Bromide

Bromide potassium, bromide salts or bromine have been traditionally used to aid sleep, or in smaller doses for anxiety or calming effects. More recently, bromides have been used to disinfect swimming pools instead of chlorine, and for industrial purposes.

Risks and safety
Bromide can cause drowsiness, depresses the central nervous system, and can cause poisoning if taken in high doses or bromism (bromide intoxication) if taken very regularly in excessive doses.

Pyridostigmine bromide, marked under the brand name Mestinon, is a drug approved as safe by the FDA and has been used in clinical trials aimed at reducing post-exertional malaise in ME/CFS. Pyridostigmine bromide was also used as a pre-treatment for potential chemical exposure in armed forces in the Gulf War, and has been linked to several forms of Gulf War Illness.

Learn more

 * Bromine - CDC
 * Sedative-hypnotic drugs - Encyclopaedia Britannica