Magnesium sulphuricum

An inorganic salt of magnesium and sulphuric acid, historically known as “Epsom salts,” crystallising with seven molecules of water. In crude doses it is a saline purgative and mild diuretic, drawing fluid into the bowel and producing rapid, watery stools with griping—physiology that mirrors the remedy’s keynote watery diarrhoea with colic and the after-effects of saline purgatives recorded by classical authors [Hughes], [Clarke]. For homœopathic use it is triturated to the 3C and potentised; the picture is largely based on fragmentary provings and abundant clinical confirmations: portal and splenic congestion, bilious states with right hypochondrial pain, mucous diarrhoea, vesical irritation, and uterine bleedings of a lax venous type [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger].

No full Hahnemannian proving. Symptoms collated by Allen and Hering include gurgling, watery stools with urgent colic, portal congestion with right-sided abdominal soreness, vesical burning with frequent urging, menorrhagia, epistaxis, and a lax venous tendency—afterwards widely confirmed in practice [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke]. [Proving]/[Clinical]

Magnesia sulphurica expresses a saline–lax venous constitution. The gut is irritable and “watery”: gurgling colic with gushing stools, commonly on rising or after cold drinks/after eating; the outlet is left raw and burning, with tenesmus out of proportion to the amount passed. On the vascular side there is an easy, relaxed venous engorgement: portal fulness with right hypochondrial weight, haemorrhoids that bleed and relieve the head, epistaxis in warm rooms or under the sun, and in women, menorrhagia/metrorrhagia with dark clots and bearing down on exertion. The urinary mucosa answers the same irritative tune—burning urging in chill or during flux phases. The modalities knit the whole: worse from cold drinks, after eating, morning, damp/cold weather, exertion/standing; better from warmth to the abdomen, gentle pressure/bending forward, rest, warm drinks, and often after a free stool. This coherent signature distinguishes it from its relatives: Natrum sulphuricum is the sodium sulphate of damp climates, asthma, and head-injury sequelae; Magnesia phosphorica is the electric spasm–neuralgia salt craving heat and pressure without the saline diarrhoea or venous-lax picture; Sulphur burns and itches with early-morning drives but is hot, thirsty, and philosophic where Mag-s. is more watery, lax, and venous.

Clinically the remedy is serviceable in post-purgative enteritis, morning watery diarrhoea with cramp, portal–hæmorrhoidal states, vesical irritability after chill, and uterine bleedings of a relaxed type. Direction of cure is readable: the bowels form; cold drinks cease to provoke; morning urgency fades; venous heaviness and bleedings remit; the head ceases to require epistaxis for relief; and the urinary burning subsides with warmth and rest. When one sees together the triad—(1) watery, gushing stools with cramp and anal rawness, (2) venous laxity with haemorrhoids/epistaxis/menorrhagia, (3) aggravation from cold drinks and after eating, amelioration by warmth/pressure/rest—Magnesia sulphurica deserves preference within the sulphate group.

• Gastro-intestinal tract (small & large bowel)—saline watery diarrhoea with griping and gurgling, soreness of anus; often morning or after eating/drinking, echoing the purgative physiology (see Stomach/Abdomen/Rectum) [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Hepato-portal system—right hypochondrial weight and tenderness, splenic fulness, haemorrhoids of venous congestion; bowel and portal symptoms wax and wane together (see Abdomen/Rectum) [Hughes], [Boger], [Clarke].
• Urinary mucosa—burning in urethra, frequent urging, scanty urine that later increases; cystitis-like irritability, especially after chill or after diarrhoea (see Urinary) [Hering], [Clarke].
• Uterine–venous sphere—menorrhagia/metrorrhagia of dark, clotted blood with backache and bearing down; lax venous tone and easy bleeding (see Female) [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Nasal and haemorrhagic tendency—epistaxis from venous engorgement or heat; bleeding with weakness fits the remedy’s relaxed vascular tone (see Nose/Fever) [Boger], [Clarke].
• Rectal outlet—post-saline tenesmus, rawness, bleeding piles with burning; soreness disproportionate to the amount of stool (see Rectum) [Hering], [Clarke].
• Serous membranes & fluids—saline-draining states, thirst for cool drinks during diarrhoeic loss; weakness from fluid shift (see Generalities) [Hughes], [Boericke].
• Biliary passages—bilious colic, bitter taste, nausea with right-sided ache, stools pale or greenish-aqueous in flux phases (see Stomach/Abdomen) [Clarke], [Boger].

The emotional state is subdued, tired, and easily irritable from abdominal discomfort; conversation and exertion are avoided lest urging return, which tallies with the aggravation after eating or movement already noted [Clarke], [Boger]. Anxiety centres on bowels and bladder—fear of not reaching the closet; rest brings relative composure. Hypochondriacal dwelling on hepatic or splenic weight is common in chronic portal cases; yet, once stool passes, the mood lightens. Children are fretful during flux, thirsty then fearful to drink cold water because it “goes through them.” Consolation is not especially intolerable (contrasting Cham.); patients desire quiet and warmth. Mental dulness follows losses by stool or haemorrhage; a nap refreshes but movement soon recalls the urgency [Allen], [Clarke].

Broken by early-morning urging; after stool the patient dozes from weakness—this tallies with the better after evacuation already noted (Sleep ↔ Rectum/Generalities) [Allen], [Clarke]. Heat of room may wake with head-throb and epistaxis. Afternoon naps refresh if undisturbed.

Of water, of seeking a privy, of accidents with bleeding—reflecting diurnal anxieties. Dreams cease as bowels steady and nosebleeds abate.

Magnesia sulphurica centres on saline flux with venous laxity: watery, gushing stools with cramp and gurgling, better warmth/pressure and after stool, worse cold drinks, after eating, morning; venous congestions of portal, pelvic, and nasal territories—haemorrhoids, menorrhagia, epistaxis—relieved by rest or bleeding, and vesical burning/frequency toggling with bowel irritability [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger], [Hughes]. It differs from Nat-s. (sodium sulphate) which has head-injury sequelae and damp-worse asthma; and from Mag-phos. whose keynote is spasm better heat/pressure without the saline watery diarrhoea/venous theme. Direction of cure is observed as: stools become formed, morning urging subsides, venous heaviness and bleedings quiet, head clears without epistaxis, and cold drinks cease to provoke cramp.

Low-grade heat with venous head-congestion; epistaxis may intervene and cool the system (Fever ↔ Nose). After flux, chilliness from depletion is common; warm wraps comfort [Boger], [Clarke].

Chill in damp/cold weather with pelvic/vesical urging; heat of rooms oppresses head; sweat follows stool or bleeding and gives transient relief (Chill/Heat/Sweat ↔ Generalities) [Boger].

Heaviness and dull frontal ache accompany congestion of portal system and haemorrhoids; heat of rooms or sun may bring throbbing with a tendency to epistaxis, which relieves the weight (Head ↔ Nose) [Boger], [Clarke]. Vertigo on rising in the morning when diarrhoea threatens is recorded. The head clears as bowels settle or after a free haemorrhoidal flow, linking cephalic symptoms to venous states. Scalp sensitive in heat; cool sponging helps the throbbing though cold drinks aggravate the abdomen (cross-modality) [Clarke].

Congested conjunctiva with dull scleral injection during venous fulness; lids feel heavy. Vision blurs from weakness or after epistaxis; rest in a dim room restores. No special photophobia beyond the venous headache context [Hering], [Clarke].

Fullness or roaring with head-congestion, better after nosebleed. No specific otic discharges are characteristic in the classical texts [Clarke].

Epistaxis—especially in warm rooms or from sun-heat—relieves congestive head weight, reflecting the remedy’s lax, engorged venous tone (Nose ↔ Head/Generalities) [Clarke], [Boger]. Coryza is mild; nasal mucosa feels swollen in damp cold weather. Sense of smell dull in congestion.

Pale or sallow in portal states; lips dry after flux; perioral area looks drawn after repeated stools. Flushing with head-congestion alternates with pallor after losses. Facial expression anxious before stool, relaxed after (Face ↔ Rectum) [Allen].

Bitter taste with bilious kind of nausea; tongue coated white or yellowish; thirst marked during flux but cold drinks worsen the cramp (Mouth/Stomach ↔ Modalities) [Clarke]. Aphthous spots are not typical; saliva may be scant from dehydration.

No primary tooth-pathology; teeth and gums feel elongated or tender during congestive headaches. Cold water in the mouth is pleasant but swallowing it renews gastric spasm (Teeth ↔ Stomach) [Clarke].

Dryness with frequent swallowing during heat and epistaxis. Throat feels scraped after vomiting in bilious attacks; warm drinks soothe (Throat ↔ Stomach) [Allen].

Oppression from venous fulness and flatulent distension pressing up; sighing. Intercostal ache after chill subsides with warmth. No specific laryngeal spasm keynote here [Boger], [Clarke].

Palpitation after meals with abdominal distension; pulse soft in haemorrhagic states; faintness after stool or nosebleed. Relief comes on lying down; excitement rekindles throbbing (Heart ↔ Generalities) [Clarke].

Short breath on exertion during venous congestion; better after epistaxis or free haemorrhoidal flow. Cold damp air causes cough tickle with vesical urging from pelvic chill (Respiration ↔ Urinary) [Boger].

Nausea with bitter taste, queasy sinking after meals; cold drinks or ices provoke cramp and hasten stool (Stomach ↔ Modalities) [Clarke]. Belching brings little relief. Warm liquids and simple foods quiet the stomach. In “saline after-effects” there is atony with easy gushing when eating resumes, fitting the overall lax motif [Hughes].

Key sphere: gurgling and cramping in the small intestines, much wind, with a sense of right hypochondrial weight (portal–biliary element); pains are better warmth and gentle pressure, worse after cold drinks and after eating (Abdomen ↔ Modalities) [Allen], [Clarke]. The spleen may feel full and tender in chronic malaria-like venous states (compare Nat-s.); clothing tightness aggravates. Cutting pains run to the groins with urging; flatulence noisy. After stool there is soreness and emptiness.

Watery, gushing stools with griping, often in the morning on rising or soon after meals; tenesmus and burning follow, with sense of rawness at the outlet (Rectum ↔ Better after stool yet weak) [Hering], [Clarke]. Haemorrhoids swell and bleed dark, relieving head, but leave soreness and weight (Rectum ↔ Head). In some cases stools become greenish, mucous, or pale in biliary involvement; alternating days of flux and sluggishness occur after purgative abuse [Allen], [Hughes].

Burning in urethra with frequent urging; urine initially scant from fluid shift, later increased as kidneys respond (Urinary ↔ Generalities) [Hering], [Clarke]. Cold/damp exposure reawakens vesical symptoms. Mucus threads possible; sediment light. Urging often follows the bowel urge—the pelvic plexus irritable.

Cold drinks, fruits, greens/salads, and sour/fermentable foods aggravate diarrhoea and wind; warm, simple fare and warm drinks ameliorate (Food ↔ Stomach/Abdomen) [Hughes], [Clarke]. Desire for cool water despite aggravation is frequent in flux.

Sexual desire low during flux; aching in loins and perineum with vesical tenesmus. After chill, urethral burning extends to glans; warm sitz-baths help (Male ↔ Urinary) [Clarke].

Menorrhagia/metrorrhagia with dark clots, dragging backache, and a “bearing-down” venous feeling; worse exertion and standing, better rest, aligning with the remedy’s venous laxity (Female ↔ Generalities) [Clarke], [Boericke]. Looseness of bowels around menses is frequent. During climacteric, epistaxis may alternate with uterine bleeding (Female ↔ Nose/Head).

Dull sacro-lumbar ache with pelvic congestion and menses; standing aggravates, rest helps (Back ↔ Female) [Clarke]. Right scapular ache in biliary states, echoing hepatic sympathy.

Heaviness and easy weariness of legs from venous fulness; ankles feel thick after standing. Cramps are not as central as in Mag-phos.; here the theme is weight and laxity bettered by rest and warmth [Boger], [Boericke].

Pale, relaxed, easily bruised in some subjects; slow ooze from small cuts; sweat clammy after diarrhoea. Haemorrhoidal skin raw, burning (Skin ↔ Rectum) [Clarke].

• Aetiology—After purgatives/saline laxatives; cold drinks
  • Aloe: gushing stools with insecurity of sphincter and jelly-like mucus; much rectal fullness; Mag-s. more venous–portal and cold-drink aggravated [Clarke], [Boger].
  • Podo.: profuse, painless morning stools with prostration; Mag-s. has cramp, burning, venous theme [Allen], [Clarke].
• Watery diarrhoea with colic
  • Ars.: burning, restlessness, thirst for small sips, great anxiety; stools offensive; Mag-s. flux is more saline-gurgling with venous laxity [Kent], [Clarke].
  • China: weakness and tympany after losses, desires fruit; Mag-s. shares depletion but has cold-drink aggravation and haemorrhoidal/uterine bleedings [Hughes], [Clarke].
• Portal–biliary states
  • Nat-s.: right hypochondrium, bilious, worse damp, asthma; Mag-s. leans to watery flux + venous bleeding [Boger], [Clarke].
  • Chel.: gall-stone colic with right scapular pains, yellow tongue, liver mapped; Mag-s. has less fixed hepatic pattern, more saline bowel signature [Clarke].
• Haemorrhoids & venous laxity
  • Hamamelis: passive haemorrhages, bruised soreness, no diarrhoeic keynote; Mag-s. adds watery stools and cold-drink aggravation [Clarke], [Boger].
  • Sulph.: early-morning drive from bed, burning anus, haemorrhoids; more heat-intolerant and itchy; Mag-s. is cooler, more saline, with vesical irritation [Kent], [Clarke].
• Urinary burning/frequency
  • Canth.: violent cutting/burning in bladder, constant urging, drops of urine; Mag-s. milder cystitis bound to flux/chill [Hering], [Clarke].
  • Sars.: urethral burning at close of micturition; gravel; Mag-s. lacks lithic keynote [Boger].
• Uterine bleeding (menorrhagia/metrorrhagia)
  • Sabina: bright blood with pain from sacrum to pubes; Mag-s. more venous, clotted, with bowel looseness [Clarke].
  • Trillium: gushes on least movement with backache; Mag-s. lightens when resting and regularises with bowels [Boericke].

• Complementary: China—after losses by stool/bleeding, China restores tone; Mag-s. addresses the saline flux itself [Hughes], [Clarke].
• Complementary: Hamamelis—for passive venous bleeding and hæmorrhoids alongside Mag-s. bowel state [Clarke], [Boger].
• Complementary: Chel.—when biliary element is pronounced; Mag-s. manages watery flux/venous side [Clarke].
• Follows well: Acon.—after chill-shock in acute flux; Mag-s. completes the bowel phase [Clarke].
• Follows well: Nux-v.—after drug/purgative abuse with irritability; Mag-s. resolves saline diarrhoea [Allen].
• Precedes well: Sulph.—if morning drive and anal burning persist after flux abates [Kent].
• Related: Nat-s., Aloe, Podoph., Ars., China, Hamamelis, Chel., Sulph., Canth., Trillium—see differentials for boundaries.
• Antidotes (states): Warmth, rest, simple warm drinks; medicinally Nux-v. for after-purgative irritability where indicated [Clarke], [Hughes].
• Inimicals: None fixed in the classics; avoid needless alternation without a new totality [Boger], [Kent].

• Morning, gushing watery diarrhoea with cramp; worse cold drinks/after eating; better warmth/pressure—Mag-s. 6C–12C every 2–4 hours in acutes, then taper; warm compress over abdomen [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Haemorrhoids with dark bleeding, portal weight, head better after epistaxis—Mag-s. 6C b.i.d.; dietary simplicity and warm sitz-baths; compare Hamamelis [Clarke], [Boger].
• Menorrhagia with bearing down, bowel looseness, worse standing/exertion—Mag-s. 6C–30C once–twice daily during the flow; rest and warmth; compare Trillium, Sabina by characteristics [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Vesical burning/frequency after chill during a diarrhoeic spell—Mag-s. 6C–12C t.i.d.; keep warm; if violent, think Canth. [Hering], [Clarke].

Mind

• Anxiety about bowels; fear of not reaching closet—functional fixation in flux states [Clarke].
• Irritable from abdominal discomfort; prefers rest and warmth—behavioural modality [Boger].
• Mental dulness after losses; better sleep—post-depletion state [Allen].
• Aversion to exertion lest urging return—practical cue [Clarke].
• Hypochondriacal about liver/spleen during portal congestion—terrain pointer [Clarke].
• Relief of mood after stool or bleeding—venous–enteric link [Boger].

Head

• Heaviness and throbbing worse heat of rooms/sun, better after epistaxis—congestive relief rubric [Boger], [Clarke].
• Vertigo on rising with morning diarrhoea—time link [Allen].
• Headache with haemorrhoids; better after a haemorrhoidal flow—portal–cranial tie [Clarke].
• Scalp sensitive to heat; cool sponging relieves—modal nuance [Clarke].
• Dull frontal ache with biliary states—hepatic sympathy [Boger].
• Pallor and weakness after stool—depletion sign [Allen].

Nose

• Epistaxis from heat; relieves head—signature venous laxity [Clarke], [Boger].
• Congested nasal mucosa in warm rooms—head–nose link [Clarke].
• Alternation epistaxis ↔ uterine bleeding—vascular see-saw [Clarke].
• Nosebleed with portal congestion—systemic pointer [Boger].
• Coryza mild; worse damp cold—environment [Boger].
• Smell dulled in congestion—minor sign [Clarke].

Stomach/Abdomen/Rectum

• Watery, gushing stools with cramp and gurgling, worse morning/after eating/cold drinks, better warmth/pressure—grand rubric set [Allen], [Clarke].
• Right hypochondrial weight with splenic fulness—portal rubric [Boger].
• Tenesmus and burning at anus after stool—outlet suffering [Hering].
• Diarrhoea alternating with sluggish days post-purgative—abuse sequelae [Hughes], [Allen].
• Greenish/pale watery stools in biliary cases—bile-tie [Clarke].
• Abdominal soreness after stool; emptiness—post-flux state [Allen].

Urinary

• Burning in urethra with frequent urging after chill—vesical irritability [Hering], [Clarke].
• Scanty urine at first, then increased as flux ends—fluid-shift rubric [Clarke].
• Urging synchronous with bowel urging—pelvic plexus link [Clarke].
• Mucus threads; sediment light—minor [Hering].
• Damp cold aggravates urinary symptoms—modal [Boger].
• Better rest, warmth—confirmatory [Clarke].

Female

• Menorrhagia/metrorrhagia, dark clots, worse exertion/standing, better rest—venous uterine rubric [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Looseness of bowels around menses—cycle link [Clarke].
• Alternation uterine bleeding ↔ epistaxis—vascular balance [Clarke].
• Bearing-down with backache—pelvic congestion [Clarke].
• Flooding in warm rooms—heat-aggravated venous laxity [Boger].
• Relief when recumbent—posture rubric [Clarke].

Generalities

• Worse: cold drinks, after eating, morning, damp/cold weather, exertion/standing, heat of rooms (head)—master modalities [Allen], [Boger], [Clarke].
• Better: warmth to abdomen, gentle pressure/bending forward, rest, warm drinks, after stool (though weak)—amelioration frame [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Venous laxity with easy bleedings—essence [Boger].
• Depletion after losses; needs simple diet and warmth—management pointer [Hughes], [Clarke].
• Portal–pelvic–nasal axis active—system pattern [Clarke].
• Cold damp rekindles bowel/urinary irritation—environment [Boger].

Hering — The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica (1879–1891): diarrhoea/tenesmus; urinary burning; outlet soreness.
Allen, T. F. — Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): collated proving data—watery stools, morning urging, abdominal gurgling.
Clarke, J. H. — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): general portrait; modalities (cold drinks, after eating, morning); portal/uterine/epistaxis notes; relationships.
Boericke, W. — Pocket Manual of Homeopathic Materia Medica (1901): keynotes—Epsom salt; watery diarrhoea; haemorrhoids; menorrhagia; dosing hints.
Boger, C. M. — Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica (1915): generalities—venous laxity; environment; portal/haemorrhoidal linkages.
Hughes, R. — A Manual of Pharmacodynamics (late 19th c.): pharmacology of saline purgatives and clinical correlations to homœopathic picture.
Kent, J. T. — Lectures on Homeopathic Materia Medica (1905): comparative notes with Sulph., Ars., China, Aloe in diarrhoeal states.
Farrington, E. A. — Clinical Materia Medica (1890): digestive/portal remedy comparisons; practical differentiations.
Phatak, S. R. — Materia Medica of Homeopathic Medicines (20th c.): succinct modalities and relationships across sulphates.
Lippe, A. von — Text-Book of Materia Medica (1866): confirmations in venous states and flux.
Nash, E. B. — Leaders in Homeopathic Therapeutics (1899): clinical pointers in diarrhoeal/haemorrhoidal conditions.
Dewey, W. A. — Practical Homeopathic Therapeutics (early 20th c.): management of diarrhoea, piles, and uterine bleeding with modality emphasis.