Bromine

by Adolph von Lippe — Text Book of Materia Medica

Mind and Disposition

Cheerful mind; desire for mental labor.

Low-spirited, and out of humor.

Crying and lamentation, with hoarse voice.

Head

Headache after drinking milk.

Pain over the left eye.

Scald-head.

Eyes

Lachrymation (right eye) with swelling of the tear-gland.

Darting through the eyes, (left).

Dilatation of the pupils.

Flashes before the eyes.

Protruded eyes.

Ears

Swelling and hardness of the (left) parotid gland.

Nose

Soreness in the nose, with scurfs.

Bleeding of the nose, relieving the chest.

Coryza, with sneezing; the margins of the nose, and the parts under the noise, are corroded, with stoppage of the nose.

Face

Paleness of the face.

Heat in the cheek; first in the right, later in the left.

Mouth and Throat

Ptyalism; much frothy mucus in the mouth.

Inflammation of the throat, with net-like redness and corroded places.

Burning from the mouth to the stomach.

Stinging in the tip of the tongue.

Heat in the mouth and œsophagus.

Appetite and Taste

Desire for acids; and diarrhœa from taking them.

Water tastes saltish.

Stomach and Abdomen

Vomiting of bloody mucus.

Nausea and retching; better after eating.

Feeling of emptiness in the stomach; better after eating.

Feeling of heaviness in the stomach, (inflammation of the stomach).

Enlargement and induration of the spleen.

Stool and Anus

Diarrhœa; stools yellow, green, black.

Sexual Organs

Men. Swelling and induration of the (left) testicle, with sore pain, or sensation of coldness.

Swelling of the scrotum, (with chronic gonorrhœa).

Women. Loud emissions of flatulency from the vagina.

During the menses, pain in the abdomen and in the small of the back.

Larynx and Throat

Hoarseness, aphonia; worse in the evening.

Soreness and roughness in the throat.

Tickling in the trachea during an inspiration.

Dry, spasmodic, wheezing cough, with rattling breathing.

Cough rough, barking, from tickling in the throat.

Violent oppression of the chest, as from the vapors of sulphur.

Sensation of weakness in the chest.

Tightness of the chest, (asthma).

Stitches in the chest, (inflammation of the lungs, right side).

Violent palpitation of the heart; she cannot lie on the left side.

Neck and Back

Goitre.

Two encysted tumors on both sides of the neck.

The left side of the neck is stiff and painful.

Generalities

Excessive languor and debility, (worse after breakfast).

Tremulousness all over.

Sleep

Irresistible drowsiness while reading.

Fever

Pulse much accelerated.

Chill on alternate days, with cold feet.

Internal burning heat.

Perspiration from the least exertion.

Skin

Swelling and induration of the glands, (thyroid, testes, sub-maxillary, parotid).

Boils.

Conditions

Aggravation in the evening till midnight; in the warm room; and when at rest.

Amelioration from motion, riding on horseback.

More suitable for persons with light hair and blue eyes.

Bromine across the other classic books

Bromine appears in 12 of the 13 classic books on Similia. Each was written to do a different job — here is what each adds on this remedy, with the opening of its entry.

Allen HC — The keynotes that separate this remedy from its nearest neighbours.
“Bromine. (The Element.) It acts best, but not exclusively, on persons with light blue eyes, flaxen hair, light eyebrows, fair, delicate skin; blonde, red-cheeked, scrofulous girls . Sensation of cobweb on the face (Bar., Bor., Graph.). Fan-like motion of the alae nasi (Ant. t., Lyc.). Sailors suffer with asthma "on…”
Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“The pure elementary substance (Bromine). Preparation , Tincture, and dilutions with distilled water. Authorities. ( 1 to 17, from Hering's résumé, Neues Archiv , 2, 3; when the preparation used is not noted with the symptom or referred to in this list, it is understood to be the 30th); 1 , Lippe, provings on himself…”
Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Bromine (BROMUM) Most marked effects are seen in the respiratory symptoms, especially in larynx and trachea. It seems to affect especially scrofulous children with enlarged glands. Blond type . Enlarged parotid and goitre. Tendency to spasmodic attacks. Left-sided mumps . Sense of suffocation; excoriating discharges…”
Boger (GA) — Which general headings this remedy belongs under — the analytical scaffolding.
“ACRIDITY, excoriations, etc. CHILLED, cold becoming, while hot, by ices, uncovering a part, as head, hand-hands, etc. in cold water, etc.., Agg. HUMID, warm, wet weather, Agg. LARYNX AND TRACHEA SCRAPING SIDE, left to right STERNUM, region of, also throat-pit, etc. VAPOR, smoke, fumes, etc.., as of (Comp. Dust.) VOICE”
Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“LARYNX. RESPIRATION. Heart. Circulation. Glands: Parotid. Thyroid. Ovaries. Mammæ. WARM: DAMPNESS. Overheating. Room. Chilled while hot. Sea bathing. Dust. Drafts. Until midnight. Nosebleed (vertigo, head, chest). At sea. Motion. Scrophulous blondes. Constrictions, glandular induration or membranous formations. Weak…”
Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Bromine. Br. (A. W. 79.9). Solution in distilled water. Apoplexy / Asthma / Breast, cancer of / Cancer / Cough / Croup / Diphtheria / Dysmenorrhœa / Emphysema / Feet, pain in / Fistula lachrymalis / Glands, enlargement of / Goître / Heart, disease of; hypertrophy of / Laryngismus / Migraine / Parotid gland, induration…”
Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Bromine. The element. Proved by C. Hg., in 1838, and later ; a carefully made collection, numbering five hundred and ten symptoms, obtained with the use of high and low doses from fourteen provers, four of them being females, and containing nearly all the characteristics which have hitherto led to innumerable cures…”
Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“Bromium is one of the routine medicines. It is one of the medicines that the neophyte will make use of for every case of diphtheria and croup, and laryngitis he comes across; and when it does not work he will " try something else." All who prescribe on the name use Bromium as one of their routine medicines; but…”
Lippe (KN) — Only the symptoms Lippe considered reliable enough to prescribe on.
“Faucial angina and very sore throat. General trembling. A sensation of something being alive in the skin, principally in the arms and legs. Great watchfulness in the evening. He has much trouble in getting to sleep at night. Anguish in sleep, and sleep full of dreams. Constant dreaming in sleep. Jerking and starting…”
Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: bromine. An important remedy in laryngeal affections; also in scrofulous and tubercular affections of the glands (N.). Has done some wonderful work in diphtheria. The membrane first forms in the bronchi, trachea or larynx running upward (just opposite of Lyc., which often forms first in the nose and runs…”
Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“An element proven and arranged by Hering and an important remedy in laryngeal affections. Also in scrofulous and tubercular affections of the glands. It is well known to act best on persons with light blue eyes, flaxen hair, light eye-brows, fair, delicate skins, red cheeked scrofulous girls. It will be remembered how…”

Bromine in Kent's Repertory

Kent's Repertory lists Bromine in 1,324 rubrics. These are the ones where it carries the highest grade — the symptoms Kent treated as most characteristic. Most of them sit in EXTREMITIES (151), HEAD (108), COUGH (87), CHEST (85), ABDOMEN (82).

CHILL - SHAKING,shivering,rigors - inspiring,on
COUGH - PAROXYSMAL - suffocation,suddenly on swallowing
COUGH - SUFFOCATIVE - swallowing,on
LARYNX TRACHEA - CROUP - extending to - fauces
LARYNX TRACHEA - CROUP - heated,from being
LARYNX TRACHEA - CROUP - whooping cough,during
RESPIRATION - ASTHMATIC - sailors as soon as they go ashore
RESPIRATION - IMPEDED,obstructed - swallowing,on
LARYNX TRACHEA - INFLAMMATION, - larynx - heated,from getting
LARYNX TRACHEA - VOICE, - indistinct
NOSE - CORYZA - obstinate,with soreness beneath nose and on margin of nose
EXTREMITIES - COLDNESS - Forearm - icy cold
FACE - INFLAMMATION - parotid gland - left
FACE - SWELLING - submaxillary glands - left
FACE - SWELLING - parotid gland - hard
FACE - SWELLING - parotid gland - left
FACE - SWELLING - submaxillary glands - hard
LARYNX TRACHEA - CONSTRICTION - Throat-pit
RESPIRATION - DIFFICULT - swallowing
RESPIRATION - ROUGH - sawing

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