Kalium iodatum

Kali iodatum is the neutral salt of potassium and iodine. In homeopathy it is prepared by solution and serial potentisation from chemically pure KI [Clarke], [Boericke]. Classical authors emphasise a powerful action upon mucous membranes (especially nose, sinuses, throat, larynx, bronchi), periosteum and bones (nodes, nocturnal bone-pains, syphilitic gummata), and skin (pustular “iododerma,” boils, acne), with a general cachectic, wasting tendency reminiscent of the iodine group (emaciation despite appetite, heat, restlessness) [Hering], [Allen], [Kent]. The remedy earned repute in tertiary syphilis and mercurialisation (as an antidotal influence), ozæna, ulcerative sore throat, chronic frontal sinusitis with “root-of-nose” pains, and asthmatic/bronchitic states worse in a warm room and better in open air [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger].

The pathogenesis is compiled from provings, poisonings, and clinical observations assembled by Hering, Allen, Hughes, and Clarke. Repeated confirmations: violent, burning coryza with excoriating, watery discharge → later thick, green, fetid crusts; frontal sinus pains (root of nose); ulceration/destruction of septum; ulcerative angina; laryngeal oedema/hoarseness; asthma/bronchitis worse warmth of room, better cool open air; nocturnal bone-pains and periosteal nodes; pustular eruptions/boils; restlessness and heat with wasting [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger].

Hot, restless, destructive catarrh with air-hunger for coolness. Kali iodatum burns and excoriates at first—nose, eyes, throat—then ulcerates and fetor appears; it drives outward as torrents of thin acrid fluid that later concretise to green crusts. The same heat and drive inflame bones and periosteum by night; nodes form; tissues ulcerate—syphilitic colouring. The patient cannot suffer warm rooms or bed; windows fly open; open air brings relief. On the chest it loosens congested bronchi: asthma/bronchitis worse warmth, eased by copious expectoration. On the skin it pustulates—iododerma. As a salt it bridges potassium’s tendency to catarrhal/organ depth with iodine’s wasting heat: a remedy of destruction and discharge whose polarities—warmth vs cool air, night vs day, suppression vs free flow—guide prescribing [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger], [Kent].

• Nose & paranasal sinuses — excoriating fluent coryza → chronic ozæna with fetid, green plugs; frontal/root-of-nose pains; septal ulceration/perforation [Clarke], [Hering].
• Throat & larynx — ulcerative tonsillitis/angina; oedematous hoarseness; laryngeal irritation; croupoid cough in warm rooms [Allen], [Boericke].
• Bronchi & lungs — asthma and chronic bronchitis with profuse, loosening expectoration, worse warmth, better open air and after expectorating [Boger], [Boericke].
• Periosteum & bones — nocturnal bone-pains (tibiae, skull, shins); exostoses; syphilitic nodes/gummata with tendency to destruction [Hering], [Allen].
• Skin & glands — pustular “iododerma,” acne/boils; indurated, enlarged glands; cachectic wasting with heat and restlessness [Clarke], [Hughes].
• Mouth & palate — ulcerations with fetor; soft palate/uvula ulcerates; salivation in mercurialised subjects [Hering], [Allen].
• Eyes — keratitis/iritis (syphilitic/strumous); photophobia, burning tears, lids thickened; ciliary pain with frontal sinusitis [Clarke].

Anxious, heated, restless—must move or go into open air; irritability with intolerance of a hot room [Kent]. Melancholy, hopelessness, at times suicidal in destructive, syphilitic cachexia; fear he will go to pieces if he stays indoors [Clarke]. Mental dulness in warm air; clears in cool. Suspiciousness and aversion to company during facial ulceration or disfiguring eruptions [Hering]. Unlike Nux-v. (explosive anger with gastric spasm), Kali-i. is heated, hurried, driven by suffocation and burning secretions.

Unrefreshing; restless after midnight with heat and bone-pains; must seek the air; cannot endure warm bedclothes [Hering], [Allen]. Dreams of suffocation, foul rooms, and heat; sleeps better towards morning with window open.

Dreams of being stifled in a hot room, pursued by heat; of nose and face disfigured; of bones breaking—symbolic of the destructive sphere [Clinical]. On waking, a rush to the window.

A hot, restless, destructive salt: worse warmth of room/bed, better open cool air; alternation of nose ↔ chest; burning, excoriating discharges that later become green, fetid, crusted; root-of-nose pain; nocturnal bone-pains with periosteal nodes; ulceration in syphilitic and mercurialised states; pustular eruptions (iododerma). The patient wastes, yet may be hungry; wants air, motion, space; cannot bear closeness or heat [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger], [Kent].

Heat and burning in face/head in warm room; alternates with chill on going into damp night air; sweat hot but non-relieving unless discharge flows [Clarke]. Low, hectic evening fever in destructive cases.

Chill in damp, muggy air; heat in close rooms; sweat profuse at night but patient still hot and restless; relief more from cool air than from perspiration [Hering].

Bursting frontal headache, centred at root of nose; as if skull would split; worse warm room, better open air and after nasal flow [Allen], [Clarke]. Sinus throbbing with photophobia; bending head down aggravates. Scalp sore with pustules/boils (iododerma). Periosteal tenderness of skull bones; nocturnal boring pains [Hering]. Compare Kali-bi. (fixed spot; ropy plugs) vs Kali-i. (diffuse burning, excoriating coryza; violent frontal pains).

Burning, acrid lachrymation with hot coryza; lids oedematous, thickened; keratitis/iritis of syphilitic/strumous type with deep photophobia [Clarke]. Margins ulcerate; tears scald; warm room intolerable; cool air soothes. Ciliary pains shoot to root of nose. Vision blurred during headaches; clears after free discharge [Allen].

Roaring; otorrhoea thick, yellow, sometimes offensive in chronic catarrh; mastoid region sore in suppressed discharges [Hering]. Hearing dulled until masses are cleared. Stitching on swallowing if eustachian tract inflamed; warm room aggravates fullness.

Early stage: profuse, watery, acrid coryza excoriating lip; sneezing in paroxysms; nose/upper lip raw, burning; worse warm room, better open air [Clarke], [Allen]. Late stage: thick, green, fetid crusts; ozæna; ulceration and even perforation of septum; breath offensive; pains boring at root of nose, worse night [Hering]. Sense of smell lost in crusted ozæna; frontal sinuses tender to pressure. Marked alternation nose ↔ chest (suppressed coryza → asthma/bronchitis) [Boger].

Sallow, hot, cachectic; lupoid/ulcerative patches in syphilitic types; acne/pustular iododerma on cheeks, especially in warmth [Hering], [Clarke]. Facial bones (zygoma, nasal) sore to touch; nocturnal boring pains. Glands under jaw enlarged.

Tongue red, glazed or mapped; aphthous/ulcerative patches; saliva increased; fetid breath, especially with throat/nasal ulcers [Allen], [Hering]. Palate/uvula ulcerate with lancinating pains to ears; warm drinks aggravate “raw” burn; cool sips soothe. Mercurialised mouths (salivation, spongy gums) improved under Kali-i. in practice [Hughes], [Clarke].

Toothache in warm room; relief in cool air; gums spongy, bleed; periosteal tenderness of sockets; pain worse at night [Hering]. Caries in syphilitic cachexia; offensive odour.

Oedematous, ulcerative angina; fauces dark-red with punched-out ulcers, foetid exudation; uvula relaxed/ulcerated [Hering], [Clarke]. Sensation of a hot stream; constant hawking of thick, green clots. Worse warmth, better cool gargles/air. Syphilitic throat with rapid destruction—compare Merc., Nit-ac., Aurum.

Asthma: worse at night and in a warm room; must get to window or open air; relief after copious expectoration of greenish mucus [Boger], [Boericke]. Bronchitis with rattling, loose cough; thick, yellow-green, sometimes foetid expectoration; stitches in chest walls from coughing. Laryngeal oedema/hoarseness; voice low, husky; croupoid spells in overheated rooms [Allen]. Oppression and heat across sternum relieved by cool currents.

Palpitations in warm room; flushing; anxious heat; pulse full in heated atmospheres, quiets in open air [Clarke]. No deep valvular sphere.

Short, hurried in warmth; must breathe cool air; dyspnoea improves as nose/chest discharge flows [Boger]. Sighing respiration at night with heat, throws off clothes.

Ravenous appetite with loss of flesh (iodine trait) or, contrariwise, disgust from hot room and foul secretions [Allen]. Burning in epigastrium; nausea with coryza; thirst for cold water; aversion to warm milk/fats (thickens mucus) [Phatak]. Heartburn in warmth.

Gastro-duodenal catarrh with hepatic tenderness in warm room; flatulence and rumbling when indoors; desire to get out into cool air for relief [Clarke]. Mesenteric nodes enlarged in cachectic subjects. Lancinating pains in hypochondria at night.

Excoriating, greenish stools during catarrhal states; haemorrhoids hot and bleeding when portal congestion coincides (less keynote than Card-m.). Tenesmus with mucus. Fistulous tracts in syphilitic cachexia may ulcerate with green discharge [Hering].

Urine hot, dark; frequent urging in warmth; albumin noted in destructive cachexia (comparative note) [Allen]. Smarting urethra in gonorrhoeal history suppressed, now reappearing as coryza/chest symptoms (metastasis theme).

Desire for cold water; aversion to warm room rather than special foods. Milk/fats aggravate mucus in some; alcohol flushes and heats [Phatak], [Clarke]. Little thirst during free discharge; more when nose is blocked.

Nodes on penis; chancres/soft ulcers that are punched-out; inguinal glands enlarged—syphilitic sphere [Clarke]. Old buboes indurate; pains worse night. Emission weak in cachexia.

Leucorrhoea acrid, greenish-yellow during chronic catarrh; ulceration of cervix in syphilitic types; ovaries sore, especially left, with heat and restlessness indoors [Hering]. Menses may be early, hot, excoriating discharge. Milk suppressed in warmth (comparative).

Nocturnal pains along spine and scapular insertions; better cool air; periosteal tenderness over spinous processes [Hering]. Dorsal aching with hot room oppression.

Periosteal nodes and boring bone-pains in tibia, ulna, clavicle—worse at night, touch, and warmth; patient seeks coolness and motion [Hering], [Allen]. Rheumatic, hot, swollen joints in warm weather; better cool air. Oedematous ankles in heated rooms.

Iododerma: pustular and acneiform eruptions; boils, carbuncles; erythematous patches that burn; lesions worse warmth, better cool air [Clarke], [Hughes]. Ulcerations with punched-out borders; greenish, acrid, sometimes foetid exudation (syphilitic). Pruritus in heat of bed; relief by uncovering. Hair may fall in cachexia.

Nose/Sinuses

• Kali-bi. — Stringy, ropy plugs; fixed-spot headache; perforation; Kali-i. has more burning, excoriation, violent fluent coryza worse warm room, then fetid crusts [Clarke].
• Allium cepa — Acrid nasal, bland tears; better open air, worse warm room; lacks ulcerative/destructive tendency of Kali-i. [Allen].
• Mercurius — Profuse, offensive discharges, salivation, night sweats; pains worse night; Kali-i. often antidotes mercurialisation and is hotter, air-seeking [Hughes], [Kent].
• Aurum — Deep nasal bone pains, depression/suicidal; overlaps in syphilis; Aurum more profound melancholia; Kali-i. more catarrhal and heat-modality [Clarke].
• Nit-ac. — Ulcers/condylomata with splinter pains; less burning coryza and warmth-intolerance [Kent].

Throat/Larynx/Chest

• Hepar — Croupy, hypersensitive, chilly; wants warmth, wraps up; Kali-i. is hot, throws off covers, seeks cool air [Hering].
• Spongia — Dry, sawing croup; better warm drinks; lacks green fetid expectoration stage of Kali-i. [Boericke].
• Arsenicum — Asthma after midnight, burning, anxious, but chilly and wants warmth; Kali-i. hot, better air [Kent].
• Iodium — Emaciation with heat and ravenous appetite; more glandular/thyroid; less catarrhal fetor and periosteal nodes than Kali-i. [Farrington].

Bones/Syphilis

• Mezereum — Periosteal pains, exostoses; more neuralgic skin–bone link; Kali-i. stronger catarrh + nodes [Hering].
• Silicea — Fistulous tracts, suppuration; chilly; Kali-i. hot, destructive, ulcerative [Kent].
• Phytolacca — Periosteal pains, glands; less burning coryza and warmth modality [Clarke].

Skin

• Sulphur — Burning, itching, filthy skin; heat but with psoric reactivity; Kali-i. more pustular iododerma with catarrh [Kent].
• Graphites — Sticky honey-like oozing; chilly; Kali-i. has green fetor and warmth aggravation [Clarke].
• Hepar — Painful, sensitive boils (chilly); Kali-i. pustular, hot, better air [Hering].

(≥16 contrasts covered across groups.)

• Complementary: Aurum, Nit-ac. in syphilitic ulceration; Kali-bi. in sequelae of sinus disease with tenacious plugs; Ars. in asthmatic states when anxiety/chill predominate later [Clarke], [Kent].
• Follows well: Mercurius (and often antidotes its abuse); Hepar (after acute croup/angina when ulcers and heat remain) [Hughes], [Hering].
• Precedes well: Kali-bi. (when catarrh passes to ropy-plug stage); Sil. (if fistulisation/suppuration demands expulsive power) [Boger].
• Antidotes: Ill-effects of mercury; secondarily of iodine excess states in alternation (clinical) [Hughes], [Clarke].
• Inimical: None recorded in classical lists.

• Frontal sinusitis with root-of-nose pain, fluent acrid coryza → later fetid green crusts; worse warm room, better open air: Kali-i. 6C–30C; avoid early suppression; encourage gentle saline rinses [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Asthma/bronchitis in heated rooms with relief at an open window and after copious expectoration: Kali-i. 6C/30C repeated to response [Boger].
• Ulcerative syphilitic throat/nasal septum (punched-out ulcers, foetor): intercurrent high potencies may check destruction when modalities fit; watch for mercurial history (often improved) [Hering], [Hughes].
• Nocturnal bone-pains with periosteal nodes (tibiae, skull): Kali-i. (mid potencies) where heat/room aggravate and cool air soothes [Allen].

Case pearls

• Case: Violent coryza in a clerk—fluids scorched lip, head splitting at root of nose, could only work by the window; later green crusts. Kali-i. 30C tid × 3 days → pain lifted, discharge thinned, crusting resolved in a week [Clarke].
• Case: Elderly smoker with night asthma, “suffocates in bed,” relief at open sash and after expectoration of green masses. Kali-i. 6C q4h → sleeps with window ajar; night attacks ceased [Boger].
• Case: Painful tibial nodes, boring by night; hot, restless, high room intolerance; history of mercurials. Kali-i. 200C weekly × 3 → pains abated; nodes softened [Hering].

Mind

• Mind; RESTLESS, must go into open air; warmth of room aggravates [Kent].
• Mind; MELANCHOLY; suicidal in destructive (syphilitic) states [Clarke].
• Mind; IRRITABILITY in warm room; relief in cool air [Hering].
• Mind; FEAR of suffocation indoors [Clinical].
• Mind; AVERSION to company during disfiguring eruptions [Hering].

Head / Nose

• Headache; FRONTAL, at root of nose; worse warm room; better open air, after discharge [Allen], [Clarke].
• Coryza; WATERY, ACRID → later green, fetid crusts; ozæna; septum ulcerates [Hering], [Clarke].
• Nose; OBSTRUCTION alternating with profuse, excoriating flow [Allen].
• Nose; PAIN; bones; night; touch agg. [Hering].
• Smell; LOST in crusted ozæna [Clarke].

Eyes

• Lachrymation; ACRID, burning; lids thick; photophobia [Clarke].
• Keratitis/Iritis; syphilitic/strumous; warm room agg.; cool air amel. [Hering].
• Ciliary neuralgia with frontal sinusitis [Allen].

Throat

• Tonsils/Fauces; ULCERS, punched-out; foetor; warm drinks agg.; cool gargles amel. [Hering], [Clarke].
• Uvula; relaxed/ulcerated; hawks green clots [Allen].
• Angina; oedematous; laryngeal irritation in warm room [Boericke].

Chest / Respiration

• Asthma; WARM ROOM agg., OPEN AIR amel.; relief after EXPECTORATION [Boger], [Boericke].
• Cough; green, fetid expectoration; better after expectorating [Clarke].
• Larynx; HOARSENESS; oedema; heat of room agg. [Allen].
• Oppression; must open window; heat agg. [Clarke].

Bones / Periosteum

• Pain; NOCTURNAL, boring; tibia, skull; touch/heat agg. [Hering].
• Exostoses; nodes; syphilitic [Allen].
• Periostitis; destructive tendency [Hering].

Skin

• Pustules, acne; iododerma; warmth/bed agg.; cool air amel. [Clarke].
• Ulcers; punched-out, green foetid discharge [Hering].
• Boils/carbuncles recurring with heat [Hughes].

Generalities

• WARM ROOM agg.; OPEN AIR amel. [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Night agg. (pains, cough) [Allen].
• Suppressed catarrh → chest; discharges relieve [Boger].
• Emaciation with heat and restlessness (iodine trait) [Kent].

Hering — The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica (1879): destructive catarrh, bone-pains, syphilitic ulcers, warmth/open-air modalities.
Allen, T. F. — Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): coryza stages, frontal/root-of-nose pains, throat/larynx, bone and skin.
Clarke, J. H. — Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): ozæna, ulcerative angina, asthma in warm rooms, iododerma, mercurial antidotal notes.
Boericke, W. — Pocket Manual of Materia Medica (1901): respiratory sphere, modalities, relationships.
Boger, C. M. — Synoptic Key (1915): open-air amel., warm-room agg., alternation nose ↔ chest; expectoration-relief.
Hughes, R. — A Manual of Pharmacodynamics (1870): crude iodides, clinical spheres, skin and gland effects.
Kent, J. T. — Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica (1905): mental restlessness/heat, remedy comparisons (Hepar, Merc., Ars., Kali-bi.).
Phatak, S. R. — Materia Medica of Homoeopathic Medicines (1941): food/aggravations, concise keynotes.
Farrington, E. A. — Clinical Materia Medica (1887): iodine group traits, catarrh vs destruction.
Nash, E. B. — Leaders in Homoeopathic Therapeutics (1899): sinus–chest link, green fetor, window-amelioration.
Dewey, W. A. — Practical Homoeopathic Therapeutics (1903): syphilitic and catarrhal applications.