Ammonium carbonicum
Made from sal ammoniac — the salt of the old smelling-bottles and the winter catarrh of the coal-fire century, and the classical remedy of the nose that blocks at night.
The whole picture, in one breath
Think of a nose that blocks the moment the head lies down: suffocative night-catarrh, nose-blocked-at-night of the books, the winter colds of the coal-fire century with their chapped lips and blue-veined eyelids, and the salt that every Victorian lady held to her nose. The night-blocked-nose remedy: that is Ammonium carbonicum.
The substance, in plain words
Sal ammoniac is ammonium chloride — the salt of the old smelling-bottles, the sharp-smelling crystals revived half-conscious ladies across the nineteenth century, and a genuine drug of the winter-catarrh dispensary. The proving gave the salt its night-blocked portrait.
The traditional picture Classical sources
The inner state
- Anxiety and fear. The suffocative fear of the blocked nose, worse at night.
- Irritability. Cross, worse in the evening with the catarrh.
- Despondency. Gloomy in the dragging winter states.
The body
- Nose blocked at night. The keynote: the nose blocks the moment the head lies down, driving the suffocative night-catarrh.
- Suffocative winter colds. The heavy, suffocative catarrhs of the coal-fire century — the books' great winter remedy.
- Chapped lips and blue-veined eyelids. The quoted confirming signs — the chapped lips, the blue veins of the lids.
- Winter nosebleeds. The books add the winter nosebleeds and the relief they bring.
- Worse cold damp and night. Wet weather and the night own the complaint.
- Better for open air and the nose bleeding. Fresh air, and the winter nosebleed, ease the suffocation.
Modalities (worse and better factors)
| Worse from ⬇ | Better from ⬇ |
|---|---|
| cold damp weather; lying down; night; warm rooms. | open air; the nose bleeding; sitting up. |
Where it acts (organ affinities)
Nose and respiratory mucosa, general winter constitution, circulation.
Where the classical picture comes from
The smelling-salt's proving gave the night-blocked portrait; Ammonium carbonicum became the classical remedy of the suffocative winter catarrh — the salt of the smelling-bottles serving the nose it revived.
The substance in real medicine Pharmacology
What this section is: the pharmacology and toxicology of the source substance. It is not clinical evidence that a homeopathic preparation of it treats any condition. What controlled trials do and do not show is set out on the Evidence page.
Ammonium chloride is genuinely the chemistry of the smelling-bottles — the sharp vapour that roused the fainting across the Victorian century, and a real if crude respiratory stimulant. The salt's medical career is the history of the smelling-bottle; the catarrhs it portrayed are now antihistamines and the warm rooms of modern heating.
Look-alikes (how the classical authors told it apart)
| Remedy | Looks similar because… | Tells it apart because… |
|---|---|---|
| Nux vomica | Winter catarrh, irritable | Nux is the irritable winter snuffler; Ammonium carb the suffocative night-blocked one. |
| Kali iodatum | Offensive winter catarrh | Kali-iod's is hot, corrosive and glandular; Ammonium carb's blocked and suffocative. |
| Sambucus nigra | Suffocative nights | Sambucus' is the livid, sitting-up infant; Ammonium carb's the blocked-nose adult. |
| Allium cepa | Streaming coryza | Allium burns and streams; Ammonium carb blocks and suffocates. |