Iodum — Homeopathic Remedy Profile

Iodine is an element of the halogen family, with an atomic weight of 126.53. Iodum is prepared from the tincture and given from 3X upward in the older mixed practice and from 30C upward in the classical register. Its picture is dark-haired, thin, restless and always too warm, with an appetite that eats and eats yet cannot hold flesh. Glands first swell hard, then dwindle. The thyroid stands at the center of the case.

At a Glance

Source and Preparation

Iodum purum is elemental iodine, dissolved in alcohol to make the mother tincture. From that tincture the potencies are raised in the ordinary way. Two prescribing registers apply. In the herbal and low-decimal register — mother tincture and 3X — real dosimetry is at work, and standard toxicological caution about iodine applies. Clarke's dose in the case that follows was five drops of Iod. 3X in a wineglass of water before meals; that is still a dosimetric intervention. From 30C upward, no molecule remains: the dynamic preparation meets the self-governing principle, and the substance's crude action is no longer what acts.

Whenever a modern clinician cites an iodine safety threshold, such as thyroid overload from milligram intakes, it is the herbal register that is being described. Nash's practice of a single powder of Iod. 100,000C on four nights after the full moon, for indicated goitre, belongs to a different register altogether. What acts there is the dynamic preparation, prescribed on the totality of the case.

The Essence of Iodum

Iodum works on connective tissue and on every gland the body carries. Thyroid, mammary, testicular, salivary, mesenteric, prostatic. All fall within its action. The rhythm is characteristic. Something swells, hardens, feels heavy; then, if left, it wastes. The organism eats voraciously and thins. Muscle disappears. The face is withered and sallow, the skin dirty and hot. A patient who cannot sit still, cannot rest in a warm room, cannot bear anyone near, and who is convinced he has forgotten something without knowing what.

The characteristic Iodum patient is burning. The appetite is ravenous. The stools may be pancreatic and whey-like, the milk of a nursing mother thin, watery and copious with weakness; the organism spends and spends what it takes in. Iodum meets the whole reaction and quiets it. Where the vital reaction is sluggish and chronicity has set in, the remedy comes into its own — an acute exacerbation of a chronic inflammation, in Murphy's phrase.

Clinical Portrait

Mind and Temperament

Anxiety when quiet, worse in a warm room, better in the open air. That single line covers a great many cases. The patient cannot sit; he stands up to walk about, and walking exhausts him, but sitting oppresses him more. He apprehends an accident from every trifle. He is anxious as if going crazy. Ask him what he has forgotten and he does not know — only that something has been forgotten. He is cross with a crossness Murphy names as worse than Antimonium crudum. Impulses arrive from nowhere: to run, to hurt himself, to hurt someone. He cannot bear to be looked at. Strangers are a torment. He shuns everyone, and cheers up as soon as he is alone in the open air.

Two features are diagnostic. That eating relieves the anxiety, not because the stomach was empty but because fasting itself deepens the state — a patient who becomes worried simply from not eating, and calm again the moment food is taken, is almost pathognomonic. And that disappointed love figures repeatedly in the causation, along with nervous shock.

Clarke reports the young woman who had suffered a nervous shock, lost every appetite and every wish to continue, and had quietly resolved on starving herself to death. He gave her five drops of Iod. 3X in a wineglass of water half an hour before each meal. Her appetite returned with such force that she could not help eating, and she recovered her mind and her body together. The case has no goitre and no tubercular chest. Iodum met her on the grief and on the emaciation at the same point.

The Glands

Glands swell hard and heavy first, then dwindle. Thyroid, breast, ovary, testicle, uterus, prostate, mesenteric, cervical. The sequence repeats. The remedy is called for at either stage, but the picture is unmistakable in the second: an indurated goitre with the sensation of constriction at the neck; atrophy of the breasts with one smaller than the other; atrophied testes with loss of sexual power; an indurated cancerous cervix.

Goitre belongs specifically here. Iodum meets the swollen, hard thyroid, whether exophthalmic or simple, in the patient who is thin, hungry, hot, restless, palpitating. The eyes bulge, the pulse races, the hands tremble; the patient must move about, cannot bear a warm room, sweats at the slightest exertion. When such a goitre has been suppressed by surgery or by another means and epilepsy or facial paralysis has followed, Iodum is again to be considered.

The lymphatic glands enlarge in the scrofulous constitution — cervical, submaxillary, inguinal, axillary, mesenteric. Tabes mesenterica in a thin, dark child with a voracious appetite and yet emaciation is a familiar Iodum case, and it follows Calcarea carbonica well.

Digestion and Appetite

Ravenous hunger with much thirst. The patient eats and eats and remains thin. Food does not nourish or strengthen. He feels well only while eating in any diseased condition, and grows anxious the moment he does not eat. Canine hunger with emaciation is what most quickly brings Iodum to mind, and it is what carries most of the constitutional cases.

Meat, spirituous liquors and acid foods are desired. Cold milk relieves the constipation. Milk in general provokes vomiting in some. Heartburn after indigestible food. Vomiting of bile with violent pain in the stomach; vomit that tastes salty and oily.

The stools bring their own picture. Pancreatic disorder gives whitish, frothy, whey-like, cheesy or lienteric stools, a fatty diarrhea; chronic morning diarrhea in emaciated scrofulous children is the classical form. Constipation alternates with diarrhea; ineffectual urging is relieved by cold milk. Iodum keeps its severity here: the diarrhea is exhausting, the constipation obstinate, and the rectum burns and itches.

Severe hypoglycemia falls within its range, with erratic and manic behavior when the blood sugar drops, and real violence and anger when hungry. This is the mental picture and the metabolic picture of a single patient, and it is why the case calms as soon as food is in the mouth.

Respiratory Organs

Iodum has an acute respiratory action of the first order. Coryza is fluent and hot, with pain at the root of the nose and over the frontal sinuses; the discharge excoriates. The dry coryza becomes fluent in open air. The cold extends downwards, from head to throat to bronchi. Nasal engorgement with high blood pressure is a specific note. Chronic fetid discharge and adenoid vegetations belong here also, most often in the same dark, scrofulous child who carries the glandular picture. Compare Allium cepa, where the discharge is bland and the eyes stream mildly.

The larynx and the cough are where the beginner meets Iodum most often. Short, dry, irritating cough, worse at night, followed by sweat in the morning. Cough from tickling in the larynx, as though a feather were there. Croupy cough with wheezy, difficult respiration, worse in warm damp weather, the child grasping his throat when he coughs. Suffocating cough that will not let the patient lie down; she sits bent forward. Spongia tosta and Hepar sulphuris sit near this picture, and Iodum follows Hepar well in croup.

Pneumonia is where the remedy shows its most decisive action. Right-sided pneumonia with high temperature, hepatization spreading rapidly, absence of pain in spite of great involvement, blood-streaked mucus, gluey rusty yellow expectoration that sticks fast to the handkerchief. The room must be cool. The patient is worse for warmth, worse in a warm room, and craves cool air. Internal dry heat, external coldness. Any student who has met this in a real case does not forget the coolness sought by a patient who is otherwise burning.

Heart and Circulation

Palpitations from the slightest cause, like lightning. Sensation as though the heart were squeezed by an iron hand, followed by weakness and faintness. Tachycardia. Mitral valve insufficiency. Dilatation of the heart after scarlatina. Pericarditis complicating pneumonia. Pulse rapid, small, weak, tumultuous, or hard and accelerated. Pulsation in the large arterial trunks. Fainting on climbing stairs. Palpitations worse for the least exertion, worse for a warm bath, better for a cold bath. The heart symptoms carry with them a "gone," exhausted feeling, and the patient is scarcely able to breathe or walk.

Female Sphere

Chronic amenorrhea; then sudden, very profuse menses with severe abdominal pain. Great weakness during menses. Violent dysmenorrhea with scanty discharge. Metrorrhagia with acute pain in the breasts. Leukorrhea acrid enough to erode thigh and linen, worse during menses; a thin yellow discharge in scrofulous women with induration and swelling of the os uteri.

Ovaritis with leukorrhea places Iodum among Apis, Belladonna and Lachesis. A wedge-like pain from the ovary to the uterus is a specific note. Dropsical swelling of the ovaries with a pressing-down sensation. Sterility from atrophy of the ovaries and breasts. Grimmer reports that when it is indicated Iodum acts on cancer of the breast and uterus; the claim is Grimmer's and belongs on his authority.

Nursing mothers show excessive flow of thin watery milk with great weakness and rapid emaciation; or the reverse, suppression of milk with atrophy and relaxation of the breasts. The characteristic — one breast larger than the other, with dwindling of the smaller — is one of the signposts that brings the practitioner directly to the remedy.

Male Sphere

Painless swelling and induration of the testicles, with offensive sweat of the genitals. Orchitis, hydrocele, sarcocele. Twisting pain in the spermatic cord. In the elderly, senile hypertrophy and induration of the prostate gland; incontinence in old men with prostatic enlargement is a clinical mainstay. Atrophy of the testes with loss of sexual power belongs at the other end of the same arc.

Skin, Hair, Joints

Skin clammy, moist, dirty and yellow. Withered. Brown spots. Acne. Urticaria. Ringworm. Herpes. Bleeding ulcers with copious corroding pus. Old scars break open and itch; pimples appear in them. The hair falls out; the scald head of scrofulous children. Alopecia areata in a hot, restless, dark-complexioned constitution comes within Iodum's action.

Joints are chronic. Chronic arthritic affections with stiff and enlarged joints; synovitis; rheumatic pains that are nightly and settle in the bones. Rheumatism of the nape and upper limbs. Clarke saw Iodum act well in the lower potencies where swollen and deformed joints remained after an acute rheumatic attack.

Modalities

Worse:

• warmth, heat of the room, wrapping up
• sitting up, ascending, exertion
• touch, pressure
• right side
• rest, night, quiet
• talking, fasting

Better:

• cold, cold air, cold bathing
• walking about in the open air
• eating

The heat aggravation is unmistakable. Iodum patients throw off the covers, seek an open window, and are worse the moment the room is warmed. The fasting aggravation is the mental key: quiet, warm and hungry is the state that turns an ordinary Iodum patient into the frantic Iodum patient.

Relationships

Antidoted by, and antidotes: Mercurius solubilis.

Follows well: Mercurius; Hepar (in croup); Arsenicum album.

Followed well by: Argentum nitricum; Calcarea; Mercurius; Phosphorus; Pulsatilla.

Complementary: Lycopodium; Badiaga.

Compare: Bromium (light hair and complexion where Iodum is dark, but overlapping in croupy respiratory pictures); Natrum muriaticum (ravenous appetite with thinness, especially about the neck); Kali iodatum (talkative as if from alcohol); Baryta carbonica (tabes mesenterica, hunger with emaciation, aversion to strangers — Baryta suits dwarfish patients without Iodum's intolerable crossness); Alumina (apprehensive, fearful); Apis (joint effusions and hydrocephalus); Cactus, Spigelia (heart); Hydrastis (uterine affections).

Clinical Uses

Goitre and Thyroid Disorders

Hard, indurated goitre with a sensation of constriction at the neck. Exophthalmic goitre with tachycardia, tremor, and a dark, thin, restless patient who is always hot. Facial paralysis or epilepsy following the suppression of a goitre. Nash's 100,000C after the full moon belongs to indicated cases and to Nash's tradition; more usual classical practice runs at 30C and above, with the picture confirmed.

Pneumonia and Croup

Right-sided pneumonia with rapidly spreading hepatization, high temperature, absence of pain, blood-streaked expectoration, and the striking craving for cool air. Croup in scrofulous, dark-haired children in damp weather, wheezy, worse indoors, the child grasping the throat. Follows Hepar well.

Emaciation with Ravenous Appetite

The underweight child or adult who eats voraciously and does not put on flesh, especially where lymphatic glands are enlarged and the temperament is hot and restless. Failure to thrive in infants with emaciation, swollen glands and constant hunger is a confirmed use. Iodum follows Calcarea well in children's ailments, in growth defects and curvature of bones.

Prostate Enlargement in the Elderly

Senile hypertrophy and induration of the prostate. Incontinence in old men with prostatic enlargement. Retention, or a flow that stops and starts again.

Chronic Coryza and Adenoids

Fluent, hot, excoriating coryza with pain at the root of the nose and over the frontal sinuses. Chronic fetid nasal discharge from posterior nares. Adenoid vegetations, particularly in the dark scrofulous child. Acute nasal engorgement in the presence of high blood pressure, with descending colds.

Rheumatism after an Acute Attack

Swollen and deformed joints remaining after an acute rheumatic episode. Nightly pains in joints and bones. Rheumatism of nape and upper limbs. Clarke used it in the lower potencies with excellent effect for this presentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main indication for Iodum in homeopathy?

The single picture that brings Iodum most reliably to mind is emaciation with a voracious appetite in a thin, dark, hot and restless patient, with swollen or dwindling glands. Wherever the thyroid, breast, ovary or testis has first grown heavy and then wasted, Iodum is worth considering. Anxiety when quiet in a warm room, relieved by eating and by walking in cool air, confirms the case.

Is Iodum the same thing as taking iodine?

No. Two registers must be distinguished. In the herbal or low-decimal register, meaning mother tincture and 3X, Iodum is dosimetric, and the ordinary caution about iodine intake applies to that form. From 30C upward no molecule remains; the dynamic preparation meets the self-governing principle rather than acting as a chemical intake, and the crude toxicity of the element does not apply. The safety signals that appear in modern iodine literature concern the herbal register.

What potencies are commonly used?

Clarke's case of the young woman was treated with Iod. 3X, five drops in a wineglass of water half an hour before meals. Boericke gives tincture and all potencies. Nash records 100,000C in a single powder after the full moon for indicated goitre. In classical individualized prescribing today, 30C and above is usual; the choice belongs with the case rather than with a schedule.

How does Iodum differ from Bromium?

Bromium is called for in light-haired, light-complexioned patients; Iodum in dark ones. Both cover croupy respiratory cases and glandular swelling, and both have their aggravation from warmth, but the constitutional coloring separates them at once. When a patient's coloring does not distinguish, the totality of hunger, restlessness and heat intolerance tips the case toward Iodum.

References

• Boericke W. Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica. Iodum entry.
• Clarke JH. A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica. Iodum, including the case of the young woman treated with Iod. 3X and the joint-rheumatism observations.
• Murphy R. Nature's Materia Medica. Iodum purum.
• Phatak SR. Materia Medica of Homoeopathic Medicines. Iodum.
• Nash EB. Leaders in Homoeopathic Therapeutics. Iodum, on moon-phase dosing for goitre.
• Grimmer AH. Clinical observations on Iodum, as recorded in Murphy's compilation.