Aurum Metallicum (Aurum Met) 30C, 200C: Uses, Benefits, Dosage, and Side Effects
Overview
Aurum Metallicum — commonly called Aurum Met or simply Aurum — is the homeopathic preparation of metallic gold (chemical symbol Au, atomic weight 196.8). The remedy is made by triturating pure gold with lactose sugar and potentising the powder through serial dilution and succussion. Despite gold’s reputation as an inert “noble” metal, its medicinal use is ancient: gold appears in Egyptian, Chinese, and Indian traditions, and Paracelsus prescribed gold compounds in the sixteenth century. In homeopathy, it was introduced through Hahnemann’s provings and developed by Hering, Jahr, Boericke, and Kent, who recognised it as one of the deepest-acting remedies in the materia medica.
Few remedies carry a more striking mental picture than Aurum. Boericke described its states as “hopeless, despondent, and great desire to commit suicide,” while Clarke observed that “no drug produces more acute mental depression than Aurum.” Alongside this profound melancholy, gold acts powerfully on the heart and blood vessels, the bones, the nose, and the reproductive organs — a wide reach for a substance most people associate only with jewellery.
Key Uses
1. Depression, Melancholy, and Suicidal Thoughts
Aurum Metallicum is one of the most important homeopathic remedies for severe depression. The Aurum state is one of profound despondency, self-condemnation, and utter worthlessness: the patient feels hopeless, sees obstacles everywhere, and may express a longing for death or talk of suicide. Boericke notes that in the proving “every opportunity is sought for self-destruction,” and Clarke adds despair of oneself and others, excessive scruples of conscience, and an irresistible impulse to weep. The depression is often triggered by identifiable stress: grief, fright, anger, disappointed love, contradiction, or financial or professional failure.
Key indications: Deep hopelessness and self-blame; feeling worthless; thoughts of death or suicide; weeping without clear cause; feeling that friends no longer care; worse at night and from sunset to sunrise; a history of pushing oneself hard before the collapse.
Important: Suicidal thoughts are a medical emergency. If you or someone you know is expressing suicidal ideas, plans, or intent, seek urgent professional help immediately — do not rely on any remedy alone. Aurum may be prescribed by a qualified homeopath as part of a broader plan, but it is never a substitute for crisis care.
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Gold has a deep affinity for the cardiovascular system: Aurum is a classic consideration in high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, and valvular heart disease — Boericke specifically recommends the 30th potency for increased blood pressure. The characteristic palpitation is a sensation that the heart stops beating for two or three seconds, followed by a tumultuous rebound, with sinking at the pit of the stomach. There may be nightly paroxysms of pain behind the sternum, pain down the left arm, anxious palpitation with tremulous fearfulness, and a rapid, feeble, irregular pulse.
Key indications: Palpitations with anxiety; sensation of the heart stopping then pounding; high blood pressure with a flushed, congested face; chest pain behind the sternum at night; dizziness; palpitations worse from mental exertion.
Important: High blood pressure and chest pain require proper medical evaluation and monitoring. Aurum can be used alongside conventional treatment under professional supervision, but never instead of prescribed medication — sudden severe chest pain is always an emergency.
3. Bone Pains, Exostosis, and Caries
Aurum is one of the leading remedies for deep, boring bone pains, especially at night, and for destructive bone conditions. It is historically linked with the “syphilitic miasm” and with the bone symptoms of mercury poisoning, which gold antidotes. Boericke lists exostosis (bony growths), caries (bone decay), and nightly bone pains, particularly of the cranial, nasal, and palatine bones. Clarke adds pain in the skull bones made worse by lying down and caries of the mastoid process. The pains are typically boring or tearing, worse at night and from cold, better from moving about and in open air.
Key indications: Boring bone pains worse at night; pain in the skull bones when lying down; exostosis with tender lumps under the scalp; caries of the nasal, palatine, or mastoid bones; pains better from warmth and movement.
4. Ozaena and Nasal Complaints
Closely related to the bone picture is Aurum’s action on the nose. The remedy is indicated for ozaena — a chronic nasal condition with a fetid, purulent, sometimes bloody discharge and a putrid smell from the nose and mouth. The nose may be ulcerated, painful, swollen, and obstructed, with boring pains worse at night. Clarke describes ulcerated nasal cavities covered with thick crusts, a fetid greenish-yellow discharge, and a red, swollen nose with a knobby tip. Aurum is also considered for caries of the nasal bones and foul breath, including in girls at puberty.
Key indications: Fetid, purulent nasal discharge; putrid smell from the nose or mouth; ulceration and crusting inside the nose; boring nasal pains at night; red, knobby tip of the nose.
5. Testicular Complaints and the “Pining Boy”
Aurum has a marked action on the male reproductive organs. It is indicated for pain, swelling, and chronic induration (hardening) of the testicles, hydrocele, and underdevelopment of the testicles in boys. Boericke and Clarke both mention “pining boys” — low-spirited, lifeless boys with weak memory who lose appetite for plain food and fail to thrive. In the adult there may be violent erections and sexual hyperaesthesia; in women, Aurum is associated with an enlarged, prolapsed, or indurated uterus, sterility, and vaginismus.
Key indications: Painful, swollen, or hardened testicles; hydrocele; underdeveloped testicles in listless boys; uterine prolapse with bearing-down; sterility; excessive sexual excitement.
6. Headaches and Congestion
Aurum headaches are congestive: violent pain worse at night with a sensation of outward pressure, roaring in the head, vertigo, and a rush of blood to the head. Clarke describes congestion and heat in the head with sparks before the eyes and a glossy, bloated face, aggravated by mental exertion, and a headache as if air were passing over the brain when the head is not kept warm. There may be hammering pain on one side of the head or tearing pain through the brain to the forehead.
Key indications: Violent congestive headache worse at night; sensation of outward pressure in the head; roaring or buzzing in the head; vertigo on stooping; headache worse from mental exertion.
Mental and Emotional Picture
The Aurum constitution is one of the most recognisable in homeopathy. Classically it suits sanguine people with dark hair and eyes and an olive-brown complexion, as well as scrofulous persons, pining boys, girls at puberty, and the elderly. In modern practice, the typical Aurum patient is ambitious, conscientious, and duty-driven — often a hard-driving professional or breadwinner who carries heavy responsibility and sets very high standards. The trouble begins when this person faces failure, contradiction, financial loss, or disappointed expectations: instead of becoming angry at others, the Aurum patient turns the anger inward, feeling worthless, self-condemning, and convinced that everything is his or her fault.
Aurum patients are oversensitive to noise, excitement, and confusion, and vehement at the least contradiction. They may develop anthropophobia (fear of people) and withdraw while longing for friends’ affection and weeping at its imagined loss. Sleep is often disturbed: sleepless, sobbing aloud in sleep, with frightful dreams and night terrors. Clarke sums up the keynote: the patient feels “that all is against her and life is not desirable, and the thought of death alone gives pleasure.” It is this combination — intense self-blame, hopelessness, and active suicidal thinking — that makes Aurum so important to understand and so demanding of care in prescribing.
Modalities
| Modality | Effect |
|———-|——–|
| Worse from | Night, sunset to sunrise, cold weather, winter, mental exertion, emotion, contradiction, rest |
| Better from | Moving about, walking, getting warm, open air |
The keynote modality is aggravation from sunset to sunrise — depression, heart symptoms, and bone pains all flare as darkness falls and ease during the day. Bone pains are characteristically worse at night and better from warmth and movement.
Differentiation from Similar Remedies
Aurum Metallicum vs. Natrum Muriaticum
Both remedies cover grief, depression, and palpitations, and both patients may weep and withdraw — but the emotion moves in opposite directions. Natrum Muriaticum grieves silently and broods alone, is worse from consolation, and holds grudges for years; the grief is usually tied to a specific loss such as bereavement or a broken relationship. Aurum, by contrast, is consumed by self-condemnation and worthlessness, is vehement at contradiction, and carries a far more active suicidal drive. Cardiovascular pathology and destructive bone symptoms point to Aurum; Nat Mur is more associated with headache, cold sores, and dry mucous membranes. Blames others and withdraws? Think Nat Mur. Blames himself and despairs of life? Think Aurum.
Aurum Metallicum vs. Lachesis
Lachesis also has deep heart pathology, palpitations, high blood pressure, and severe depression with suicidal thoughts — the closest cardiac differential. The distinguishing features are the mental states and modalities: Lachesis is jealous, suspicious, and loquacious, with a fear of poison and intolerance of anything tight around the neck; symptoms are worse on waking and from pressure, better from discharges and open air. Aurum is self-condemning rather than suspicious, is worse from sunset to sunrise rather than on waking, and has no intolerance of tight clothing. The Aurum heart feels as if it stops and then rebounds; Lachesis more often has constriction, fainting, and left-sided complaints.
Aurum Metallicum vs. Sepia
Sepia is the great remedy for indifference, and that is the cleanest way to separate it from Aurum. The Sepia patient — typically an exhausted woman — is indifferent to loved ones, averse to company, and worse from consolation but better from vigorous exercise; she simply “does not care.” The Aurum patient cares desperately, feels guilty about everything, and longs for affection while believing he or she has lost it. Both share uterine prolapse and bearing-down sensations, but the contrast is unmistakable: apathy points to Sepia, agonising self-blame to Aurum. Other remedies worth comparing in deep depression include Syphilinum (destructive bone lesions), Kali Bromatum (anguish at the heart with a drive to keep moving), and Pulsatilla (weepy and mild, better from consolation — the gentle opposite of Aurum).
Dosage Guide
| Potency | Indication | Frequency | Duration |
|———|————|———–|———-|
| 6C | Mild mood dips, minor palpitations | 2–3 times daily | 3–5 days |
| 30C | Acute depressive episodes, palpitations, congestive headache, bone pain flare-ups | Once or twice daily | 5–7 days |
| 200C | Deep, long-standing depression, grief, constitutional states | One dose, then wait | 4–8 weeks, professional supervision |
| 1M | Severe constitutional cases | Single dose only | As directed by a qualified homeopath |
A general self-care framework: for mild symptoms choose 6C, repeated 2–3 times daily; for more troubling symptoms matching the Aurum picture, 30C once or twice daily for up to a week; for serious or long-standing conditions — chronic depression, hypertension, destructive bone problems — treatment belongs with a qualified homeopath, who may give a single 200C or 1M dose and wait before repeating. Take the remedy on a clean palate, 15 minutes away from food, coffee, mint, and camphor, and stop when improvement begins, repeating only if symptoms return. When in doubt, seek professional prescribing advice.
Safety and When NOT Suitable
1. Suicidal thoughts or intent — medical emergency. If a person expresses suicidal ideas, has a plan, or seems at immediate risk, contact emergency services or a crisis helpline right away and do not leave them alone. Aurum is a deep remedy a homeopath may prescribe for depressive states, but it is not a crisis intervention and must never delay urgent professional help.
2. Heart disease and high blood pressure. Aurum is not a substitute for blood pressure medication, cardiac drugs, or cardiology care. Chest pain radiating down the left arm, breathlessness, or fainting requires immediate medical assessment, and any cardiovascular use should be supervised by both a doctor and a qualified homeopath.
3. Bone symptoms. Unexplained bone pain, swellings, or fractures need a proper medical workup before homeopathic treatment.
4. Pregnancy and breastfeeding. Avoid self-prescribing, especially in higher potencies; consult a qualified homeopath.
5. If symptoms do not match. Aurum is a specific, deep-acting remedy; if the characteristic mental picture — self-blame, hopelessness, despair — is absent, another remedy is likely more appropriate.
6. Remedy hygiene. Keep the pellets away from strong-smelling substances such as coffee, camphor, and mint.
Remember that homeopathic Aurum contains no measurable metallic gold and is not a gold supplement; it is chosen for its symptom picture, not as a mineral supplement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is Aurum Metallicum the same as taking gold supplements?
A: No. Homeopathic Aurum is prepared through serial dilution and succussion until no measurable gold remains. It is prescribed on the basis of symptom similarity — the mental, cardiac, and bone picture above — and is not a source of dietary gold or a mineral supplement.
Q: How quickly does Aurum Metallicum work for depression?
A: In mild cases where the Aurum picture fits well, improvement in mood and sleep can appear within days to a few weeks. Deep, long-standing depression is a constitutional state that needs time and professional prescribing. If suicidal thoughts appear at any point, treat it as an emergency and seek immediate help — do not wait to see if a remedy works.
Q: Can Aurum Metallicum be taken alongside antidepressants or blood pressure medication?
A: In principle yes, but only under the combined supervision of the prescribing doctor and a qualified homeopath. Never stop or adjust prescribed medication on your own, and never use Aurum to replace conventional treatment for hypertension or heart disease.
Q: Can Aurum Metallicum be given to children?
A: Yes, Aurum is classically indicated for “pining boys” — listless, low-spirited boys who fail to thrive — and for night terrors in children. Lower potencies such as 6C or 30C are generally used; consult a paediatric homeopath for children under five or developmental concerns.
Conclusion
Aurum Metallicum is one of the most profound remedies in the materia medica — the remedy of the driven, dutiful person who collapses into despair, of congestive heart and blood pressure states, of nightly bone pains, and of the pining child. Its mental picture, with its crushing self-condemnation and risk of suicidal thinking, demands respect and careful professional handling. Used judiciously — and always alongside appropriate medical care for emergencies such as suicidal crisis, chest pain, and severe hypertension — Aurum can support some of the heaviest burdens a patient carries. As with all deep constitutional remedies, the safest approach is working with a qualified homeopath who matches the remedy to the whole person.
