Comments on: Apothecarius Argentum, Volume 3: A Medical Annotation http://www.politedissent.com/archives/4547 a blog of medicine, comics, television, science and other fun stuff Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:09:03 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: EL http://www.politedissent.com/archives/4547/comment-page-1#comment-691006 EL Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:07:42 +0000 http://www.politedissent.com/?p=4547#comment-691006 I've used charcoal in dogs for some of the household items that they eat. We also used it on a cat that had eaten lily leaves (causes renal failure in cats). It is messy and since the pet owners generally aren't quite sure when the animal ate the substance, may just be a charcoal chaser. However, with the cat, we did get it into him soon after the event and he did recover. I always think that this is a wonderful post. I have heard of Spanish Fly in historical novels but didn't know what it was. Yet another new thing learned on Polite Dissent! By the way, the novels were accurate because the term Spanish fly was used as a way of saying that something was fake or a lie, as in, "Don't give me Spanish Fly", meaning don't feed me BS. I’ve used charcoal in dogs for some of the household items that they eat. We also used it on a cat that had eaten lily leaves (causes renal failure in cats). It is messy and since the pet owners generally aren’t quite sure when the animal ate the substance, may just be a charcoal chaser. However, with the cat, we did get it into him soon after the event and he did recover.

I always think that this is a wonderful post. I have heard of Spanish Fly in historical novels but didn’t know what it was. Yet another new thing learned on Polite Dissent!

By the way, the novels were accurate because the term Spanish fly was used as a way of saying that something was fake or a lie, as in, “Don’t give me Spanish Fly”, meaning don’t feed me BS.

]]> By: Scott http://www.politedissent.com/archives/4547/comment-page-1#comment-688595 Scott Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:23:18 +0000 http://www.politedissent.com/?p=4547#comment-688595 <font color="green">I always understood that it worked on certain chemicals in certain situations. It's not good for run of the mill "Call the poison hotline" exposures, but it does have its uses. That being said, I've only ordered it once, and that was for a teenager with a tricyclic overdose. It certainly seemed to work (but I remember it being extremely messy. It was never mentioned by the attending, but I got the feeling one of the reasons we ordered the charcoal was <em>because</em> it was so messy and unpleasant that it would serve as a punishment/behavioral treatment for the patient as he felt her suicidal gesture was a cry for attention, not an actual attempt.). </font> I always understood that it worked on certain chemicals in certain situations. It’s not good for run of the mill “Call the poison hotline” exposures, but it does have its uses.

That being said, I’ve only ordered it once, and that was for a teenager with a tricyclic overdose. It certainly seemed to work (but I remember it being extremely messy. It was never mentioned by the attending, but I got the feeling one of the reasons we ordered the charcoal was because it was so messy and unpleasant that it would serve as a punishment/behavioral treatment for the patient as he felt her suicidal gesture was a cry for attention, not an actual attempt.).

]]> By: carol http://www.politedissent.com/archives/4547/comment-page-1#comment-688572 carol Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:40:01 +0000 http://www.politedissent.com/?p=4547#comment-688572 Actually, the last emergency pediatrics grand rounds I went to on poisonings pronounced charcoal basically ineffective. Did I misunderstand, or is there new information...? Actually, the last emergency pediatrics grand rounds I went to on poisonings pronounced charcoal basically ineffective. Did I misunderstand, or is there new information…?

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