Cadmium Sulphuratum – a remedy for relief of Bell’s Palsy

 Cadmium Sulphuratum – a remedy for relief of Bell’s Palsy

Abstract: case of a patient with facial paralysis from the cold. Diagnosis Bell’s Palsy. Cadmium sulphuricum gave a rapid cure.
Confirmed symptoms for the Cadmium are: paralysis, nerve problems.

Patient Male acute problem.

Born 23 Apr 52, seen 7 Feb 85. A planning surveyor in public utility property department. The patient was a shy socially inept very conventionally old-fashioned clothed young man in a dead end lack of initiative job who lived in a house with two women who looked after him.

Complains of flu since a few days, a fever, an unsettled stomach, cannot hold fluids, no trouble swallowing, frontal headache central heating aggravates (agg.).
Cold weather agg. and appears to be the causation; esp cold wind of which there has been much this February.
Complains of paralysis after penicillin; felt face puffed up, obs. not puffed up.
LEFT eyebrow will not raise, left eye will not stay shut, or shut at all, left head pain, left nostril sensation as if swollen, twitch on left side of face almost leads to whole body spasm.
History of nervous twitches when run down, left collarbone fracture, blow to head left and some pain in left hip.
No involuntary urination, some sweat axillae night; bowels NAD (nothing abnormal detected).

Analysis

Kent has the following intriguing rubrics;
FACE: PARALYSIS: Agar., all-c, anac., Bar-c., Cadm., Caust., Cocc., crot-h., Cupr., Cur., Dulc., form., Graph., iod., Kali-chl., Kali-p., Nux-v., op., petr., plb., puls., ruta., seneg., stry., syph., zinc.

FACE: PARALYSIS: right: Arn., Caust., hep., kali-chl., kali-p., Phos., plb., sil.

FACE: PARALYSIS: Left: All-C., cadm., Cur., form., graph., Nux-vom., spig., sulph.

FACE: PARALYSIS: cold, from:  Cadm., Caust., Dulc., ruta.

How can we use this information? The patient’s paralysis is from cold WIND, not bathing so we can eliminate Dulcamara, the only other strongly showing remedy is Causticum with a RIGHT sided paralysis, although there may be other possible indications in the patient’s history. We do not have a three-legged stool but have established that there is no escape of urine. I had never prescribed Cadmium sulphuratum before, indeed only a check in the abbreviations list showed me that it was not the metallicum. I had so far only considered this remedy as a cancer remedy in the writings of Grimmer.

Eye open sleep during

Eye closed difficult (face seems swelling).

Follow up

Follow up was 7 days later and there was no trace of the problem at all, the main improvement was immediate 75%, and then a gradual improvement of the remainder. No continuing treatment was sought.

Comment

Cadmium metallicum was thought of as the remedy for “influenzosis” by William Gutman, (BrHomJ 51 pp20-21 1961). Grimmer characterises the sulphuratum as having a fear of solitude, of mental work, worse from cold winds and a crawling sensation with paralysis on the face. A college note showed Cadmium sulphuratum to be prescribed in the CM every 20 minutes for severe ‘flu! (was this a joke?); I once tracked down the source of this to Eric Powell’s Natural Home Physician. Clarke confirmed the facial paralysis and cold wind aggravation. Clarke and Grimmer confirmed the unsettled stomach although associating it with yellow fever or cancer, but also with icy coldness and yet with sweat in the axillae. All this and more was confirmed by Hering in 7 pages!
Cadmium Sulphuratum 200C and S.L.

This patient was seen some years before the publication of the work of Jan Scholten on minerals and elements and provides a clear confirmation of the possible uses of Cadmium salts. It could be seen as anecdotal evidence. I prefer to see it as an interesting case study, an example of N=1.

About the Author:

Francis Treuherz MA RSHom FSHom

Francis Treuherz has been in practice since 1984 in London and Letchworth; (and part time in the NHS from 1990-2003). He is a Fellow of the Society of Homeopaths, former editor of their journal for 10 years, Board member for 20+ years. He was a Trustee of the British Homeopathic Association and the Homeopathy Action Trust. He has taught homeopathy at the University of Westminster, & Amsterdam, Chichester, Galway, Helsinki, London, Manchester, Prague, San José, San Francisco, Seattle, Stockholm … . He works on the homeopathic Helpline phone service since 1996.

Francis Treuherz MA RSHom FSHom
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