Activated Charcoal....???

girl81 · 10-31-2009, 02:00 AM

For anyone that takes activated charcoal, can you share your experience with it please? Did it alleviate your gas/bloat? Did it cause constipation?

Tbonedawg08 · 10-31-2009, 02:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by girl81

For anyone that takes activated charcoal, can you share your experience with it please? Did it alleviate your gas/bloat? Did it cause constipation?

umm...maybe im not aware, but this is the stuff you give someone that ingested something poisonous...and then you throw the hell up

ives · 10-31-2009, 06:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tbonedawg08

umm...maybe im not aware, but this is the stuff you give someone that ingested something poisonous...and then you throw the hell up

No. Activated charcoal does not induce vomiting... that's ipecac. Charcoal IS used in certain poison ingestion scenarios, such as when the poison is a caustic agent that would just do MORE damage when it came back up with ipecac. The charcoal neutralizes the poison until your stomach can be properly pumped.

*grew up in a house full of little kids*

EDIT: WHAT, WHAT? You're a freaking EMT!?

nunu713 · 11-02-2009, 11:15 AM

I take activated charcoal every morning. Here's my experience:

1) I do think it helps. I've been known to be gassy/bloated all day. Activiated charcoal combined with a daily probiotic definitely helped.
2) Be careful with how much you take. The bottle says to take between 2-4 after every meal. I find that waaayyyy too much. I tried that for a week and it totally gummed up my system. I find 1-2 a day after breakfast and lunch works just fine.
3) IMHO, I think this is something that's great for sensitive stomachs (which I've always had) but doesn't do much for people with normal stomachs.

Try it for a week and see how it goes!

JC32 · 11-02-2009, 03:22 PM

I'm with TBone... I'm confused. The ER gives people activated charcoal for alcohol and other overdoses/poisoning... I did a rotation through the ER in college and saw this used several times. It's usually given through a nasogastric tube. (not pretty coming back up).

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/activ...article_em.htm

Echo814 · 11-02-2009, 03:59 PM

Activated charcoal is a filtering agent that can also aid in digestion since it absorbs many different types of substances. When one has alcohol poisoning for instance it is given to the patient to absorb the ethanol in their gi tract, the end result is sometimes vomiting, but they are given a much higher dosage than what a person would take for gas and bloating.
Check this article out.http://www.emedicinehealth.com/activ...article_em.htm

JC32 · 11-02-2009, 04:15 PM

Thanks for the info. I had never heard of this before! I guess it's true, you learn new stuff every day. lol

Echo814 · 11-02-2009, 05:08 PM

Activated charcoal is interesting stuff, I learned a lot about it when I worked with large scale aquatic filtration systems. It's great for getting rid of toxins and impurities out biological systems.