Twitching and the overlooked Natrum
Oh, how my Saturday nights have changed.
At 45, I’m no longer interested in going out, especially on a rainy weekend. After I tucked my kids into bed last night, I end up doing what I suspect only other homeopaths will understand… I went poking around different repertories “just to see what I find.” At this point, I’m sure my husband thinks I’m a bit odd.
Last night I typed the word “twitch.”
Just for fun.
And did you know “twitch” shows up 1134 times in Synthesis Adonis?
528 remedies cover twitching in some form.
I expected the usual suspects: Agaricus, Zincum- and they were there, of course. Helpful remedies in tics and twitches.
But as I skimmed the list, something unexpected caught my eye:
Natrum carbonicum.
Nat carb appears in 94 twitching rubrics (Adonis).
I hadn’t thought about this remedy for these kind of symptoms, so it peaked my interest.
I knew of it as a remedy for over-sensitivity and weakness and lowered vitality. But I didn’t know about twitching. That surprised me. And surprise is always an invitation.
Chapter representation of Nat carb in Radar Opus: Big focus on the extremities
The Overlooked Natrum
I learned a lot about Natrum muriaticum and Natrum sulphuricum during my studies, but Natrum carbonicum not so much.
It reminded me of what Jeremy Sherr once said:
“Carbon is the most abundant material in plain sight — the structure that holds everything together — yet it goes unseen.”
I realized that I had done this with Natrum carb too.
The Substance Behind the Remedy: Sodium Carbonate
Natrum carbonicum is prepared from sodium carbonate, also known as:
washing soda
soda ash
carbonate of soda
Important: it is not the same as baking soda. While they may seem similar, sodium carbonate (commonly known as washing soda) and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) are two distinct compounds with different properties and uses.
Sodium carbonate is highly alkaline - with a pH around 11 - and used in heavy-duty cleaning, glass manufacturing, and water softening. It makes things clean and zingy!
So as I was searching what too much alkaline does in the body and the picture of Natrum carb’s twitching started to make a bit more sense.
Sodium carbonate makes the system more alkaline.
When pH rises even slightly, an important shift happens:Ionized calcium drops.
Higher pH = calcium binds more tightly to proteins which means less free calcium is available to stabilize nerves.Low ionized calcium = nerves fire too easily.
And what do overexcited nerves do?
They twitch.
They jerk.
They spasm.
They become oversensitive... to touch, noise, heat, and exertion etc.
John Henry Clarke stated :
So add that to your clinical tips - Nat carb for jerking of the hands on going to sleep.
I have to say my favorite rubric in the collection of “twitching rubrics” that I found was the "Generals, twitching here and there" rubric.
Not Generals Twitching (305) but twitching “here and there”. Hahnemann popped it in there himself.
What does here and there mean? Where is "here"... or "there" for that matter? Don't you wish you could sit down with Hahnemann sometimes and ask these things? Perhaps my nerdy Saturday night with the repertory was fun after all...
Want to learn how to pull graphs like these in Radar Opus? If so you’ll love Rubric Wise Academy – a community space for homeopaths to discuss cases, watch repertory software tutorials and share rubrics and remedies. Stand by for the official launch coming soon and make sure you are signed. up for my Newsletter to be the first to know.
