This is an acid that develops in bitter almonds and cattle fodder due to extreme drought and it produces extremely dangerous convulsions. Even the slightest taste of Hydrocyanic Acid can cause severe intestinal colic. If tasted a little carelessly, it can cause severe laryngeal spasm (constriction of the throat), causing suffocation and immediate death. Since the amount of Hydrocyanic Acid found in the bitter almonds is very little, the consumption of almonds may not even cause colic in the abdomen or spasm of the larynx, although some possibility still remains. It is present in the fodder in a relatively large amount, so the cattle fed on this kind of fodder will definitely contract severe abdominal colic, and sometimes it is impossible to save them. In such situations Colchicum 200 is the best remedy to treat the abdominal colic.
Most physicians have restricted the use of Hydrocyanic Acid to severe abdominal distension and severe colic, although it is extremely useful in the treatment of asthma, epilepsy and whooping cough. All these three conditions may be associated with constriction of the throat muscles. If a patient of asthma or whooping cough becomes unconscious due to the constriction of the upper respiratory passage, the patient can be saved from serious possible complications with the immediate use of Hydrocyanic Acid, otherwise due to the constriction of the air passages, the oxygen supply to the brain would be depleted, which sometimes results in permanent brain damage. Sometimes severe constriction of the throat may cause immediate death. In this condition, Hydrocyanic Acid is the top most remedy. When given along with Hydrophobinum 200, it happens to work much better than the inhalers used in the allopathic system of medicine. Moreover, possible side effects of the inhalers are also avoided.
It is extremely useful in the treatment of hysterical fits and epileptic seizures in women. There is a condition called Catalepsy, in which there is impediment of the blood flow to the brain and flushing of the face, after which the patient either loses consciousness or his memory is lost. The memory can sometimes slowly recover or be lost forever. Hydrocyanic Acid is very useful for the treatment of this condition.
Some patients develop cramps in the abdomen after taking food and others before taking the food. Hydrocyanic Acid is indicated in those patients who feel a colicky type of pain on an empty stomach, or a marked weakness and sinking sensation over the stomach, or experience a rumbling sound in the abdomen after taking food. Their heart beats very fast, their pulse is weak and irregular, their hands and feet become cold, their jaws become tightly closed during a severe convulsion, they froth at the mouth, their lips turn blue, and there is a feeling of tightness and pain over the chest. All these symptoms require to be treated with Hydrocyanic acid, in particular.
Antidotes: Ammonium, Camphor, Opium
Potency: 30 to 200
by Mirza Tahir Ahmad