Arsenicum sulphuratum flavum

This mineral, chemically As₂S₃, is a naturally occurring yellow crystalline arsenic trisulphide, often found as the mineral orpiment. It has been historically sourced from volcanic fumaroles, hydrothermal veins, and mineral deposits. The homeopathic preparation is made by trituration of the purified mineral, attenuated to remove its toxic effects while retaining its dynamic medicinal properties. It embodies the destructive, ulcerative, and cachectic qualities of arsenic combined with the sulphur element’s affinity for chronic suppuration, skin affections, and deep-seated glandular disease.

Recorded primarily through clinical observations and toxicological reports, with proving symptoms collected by Clarke, Hering, and later Boericke. Known for its affinity to chronic skin disease with ulceration, discharges, and cachexia.

Arsenicum sulphuratum flavum centres on chronic, destructive skin and mucous membrane disease, often linked to a deep constitutional deterioration—cachexia, ulceration, and glandular induration. The burning, acrid discharges of arsenic combine with sulphur’s affinity for chronic eruptions, giving a remedy suited to cases where suppression has driven the disease inward, leading to respiratory or metabolic decline.

• Skin and subcutaneous tissue (chronic eruptions, ulcerations, exfoliation, psoriasis, lupus).
• Mucous membranes (especially nasal, pharyngeal, and respiratory).
• Lymphatic glands (induration, enlargement, suppuration).
• Nutrition and metabolism (cachexia, wasting after chronic discharges).
• Respiratory tract (chronic cough, bronchial catarrh, tubercular states).
• Blood and cellular metabolism (anaemia, weakness).

The mental state reflects a blend of Arsenicum album’s anxious restlessness and Sulphur’s egotistic impatience. There is a chronic fear about health, particularly about wasting or dying from disease, often accompanied by an impression of being incurable. Mental activity is hurried and irritable, with aversion to contradiction. The patient is deeply aware of physical disfigurement from skin disease and becomes self-conscious or withdrawn socially. In chronic cases, depression and hopelessness set in, especially when skin eruptions are suppressed or ulcerations deepen [Clarke, Kent].

Restless from itching and burning of skin or from cough. Wakes after midnight and cannot fall asleep again due to restlessness.

No distinct proving records beyond anxious and distressing dreams in the sick.

Profound cachexia from chronic skin disease, tuberculosis, or syphilitic ulceration. Marked burning pains, restlessness, and aggravation after midnight. The combination of arsenic and sulphur gives the remedy its deep-seated, destructive action on tissues and its tendency toward long-lasting ulceration.

Low-grade fevers in the evening; flushes of heat alternating with chills in chronic cases.

Chilly on slight exposure. Profuse night-sweats in wasting disease.

Dull, heavy headaches across the forehead and vertex, often accompanying chronic nasal catarrh or sinus ulcerations. There may be burning heat in the head, worse at night, with an impression of fullness. Vertigo may occur on rising, in anaemic or debilitated states, or after prolonged discharge from ulcers.

Chronic blepharitis with redness, swelling, and burning along the lid margins. In some cases, small pustules form, discharging thin, acrid fluid. Lachrymation is excoriating, leaving raw patches beneath the eyes. Patients with lupus or psoriasis affecting the face may have conjunctival irritation and photophobia [Hering].

Chronic eczema or psoriasis of the auricles with thick crusts and intense itching. Catarrhal deafness may develop with nasal obstruction. Discharge from ear is acrid, yellow, and offensive when middle ear is involved.

One of the most important localities for Arsenicum sulphuratum flavum. There is chronic, acrid, corrosive nasal discharge with ulceration of the septum, sometimes leading to perforation in syphilitic cases. Crust formation is profuse; removal reveals raw, bleeding surfaces. Burning and itching alternate in the nasal passages. The discharge is often yellow-green, sometimes blood-streaked, and offensive to smell [Clarke].

Skin is sallow, dry, and unhealthy-looking, with patches of chronic eczema, psoriasis, or lupus. Ulcerations may occur along the alae nasi and upper lip. The face may be drawn and thin from prolonged illness.

Ulcerations of the buccal mucosa with burning and soreness. Tongue is red, dry, or coated yellowish-white. Saliva may be increased and offensive. In cachectic patients, gums are spongy, bleeding easily.

Loosening of teeth in scorbutic states. Toothache from exposure to cold air.

Raw, burning pain in the pharynx with chronic catarrhal inflammation. Mucus is thick and yellow, difficult to expel. Cervical glands enlarged and indurated.

Chronic bronchitis with yellow, purulent expectoration and burning pain in the chest. Cough worse at night and on exposure to cold. Dyspnoea from exertion is marked, especially in those with skin diseases that have been suppressed. Haemoptysis in phthisical cases.

Palpitations in anaemic states. Weakness of the pulse, with irregularity after exertion.

Shortness of breath, worse at night, lying down, and in damp weather. Sensation of constriction in the upper chest.

Appetite may be lost entirely in advanced ulcerative disease, or there may be craving for strong-tasting, seasoned foods in earlier phases. Nausea and sinking sensation in stomach accompany chronic debility. Burning gastric pains worse at night.

Tenderness over mesenteric glands in marasmic children. Flatulence with rumbling and distension.

Chronic diarrhoea alternating with constipation, the diarrhoea being offensive and accompanied by burning in the anus. In wasting diseases, stool may be watery, foul, and involuntary at night.

Urine scanty, dark, with offensive odour. Burning at micturition in chronic catarrh of the bladder.

Aversion to food in gastric debility; craving for spicy or strongly seasoned food early in disease course.

Sexual power diminished in chronic illness; emissions in weakened states.

Chronic acrid leucorrhoea with burning, corroding the parts. Menses may be suppressed in advanced cachexia or profuse and exhausting in tubercular patients.

Weakness and aching between the scapulae. Burning along the spine in debilitated cases.

Chronic eczematous eruptions on hands and forearms, sometimes with thick crusts and fissures. Weakness, trembling, and wasting of muscles in advanced disease.

The skin picture is the most characteristic sphere for this remedy. Chronic eruptions with thick, yellowish crusts, intense itching, and burning after scratching. Ulcerations are deep, irregular, with acrid discharge that irritates surrounding skin. Psoriasis with yellow scaling, lupus vulgaris, and tertiary syphilitic lesions are key indications [Hering, Clarke]. The skin is unhealthy; small wounds ulcerate easily. Suppression of skin eruptions often leads to worsening of respiratory or internal conditions.

• Arsenicum album – Greater anxiety and restlessness, less marked skin ulceration with yellow crusts.
• Sulphur – More itching and aggravation from heat, less destructive ulceration.
• Graphites – Thick crusts and oozing, but with honey-like discharge rather than acrid.
• Hepar sulphuris – More suppuration and tenderness, less cachexia.

• Complementary: Sulphur, Hepar sulphuris.
• Antidotes: China, Nux vomica.
• Follows well: Calcarea sulphurica, Mercurius iodatus flavus.

Excellent in chronic eczema, psoriasis, lupus, and tertiary syphilis with ulceration. Indicated after suppression of skin diseases when chest symptoms arise. Useful in chronic nasal ulceration with yellow crusts. Often given in triturations (3x to 6x) for prolonged cutaneous conditions, higher potencies for constitutional prescribing.

Mind

• Anxiety about health.
• Restlessness at night.

Head

• Burning in vertex.
• Headache from chronic nasal catarrh.

Eyes

• Blepharitis with acrid discharge.
• Photophobia in skin disease of the face.

Stomach

• Burning gastric pain.
• Aversion to food in ulcerative states.

Skin

• Chronic eruptions with thick yellow crusts.
• Ulcerations with acrid discharge.

Extremities

• Eczema on forearms and hands.
• Weakness and muscle wasting.

Generalities

• Cachexia from chronic disease.
• Worse after midnight.

Clarke – A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica: Chronic skin ulcerations, nasal crusts, cachexia.
Hering – The Guiding Symptoms: Ulcerations, glandular involvement, chronic respiratory states post-suppression.
Boericke – Pocket Manual: Keynotes for chronic skin disease.
Allen, T. F. – Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica: Toxicology and proving fragments.