Stannum iodatum

A chemical compound of tin and iodine (generally stannous iodide, SnI₂), prepared by trituration from the pure salt. The remedy blends the Stannum themes of profound chest weakness and green, sweetish expectoration with the Iodum stamp of glandular enlargement, emaciation with ravenous appetite, and heat aggravation. It has been used chiefly for chronic bronchial disease (bronchitis/bronchiectasis, phthisical states) with lymphatic/thyroid involvement, and for hoarseness with easy fatigue of voice [Clarke], [Boericke], [Hale], [Allen].

No extensive Hahnemannian proving; picture rests on [Clinical] experience, [Pathogenetic analogies] from its parents (Stannum, Iodum), and smaller [Toxicologic] notes of iodides. Repeated confirmations in chronic chest disease with glandular enlargement and marked prostration [Clarke], [Boericke], [Hale], [Allen].

A tubercular-sycotic respiratory picture combining:

1. Stannum’s “empty, weak chest,” cough from the least talking, and green, often sweetish expectoration; with
2. Iodum’s glandular enlargement, emaciation despite hunger, restlessness, and worse heat / close rooms.

Choose Stannum iodatum when chronic bronchitis/bronchiectasis or post-pneumonic catarrh features voice fatigue, intercostal exhaustion, and copious green sputum, better after expectoration, worse in warm rooms and on speaking or ascending, in a patient who is losing flesh though eating well and who shows cervical/thyroid/bronchial gland fulness. The remedy restores tone to the air-passage musculature, encourages effective expectoration, and steadies the voice while the iodic element influences glands and nutrition [Clarke], [Boericke], [Hale], [Farrington].

• Bronchi/Lungs — chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis, post-pneumonic states; copious green, sometimes sweetish or offensive expectoration; “empty,” weak chest; cough worse talking/reading/singing, better after expectoration and sometimes by firm pressure on chest [Clarke], [Boericke], [Allen].
• Larynx/Voice — hoarseness, easy fatigue of voice; professional overuse with chest emptiness and tickle in trachea [Clarke], [Farrington].
• Glands — cervical/bronchial/mesenteric nodes; thyroid fulness or goitrous tendency; indurations (iodic stamp) [Hale], [Clarke].
• Nutrition — emaciation despite good/ravenous appetite, heat intolerance, restlessness (iodine trait) paired with general prostration (stannum trait) [Boericke], [Clarke].
• Female pelvic organs — ovarian fulness/induration with chronic cough (less constant) [Clarke].
• Chest muscles/intercostals — fatigued, ache on speaking/coughing/ascending; must support the chest with hands [Allen], [Boger].

Restless, anxious about chest; fear of decline/consumption; yet mentally tired from coughing nights. Irritable from slightest exertion or conversation that brings on cough; more practical fretfulness than despair. Appetite is strong or ravenous, with worry that “food does not nourish” (iodic colouring) [Clarke], [Hale]. [Clinical]

Broken by cough (toward 2–4 a.m.); wakes hot and oppressed in close rooms; dozes after expectoration; dreams of speaking/lecturing and waking to cough [Clarke], [Allen]. [Clinical]

Great prostration from small efforts; “empty, weak” feeling in chest; glands enlarged/indurated; emaciation with appetite; worse heat, exertion, talking, better open air, pressure, and after expectoration. The Stannum weakness + Iodum wasting/glandular stamp define the case [Clarke], [Boericke], [Farrington]. [Clinical]

Light, weak feeling in head from talking; frontal pressure with catarrh; faintness after long cough paroxysm; occipito-nuchal ache from muscle strain [Allen], [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Sunken, dark circles in chronic cases; lachrymation with cough; vision swims after long speaking (prostration) [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Roaring or rushing during hard coughing; earaches from Eustachian catarrh accompanying chronic bronchitis [Allen]. [Clinical]

Chronic catarrh; post-nasal drip tickles larynx; worse warm rooms, better open air; hay-feverish patients with weak chest [Clarke], [Hale]. [Clinical]

Pale, fatigued, sometimes flushed after exertion; cheeks thin with sharp malar outline in wasting chest cases [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Taste sweetish with the green sputum (Stannum signature); tongue often coated; dryness of fauces at night [Allen], [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Tracheal tickle induces cough; rawness extending into upper sternum; voice tires early with need to clear scant tenacious mucus [Clarke], [Farrington]. [Clinical]

Key sphere. Sense of emptiness and weakness in chest; must press the chest with hands when talking/coughing. Cough from the least talking, reading aloud, or ascending; green, sometimes sweetish or fetid expectoration, often copious in the morning; better after expectoration [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke]. Bronchiectatic states with lumpy, green, offensive sputum; stitching or aching beneath sternum; voice fatigues, dyspnoea on slight exertion; warm room aggravates, open cool air relieves. Oppression at night with heat; occasional haemoptysis in thin, glandular subjects [Clarke], [Hale]. [Clinical]

Palpitation from ascending or after prolonged speech; pulse soft, easily hurried; cardiac weakness secondary to respiratory exhaustion; heat aggravates [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Short on the least exertion; cannot finish a sentence without coughing; better after free expectoration and in cool air; wheeze/crepitus over lower lobes in chronic catarrh [Clarke], [Allen]. [Clinical]

Hunger soon after eating with progressive thinness (iodum stamp); emptiness at epigastrium with chest weakness; rich, warm rooms aggravate nausea during catarrh [Hale], [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Mesenteric gland fulness in scrofulous children; abdominal fatigue from coughing strain; flatus with weakness [Clarke], [Hale]. [Clinical]

Haemorrhoids sore after prolonged cough; constipation alternating with loose morning stool in the delicate [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Increased frequency from exertion/coughing; otherwise non-characteristic [Allen]. [Clinical]

Ravenous or frequent hunger with loss of flesh; worse warm, close rooms; better cool air; desires cool drinks; warm drinks soothe tickle but heat aggravates oppression [Clarke], [Hale]. [Clinical]

Testicular/cord indurations in scrofulous types; sexual desire variable with constitutional weakness (iodic and stannic blend) [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Ovarian fulness/induration with chronic cough; menses may be early and profuse in heated rooms; leucorrhoea with fatigue of voice (less constant) [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Inter-scapular aching and intercostal fatigue from coughing/talking; must rest back against firm support; left infra-scapular soreness common (bronchitic base) [Boger], [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Tremulous weakness after speaking; thighs and arms tire on slight effort; climbing stairs quickly defeats him [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Fair, delicate, often glandular; night-sweats in wasting chest disease (tubercular tint) [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Chronic Bronchitis / Bronchiectasis

• Stannum met. — Chest emptiness, green sweet sputum, worse talking; less glandular/iodic wasting than Stann-i. [Allen], [Clarke].
• Silicea — Suppurative, fetid sputum with chilliness, sweaty head, slow repair; Stann-i. has more heat aggravation and iodic restlessness [Farrington], [Clarke].
• Kali bich. — Tough, stringy plugs; circumscribed pains; less profound voice fatigue/chest weakness than Stann-i. [Clarke].
• Phosphorus — Burning chest, thirst for cold; haemorrhagic tendency; more emotional lability; Stann-i. more mechanical weakness/glandular.
• Antimonium tart. — Rattling, can’t raise; drowsy, cyanotic; Stann-i. able to expectorate and is better after it [Allen].
• Lycopodium — Right-sided chest, evening aggravation, flatus; sputum not typically green-sweet; different digestion picture [Farrington].

Glandular / Thyroid

• Iodum — Hot, restless, emaciated with ravenous hunger; dry, hacking cough; Stann-i. adds green sputum and marked voice/chest weakness [Clarke].
• Bromium — Hard, stony glands, laryngeal spasm; cold air relieves; Stann-i. generally worse heat and needs expectoration [Clarke].

Voice / Overuse

• Argentum met. — Professional voice overuse with cord soreness; sputum scant; Stann-i. has chest emptiness and morning copious green sputum [Farrington].
• Causticum — Rawness, aphonia better damp; Stann-i. is drier, heat-worse, and fatigue comes from talking itself [Clarke].

• Complementary: Stannum met. (chest weakness), Iodum (glands, wasting); Hepar (if later, moist, suppurative stage supervenes) [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Follows well: Acon./Bry. in post-acute bronchitis when expectoration becomes green and weakness dominates [Farrington].
• Precedes well: Sil., Kali-bich., Carbo-veg. in chronic bronchiectasis where offensive, tenacious sputum persists [Clarke].
• Antidotes/antidoted by: Nux-v., Puls. (drug overaction/irritation) traditionally noted [Boericke].

• Indications — Bronchiectasis with copious green (sweetish/fetid) sputum, voice tires on slight use; chronic bronchitis in heated rooms; post-pneumonic catarrh lingering with glandular enlargement; thin, hungry, heat-worse patients with weak chest [Clarke], [Boericke], [Hale].
• Potency & Repetition — For stubborn catarrh/bronchiectasis, 3x–6x in small repeated doses has classical support; for constitutional cases with wasting/glands/voice fatigue, 30C–200C at intervals, pausing as expectoration eases and strength returns. Avoid needless repetition once the talking-cough and heat-worse oppression abate [Boericke], [Dewey].
• Adjuncts — Cool, well-ventilated air (avoid overheated rooms); graded voice rest; postural drainage/steam inhalation for clearance; hydration; gentle outdoor walks rather than indoor exertion; nutrition to match appetite [Clarke], [Hale].
• Pearls — Lecturer/teacher with cough whenever speaking, must press the chest, and brings up green sputum—think Stann-i. In scrofulous adolescents with glands up and voice fatigue after minor colds, Stann-i. often shortens the catarrhal tail [Clarke], [Farrington].

Mind

• Anxiety—health—consumption, about. Wasting chest worry. [Clarke]
• Irritability—from slight exertion/talking. Cough provoked. [Allen]
• Restlessness—warm room—aggravates. Iodic heat-worse. [Clarke]

Chest / Cough / Respiration

• Cough—talking—aggravates; reading aloud; singing. Signature trigger. [Allen], [Clarke]
• Expectoration—green; sweetish; copious—morning; offensive (bronchiectasis). Keynote cluster. [Allen], [Clarke]
• Weakness—chest—must press with hands; better after expectoration. Stannum core with iodic overlay. [Allen], [Boger]
• Dyspnoea—ascending—slight exertion—aggravates; open air—ameliorates. Effort intolerance; iodic relief. [Clarke]
• Oppression—warm room—aggravates; cool air—ameliorates. Modal pair. [Clarke]

Voice / Larynx

• Hoarseness—from talking—voice quickly tires. Professional voice strain. [Farrington], [Clarke]
• Tickling—trachea—incites cough. Starter sign. [Clarke]

Glands / Nutrition

• Glands—cervical/bronchial—enlarged/indurated. Iodic stamp. [Hale], [Clarke]
• Thyroid—goitre—fulness—heat—aggravates. Iodum relationship. [Clarke]
• Emaciation—with ravenous appetite. Iodic paradox. [Boericke]

Back / Intercostals

• Pain—interscapular—coughing—after. Muscle fatigue. [Boger]
• Weakness—intercostal muscles—on speaking. Holds chest to speak. [Allen]

Generalities / Modalities

• Heat—aggravates; warm room—aggravates; open/cool air—ameliorates. Iodic environment modality. [Clarke]
• Exertion—least—aggravates; rest—ameliorates. Stannum weakness. [Boger]
• After expectoration—ameliorates. Relief sign. [Allen]

1. F. Allen — Handbook & Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica: chest weakness, expectoration, voice fatigue (Stannum family); compiled clinical notes on Stann-i.
   Clarke — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica: clinical portrait of Stannum iodatum (chronic bronchitis/bronchiectasis; glandular and iodic modalities).
   Boericke — Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica: keynotes—green sweet sputum, weakness from talking, iodic wasting/glandular sphere.
   Hale — New Remedies: iodides in glands/goitre; Stann-i. in chronic chest catarrh with glandular enlargement.
   Hering — Guiding Symptoms: Stannum traits (must press chest, green sputum) applied in combinations; general confirmations.
   Boger — Synoptic Key: generals/modalities—exertion-worse, pressure-better, intercostal fatigue.
   Farrington — Clinical Materia Medica: differentials—voice remedies (Arg-m., Caust.), bronchiectasis set (Sil., Kali-bich., Phos.).
   Kent — Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica: miasmatic colouring (tubercular/sycotic) and parent-remedy analogies.
   Dewey — Practical Homoeopathic Therapeutics: potency guidance in chronic chest states; bronchiectasis notes.
   Tyler — Homoeopathic Drug Pictures: portraits for Stannum/Iodum informing the compound’s synthesis.