Ferrum Iodatum

Ferrum, the Mars of the alchemists, is one of the prominent constituents of the

animal body, being present in considerable quantity in the blood. It is present in many articles of

daily food, and when given in excess to men or animals its first effect is to increase the amount

of iron in the blood, stimulate the appetite, augment the heart's beats and the bodily vigour. The

secondary effects, which ensue sooner or later if the administration of iron is continued, are those

• ▸which give the indications for homceopathic prescribing.
• ▸Hahnemann (Mat.
• ▸Med.
• ▸Pur.
• ▸) describes

the effects of iron on persons who habitually drink chalybeate waters: "In such localities there

are few persons who can resist the noxious influence of the continued use of such waters and

remain quite well, each being affected according to his peculiar nature. There we find more than

anywhere else chronic affections of great gravity and peculiar character, even when the regimen

is otherwise faultless. Weakness, almost amounting to paralysis of the whole body and of single

parts, some kinds of violent limb pains, abdominal affections of various sorts, vomiting of food

by day or by night, phthisical pulmonary ailments, often with blood spitting, deficient vital

warmth, suppression of the menses, miscarriages, impotence in both sexes, sterility, jaundice,

and many other rare cachexias are common occurrences."

The digestive disorders set up by Iron are marked and peculiar, and among them is intolerance of

eggs. The occurrence of this symptom in a patient about forty-five, who had had repeated attacks

of articular rheumatism, led Kunkel to cure his case after he bad been dosed for three weeks with

salicylate of soda by the allopaths. The only other distinctive feature was constant.< of pain after

midnight. The obvious advantages derived in many cases of anzemia from the use of Iron in its

crude forms has led to very grave abuses in old-school practice. That Iron is what may be called

a "nutritive" remedy in certain defective blood conditions, having an organopathic relation to the

blood, I have no doubt. In the anemia of cancer and syphilis it is often of great service as an

accessory, and need not interfere with more specific remedies. But it is not suited to all cases of

anzemia and chlorosis, or even to a majority of them, and should never be given without

discrimination and careful watching. But apart from its organopathic sphere, Ferrum has a

strictly homeeopathic use in aneemia in which the highest potencies are curative. For excess of

Iron will cause anzemia, and at times will aggravate it when present. The type of anzemia caused

by Iron and suited for its homceopathic use is commonly seen in young persons subject to

irregular distributions of blood. The cheeks are flushed as if in blooming health; but in spite of

bloom in appearances there is pallor of lips and mucous membranes, great fatigue and

breathlessness, and any motion will set up the symptoms. Delicate girls, fearfully constipated,

• ▸with low spirits.
• ▸Chlorosis with erethism.
• ▸Mucous membranes abnormally pale.
• ▸Feet swell.
• ▸The

irregular distribution of blood in chlorotics recalls another set of symptoms which indicate

Ferrum: hemorrhages of many kinds, from over-fulness of blood-vessels from vaso-motor

paralysis, or else from delicacy of the vessels themselves. Throbbing pains, the blood-vessels all

over the body throb violently. Feet swell. Fulness of blood-vessels accompanies neuralgia, which

is brought on by washing in cold water, especially after being over-heated. Hammering

• ▸headache.
• ▸The pulse of Ferrum is full and yielding; (that of Acon.
• ▸is full and bounding).
• ▸With

Ferrum there is excessive irritability, both of the mind and of the tissues. It is like Arsen. and

Chin. in this, as in many other symptoms, and it is an antidote to both. It is one of the best

remedies for over-dosing with quinine, and hence the favourite old-school combination of

"Quinine and Iron" is so far a wise one. Cramps are well marked in the pathogenesis; irritability

of the bladder causing incontinence of urine when standing; irritability of the bowels, causing

diarrhoea whilst eating. This symptom is peculiar to Ferrum, the diarrhoea coming on when the

• ▸patient begins to eat.
• ▸Many remedies have it immediately after eating.
• ▸< From eating eggs.
• ▸There

is also gastralgia, heavy pressure in region of stomach; a feeling as if something rolled into the

throat and closed it like a valve; frequent spells of nausea, periodic vomiting (especially at

• ▸twelve midnight).
• ▸The liver and spleen are affected.
• ▸Walls of abdomen are sore.
• ▸Pain in os tince

on lying down; feeling of dryness in vagina. Ferrum is a remedy that should be given carefully in

hemorrhagic phthisis, as it may aggravate. The acetate, iodide, and phosphate are better than the

metal in such cases, unless the similarity is very close. Rheumatic symptoms, especially of left

• ▸shoulder and deltoid.
• ▸Paralytic weakness.
• ▸Restlessness.
• ▸Tremor.
• ▸Most symptoms are < by

motion, especially sudden motion. Vertigo on suddenly rising; when crossing a bridge over

water; vertigo as if balancing to and fro, as when on water. Neuralgia is > moving slowly about.

In fact "> moving about slowly" is a keynote condition of many Ferrum cases. Rest < cramps.

• ▸Lying down < pain in face; asthma; = pain in os tince; > cough (H.
• ▸W.
• ▸, xxx1.
• ▸57).
• ▸Descending

stairs < headache. Walking slowly > palpitation; pain in arms; in hip-joint. The chief time of

aggravation is night, and especially midnight, and also in early morning. The symptoms

generally are < in cold weather, and > in warm air; but there is a good deal of contradictoriness

in this respect, showing the irritability of Ferrum to all influences: uncovering chest > asthma

and constriction, but too light covering < pain in shoulder. Over-heating = neuralgia, and so does

washing in cold water. There is dread of open air, but open air > headache. The chlorosis of

Ferrum is < in winter.

Anxiety, with throbbing in the epigastrium.—Anxiety as after committing a

crime.—Peevish, passionate, and disputative.—Irritable; little noises drive to despair—Gaiety,

alternating with sadness, every other day.

Violent pains, tearings and shootings, esp. at night, which compel movement

of the parts affected —Varices.—Contraction of the limbs.—Cramps in the limbs (during the

• ▸day).
• ▸—Dropsical swellings, with shooting pains.
• ▸—Ebullition of blood and hemorrhage.
• ▸—The

majority of the symptoms show themselves at night, are aggravated by a sitting posture, and

mitigated by gentle movement.—Great lassitude and general weakness (almost paralytic),

produced even by speech, often alternating with anxious trembling of the whole body; she is so

weak that she must lie down.—Emaciation.—After walking in the open air, sickly feeling of

fatigue, to the extent of losing consciousness, with obscuration of the eyes, and buzzing in the

• ▸head.
• ▸—Restlessness of the limbs.
• ▸—Great need to lie down.
• ▸—Cracking in the joints.

Confusion and heaviness in the head.—Vertigo, which causes falling forwards, as from

the motion of a carriage, esp. on moving, stooping, &c.—Dizziness and turning vertigo, on

looking at running water; with sickness at the stomach in walking; with the sensation as if the

• ▸head would constantly incline to r.
• ▸side.
• ▸—Pressive pain in the head, esp.
• ▸in the fresh air.
• ▸—Painful

confusion in the head, above the root of the nose, esp. in the evening.—Pulling from the nape of

the neck to the head, with shootings and buzzing.—Periodical hammering and pulsative

headache, which oblige the patient to lie down, every two or three weeks.—Congestion in the

head; enlarged veins, sensitiveness of the head to the touch; worse after midnight and towards

morning; returning periodically.—Pain in the back part of the head when coughing.—Pain in the

scalp, as if it were galled.—Profuse falling off of the hair, with pain when it is touched.

Eyes cloudy, dull, and watery, with blue rings around them, esp. after slight fatigue (in

writing).—Eyes red, with burning pain.—Swelling and redness of the eyelids, with a sty,

suppurating on the upper lid.

Epistaxis, chiefly from one nostril and in the evening.—Constant accumulation of clots

of blood in the nose.

Face earth-coloured, or pale and wan, with sunken eyes.—Fiery redness of the face; the

veins are enlarged.—Yellow or bluish spots on the face.—Small red spots on the cheek, which is

pale.—Puffing of the face round the eyes.—Lips pale.

Pressive pain in the throat, on swallowing.—Spitting of blood.—Constrictive

sensation in the throat; feeling as if something rolled into throat and closed it like a valve.

Sore, as if of a splinter, shooting in different directions. Hoarse.

Food seems to push up into throat, as if it had not been swallowed.

Sweetish taste, like that of blood.—Bitter taste of food —Want of appetite, esp. in

the morning, alternating with bulimy.—Dislike to food and acids—Longing for acids.—Meat lies

heavy on the stomach.—Insatiable thirst, or absence of thirst—Solid food appears too dry.—After

every meal, risings and regurgitation of food, even of that which has been eaten with good

appetite —Vomiting after taking acids—Pressure on the stomach and on the abdomen, always

following eating and drinking.—Beer affects the head, or causes vomiting.—Cannot eat or drink

anything hot.

Nausea, with inclination to vomit, during a meal.—Vomiting of food, esp. at

night, or immediately after a meal, even after eating only fresh eggs.—Sour vomiting and acid

rising.—Everything vomited tastes sour and is acrid.—Bitter risings after eating fat

things.—Pressure on the stomach, esp. after eating meat, or even after taking the least food or

drink.—Cramp-like pain in the stomach.—Pressive cramps in the stomach, on every occasion of

eating or drinking.

Fullness, even after a little food; stuffed feeling, as if she could not lean forward.

Inflation and hardness of the abdomen.—Liver enlarged, sensitive.—Spleen large,

• ▸sore.
• ▸—Cramps in spleen region.
• ▸—Cramp-like pains in the abdomen.
• ▸—Cramps in the abdominal

muscles, as if the abdomen were contracted, esp. during physical exertion, and on stooping, so

that he can only straighten himself slowly.—Flatulent colic at night (violent rumbling in the

abdomen).—Painful heaviness in the hypogastrium on walking.—Painful weight of the abdominal

viscera in walking, as if they would fall down.—The bowels feel sore as if bruised, when

touching them or when coughing.

Watery and corrosive diarrhoea, sometimes accompanied by cramp-like

pains in the abdomen, the back, and the anus.—Watery diarrhoea with burning at the

anus.—Discharge of blood and mucus at every stool.—Painless diarrhoea (involuntary during a

meal).—Undigested feeces—Slimy feeces——Ascarides in the rectum discharged with the slimy

stool.—Costive: stools hard and difficult, followed by backache.—Constipation from intestinal

atony; with hot urine.—Contractive spasms in rectum.—Itching at the anus from ascarides at night

(children).—Protrusion of large varices at the anus.—Blind and fluent hemorrhoids.

Pains in bladder—Involuntary urination by night; also by day.—Constant

desire to urinate, with pain in liver, chest, and kidneys.—Urine blood-red, contains blood

corpuscles.—Albuminuria.—Hot urine.

• ▸Urine dark.
• ▸Sweet smelling.
• ▸Crawling sensation in urethra and rectum.
• ▸Sensation as if urine were stopped at fossa navicularis.
• ▸Difficulty in retaining urine.
• ▸Incontinence in anaemic children.

• ▸On sitting, feeling as if something pressed upward in vagina.
• ▸Much bearing down.
• ▸Retroversion and prolapse of uterus.
• ▸Leucorrhoea like boiled starch.
• ▸Menses suppressed or scanty.
• ▸Itching and soreness of vulva and vagina.

Metrorrhagia, with over-excitement of the sanguineous

system.—Face fiery red, and copious flow of blood, at one time liquid, at another black and

coagulated, accompanied by pains in the sacral region and abdomen, similar to those of child-

• ▸birth.
• ▸—Catamenia feeble and of a pale blood.
• ▸—Suppression of the catamenia.
• ▸—During coition,

smarting and pain, like that of excoriation in the vagina, with want of enjoyment.—Swellings and

indurations of the vagina.—Prolapse of vagina; pain in os tince on lying down.—Before the

catamenia, shooting pains in the head, with tingling in the ears —Abortion.—Milky and corrosive

leucorrhcea.—Sterility.

Increase of sexual desire, with frequent erections and

• ▸pollutions.
• ▸—Impotence.
• ▸—Nocturnal emissions.
• ▸—Flow of mucus from the urethra.

• ▸Coryza; discharge of mucus from nose, trachea, and larynx.
• ▸Pressure beneath sternum.
• ▸Scrofulous swelling of nose.
• ▸Chest feels oppressed.
• ▸Haemoptysis.

Hot breath —Oppressed, short breathing —Hoarseness and roughness

in the throat.—Tickling in the trachea, which greatly excites coughing.—Cough, only on moving

and walking —Cough > on lying down.—Purulent expectoration from the cough—Spasmodic

cough, esp. in the morning, with expectoration of tenacious and transparent mucus, ceasing

immediately after a meal; or dry, spasmodic cough, commencing after a meal, with vomiting of

• ▸food.
• ▸—Sensation of dryness in the chest.
• ▸—Cough worse in the evening, till midnight.
• ▸—Fetid,

greenish expectoration, with streaks of blood, esp. at night, or in the morning.—Cough after a

meal, with vomiting of food.—On coughing, pains in the occiput, or shootings, and pains as of a

bruise in the chest.

Difficulty of respiration, with almost imperceptible rising of the chest, and great

dilation of the nostrils during expiration.—Difficulty of respiration, esp. at night, or in the

evening, as if commencing in the epigastrium, < during repose, and > by intellectual or physical

occupation.—Fulness and tightness of the chest —Asthma (after midnight) compelling one to sit

up.—Asthma most violent when lying, or when sitting still without doing anything; > by walking

and talking —When sitting still, loud breathing as if asleep.—Fits of suffocation, in bed in the

evening, with burning pain in the throat and the upper part of the body, and coldness in the

extremities.—Constrictive oppression of the chest.—Constrictive spasms in the chest, < by

walking or movement.—Stitches and soreness in the chest.—Tensive lancinations in the chest,

extending to the shoulder-blades —Congestion in the chest.

Palpitation: < from least motion; > walking slowly; in onanists; after loss of

fluids—Venous murmurs.—Hypertrophy.

Stiffness of the muscles of the neck, with pain during

movement.—Swelling of the glands of the neck.—Tearing (paralytic) between the shoulder-blades

at night, into the upper arm (1.); he cannot raise the arm; slow movement improves it

gradually.—Shootings in the shoulder-blades on moving the arms.

Shootings and tearings in the joint of the shoulder, and in the arm, or

pullings, paralytic weakness, and heaviness.—Cracking in the shoulder-joint.—Nightly tearing

and stinging in the arms.—Uneasiness in the arms.—Swelling and desquamation of the skin of the

hands.—Cramps and numbness in the fingers.

Tearings, with violent lancination, from the coxo-femoral joint to the tibia, <

in evening in bed, and during repose.—Paralytic weakness and numbness in the

thighs —Weakness in the knees, so that they yield, with uneasiness of the feet.—Varices on the

legs.—Stiffness, traction and heaviness in the legs.—Swelling of the knees and of the joints of the

• ▸feet.
• ▸—Swelling of the feet, with drawing pain, esp.
• ▸on beginning to walk.
• ▸—Cramps in the calves

of the legs, the soles of the feet, and the toes.—The toes are contracted.

Burning sensation in different parts of the skin, with pain as from excoriation on

• ▸being touched.
• ▸—Paleness of the skin over the whole body.
• ▸—Dirty, earth-coloured skin.
• ▸—Dropsy.

Excessive drowsy fatigue, with agitated sleep, at night, anxious tossing, numerous

dreams, and difficulty in going to sleep again after waking. —Vivid dreams.—Can only lie on her

back at night.—The child does not sleep, disturbed by the itching caused by the ascarides.—Sleep

retarded in the evening.—Anxious tossing about in bed (after midnight).—Eyes half open during

sleep.—Inability to sleep when lying on the side.

Frequent shiverings of short duration.—Shiverings in the evening with a feeling of

cold when in bed, all night—Shiverings with violent thirst, preceded or accompanied by

headache.—Chill with thirst and red, hot face —Dry heat, with urgent inclination to throw off all

• ▸covering.
• ▸—Pulse full and hard.
• ▸—Ebullition of blood in the day, with heat in the evening, esp.
• ▸in

the hands.—Fever, with congestion in the head, puffing round the eyes, swelling of the veins,

vomiting of food, short respiration and paralytic weakness.—Copious perspiration, excited by the

least movement during sleep.—Nocturnal perspiration of a strong smell.—Cold perspiration, with

anxiety during the spasms.—Colliquative, clammy sweat.—Profuse and long-continued

perspiration, during the day when moving, and at night, and in the morning hours in bed.

• ▸Anzmia.
• ▸Aphonia.
• ▸Asthma.
• ▸Biliousness.
• ▸Catalepsy.
• ▸Chlorosis.
• ▸Chorea.
• ▸Consumption

• ▸(Fe.
• ▸acet.
• ▸).
• ▸Cough.
• ▸Cramps.
• ▸Debility.
• ▸Diarrhea.
• ▸Enuresis diurna.
• ▸Fever, intermittent.
• ▸Goitre,

• ▸exophthalmic.
• ▸Gonorrhoea.
• ▸Heemorrhages.
• ▸Heart, affections of; palpitation of.
• ▸Hectic.

• ▸Hydrocephalus.
• ▸Kidneys, affections of.
• ▸Lienteria.
• ▸Menstruation, disorders of.
• ▸Neuralgia.

• ▸Paralysis of viscera.
• ▸Pregnancy, disorders of.
• ▸Rectum, prolapsus of.
• ▸Rheumatism.
• ▸Shoulder,

• ▸affections of.
• ▸Spasms.
• ▸Syphilis.
• ▸Toothache.
• ▸Urine, incontinence of.
• ▸Vertigo.

Ferrum compares with Graphites (which contains iron), Manganum, and the other

• ▸metals.
• ▸Teste puts it at the head of a group comprising Plumb.
• ▸, Phos.
• ▸, Carb.
• ▸an.
• ▸, Puls.
• ▸, Zinc.
• ▸,

• ▸Secal.
• ▸, Mag.
• ▸mur.
• ▸, Chi.
• ▸, Bar.
• ▸c.
• ▸It is antidoted by: Ars.
• ▸, Chi.
• ▸, Hep.
• ▸, Ip.
• ▸, Puls.
• ▸/t antidotes: Ars.
• ▸,

• ▸Chi.
• ▸, Iod.
• ▸, Merc.
• ▸, Hydrocy.
• ▸ac.
• ▸, tea and alcoholic drinks.
• ▸/t is complementary to: Alumina, Chi.

• ▸Compatible: Aco.
• ▸, Arn.
• ▸, Bell.
• ▸, Chi.
• ▸, Con.
• ▸, Lyc.
• ▸, Merc.
• ▸, Phos.
• ▸, Verat.
• ▸Incompatible: Thea, beer.

• ▸Compare: Borax (vertigo on descending); Mang.
• ▸(cough > lying down); Anac.
• ▸, Spo.
• ▸(cough >

• ▸after eating), Ars.
• ▸, Chi.
• ▸(intermittent fever); Phos.
• ▸(cholerine); Selen.
• ▸, Thuj.
• ▸(bad effects of tea).

• ▸Graph.
• ▸(flushes of heat); Rhus (> from motion); Oleand.
• ▸(lienteria); Caust.
• ▸(paralyses).

Third trituration. Does not keep long.