deep-seated pains in loins; in small of back; uneasiness in bladder. Cystic irritation. Gallstones. Frequent desire. Diminishing uric acid deposit). Lithium bromatum (cerebral congestion, threatened apoplexy, insomnia and epilepsy).
Dose
First to third trituration.
Carbonate of Lithia. Lithic Carbonate. Li2 CO3. Trituration.
Clinical
Albuminuria. Aneurism. Angina Pectoris. Barber's itch. Bubo. Dyspepsia. Eyes, affections of. Gall-stones. Gastralgia. Glands, swelling of. Gout. Headaches. Heart, affections of Hemiopia. Hernia. Menstruation, disorders of. Nose, affections of. Obesity. Ossification of arteries. Prostatitis. Retina, anæmia of. Rheumatism. Spleen, affections of. Syphilis. Urethritis. Urinary disorders.
Characteristics
Hering introduced and made the first provings of Li. c. It affects the entire organism, but notably head and eyes, urinary organs, heart, and joints. In arthritic complaints accompanied with heart or eye symptoms it is very likely to be needed. Recurring attacks of acute inflammation of the small joints. The skin of the Lith. patient is dry and harsh like a nutmeg-grater. According to Allen, the Lactate of Lithia has been found valuable for subacute rheumatism of the shoulder-joint. "Soreness" is a note of Li. c.: Bruised spots from …
Sight and Eyes
Right half of objects invisible.
Heart and Pulse
Rheumatic soreness in cardiac region, < stooping, with pains in limbs; finger joints tender and painful.
Heart and Pulse
Valvular deficiencies, worse from mental agitation, which caused fluttering and trembling of the heart.
Phatak's chapter on Lithium carbonicum is available in the app.
Read Phatak in the appClassical texts are in the public domain. Educational reference only — not medical advice.
