Carboneum Sulphuratum.
Carbon Bisulphide. Alcohol Sulphuris. Alcohol Lampadii. CS2.
Solution in rectified spirit.Clinical.─
Acne. Amblyopia. Anćmia. Apoplexy.
Burns. Clergyman’s sore throat. Glandular swellings. Goître. Gout. Heartburn. Hemiplegia.
Hernia. Herpes phlyctenoides. Herpetic dyscrasia. Impetigo. Itch. Liver affections. Memory,
lost. Meničre’s disease. Noises in the head.
Progressive muscular atrophy. Rheumatism. Scalds. Sciatica. Spinal sclerosis. Tetanus.
Characteristics.─
Carbon.
sulph. combines many characters of its two elements. It was first brought into
notice by its effects on workers in rubber works. Here is an acute
case: a girl, aged 15, employed in vulcanising works, was exposed to the fumes one whole
day. Before this, she had had from the fumes, frontal pains and heaviness of the head. After
this, the pains became more violent, and were accompanied by painful contraction of
masseters, then by stiffness of neck and vertebral column; finally of legs and arms. The
contracture was generalised, but nowhere complete, though the jaws could not be separated.
Ulcerative stomatitis ensued and tartar accumulated on the teeth. Among the chronic effects are: Digestive disorders of extreme severity.
Tremor, giddiness, ringing in the ears with poor hearing; inability to sleep; muscular
weakness, more or less ataxia, strong increase of mechanical muscular irritability,
disturbance of sight and sensibility, Romberg’s symptom (trophoneurosis; facial
hemiatrophy); incontinence of urine; impotence. In the Medical
Argus (July to December, 1891) H. H. Crippen has collected from several sources
instances of intoxication of workers with Carb. bisul.
The action on vision was very marked in many cases. Myopia, asthenopia; achromatopsia,
dyschromatopsia, cloudiness and atrophy of optic disc, central scotoma for light and
colours; retinal congestion, arteries and veins tortuous; veins distended, arteries
contracted; optic discs pale. Everything seemed in a fog; as if a spider’s web over objects;
green or red. One patient had complete right hemiplegia, following sudden loss of
consciousness, blindness of right eye and great impairment of vision of left. Loss of
memory, especially for words, was a very frequent symptom; delusions were common:
“Heard voices and believed he had committed a robbery”; “sensation of a hole
close by, into which he was in danger of falling.” E. E. Case has cured with Carb. sul. 30 in a slender, nervous woman, the following
symptoms: “Sensation, as of a weight between the scapulć, compelling her to bend
forward. Throbbing in the dorsal spine as if a heart were beating there. Constipation with
ineffectual urging to stool. Hćmorrhage of bright blood from rectum after stool. Itching of
anus after stool, also in the night. Feet swollen, hot and throbbing in the evening.” Carb. sul. has the flatulency of Carbo
veg. and the abdominal soreness of Sulphur.
It produces eruptions of herpes and impetigo, discharges excoriating and producing violent
itching. It corresponds to the herpetic diathesis. The pains are burning, tearing, jerking,
and stitching and are apt to return at regular intervals for a long time. Pains come and go
quickly. The periodicity shows itself, as in diarrhśa, which comes every six weeks. The < from warmth common to Carb. v.
and Sulph. shows itself in “Toothache brought on by
warm food.” Vision > in evening; in twilight;
after eating. < From slightest motion; from walking. < At night. Sleep is restless with tossing in bed. A feeling
of vibration and trembling in whole body, particularly in hands. Anćsthesia of skin and
mucous membranes.
Relations.─
Compare:
Caust., Chi., and Nat. salic. in Meničre’s disease; Carb. v. in flatulence; Sulph.
(sensitiveness of abdomen); Benz. dinit. (vision); Anac. (hears voices); Can. ind. (opening
and shutting sensation in head). Kali bi., Sil., Sul. (hair sensation in throat).
SYMPTOMS.
1. Mind.─
Difficult thinking.─Memory
defective; cannot find the right word.─Great loquacity, but frequent
loss of memory for words.─Sought for things lying before them.─Childish
and idiotic.─Surly, morose; vehement, irascible.─Exhilaration
bordering on drunkenness.─Indifferent to the surroundings.─Irritability
followed by indigestion.─Laughter without cause.─Delusions;
heard voices and believed he had committed a robbery.─Saw obstacles in
front of him which did not exist.─Sensation of a hole close by into
which he was in danger of falling.─Attacks of semi-unconsciousness with
convulsive movements of the limbs lasting half a minute.─Attacks
resembling hysterical fits, with convulsive movements of the face.─Sudden
loss of consciousness lasting seven days, with complete right hemiplegia, total blindness of
r. eye and great impairment of vision of l.
2. Head.─
Sudden attacks of vertigo while sitting.─Headache
and vertigo.─Dull, muddled feeling in forehead as if contracting.─Frequent
attacks of fainting.─Pressure most in forehead.─Headache
of a compressive character with severe heavy pain in forehead and temples as if the head
were compressed in a vice or supporting a heavy weight.─Violent
headache, increasing till the mind is affected.─Very sharp pains in
head, through temples, nearly every day, notably after dinner; numbness through to vertex.─Headache
in the temples and occiput.─Severe pain in the occiput.─Headache
as if the head was opening and shutting.─Penetrating pain < shaking head and heavy steps.─Fluctuations
in head < moving head.─Painful,
heavy feeling in head after breakfast.─Brushing hair is painful.─Itching
on head; pimples sore to touch.
3. Eyes.─
Dim sight; objects fade away.─Vanishing
of sight.─Dimness of vision with vertigo.─Dimness of
vision as from a fog or mist before the eyes.─Dimness of vision; objects
appearing green, then red and foggy.─Makes mistakes as to form of
objects.─Diplopia.─Complete achromatopsia.─Contraction
of field of vision for white and blue; red and green totally absent.─Central
scotoma for red.─Central scotoma for white and colours.─Dazzled
by bright light.─Constant flashes and spots before the eyes.─Muscć
volitantes.─Appearance as of a spider’s web before the eyes.─Reading
brings tears to eyes.─Slight insensibility of the conjunctiva to touch.─Pupils
dilated and sluggish.─Fine, floating filaments and specks in the
vitreous.─Deposit of whitish, shining nodules in the macula lutea.─Ischćmia
of the optic papilla.─Atrophy of the optic papillć.─Optic
disc pale, deeply cupped, less transparent than normal.─Congestion of
the optic discs.─Retinal congestion, arteries and veins tortuous.─Dilation
of retinal veins; arteries too small.─Small zone of circumscribed
retinitis along the retinal vessels; blood-vessels have a double contour.─Vision
> in the twilight.─Vision > by eating, < when
fasting, could often read after a meal.─Obliged to wink to see clearly.─Vision
> in the evening.─Pustule on
upper lid, itches and burns.─Lids heavy; sore on moving; quivering.
4. Ears.─
Stitches in ears; after stool.─Pain
in l. ear when swallowing.─Ears as if stopped up.─Ringing
lasting several days.─Singing and buzzing like an Ćolian harp when
walking in morning.─Deafness.
5. Nose.─
End of nose burns, is pink red, burning
as if raw.─Tickling in tip with irritation to sneeze.─Eruption.─Diminution
of sense of smell.─Epistaxis.
6. Face.─
Paleness of face.─Bewildered
expression.─Eruption like the acne of drunkards on nose and cheeks.─Lips
dry and burning.─Contractive feeling in muscles of lower jaw.─Lockjaw.
7. Teeth.─
Tartar accumulates on teeth.─Toothache
brought on by warm food.
8. Mouth.─
Lisping, stammering speech like that of
a child.─Saltish taste of phlegm hawked up.─Dry
mouth with unquenchable thirst.─Salivation with nausea; glutinous
saliva.─Accumulation of water of a sweetish taste in the mouth.
9. Throat.─
Tickling back of palate after lying
down.─Burning in throat extending to stomach.─Sensation
as if a hair had lodged in throat; as if a piece of bone had lodged in upper śsophagus.─Swallowing
difficult, causes pain in l. ear.
10. Appetite.─
Voracious appetite.─Hunger
with aversion to eating.─Loss of appetite and heavy satiety when eating.─Great
thirst, desire for beer.─Many symptoms come on after eating.─Acrid
burning eructations after eating.
11. Stomach.─
Sour belching with passage of much
sour flatus; > from belching.─Inclination
to vomit when entering a room or going into open air.─Vomiting of bitter
water.─Vomiting followed by immediate relief.─Pressing,
stitching, burning pains in stomach.─Feeling in stomach as if tied
together.─Extreme tenderness.─Heartburn.
12. Abdomen.─
Vomiting; pains in the belly;
painful cramps followed by such muscular weakness he could not stand.─Liver
complaint with dropsy of feet.─Cutting in bowels.─Navel
drawn in with pain.─Twisting, rolling, rumbling; distension; abdominal
walls sore.─Strangulated hernia.
13. Stool and Anus.─
Very offensive and frequent
passage of flatus.─Stools: thin, papescent, small; yellowish, frothy,
sour-smelling, fluid, with tenesmus and colicky pains; navel drawn in; came on in night.─Chronic
diarrhśa coming on every four to six weeks and lasting one or two days.─After
stool: headache; stitches in ears; pressure in stomach; burning; weakness and trembling.─Bright
red blood with stool.─Constipation: with belching; with hunger.─Burning
and itching at anus.
14. Urinary Organs.─
Stitch-like cramping pain in
bladder and neck of bladder, through to urethra, at same time similar pain in anus and
rectum. (At midnight, on coming home and drinking a glass of wine.).─Frequent
desire to pass water; tickling in fore part of urethra.─Involuntary
micturition.
15. Male Sexual Organs.─
Sexual excitement
followed by complete loss of desire.─Desire lost without previous sexual
excitement.─Burning in urethra: with erections; when urinating.─L.
testicle swollen and indurated.─Impotence in atrophied testicles.
16. Female Sexual Organs.─
Menses five days early.─Ovaries
almost obliterated.─Labour pains too weak.
17. Respiratory Organs.─
Hoarseness, irritation to
hawk; heat in larynx; scratching and scraped feeling.─Breath hot.─Breathing
difficult; only > by breathing deeply in open air.─Flying
stitches in chest, quickly passing over, but frequently returning.─(Asphyxia
from alcohol and from coal gas).─Cough from irritation in larynx or at
bifurcation of trachea.─Cough caused by heartburn.
20. Neck and Back.─
Rheumatic pains and stiffness
of neck.─Goître.─Feeling of heavy load hanging on
back between scapulć.─Pain in small of back and loins.
21. Limbs.─
Crackling in joints.─Tearing,
jerking, stitching, flying pains, returning at regular intervals.─Great
weakening of the muscular forces of the limbs; beginning in the upper limbs, with cramps in
the arms, calves and abdomen.─Weakness of limbs.─Pains
in the limbs and joints.─Painful twitchings in the limbs.─Contracture
of legs and arms, but nowhere complete.
22. Upper Limbs.─
Formication in the hands and
arms.─Gradual loss of sensation in the r. hand.─Numbness
of the fingers and inability to hold small objects.─Weakness of the
upper limbs to the elbow with considerable diminution of the sensibility and slight paresis.─Marked
atrophy of the thenar eminence of the thumb and of the interossei.─Laming
and pain in l. arm; arm goes to sleep.
23. Lower Limbs.─
Sciatica l. thigh, from taking
cold, with entire inability to walk.─Chronic sciatica r. thigh; movement
impeded.─Stiffness of lower limbs.─Pains in lower
limbs with cramp and trembling.─Pain in lower limbs accompanied by
cramps and formication.─Cramps in calves of legs and in toes.─Stabbing,
piercing pain from metatarsal bones through toes while walking.─Great
difficulty in walking, l. leg more affected than r.
24. Generalities.─
Incomplete contraction of all
the muscles of the body.─Emaciation.─Athermia.─Cold
sweats and general weakness.─Sudden attack of general trembling, with
dimness of vision.─Twitching in single fibrillć of muscles.─Fear
of walking in the dark.─Anćsthesia of certain portions of the skin.─Peripheral
neuritis.
25. Skin.─
Boils.─Hyperćsthia
of the integument.
26. Sleep.─
Very drowsy.─Deep
and prolonged sleep.─Disturbed sleep.─Nightmare.─Sudden
waking from bad dreams or nervous starting.─Constant tossing about and
throwing head about.
27. Fever.─
Unusual chilliness.─Cold
cheeks, hands, and feet.─Chills 7 p.m.─Skin hot and
burning like nettles.─Warmth rises up from pit of stomach through chest
to head, and also goes down to navel.─Absence of sweat.─Perspiration
checked.─Dryness of skin and oppressive heat prevents sleep; head heavy.® 2000
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