Ammonium carbonicum

A chemical salt made by sublimation of ammonium chloride and calcium carbonate, forming a pungent, alkaline compound. Often used in commercial smelling salts.

First proved by Hahnemann and contributors, and included in Chronic Diseases. Strong toxicological and clinical confirmation, especially in respiratory and circulatory systems.

Ammonium carbonicum embodies the collapse of vitality, especially in anaemic, obese, or weakened individuals. There is a striking polarity: physical oppression with mental dullness, warmth aggravating yet patient is cold, breathlessness requiring the patient to sit upright, yet exhausted by movement. The paralysis of venous circulation and oxygen transport defines its clinical and emotional profile. It suits persons overwhelmed by minor exertion, chilled by the air yet worse in warmth, desiring air but suffocated by their own constitution. Suppressed discharges or catarrh are central triggers.

• Respiratory system – bronchial membranes, dyspnoea, asthma
• Circulatory system – weakness, collapse, fainting
• Venous system – sluggish circulation, cyanosis
• Mucous membranes – especially nose and throat
• Skin – eruptions, ulcers, pallor
• Blood – deficient oxygenation, toxic or anaemic states
• Right side – many symptoms are predominantly right-sided

Ammonium carbonicum affects the mental sphere through physical exhaustion, oxygen deprivation, and irritability. The patient is forgetful, dull, anxious, and often indifferent. The mind becomes cloudy, especially during fevers or breathlessness. There is confusion upon waking, irritability when disturbed, and depression in chronic illness. [Clarke] notes a peculiar intolerance to contradiction and a tendency to be mentally sluggish under physical strain. In acute states, fear of dying, restlessness, and even delirium may appear. Apathy during menses or weakness is marked.

Drowsy during the day, sleepless at night. Frequent waking with anxious dreams. Sleep disturbed by suffocation or coughing. Startling during sleep. Waking with dullness or heaviness.

Dreams anxious or of falling. Dreams of fire, quarrels, or loss. Wakes with fright or weakness. Dreams that seem very vivid but confused on waking.

Craves vinegar, pickles, acids. Aversion to meat and milk. Appetite irregular. Thirst increased during heat or fever. Worse after eating bread, pastry, or heavy food.

Chilliness in back or limbs. Heat without thirst. Alternating heat and cold. Fever with great weakness and sleepiness. Sweating during sleep or after coughing.

Chill worse from movement or open air. Flushes of heat in face and chest. Sweat mostly at night, cold and clammy. Offensive odour. Worse from exertion or suppressed eruptions.

Fullness and congestion with throbbing pain, worse from stooping or exertion. Frontal headache worse in warm rooms and better in cold air. Pulsation in temples. Face may feel hot while feet are cold. Chronic headache from anaemia or menstrual suppression. Head feels as if it would burst. Cold sweat on the forehead with weakness.

Burning and pressure in the eyes. Lids red, swollen, and stuck together in the morning. Dim vision with black spots floating before eyes. Photophobia with hot tears. Eyes feel tired and ache after reading. Eyelids twitch. Worse in warm room.

Itching in the ears. Ringing and roaring. Hearing diminished, especially during catarrh. Discharge of pus or blood possible in otitis media. Cracking noise when chewing or swallowing. Pain extending into temples.

A key location of action. Nose is stopped up at night, especially when lying down. Alternates with fluent coryza by day. Discharge is acrid, watery, or thick, and often bloody. Offensive smell. Epistaxis in the morning or during menses. [Hering] emphasised the peculiar night-time nasal obstruction with daytime flow.

Pale, bloated, with dark rings under the eyes. Redness during fever or flushes. Face feels hot while limbs are cold. Twitching of facial muscles. Lips dry and cracked. Cyanosis in severe cases.

Gums spongy, swollen, and bleed easily. Tongue coated white, later yellow. Taste sour or bitter. Offensive breath, especially in the morning. Burning in mouth and tongue. Ulcers on gums or inside cheeks. Increased salivation during sleep or in fevers.

Looseness and sensitivity of teeth. Bleeding gums when brushing. Drawing or tearing toothache at night or from cold air. Worse during menses or in damp weather. Teeth feel elongated.

Dryness and rawness in throat, especially in the morning. Much phlegm collects, causing frequent hawking. Throat feels constricted. Tonsils swollen with thick yellow mucus. Sensation of lump when swallowing. Worse from talking or swallowing saliva. Chronic catarrhal throat conditions.

Oppression and tightness in chest. Dyspnoea worse lying down, especially at night. Patient must sit up to breathe. Cough with bloody or purulent expectoration. Chronic bronchitis in the aged or weakened. Emphysematous patients who are worse from heat and motion. Palpitation and constriction, as if chest bound. Cough worse at 3 a.m.

Palpitation from exertion or emotional upset. Pulse weak, rapid, and irregular. Sense of fluttering. Cyanosis and collapse in advanced stages. Fainting spells from anaemia or suppressed discharges.

Laboured, especially on ascending stairs or lying flat. Shortness of breath with need to sit up. Cough dry or rattling, worse from warmth or during menses. Suffocative catarrh. Cough from tickling in throat.

Nausea in the morning or after eating. Eructations that relieve pressure. Craving for pickles, vinegar, and acidic food. Aversion to milk. Stomach feels heavy after meals. Digestion sluggish. Sour regurgitation, especially at night. Tendency to bloating with flatulence.

Fullness, flatulence, and colicky pains, especially in hypogastrium. Worse at night or from walking. Pressure and stitching pains. Distension with rumbling and a desire for loose clothing. Cramping before stool or menses.

Constipation alternating with diarrhoea. Stools hard, dry, crumbling. Ineffectual urging. Diarrhoea early in the morning, sometimes involuntary during sleep. Painful haemorrhoids that bleed and itch. Offensive flatus.

Frequent urging, especially at night. Urine scanty, dark, and strong-smelling. Cloudy with mucous sediment. Burning and smarting in urethra. Involuntary urination on coughing or sneezing. Useful in senile incontinence.

Craves vinegar, pickles, acids. Aversion to meat and milk. Appetite irregular. Thirst increased during heat or fever. Worse after eating bread, pastry, or heavy food.

Weakness or exhaustion after coition. Emissions without dreams. Coldness of genitals. Impotence with aversion to sex. Gonorrhoeal discharges that are thick and yellow. Testicular pain or drawing in spermatic cords.

Suppressed or delayed menses with faintness, breathlessness, and headache. Menses too early, too profuse, or too scanty. Leucorrhoea acrid and corrosive. Burning in vulva. Great exhaustion during and after menses. Labour-like pains in young girls. [Boericke] mentions its usefulness in women who feel suffocated during menstruation.

Weakness in lumbar spine, especially on rising. Pain in sacrum when walking. Burning between shoulder blades. Tension or cramping along spine. Backache during menstruation.

Hands cold, numb, or blue. Fingers stiff. Swelling of ankles. Cramps in calves at night. Heaviness and soreness in thighs. Pain in hip joint, worse at night. Chilblains. Numbness on waking.

Pale, flaccid, and cold. Urticaria, especially from heat or exertion. Eczema behind ears. Ulcers slow to heal. Itching, worse from warmth or water. Petechiae and small haemorrhages in feeble constitutions.

• Carbo vegetabilis – Also collapse, cyanosis, but more air hunger and distension
• Antimonium tartaricum – Rattling chest but little expectoration, more in children
• Nux vomica – Irritable, oversensitive, but stronger digestion and reaction
• Arsenicum album – Restless, anxious, burning, more thirst and fear of death
• Lachesis – Cyanosis and suppression symptoms, but left-sided and loquacious

• Complementary: Arnica, Arsenicum, Bryonia
• Antidotes: Camphora, Coffea
• Follows well: Aconite in collapse, Pulsatilla in menstrual suppression
• Precedes well: Carbo veg in chronic debility
• Inimical: Chin., Ferrum (in some patients)

• Invaluable for asthma with cyanosis, especially when better sitting upright and worse in a warm room
• Useful in chronic nasal catarrh with night-time obstruction
• Excellent for collapse during menses or fevers, particularly in anaemic women
• Consider in chronic bronchitis in the elderly, especially obese patients
• Indicated when cough or sleep is disturbed by dyspnoea or congestion

Nose

• Obstruction at night
• Coryza alternating with stoppage
• Epistaxis during menses

Chest

• Oppression, worse lying down
• Cough with bloody mucus
• Asthma better sitting up

Skin

• Urticaria from exertion
• Ulcers slow to heal
• Cold, flaccid skin

Generalities

• Worse warmth, better open air
• Fainting from exertion
• Exhaustion with cyanosis

• Samuel Hahnemann – Chronic Diseases: Provided initial proving and chronic usage guidelines
• T.F. Allen – Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica: Extended proving and clinical observations
• John Henry Clarke – Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica: Offered rich repertorial detail and clinical comparison
• C. Hering – Guiding Symptoms: Key symptoms for asthma, fainting, and sleep
• William Boericke – Pocket Manual: Clinical insights into respiratory and menstrual collapse states