Cadmium sulphuratum
Made from cadmium sulfide — the yellow pigment of the paint-box whose metal is one of industrial toxicology's greatest warnings, and the classical remedy of the persistent yellow vomiting.
The whole picture, in one breath
Think of a stomach that will not stop: persistent vomiting of yellow, acid fluid, the nausea that nothing touches, prostration out of proportion, and the books' companion of the worst gastric states — with the cadmium of broken batteries and fallen pigments behind it. The yellow-vomiting remedy: that is Cadmium sulphuratum.
The substance, in plain words
Cadmium sulfide is the yellow pigment of the painter's box — and cadmium itself is one of the great industrial poisons of the modern world, its toxicology giving medicine the itai-itai disease and the warnings of every battery works. The proving gave the remedy its gastric portrait.
The traditional picture Classical sources
The inner state
- Anxiety and despair. The dread of the vomiting, the sinking — worse at night.
- Irritability. Cross, worse from the least attempt at food.
- Despondency. Gloomy in the persistent, exhausting state.
The body
- Persistent vomiting of yellow fluid. The keynote: relentless vomiting of yellow, acid fluid — the books' great characteristic.
- Nausea nothing touches. The nausea persists between the vomits; food and drink are intolerable.
- Prostration out of proportion. The profound sinking with the vomiting — the books' warning sign.
- Burning of the stomach. The books add the burning, raw stomach of the state.
- Worse food and night. The least nourishment and the night hours aggravate.
- Better for rest and warmth. Rest, warmth and quiet support the exhausted stomach.
Modalities (worse and better factors)
| Worse from ⬇ | Better from ⬇ |
|---|---|
| food and drink; motion; night; smells. | rest; warmth; quiet. |
Where it acts (organ affinities)
Stomach and vomiting, general vitality, nervous system.
Where the classical picture comes from
The pigment-metal's proving gave the yellow-vomiting portrait; Cadmium sulphuratum became the classical remedy of the persistent, intractable gastric state — the books' answer when the stomach would not stop.
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.
Cadmium is genuinely one of industrial toxicology's greatest warnings: the itai-itai disease of Japan's poisoned river, the kidney destruction of battery workers, the regulated hazards of pigments and plating — its toxicology built modern environmental medicine. The vomiting it portrayed is now emergency and gastroenterology care; the metal's chemistry is a monument to what industry must never repeat.
Look-alikes (how the classical authors told it apart)
| Remedy | Looks similar because… | Tells it apart because… |
|---|---|---|
| Ipecacuanha | Constant nausea | Ipecac's nausea is constant with a clean tongue; Cadmium's is the yellow, sinking vomiting. |
| Arsenicum album | Vomiting, anxiety | Arsenicum is anxious, chilly and sipping; Cadmium is the yellow-vomiting sinker. |
| Veratrum album | Vomiting with collapse | Veratrum's comes with cold sweat and rice-water; Cadmium's with the yellow acid and the prostration. |
| Bismuthum-subsalicylas | Vomiting of warmed drinks | Bismuth's vomits drinks as they warm; Cadmium's is the persistent yellow. |