Getting rid of poison - would this work?

Blinkk

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Another question!

In my fantasy story, the MC realizes he drinks poison. There is hard alcohol nearby, so he immediately starts throwing back shots, mixing hard liquor with the intent of making himself vomit to get the poison out of his system before it even sets in.

Is this a realistic scenario? I made up the poison, so hopefully I get leeway with that...
 

alleycat

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Why can't he just stick his fingers in his mouth until he engages the gag reflex?

There are some types of poisons (caustic ones) where it's best to not throw up. This probably wouldn't concern you since you are creating a fictional poison.
 

NikiK

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The problem with that one is that alcohol might actually make the poison worse leading to death. I recently lost someone who didn't realize she shouldn't combine alcohol with prescription medication. The alcohol intensified the effect of the prescription meds leading to organ failure.

No ipecac handy in the medicine cabinet for your character?

OTOH it's your made up poison, so you make the rules on how it works. ;)
 
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jkenton

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Mustard, soap, even plain old salt water can induce vomiting, but it can take several minutes. All of those'd probably be better (and faster) than liquor.
 

cornflake

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Yeah, that's a bad idea.

As above, if there's nothing else, a bunch of salt in water (like a lot) will do that much faster and with fewer problems.
 

Lyra Jean

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I was watching Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman.

Her son was working with a lot of Chinese workers on the railroad or something. He would eat lunch with them. He would put milk in his tea and the Chinese did not. They all got sick with lead poisoning from the tea pot they were using. Dr. Quinn's son didn't get sick as fast as the rest because the milk slowed it down and that's how they figured out it was from the tea and not like a communicable disease.

Drink some milk or like an above poster said chew some charcoal. Pediatricians now say do not induce vomiting in case your child should swallow something poisonous because it will only make things worse. But then those usually end up being household cleaners which tend to be caustic.
 

ULTRAGOTHA

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Mustard, soap, even plain old salt water can induce vomiting, but it can take several minutes. All of those'd probably be better (and faster) than liquor.

I completely agree. Alcohol is very likely to make it worse. Also to mask symptoms leftover from the poison that did get in the system.

Is that what you want? A suitably clueless character might do that. Then he'd be hung over and partially poisoned.
 

NeuroFizz

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When would taking a central nervous system depressant ever be a good idea as a remedy for ingested poison? Even if the goal was to vomit. Most people don't vomit from shots until the alcohol has produced significant inebriation. And I suspect it would be wise to have the nervous system in tip-top shape with any challenge from an additional poison.
 

Blinkk

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Thanks guys, I'm liking the charcoal idea. He's in a pub when it happens, so now I've got to figure out a realistic reason why medicinal charcoal would be in a bar...
 

Blinkk

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Fish tank in bar, they have a supply of charcoal for the filter...

Someone tell me if I'm wrong, but I thought it had to be activated charcoal which is prepared different than other charcoal? Also, we're in a fantasy world, so they wouldn't have fish tanks with electric filters and things.

Hmm...I'll think of a clever way for this to work. Maybe a bit of a rewritten setting...
 

ULTRAGOTHA

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Or you could just have some clueful person in the pub mix up some very salty water, or mustardy water, and make him drink it.

Out in the back near the midden so they don't have to clean up his sick.
 

jkenton

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Oh, regarding charcoal... That was used as a partial remedy in a recent Patrick Rothfuss book. One of the Kingkiller series. Doesn't mean it's a bad idea, but you might want to keep that in mind. Not saying to disregard a solution because it's been used by a Big Name, but if you go with the charcoal, maybe nest it in some other alternatives just to show you simply grab a shiny one from another book.
 

jkenton

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Can you tell us what the poison is? Or at least it's method of acting? Caustic, like lye, a blood-agent like cyanide, metal like arsenic, alkaloid, like opium or cocaine? That'd really help us find a good remedy, as opposed to on that makes things worse. Some poisons you want to neutralize in the body, as chucking them up will let them do more damage on the way back up. Hence the "Do not induce vomiting" on some labels.
 

thothguard51

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Charcoal has been used for hundreds, if not thousands of years for medical reason.

You character is in a tavern, perhaps they use charcoal to cook with? Maybe there is a sympathetic server who has some clean charcoal stashed away in case someone complains of food poisoning.

Use your imagination...
 

L.C. Blackwell

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Activated or active charcoal is simply more reactive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activated_charcoal

It doesn't mean you can't use straight charcoal, but it might mean drinking a lot more of it in slurry form, and it's fairly nasty stuff.

If your character actually needs to vomit and the poison isn't a caustic, I'd go for mustard. That's another oldie, and anyone with a basic knowledge of herbs would not only have mustard seeds around for grinding, but know how to grind and mix the paste--diluted of course, before dosing.

If you've got a fantasy poison, you can also come up with a fantasy charcoal-like or mustard-like antidote that would logically be common in household use.
 

Canotila

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Clay is another substance with the ability to neutralize some poisons.

Edit: Don't know if it helps, but when my dog at a box of rat poison we didn't realize it until 12 hours later. By then it was already in his system so they tube fed him a giant liquid pouch of activated charcoal and gave him vitamin K shots. The vet said that if we'd caught it earlier, the first thing she would have had us do, before bringing him in even, was pour some hydrogen peroxide down his gullet and make him puke as much out as possible. Then she'd have given him the charcoal and shot to deal with any he'd already absorbed.
 

sunandshadow

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Ipecac was historically used to induce vomiting, so it might make sense in a fantasy world. A bar might have kept some around in case someone passed out drunk and seemed likely to die from alcohol poisoning.
 

GeorgeK

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Put a raw onion in the blender. Line a bowl with a bar towel. Pour the blended onion into the towel and pull up the corners while twisting it to strain out the juice. Drink and spew
 

Princess Marina

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I have regenerating characters who deal with poison by slicing open their stomachs and letting it out before self healing and then consuming a full bottle of spirits and pumping it and the poison out of their blood stream, letting it out at a wrist. I knew perfectly well this is not feasible in your kind of real life story. But then mine is fantasy.
 

kelzey2

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If the poison had ethylene glycol (antifreeze) in it, the alcohol would work as an antidote.
 

Hendo

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Oh, regarding charcoal... That was used as a partial remedy in a recent Patrick Rothfuss book. One of the Kingkiller series. Doesn't mean it's a bad idea, but you might want to keep that in mind. Not saying to disregard a solution because it's been used by a Big Name, but if you go with the charcoal, maybe nest it in some other alternatives just to show you simply grab a shiny one from another book.

When I saw the title of the thread my first thought was activated charcoal. My second thought was of the Kingkiller Chronicles. I wouldn't necessarily peg it to his series though as it is a real remedy for certain types of poisons. To tie it to him would be like saying someone in a major series was poisoned by arsenic so if you use arsenic too you'll be stealing their idea. Charcoal is just far too common of a remedy. Now if you were to use something like a Bezoar from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince as an antidote... well even though they were used back in the 1500s and earlier, it still sounds a little too far off the beaten path for me.
 

L.C. Blackwell

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Yeah, that's a bad idea.

As above, if there's nothing else, a bunch of salt in water (like a lot) will do that much faster and with fewer problems.

Just found this:

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/soy-sauce-overdose-sends-man-coma-6C10244931

In the 1960s and 1970s, doctors actually gave salt to patients suffering from poisoning, to initiate vomiting, until they realized its harmful effects.

Though it's rare in the United States, consuming excess salt was a traditional method for suicide in ancient China, according to the case report.

.... so I don't think I'd go the salt route. ;)