Zincum arsenicosum

A prepared salt of zinc with arsenious acid (arsenite). In pharmacy it is triturated from a pure salt to prepare potencies. Arsenites are protoplasmic poisons with marked neuro-vascular and trophic effects; zinc, as a nerve-associated metal in homeopathy, furnishes a sphere of spinal and peripheral nerve irritation with restlessness, trembling, and exhaustion. The composite picture in the literature blends Zincum’s spinal–cerebral irritability and Arsenicum’s burning pains, anxiety, and nocturnal aggravation, yielding a remedy for progressive neuritis, restless legs, ataxic and paretic states, anginoid pains, and chronic kidney/skin sequelae after suppression [Hughes], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger], [Phatak]. [Toxicology] [Clinical]

Symptoms derive from smaller provings, toxicology of arsenites, and clinical confirmations. Recurrent threads: fidgety, incessant movement of the feet/legs, paresthesiae and burning along nerves, tremors, weakness after mental strain, insomnia after midnight, restlessness with anxiety, palpitations/anginoid constriction, albuminous or scanty urine, eczema/psoriasis suppressed → nervous phenomena [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger], [Phatak], [Tyler]. [Proving] [Toxicology] [Clinical]

Zinc-ar. is the overworked, over-wired nerves remedy with an Arsenicum flame running through them. The patient is restless in the limbs—especially the feet, which must keep moving—yet mentally exhausted, made worse by study and late hours. Pain quality is burning, crawling, tingling, running along nerves that behave like hot wires; these pains worsen after midnight and are soothed by local warmth and gentle motion. The chest and heart join the drama with anginoid tightness and anxious palpitations at night; the kidneys answer with scanty, albuminous urine; the skin tells its secret with burning eczema/psoriasis, often suppressed shortly before the nervous and cardiac aggravations mounted. This suppression–nervous aggravation axis is pivotal: when the skin acts again, the head clears, the spine quiets, and sleep returns. The remedy’s polarities are diagnostic: warmth to the nerves, fresh air to the face; gentle motion >, mental effort <; wine/stimulants <, small sips and light food >; after midnight <, early rest >. Place it between Zincum met. and Arsenicum: it has Zinc’s fidgety feet and spinal irritability, and Ars.’s burning and 1–3 a.m. anxiety; distinguish it from Cupr-ars. (tetanus-like cramp/collapse), Kali-ars. (asthma/skin), and Pic-ac. (brain-fag without burning neuralgia). In practice, marry the prescription to regimen: cut stimulants, schedule mental work, guard early sleep, apply local warmth to neuralgic tracts while airing the room, and never briskly suppress the skin—improvement then follows the remedy’s map, from quieter legs to cooler chest to steadier sleep. [Clarke], [Allen], [Boericke], [Boger], [Phatak], [Tyler], [Hughes].

• Peripheral nerves (primary): Burning, tingling, crawling and shooting pains coursing along nerves with restlessness of limbs and tremor; night aggravation and warmth > the burning, combining Arsenicum’s pain-quality with Zincum’s fidgetiness. Cross-ref. Extremities, Sleep, Generalities. [Clarke], [Boericke], [Phatak]
• Spinal cord / motor pathways: Irritable weakness—twitchings, startings, ataxic gait, easy fatigue of legs; worse after long mental work or suppressed eruptions; better by gentle motion. Cross-ref. Back, Extremities, Mind. [Hughes], [Boger], [Allen]
• Heart and chest (anginoid): Constriction, stitching precordial pains with anxious restlessness and burning; attacks at night; compares with Arsenicum and Kali-ars. Cross-ref. Heart, Respiration. [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Kidney/urinary: Irritation with albuminuria, scanty, high-coloured urine; burning urethral sensations; fatigue of kidneys in chronic toxemia. Cross-ref. Urinary, Generalities. [Allen], [Boericke]
• Skin and trophic: Eczema/psoriasis with burning itching, worse warm bed; suppression precedes nervous or cardiac aggravations. Cross-ref. Skin, Mind, Generalities. [Clarke], [Phatak]
• Cerebro-mental fatigue: Head pressure, confusion, aggravation from study, relief by discharge/eruption returning; sensitive to wine and stimulants. Cross-ref. Mind, Head, Food & Drink. [Hughes], [Boger]
• Gastro-intestinal mucosa: Arsenical burning in stomach with Zinc-type aggravation from mental strain; small sips tolerated. Cross-ref. Stomach, Fever. [Allen], [Clarke]
• Respiratory nerves: Asthmatic oppression after midnight with anxiety and desire for air; neurogenic dyspnoea. Cross-ref. Respiration, Sleep. [Boericke]
• Female pelvic nerves: Neuralgic dysmenorrhoea with burning and restless legs; menses irregular after skin suppression. Cross-ref. Female, Skin. [Clarke], [Phatak]

The mental state shows irritable weakness: quick exhaustion from thinking, over-sensitivity to noise and conversation, and a constant sense of being over-wired yet under-powered [Hughes], [Clarke]. Restlessness is coloured by Zincum—incessant movement of the feet under the table or in bed—and by Arsenicum—anxious searching for relief, especially after midnight [Boericke], [Phatak]. Mental exertion aggravates spinal and head symptoms until the patient must stop work, and there is relief when a suppressed eruption or discharge returns, directly echoing the modality already noted [Clarke], [Boger]. The temper is snappish from nerve pain; fear of heart trouble attends palpitations and chest constriction at night. Suspiciousness and worry about health rise with paresthesiae; the patient carefully arranges warmth to painful nerves but craves cool air for the general oppression, a polarity consistent with the salt’s dual parentage. Compared with Zincum metallicum, Zinc-ar. is more burning, anxious, and nocturnal; compared with Arsenicum album, it is more spinal and fidgety, less despairing, and more driven by overwork and suppression than by fear alone [Clarke], [Boericke].

Sleep is hard to obtain; if sleep comes before midnight it refreshes, but after midnight the patient wakes with anxious restlessness, must move the feet, and cannot keep still [Boericke], [Tyler]. Burning pains and cardiac awareness are worst then; small sips of water and warm wraps to painful nerves allow dozing while the face seeks the window. Sleeplessness from mental overwork is characteristic; the mind keeps turning until the legs are worked out. When a suppressed eruption reappears or a period comes on, sleep improves distinctly—precise cross-link to Modalities.

Anxious, hurried dreams; dreams of fire/burning in the limbs, of examinations and unprepared work, of being late; nightmares towards morning when palpitations are felt. Dreams abate when the limbs are gently moved and warmth is applied.

Zinc-ar. fuses Zincum’s spinal–cerebral irritability and fidgety feet with Arsenicum’s burning pains, anxiety, and nocturnal aggravation. The case centre is a neuro-vascular patient exhausted by overwork or suppression whose limbs must move to get ease, whose nerves burn and crawl after midnight, whose palpitations and anginoid constriction disturb the small hours, and whose skin/kidney spheres echo the rest with burning, albuminous urine, psoriatic/eczema tendencies, and aggravation when discharges are checked [Clarke], [Allen], [Boericke], [Boger], [Phatak]. Modalities are night < (1–3 a.m.), study/mental exertion <, wine/stimulants <, cold draughts on nerves <; and gentle motion >, local warmth > (for burning pains), open air > (for oppression), and return of eruptions/discharges >. Differentiate from Zincum met. (less burning, more pure spinal irritability), Ars. (less fidgetiness, more collapse and chill), Cupr-ars. (more spasmodic and cardiopulmonary peril), Kali-ars. (chest/asthma with desquamation), and Pic-ac. (brain-fag without Zinc’s restless limbs). The remedy rewards careful respect of its polarities at the bedside: keep the nerves warm, keep the air fresh, keep the feet gently moving, forbid wine and late study, and do not suppress the skin.

A low nervous fever picture suits: chilliness with burning neuralgia, thirst for small sips, restlessness after midnight; heat in spots along nerves more than general pyrexia [Allen], [Clarke]. Fever follows overstrain or suppression; cool air is pleasant, yet local warmth to painful tracts is demanded.

Chill in open draughts; heat with burning streaks in nerves; sweat towards morning that fails to relieve unless sleep returns. Warm bed increases itch, yet coaxes burning pains to subside—a polarity repeatedly noted.

Headaches are pressure-like and constrictive, seated in the occiput or vertex, aggravated by study and noise, and relieved by rest or by the return of a cutaneous eruption [Hughes], [Clarke]. There is a sensation as if the brain were hot and tired rather than congested; the scalp is tender along nerve lines. Vertigo attends sudden rising and after late hours; trembling accompanies attempts to concentrate. The head feels better in open cool air but the neck demands warmth; this divergence highlights the combined Arsenicum–Zincum modality. Micro-comparison: Picric acid shares the brain-fag and occipital heaviness from overwork, yet lacks the fidgety feet and burning neuralgia; Kali-phos. calms mental fatigue without the nocturnal burning anxiety seen here [Boger], [Tyler].

Asthenopia after study; letters blur and quiver; lids twitch with fatigue. A burning smarting appears after night-work or reading in bed, relieved by warmth of the hands over the orbits even while the room’s cool air feels pleasant. Neuralgic pains may shoot from supraorbital notch to the temple, worse bending over or with wind, better rest [Allen], [Clarke].

Fluttering noises or ringing with cardiac palpitations; hyperaesthesia to sudden sounds in nervous spells. Earache of neuralgic type, burning and stitching, worse draughts, better wrapping. Hearing dulls transiently after a sleepless night; clears with daytime motion and light food [Boericke].

Coryza with rawness and burning in anterior nares; crusts tend to be picked off nervously. Ozaena-like dryness after suppression of eczema around the nostrils; when the skin breaks out again the head clears—a direct cross-reference to the suppression motif [Clarke].

Face pale, drawn, or anxious at night; lips dry and burning; trigeminal neuralgia with burning, tingling threads along the cheek, worse night/cold, better local warmth and gentle rubbing that does not jar. Expression of fatigue after study, bright-eyed during anxious palpitations [Allen], [Clarke].

Burning tongue and palate, metallic taste; aphthous spots in fatigued states. Saliva scanty; thirst for small sips accompanies gastric burning, though large draughts are poorly borne—an Arsenicum echo [Allen], [Boericke]. Teeth feel elongated and sore after a sleepless night; grinding during anxious dreams.

Neuralgic toothache extending to ear and temple, worse from cold air, better warmth, and worse at night when fidgeting of feet is noted; dental pains flare after wine or stimulants [Boger], [Clarke].

Dryness with burning streaks down the oesophagus after mental overstrain; swallowing small warm sips relieves, large draughts aggravate. Tonsillar neuralgia with shooting to the ear in a chilly room; scarfing warmly about the neck calms the local pain though the patient still desires fresh air for head relief—another polarity typical of the salt [Allen], [Clarke].

Tightness and burning bands across the chest; stitching under the left breast with fear of impending cardiac attack at night [Clarke]. Breathing is short from anxiety; better at window, yet the intercostal nerves crave local warmth. Neuralgia along intercostals after mental fatigue; gentle walking in cool air relieves more than lying still.

Anginoid constriction with radiations to left arm and jaw, worse after midnight, worse wine/stimulants, better warmth to the precordium and cool air to face; pulse irregular from fatigue [Clarke], [Boericke]. Palpitations with restless feet form a useful keynote cluster in neuro-cardiac types. Compare Kali-ars. (cardio-respiratory restlessness, more asthma) and Ars. (burning anxiety with chilliness and great prostration).

Neurotic dyspnoea, anxiety after midnight, sits up to breathe and to move the feet; better at a cool window, worse in a hot, close room [Boericke]. A dry, tickling cough provoked by mental effort appears in students and clerks; warm sips soothe the throat tickle though not the chest oppression.

Burning as from a small hot coal in the epigastrium, with nausea on attempting to think or read; appetite capricious; small quantities of food agree better than full meals [Allen], [Clarke]. Anxiety and palpitations accompany the dyspepsia; the patient sits up in bed after midnight, fidgeting the feet and taking small sips of water. Wine or coffee excites trembling and later exhaustion; bland warm food soothes the gastric burning even while the chest seeks cool air [Boericke], [Boger].

Flatulent distension after mental effort or late hours; colicky burning pains along the course of mesenteric nerves; rumbling obliges the patient to move about gently, which relieves—mirroring the gentle motion > of the limbs. Cutting pains wake after midnight; warmth to the abdomen helps [Clarke], [Phatak].

Constipation from atony alternating with excoriating stools that burn the anus; fissure pain worse at night. Haemorrhoidal itch with restless legs; chilly draughts aggravate, sitz warmth soothes briefly. Neural irritation of sphincter with spasmodic tenesmus during nervous spells [Boericke].

Urine scanty, high-coloured, sometimes albuminous in long-standing exhaustion; burning at the urethral orifice; urging at night with anxious restlessness [Allen], [Boericke]. After mental overwork the bladder feels irritable; relief comes with rest and warmth. Compare Arsenicum for more marked renal burning and Merc. cor. for violent tenesmus without Zincum’s fidgetiness.

Desire for small sips of water; aversion to wine which aggravates all nervous/cardiac symptoms; coffee excites and then collapses; craving for warm soups when gastric burning predominates [Allen], [Boger]. Overeating at night precipitates palpitations and restless legs.

Sexual erethism followed by prostration; emissions with trembling, restless legs, and occipital heaviness next day. Neuralgic cord pains, cold <, warmth >; wine excites first, depresses later [Clarke], [Boger].

Neuralgic dysmenorrhoea with burning and leg fidgetiness; menses scanty or delayed after suppression of eczema; when flow or eruption returns, head and spine symptoms diminish—a concrete echo of better from return of discharges [Clarke], [Phatak]. Palpitations and anxious waking after midnight around the period are common.

Dorsal burning along the spine as if a hot iron were laid to it, alternating with areas of numbness; study and late hours increase it; rest and warmth relieve [Hughes], [Clarke]. Lumbar weakness with trembling on rising; sacral ache before menses; the patient changes posture incessantly to quiet the nerves.

Signature sphere. Restless, fidgety feet—they must be moved or crossed and uncrossed; the calves quiver and twitch, especially in bed after midnight [Boger], [Boericke].

Paresthesiae—crawling, tingling, and burning—run along nerves with cramps in the soles and toes; gentle motion palliates more than rest; cold draughts and wine rekindle. Easy fatigue and ataxy—the legs feel unreliable; small distances exhaust and bring trembling. Neuralgias shoot from spine to limbs; the patient draws the limbs under the body for warmth while leaning into cool air for relief of oppression—again showing the polarity of the remedy. Compared with Zincum met. the burning and nocturnal anxiety are stronger; compared with Cuprum-ars. the cramps are less tetanic and the cardiopulmonary collapse less dramatic [Clarke], [Phatak].

Eczematous and psoriatic eruptions with intense burning itch, worse warm bed, better gentle rubbing/warmth locally, yet general restlessness drives the patient into cool air [Clarke], [Phatak]. Suppressed eruptions precede or accompany head, spinal, or cardiac aggravations; as the skin resumes its function the nerves quiet—clinic pearl repeatedly noted by classical authors. Skin is dry, desquamative; scratches excoriate readily; healing is slow under stress.

• Neuro-spinal exhaustion / restless legs / neuritis
  • Zincum metallicum — Marked restless feet, twitchings, brain irritation from suppression; less burning and anginoid element. Zinc-ar.: adds burning neuralgia and night anxiety. [Clarke], [Boericke]
  • Arsenicum album — Burning pains, great prostration, fear, worse after midnight, prefers heat; lacks Zinc’s incessant fidgety feet and overt study <. [Boger], [Phatak]
  • Picric acid — Brain-fag with occipital heaviness and sexual prostration; not so restless; burning pains less marked. Zinc-ar.: more paresthesiae and nocturnal anxiety. [Tyler], [Boger]
  • Kali phosphoricum — Nervous asthenia and insomnia from strain; lacks burning neuralgias and palpitations at night. [Boger]
• Anginoid chest pains / neuro-cardiac states
  • Kali arsenicosum — Cardiac and asthmatic restlessness, scaly skin; less fidgety feet. Zinc-ar.: neurogenic angina with spinal irritability. [Clarke]
  • Cactus — Constriction as by an iron band; less neural signature and restless legs. [Boericke]
  • Aconite — Acute fear and tachycardia early, not chronic nocturnal pattern. [Farrington]
• Asthma / midnight oppression
  • Ars. — Classic midnight asthma with burning; Zinc-ar.: adds leg restlessness and study <. [Clarke]
  • Cuprum arsenicosum — Severe dyspnoea with cramp and collapse; more dangerous intensity; Zinc-ar.: milder, more neuralgic. [Boericke]
• Renal irritation / albuminuria
  • Mercurius corrosivus — Violent tenesmus and bleeding; Zinc-ar.: albuminuria with burning and nervous restlessness. [Allen]
  • Plumbum — Renal degeneration with colic and paralysis; Zinc-ar.: less colic, more paresthesia. [Clarke]
• Skin—burning eczemas/psoriasis; suppression sequelae
  • Kali arsenicosum — Desquamative eruptions, asthma/heart restlessness; Zinc-ar.: more spinal/limb fidgets. [Clarke]
  • Sulphur — Burning, itching, worse warmth of bed; mental indifference; lacks the anginoid and fidgety ensemble. [Boger]
  • Graphites — Oozing eczema without burning anxiety or restless feet. [Boericke]

• Complementary: Zincum met.—after Zinc-ar. settles burning neuralgia, Zinc met. often completes spinal convalescence. [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Complementary: Kali-phos.—supports nerve nutrition in brain-fag after the acute nocturnal restlessness subsides. [Boger]
• Complementary: Sulphur—helps restore skin function when suppression underlies the case; often alternates when eruptions must be gently revived. [Clarke], [Phatak]
• Follows well: Nux-v. in overworked, over-stimulated patients when the picture deepens into burning neuralgias with restless legs. [Tyler]
• Precedes well: Ars./Kali-ars. in enduring cardio-respiratory restlessness once fidgetiness abates. [Clarke]
• Compare (arsenicals): Ars., Cupr-ars., Kali-ars., Ars-iod.—each shares burning/anxiety; Zinc-ar. is most spinal–fidgety. [Boericke], [Phatak]
• Antidotes/Aggravants: Wine, coffee aggravate; Nux-v., Camph. classically cited to counter stimulant overuse and arsenical overlays. [Boger], [Hughes]

• Restless legs with burning paresthesiae; worse after midnight; better gentle motion and local warmth: Zinc-ar. 6C–30C at bedtime; encourage warm wraps to nerves, cool, fresh air for head. [Boericke], [Boger]
• Neuritis/ataxic weakness after mental overwork or skin suppression: Zinc-ar. 12C–30C b.i.d.; avoid wine/stimulants; favour regular rest; reconsider Sulph. if skin needs reopening. [Clarke], [Phatak]
• Anginoid constriction at night with anxious palpitations and fidgety feet: Zinc-ar. 30C p.r.n.; warm poultice to precordium; fresh air at window; compare Kali-ars., Cactus. [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Albuminous urine in nervous exhaustion with burning urethra: Zinc-ar. 6C–12C t.i.d.; rest, warmth to loins, small sips; watch diet and stimulant use. [Allen], [Boericke]
• Eczema/psoriasis with burning itch, worse warm bed; nervous symptoms when suppressed: Zinc-ar. 6C–30C; non-occlusive emollients; do not suppress suddenly; monitor for nervous relief as the skin acts. [Clarke], [Phatak]

Mind / Nerves

• MIND — RESTLESSNESS — limbs — feet — must move, especially at night. — Zinc signature with arsenical night-worse. [Boger]
• MIND — OVER-EXERTION — mental — aggravates complaints. — Brain-fag precipitates neuralgia. [Hughes]
• MIND — ANXIETY — after midnight — with palpitation. — Arsenical clock in a Zinc patient. [Clarke]

Head

• HEAD — PAIN — occiput — from mental exertion — pressure, study — aggravates — rest ameliorates. — Zinc-ar. working portrait. [Hughes], [Clarke]
• HEAD — VERTIGO — on rising — with trembling. — Exhaustion pattern. [Boericke]

Heart / Chest / Respiration

• HEART — CONSTRICTION — angina-like — night — after midnight. — Neuro-cardiac sphere. [Clarke]
• CHEST — ANXIETY — window — open air — ameliorates. — Polarity: air >, nerves want warmth. [Boericke]
• RESPIRATION — DIFFICULT — after midnight — anxiety — sits up. — Arsenical timing with Zinc restlessness. [Clarke]

Extremities

• EXTREMITIES — RESTLESSNESS — lower limbs — bed, in — moves feet constantly. — Bedside keynote. [Boericke]
• EXTREMITIES — PARESTHESIA — burning; crawling — nerves along. — Neuralgic strand. [Phatak]
• EXTREMITIES — WEAKNESS — after exertion — ataxic gait. — Spinal irritability. [Boger]

Sleep

• SLEEP — SLEEPLESSNESS — after midnight — with anxiety and fidgety legs. — Insomnia signature. [Tyler], [Boericke]

Skin

• SKIN — ERUPTIONS — eczema; psoriasis — burning — warmth of bed aggravates — suppression aggravates internal complaints. — Do-not-suppress rule. [Clarke], [Phatak]

Urinary

• URINE — ALBUMIN — exhaustion, nervous — with burning. — Renal echo. [Allen]

Generalities

• GENERALITIES — SUPPRESSED eruptions — complaints from. — Central axis. [Clarke]
• GENERALITIES — WINE — aggravates. — Practical counsel. [Boger]
• GENERALITIES — NIGHT — after midnight — aggravates; MOTION — gentle — ameliorates; HEAT — local — ameliorates pains; AIR — open — desires. — Polarity schema. [Boericke], [Phatak]

Hughes — A Manual of Pharmacodynamics (1870s): arsenite toxicology; zinc neurotropy; overwork and suppression themes.
Allen, T. F. — Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): arsenical/burning modalities; urinary and gastric notes; early Zinc-ar. records.
Clarke, J. H. — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): Zinc-ar. portrait—restless legs, burning neurology, suppression links, anginoid chest.
Boericke, W. — Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica (1901): keynotes—fidgety feet, burning pains, night anxiety, albuminous urine.
Boger, C. M. — Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica (1915): modality grid—study <, night <, wine <; gentle motion >; relationships.
Phatak, S. R. — Concise Materia Medica (1977): confirmatory—burning neuralgia, restless legs, suppression–aggravation axis.
Tyler, M. L. — Homoeopathic Drug Pictures (1942): brain-fag/restless legs cluster; bedside timing after midnight.
Farrington, E. A. — Clinical Materia Medica (late 19th c.): comparisons with Zinc met., Ars., Cupr-ars., Kali-ars.; neuralgic vs spasmodic states.
Dewey, W. A. — Practical Homoeopathic Therapeutics (1901): management of overwork insomnia; neuro-cardiac hints.
Nash, E. B. — Leaders in Homoeopathic Therapeutics (1907): terse pointers on arsenicals and zinc states—restlessness vs collapse.
Morrison, R. — Desktop Guide to Keynotes & Confirmatory Symptoms (late 20th c.): modern confirmations—restless legs with burning, wine aggravation.
Shore, J. — Portraits of Homoeopathic Medicines (20th c.): essence synthesis—polarity of warmth-to-nerves with air-to-chest.