Anxiety Neurosis : An Hypothesis.
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 1999 Jan / Feb VOL VIII NO 1.
Dr Abha Mehta
'Nat-phos

Editor: this is a novel way of studying a pathological correlation between a disease and a remedy. So we are including it in the Materia Medica section.

Doctor, what will I do if I loose my job?
This is the refrain with which a patient I had been seeing regularly for the past one year, kept coming back to me, with!! He was in his early forties and quite successful in his chosen field. But he was tremendously anxious - not only about his work but also about his family, son's education, finances etc.

This fear and anxiety triggered off a state of neurosis: these feelings of anxiety started interfering with his ability to cope with his daily routine. He became a recluse and fanatically fastidious; irritatable at trifles and impatient, but at the same time get very emotional and raise palpitations.

Originally he had come to me for treatment of hyperacidity: retrosternal burning associated with nausea, aggravated fasting, better eating. Excessive flatulence- bloated feeling. Tongue- dirty white with sour taste and excessive salivation.

During history taking we found out that he had lost his father in his early teens; this had instilled a tremendous insecurity, which had persisted all his life. He had always been very ambitious; had not fared well in his studies, but now is very successful in his work.

We tried several remedies with partial success and finally we hit upon Natrum-phosphoricum.
Reasoning : Anxiety Neurosis is a result of excess Lactic acid in the blood. Artificially injecting Lactic acid into blood can create a state of Anxiety Neurosis.
Connection : Our Materia Medica recommends Natrum-phosphoricum as a remedy for conditions arising out of excess of Lactic acid.
We tried it out and it really worked. The patient started improving immediately. Now, in 6 months, he is completely all right and able to cope with all his daily activities.

Chemically : Natrum-phosphoricum is Di-Sodium Hydrogen-Phosphate. It is present in inter-cellular fluids and various cells e.g. nerve cells, blood cells. Again, it is well known that sugar is converted to Lactic acid. This Lactic acid, in the presence of Natrum-phosphoricum, is converted to carbonic acid and water. Natrum-phosphoricum acts as the H+ ion blocker in the body fluids. The phosphate buffer system is more effective in the intra-cellular fluids than the extracellular fluids, since the total concentration of phosphates is more in the former.

Deficiency of Natrum-phosphoricum causes an increase in the acidic part of the phosphate buffer in the body. Thus, acidic reactions of gastric juice, bile, CSF increases as pH decreases. The deficiency effects are:

• Accumulation of lactic acid into extra-cellular fluid causing burning and pricking pain.
• Production of more hydrochloric acid, resulting in hyperacidity.
• Precipitation of uric acid, as urates give rise to burning & pricking pains in joints.

Symptoms:

• Anxiety in the evening and night, while lying in bed after eating.
• Anticipatory anxiety.
• Fear about failure, anxiety about health to the point of hypochondriasis. The feeling of fear fluctuates in intensity, from mild tension to a state of panic.
• Complaints from bad news.
• Aversion to company.
• Inability to concentrate with confusion in the mind.
• Continuous state of restlessness and extreme irritability.
• Vivid imagination and delusions of seeing dead people, hearing footsteps in the next room.
• Hysteria with weeping tendency.
• Continued stress exhausts the patient and he is unable to think clearly.
• Emotions swing like a pendulum - extremely happy and full of laughter to extreme depression.
• Sensitive to noise.

• Hyperacidity.
• All discharges are acidic, acrid, excoriating, GOLDEN YELLOW in colour.
• Burning and pricking pains in joints.
• Twitching and tremors.
• Worm infestation.
• Tongue swollen and flabby with vesicles at the tip. The base and roof of the mouth is coated GOLDEN YELLOW.
• Modalities :
  AGG: cold, thunderstorm, empty stomach, fatty food, milk.
  AMEL: eating small quantities of food, frequently.

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