M.T. Ahmad J.T. Kent W. Boericke
The most salient feature of Benzoic Acid is extremely foul smelling urine, resembling the smell of a horse’s urine, which is difficult to get rid off. The smell is unusually foul and is so strong that it remains in the clothes even after washing. If in such a house the clothes are not washed regularly, the whole house will smell of this strong odour. If the Benzoic Acid child wets his bed, the repugnance is doubled. The stained clothes do not get clean even on washing. The urine is deep and dark in colour. If such patients have excess uric acid in the blood, they will benefit from Benzoic Acid. Uric acid causes pain in the kidneys and also decreases their functional capability. Usually, the urination is normal. If the urine becomes sparse, it will cause pain in the joints.
The Benzoic Acid patient omits words while writing. Occasionally, this kind of omission can be due to mental confusion. Some people’s minds work much faster than their hands; the hands cannot keep up with the mind. This symptom may be present in other homoeopathic medicines, so it should not be related to any particular one. Whenever there is omission or substitution of words during writing, it indicates that the person is looking deeply into the meanings rather than the wording of his idea and it becomes difficult to balance both at the same time. However, one should not simply label one whose thinking is much faster than his writing as a patient of Benzoic Acid. If there is mental confusion and the urinary symptoms of Benzoic Acid as well, then certainly the person will respond to Benzoic Acid.
In Benzoic Acid, there is vertigo and fear of falling on one side. The headache becomes worse with a draft of cold air, exposure to cold, or on exposing the head. There is sense of warmth in the temple areas, leading to a pitting type of swelling around the ears. Along with the headache, there is tendency of nausea and vomiting, cold sweats on the head and chilling of the hands. There is irritation and pain at the nose, with a decreased sense of smell. The eyes burn and feel warm. The eye symptoms become worse in the open air and the tube light. The headache starts at the nape of the neck.
In Benzoic Acid, the red spots appear on the face indicating the state of being unhealthy. This commonly happens in women. One side of the face feels warm and burning. Sometimes, small blisters develop on the face. The facial symptoms are relieved in a warm climate and by applying local pressure.
In Benzoic Acid, the person sweats while eating food. The stomach feels tight and under pressure. Over the liver area, the person feels a piercing sensation and pain. The stools are frothy, offensive and thin in consistency. The patient passes a lot of gas.
In Benzoic Acid, the voice is hoarse in the morning. The sputum is greenish. The cough becomes worse at night. The pains become intensified during sleep. At about midnight, severe palpitation and the sensation of heat wakes the patient up.
In most books, it is written regarding Benzoic Acid that the attack of gout originates from the stomach. Commonly, stomachache is due to an ulcer or indigestion, but it could also be due to the gout. I do not know exactly how the gout affects the stomach. Possibly, the foul acidic contents of the stomach also contain uric acids, which cause the symptoms of gout. I have no firm knowledge about the production of Benzoic Acid in the stomach. It is likely that when the Benzoic Acid causes inflammation of the linings of the joints (synovial lining), it may very well affect the muscles by way of blood and start the symptoms of gout. It may be so or not, but most homoeopaths describe it as a symptom of Benzoic Acid.
Excess of Benzoic Acid can cause swelling and pain at the joints of the wrist, knees, especially the big toes, etc. Similarly, the feeling of pressure and chills in the backbone along with the swelling of the tongue are also the symptoms of Benzoic Acid. These also exist in Picric Acid as well as Mercury.
Potency: 30 to 200
by Mirza Tahir Ahmad
BENZOICUM ACIDUM
Whenever we see in the nature of a remedy a well-defined state and condition of the human system pointed out by certain distinctive groups of symptoms we may know that there is such a diseased state in the human family.
They have not the power to create by themselves any diseased state except there is first such a state in the economy of the human race to be aroused.
They simply call up in a single individual something that the individual has, and that something belongs to the human race, and so whenever we see a diseased state in the remedy we know that it exists in correspondence to something in the human race.
Things are so adjusted that everything is for use. There may be conditions in the human race that we, as yet, know no remedy for.
We see certain groups of peculiar symptoms frequently repeat themselves and we know they are representatives of a state of the economy, but up to this day we may not have seen in the Materia
Medica their counterpart.
In medicines we have the exact counterpart the diseases of the human race.
Gouty constitution: Now this remedy has a state and condition that is sometimes called the gouty constitution, the uraemic or the lithaemic constitution, and, these cases are very difficult to manage, as the state is so persistent. It is one of the manifestations of Psora.
Urines: These patients suffer more or less from irregularity in the action of the kidneys; sometimes the urine is scanty and then they suffer from bodily complaints; again the urine is copious and then they are relieved of their complaints.
They are subject to rheumatic attacks and pains in the joints, showing the gouty constitution, and then they have relief when the urine is copious and heavily laden with deposits; but on comes an attack when they have more or less urine, but it is light in specific gravity, and then they are full of pains; in that way they fluctuate.
Now, the young prescriber will sometimes see the patient when he is passing large quantities of uric acid forming the red pepper deposits and he thinks he must stop that; his main idea is to check that one particular thing.
But the patient is a great deal better off while he has it. To cheek it is like suppressing a skin eruption, or restraining any other manifestation of disease.
It will be noticed, as one of the foremost things in this remedy's manifestations, that it has strong smelling urine; the urine is pungent, and it sometimes becomes so strong that it smells like, Hippuricum acid, and so it is said urine smells strong like that of a horse.
The odor in this remedy approximates that of Hippuricum acid.
Complaints: The complaints then, of Benzoïc acid are such as are changeable, and we know why they are changeable; when the urine is copious and plenty of uric acid is being passed, and the urine is full of deposits, then the patient is at his best; when the urine is scanty or of light specific gravity he suffers from backache and pains in the joints, he suffers from atmospheric changes, is sensitive to cold drafts and to the air; but let the urine start up again, which it does in a sort of alternating way, light urine alternating with heavy urine, and the patient is comfortable again.
Then, there are complaints in which the urine smells strong and pungent; this often occurs in children. It is astonishing that these little ones manifest the uric acid diathesis in early life.
Children: Mothers often describe it as intensely urinous. It smells like intensified urine; it is not the smell, so much, of decomposed urine nor of foetid urine, but urine intensified.
It has cured many times wetting the bed involuntary urination in sleep, when the bed that has been wetted several times becomes uncleanable.
You can smell it almost as quick as you go into the room; the children all, smell like urine, strong urine; the house smells like urine. If two or three of these little fellows wet the bed at night, the urine is so strong it tells the story at once.
This medicine needs reproving; details have not been brought ou yet in nature is known. We have a good many medicines having this nature, but this is perhaps as intense as any.
This remedy does not. of course, fit all these patients, because it does not fit their special symptoms; but it has the nature or general state which, of course, precedes everything, and when it relates to all the particulars as well it does make wonderful changes.
Mind: There are a few mental symptoms.
"Inclined to dwell on unpleasant things; if he saw anyone deformed, it made him shudder."
Alternation of profound sleep with prolonged periods of wakefulness. In the period of wakefulness, he dwells, during the night, upon all the unpleasant subjects that he can think of.
This state alternates with nights of stupid sleep for weeks, and this fluctuates, in accordance with the fluctuation of the state of urine.
"Sadness."
"Anxiety while sweating."
"Child cross."
Head: There are many headaches; they are uraemic in character and come in many regions with many details.
"Fearful pain in occiput or cerebellum."
"Rheumatic pains in head."
That is well described, because these headaches of uraemic character take on a similarity to rheumatic pains.
"Pain and heat in region of organs of reverence and firmness."
"Tearing pain in vertex."
The headaches are very numerous; the remedy is full of dull, aching occipital headaches, coming on in the night from change of weather.
Pains located in the base of the brain after pains have existed for some time in the joints, and they are passing but little urine.
Every time he takes a little cold the urine becomes scanty and he is full of dull aches and pains in the head and especially in the occiput.
Smell: Perversion of smell.
"Sense of smell diminished."
"Pain in nasal bones."
Tongue: Another form of transformation scene takes place in this remedy, when all the gouty symptoms of the body cease and inflammation of the tongue comes on.
The pains in the joints cease suddenly from taking cold, from stormy weather and on comes a sudden swelling of the tongue.
Mercury also has this state.
"Extensive ulcerations of tongue, with deeply chapped or fungoid surfaces."
Then, again peculiar kinds of sore throat take place from this same cause.
Sudden stoppage or slacking up of the quantity of urine; it becomes scanty, high colored, and pungent, smelling like that of a horse (Nitric acid) along with acute inflammation and swelling of the tonsils and throat inflammation of the tonsils with scanty, strong, pungent urine smelling like that of a horse.
Metastasis: Another feature that seems almost like metastasis.
Take an individual who is going around with more or less rheumatic aches in the joints; he takes cold and all this ceases, but the next day he comes down with inflammation of the tongue or sore throat, or inflammation of the stomach; so that he vomits every thing he eats.
The gout goes to different parts and in this instance it goes to the stomach; and then Benzoic acid, Antimonium, crud. or Sanguinaria is likely to be useful.
When it goes to the throat or is followed by swelling of the tongue Mercury and Benzoic acid should be thought of.
Whenever this gouty condition goes to the stomach, of course it must conform to those symptoms that are in the nature of this remedy.
In this remedy we have:
"loathing, sickness at Stomach,"
"nausea with gagging,"
"vomiting of a salty substance; bitter,"
When we think of Benzoic acid for the stomach symptoms, it is important that we have in mind its whole nature, how it brings about its complaints and what characterizes a Benzoic acid patient.
We would not be able to distinguish from the stomach symptoms alone we must carry with them the character of the remedy.
Stools: It has much disturbance of the liver, and many liver symptoms. As to the bowels, the stool, the rectum, anus and urinary organs, it is very rich in symptoms.
Its striking ones I will call your attention to, but remember its migrating, metastatic nature, its complaints going from one part to another, which will accompany these symptoms.
"Stools, copious, watery."
This is true in summer diarrhoea that has come on suddenly, "excessively offensive,"
The white stool, like soap-suds, is so strong a symptom that the remedy does not fail to cure even when the gouty constitution is not present.
"Excessively offensive, scenting the whole house."
"Putrid, bloody."
"Watery, light-colored, very offensive stools (in children)."
So we get the idea that the stools are white and that the first passages are like soap-suds, but later the soap appearance subsides and leaves a white stool.
It is well, often, when a stool is passed that is of a light liquid, to bear in mind a few remedies that produce this state and ascertain whether it is like soapsuds or filled with bubbles of air.
"Diarrhea of children."
The urinous odor of the body, and especially that peculiarly pungent, intense smell of the urine.
"Slightly elevated, wart-like, round surfaces around anus."
The urinary symptoms are too numerous to read.
"Foetid urine."'
"Urine of a very repulsive odor."
"Effervescing with hydrochloric acids."
The odor is sometimes like hartshorn; it is pungent; these are only efforts to describe the strong smell.
"Urine dark brown."
It is true that normal urine after standing a while will get a foetid odor, but in this remedy, that just passed is properly described as being intensely urinous.
"Urine contains mucus and pus."
"Morbid condition of urine renders urine acid."
it says in the text "Hippuricum acid," but this is a rare condition.
"Brown urine smells sour."
"Too frequent desire to evacuate bladder."
"Nephritic colic."
"Urine dark, urinous odor highly intensified."
Gouty troubles of the liver; rheumatism; nephritic colic; it has cured such states after gonorrhoea, but it is not much of a gonorrhoeal remedy.
When the rheumatic states and these symptoms are present there are more or less pains in the kidney.
" Sore pain in the back; burning in the kidney."
"Prolapsus uteri with foetid urine."
"Retention of urine in infants."
"Asthma with inflammatory rheumatic complaints."
"Cough followed by expectoration of green mucus."
Heart: The organ that is most commonly affected in these rheumatic complaints is the heart. No organ is so likely to be affected when rheumatism leaves the outermost parts as the heart.
Pains in the heart. So in this diathesis, with the strong smelling urine and the gout, we may expect affections of the heart.
"Pains change place incessantly."
"Palpitation of the heart."
The rheumatism, of course, is affecting the heart.
"Awakens after midnight with violent pulsations of the heart."
Think a moment and you will see in what kind of a case you will need Benzoic acid.
The constitution of the remedy comes to mind at once with the heart symptoms, the dyspnea, pain in the heart with rheumatic symptoms;
"cannot go to sleep."
Think of the alternation of sleeplessness with sleep; think of the strong urine, of the fluctuating complaints, of the erratic constitution.
"Palpitation worse at night."
"Rheumatic pains in extremities relieving heart."
There we get relief; complaints going back to the extremities with relief to the heart. The heart will relieve when the urine becomes copious or when the rheumatism goes back to the extremities, into the fingers and knees, especially the knees in Benzoic acid.
Rheumatism alternating between the extremities and heart. This medicine has cured affections of the heart when the rheumatism has a long time ago disappeared from the extremities and has ever since been affecting the heart; after Benzoic acid has been administered a very good sign of its action is that the extremities become painful and the urine becomes copious; free urine and solids increased; the urine becomes heavy, whereas it was light.
"Hard, frequent pulse."
Extremities: The extremities are full of rheumatic affections.
"Lassitude in lower limbs."
"Swelling of knee."
All gouty affections belong to this remedy.
"Gouty concretions."
"Nodes on joints."
Benzoic acid is often an excellent palliating remedy in old gouty constitutions; they want to be relieved of the pains in their fingers and in the nodes and joints. The fingers crack and are clumsy and painful.
But often the pain has been relieved and gone to other parts. This is one among the remedies that will drive the complaints away from the internal organs and generally increase the pain in the extremities, which they will scold about.
"Trembling with palpitation of heart."
"Extreme weakness; sweat and comatose condition."
Note that comatose condition with sweat; the Benzoic acid patient sweats without relief.
Copious, exhaustive sweat and profound sleep, but there is no relief.
"Awaken with difficulty of breathing."
Pulsation all over.
"All sorts of catarrhal states; gouty diathesis, gout with arthritic nodosites, syphilitic rheumatism, etc."
These patients are getting low down in the scale of life, the tissues become feeble. Ulcers form upon the skin and mucous membranes.
By James Tyler Kent
BENZOICUM ACIDUM
The most marked characteristic pertains to the odor and color of the urine. It has a marked action on metabolism. It produces and cures symptoms of a uric acid diathesis, with urine highly colored and very offensive, and gouty symptoms. Renal insufficiency. Child wants to be nursed in the arms, will not be laid down. Pains suddenly change their locality. Anti-sycotic. Gouty and asthmatic.
Mind. Prone to dwell on unpleasant things in the past. Omits words in writing. Depression.
Head. Vertigo inclination to fall sideways. Throbbing in temporal arteries, causes puffing around ears. Noises when swallowing. Ulceration of tongue. Swelling behind ears (Caps). Cold sweat on forehead. Pricking, puckered constriction of mouth, bluish and bleeding gums. Wens.
Nose. Itching of septum. Pain in nasal bones.
Face. Copper-colored spots. Red, with little blisters. Circumscribed redness of cheeks.
Stomach. Sweat while eating; pressure in stomach, sensation of a lump.
Abdomen. Cutting about navel. Stitching in liver region.
Rectum. Stitches and constricted feeling. Puckering constriction of rectum. Itching and watery elevations around anus.
Stool. Frothy, offensive, liquid, light-colored, like soapsuds, bowel movements, mostly windy.
Urine. Repulsive odor; changeable color; brown, acid. Enuresis; dribbling, offensive urine of old men. Excess of uric acid. Vesical catarrh from suppressed gonorrhœa. Cystitis.
Respiratory. Hoarse in morning. Asthmatic cough; worse at night; lying on right side. Chest very tender. Pain in region of heart. Expectoration, green mucus.
Back. Pressure on spinal column. Coldness in sacrum. Dull pain in region of kidneys; worse, wine.
Extremities. Joints crack on motion. Tearing with stitches. Pain in tendo Achillis. Rheumatic gout; nodes very painful. Gouty deposits. Ganglion; swelling of the wrist. Pain and swelling in knees. Bunion of great toe. Tearing pain in great toe.
Fever. Cold hands, feet, back, knees. Chilliness; cold sweat. Internal heat on awakening.
Skin. Red spots. Itching in spots.
Modalities. Worse, in open air; by uncovering.
Relationship. Useful after Colchic fails in gout; after Copavia in gonorrhœa.
Compare: Nitric acid; Ammon benz; Sabina; Tropoeolum.
Garden Nasturtium--(fetid urine).
Antidote: Copaiva.
Incompatible: Wine.
Dose. Third to sixth potency.
by William Boericke