POLYCHRESTS

ARG-NIT
ARSENICUM
AURUM
BRYONIA
CALC-CARB
CAUSTICUM
CHINA
IGNATIA
KALI-CARB
LACHESIS
LILIUM-TIG
LYCOPODIUM
MERCURIUS
NAT-MUR
NUX-VOM
PHOSPHOROUS
PLATINA
PULSATILLA
RHUS-TOX
SEPIA
SILICA
STAPHYSAGRIA
SULPHUR
THUJA
VERATRUM

As one of our most important polycrest remedies, Phosphorous must be clearly understood in a variety of stages of pathology. It is interesting that none of our past homeopathic masters recognized the true center of this remedy until Vithoulkas. The essence as described by Vithoulkas is "diffusion" - like the bubbles from a carbonated drink. It is often seen that Phosphorous patients are bubbly and out-going or extroverted. The patient seems to "sparkle" with intelligence, creativity, and enthusiasm. However the patient seems to have no strong boundaries between himself and others; he is not grounded or centered. He is extremely sympathetic and can become involved with even strangers. Once he turns his attention to another project he may forget all about this stranger he befriended, thus he may appear "flighty". He loves company. He can be gullible and suggestible. He may even be clairvoyant.
There are prices to be paid for these poor boundaries. In the first stages of pathology in Phosphorous, we find great anxiety. Any idea may enter his mind and be a cause for anxiety. However, he is also easily reassured. Generally the anxiety takes the form of concern about health. But as the pathology worsens the patient has more and more "free-floating anxiety" and the fear that something bad will happen. The patient has many fears, especially of things which are symbolic of his lack of boundaries such as darkness, deep water, death, etc. These fears may develop into a debilitating phobic state. Especially, these fears come when the patient is alone, and are better in company.
In later stages the patient is so sensitive to others and to outside stimulation that the well-known desire for company is lost. The patient prefers to be alone and is intolerant of strangers or of hearing of other's problems. As more and more of the inner vitality is lost, so also is lost the "bubbly" and sparkling nature. Eventually the patient becomes slow and indifferent and apathetic, much like Phosphoric acid or Sepia.
<<Children>>
The Phosphorous child is sensitive, precocious and open. He can make contact with anyone, child or adult. The parents say that they fear the child could be kidnapped because of this open, trusting nature. The child is both curious and sympathetic for others. There are often strong fears and great desire for company. The child often has great anxiety that something bad will happen to his parents and becomes very concerned about the least illness in the family. Often the Phosphorous child experiences fast growth and suffers from this growth with fatigue and poor resistance to illness. A large percentage of Phosphorous children suffer with epistaxis, bleeding gums or bruising.

Mind.
OPEN, BRIGHT, EXCITABLE, SUGGESTIBLE, ANXIOUS PATIENTS.
<<Anxiety when alone; ameliorated in company.>> Even the radio provides company.
Fears: <<Alone. Death. Dark.>> THUNDERSTORMS. SOMETHING BAD WILL HAPPEN. Diseases. Future. For others. Ghosts. Insanity. Robbers. Insects. Water. Earthquakes. Any fear.
SYMPATHETIC.
<<Dependent on the physician. Easily reassured.>>
<<Gullible.>>
<<Clairvoyant.>> Out of the body experiences.
Startles easily.
Mentally distractible and "spacey".
Slow, apathetic, dull-minded state (late stage).
Unable to exert the mind.
Answers slowly.

General.
Appearance: thin and often tall, fine featured and long fingered.
Generally chilly or even freezing but may be very warm-blooded. (But while the general temperature is variable, the reaction to temperature in certain organ systems is quite fixed: head and stomach symptoms are better by cold and worse heat or hot applications; chest symptoms are worse from cold and better from heat.)
General aggravation from changes in the weather.
Flushes of heat. Menopausal flushes from any emotion.
<<Generally worse from fasting.>>
<<Generally worse from lying on the left side.>>
<<General amelioration from eating.>>
<<General amelioration from cold drinks.>>
<<Generally worse from spicy foods, warm foods, and salt.>>
<<General amelioration from sleep.>>
<<General amelioration from rubbing the affected part.>>
<<General aggravation at twilight.>>
<<Hemorrhagic tendency from any wound - even hemophilia.>>
<<Easily dehydrated.>>
<<Debility and collapse states.>>
Left sided symptoms.
Great sensitivity to odors. Chemical sensitivity.
Cerebral accidents; hemiparesis.
Diabetes mellitus.
Tumor formation. Fibrous and fibrocystic growths. Malignancy.

Head.
Vertigo, worse exerting the vision, especially looking upward, worse rising, better lying.
Meniere's disease.
Headache, often migraine headaches, worse fasting, worse cough, worse heat, better sleep, better cold and open air.
Detached retina. Retinal hemorrhage. Retinitis. Optic neuritis.
Glaucoma (Eser, Phys, Osm, Calc).
Flashes in the vision, worse falling asleep.
Pyorrhea, easily bleeding gums, periosteal inflammation from root canal procedure.
Dry lips and tongue with dehydration.
Smell very acute, worse headache. Intolerant of perfumes, flowers.
Hay fever.
EPISTAXIS. Children frequently, less often stays to adulthood. Bright-red, fluid blood. Bleeding from blowing the nose.
<<Excessive bleeding after dental extraction.>>

Throat.
<<Hoarseness>>, usually without pain though at times may be quite painful. Voice lost entirely. Laryngitis.
Pain and sensitivity of larynx, worse touch, worse cough.

Gastro-intestinal.
<<Peptic ulcer>>. Hematemesis: bright red blood or coffee grounds.
<<Gastritis with nausea and vomiting, better by cold drinks but returning as soon as the liquids become warmed in the stomach.>>
<<Appetite ravenous>>, even gets up at night to eat.
<<Appetite increased with headache>>, during fever; returns soon after eating.
Craves: CHOCOLATE. ICE CREAM OR COLD FOODS. SALTY. SPICY. RICE. MILK. ALCOHOLIC DRINKS, ESPECIALLY WINE. Fish. Fat. Hamburger. Eggs. Chicken. Cheese. Carbonated drinks. Sweets.
Aversion: <<Sweets>>. Warm foods. Eggs. Oysters. Meat (except hamburger). Fruit. Tea. Carbonated drinks. Fish. Fish soup.
TREMENDOUS THIRST FOR COLD DRINKS.
Indigestion, eructations, regurgitation.
Infectious or inflammatory diarrhea and even involuntary stool.
Rectal hemorrhage, worse stool. Hemorrhoids.
Colitis. Proctitis.
Anus relaxed and partially open or sensation of looseness.
Hepatitis. Liver congestion. Cirrhosis.

Urinary and Sexual Organs.
Involuntary urination with cough.
<<Sex drive increased>>, even pathological.
<<Uterine fibroids.>> Uterine prolapse.
<<Metrorrhagia with bright red blood, almost never clotted.>>
<<Ovarian cysts>> and tumors, especially left-sided.

Chest.
<<Recurring respiratory infections; every cold goes to chest.>>
<<Lingering, tickling coughs,>> worse cold air, worse exertion, worse talking and laughing, worse change of temperature and weather, worse lying flat or on left side, better sitting or lying on right.
<<Pneumonia>>, especially left-sided, with oppression of the chest and a painful, burning cough, often hemoptysis.
Pulmonary tuberculosis or history of tuberculosis in past or even in the family.
Chronic bronchitis. Asthma. Emphysema.
Fibrocystic breast disease.
Palpitations, worse lying on the left side, worse excitement, worse exertion or even slight motion, worse rising.
Heart murmurs, congestive heart failure.
<<Angina pectoris, pains worse from stress, worse lying of the left side, better from cold drinks.>>

Extremities.
<<Numbness of fingers>>, especially in the morning on waking.
Multiple sclerosis with numbness and weakness in the legs. Ataxia.
Back pains, better motion, better heat, better massage.
Fibrositis.
Twitching. Tremor.

Skin.
Dry skin. Psoriasis. Eczema. Ichthyosis.
Itching worse heat and at night.
Ecchymosis. Purpura.

Sleep.
<<Generally sleeps well and greatly refreshed by sleep.>>
<<Sleeps on right side, unable to sleep on left in most cases.>>
Somnambulism.
Talking in the sleep.
Unrefreshed sleep in later stages.
Child wakes at night and comes to parents bed (Puls, Stram).

Relationship.
Complementary.
Ars. Nux-V. Kali-C. Tub.
Inimical.
Caust.

Clinical.
Alcoholism. Angina. Anxiety. Arrhythmia. Arthritis. Asthma. Ataxia. Bronchitis. Chemical hypersensitivity. Chronic fatigue syndrome. Cirrhosis. Coagulopathy. Colds. Congestive heart failure. Connective tissue disease. Croup. Detached retina. Diabetes. Eczema. Emphysema. Environmental illness. Epistaxis. Fibrocystic breast disease. Gastritis. Headache. Hemophilia. Hepatitis. Hypertension. Ichthyosis. Influenza. Malignancy. Manic-depression. Meniere's syndrome. Migraine. Multiple sclerosis. Peptic ulcer. Petit mal. Pharyngitis. Phobic disorders. Pneumonia. Psoriasis. Purpura. Respiratory infection. Retinal hemorrhage. Schizophrenia. Scoliosis. Senility. Skin ulcers. Tinnitus. Tuberculosis. Uterine fibroids. Uterine hemorrhage. Uterine prolapse. Valvular disorders. Vertigo.

Relationship.
Comparisons.
Puls - Open patients who desire reassurance, crave ice cream and cold foods and averse to warm foods, worse from lying on the left side, worse at twilight, chest and menstrual troubles.
Caust - Sympathetic, many fears similar, especially that something bad will happen, chest conditions and hoarseness, craves salt and averse to sweets, numbness of fingers, multiple sclerosis.
Ars - Many fears and anxiety for others, dependency on the physician, gastrointestinal symptoms, asthma, craves fats, thirsty, burning pains.
Arg-N - Open and suggestible, anxieties and fears, dependent on the physician, desires salt and fat, neurological problems and vertigo.
Rhus-T. Sulph. Med. Tub. Sep. Coff. Thuj.