[YEA]  06/21/2007: Norman from Edmonton, Canada: "Our family has used activated charcoal tablets as a quick remedy for digestive problems for years. In Asia one can buy them for pennies, and with the spicy foods there and possible diaheria at times they are a life saver. Recently I moved back to Canada and feel like I am in a 3rd world country. Anything connected with health and well being is either unavailable or overpriced. How sad that we can not even buy a harmless product that can save ones life when an accidental poisoing occurs. You will only realize how much Canada has peddled backwards in the past 10 years when you visit other countries."

08/13/2009: Connie from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, USA replies: "Thank you God for the Internet. Can you ship things like that into Canada?"

11/07/2011: Nadia from Nyc, Ny replies: "The more I read about activated charcoal the more I understand that clay as the same effects.. it is excellent for the elimination of toxins.

In France where I grew up clay is a common remedy as well as charcoal, for upset stomach, ulcer soothing, bugs stings, burns, poison, diarrhea, skin problems, etc...

in poultice or ingested..

for infos check out www.naturalnews.com/022898.html

bloedel.wordpress.com/category/birds/

www.eytonsearth.org/using-clay-externally.php"

11/21/2009: Maeryn from Calgary, Ab replies: "A friend of mine has terrible (TERRIBLE) acne all across his face, neck, shoulders, and back. Its not worms. He cannot take any sort of med because it will mess up the growth plates where his arm was operated on a few years ago. I am currently in the process of compiling a treatment for him based on organic and alternative medicines (cleansing him from the inside out. ) As a nurse, do you have any advice for a facial / skin mask? (I'm getting into nutritional therapy, so this stuff fascinates me)"

06/05/2011: Gogopop from Oakland, Ca replies: "I'd be curious if your friend developed the acne after the surgery. I had my wisdom teeth pulled when I was 25 and was under local anesthesia. The next day I woke up with light acne that later turned into bad acne and boils. I saw a couple of dermatologists that all said it was adult acne. I had perfectly clear skin before the procedure. I did many cleanses and juicing a couple years later which helped but finally got rid of it when I did an intense cleanse where I was taking niacin and in a dry sauna for several hours a day for 30 days. Anesthesia stays in your system/fat cells for a very long time. I would think the charcoal would really help but I would also recommend niacin flush and sweating the toxins out."

[QUESTION]  08/19/2009: Kelly from Mt. Healthy, Ohio: "I have been considering using activated charcoal for multiple conditions, but i'm not sure if it causes constipation, that's the last thing I need right now. any advise and experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!"

06/06/2010: Tina from Toledo, Ohio, Usa replies: "I take a heaping tablespoon of activated charcoal in 2 cups of water and have lots of fiber-foods(vegetable!)during the day as well as lots of water. I don't have a problem with constipation as long as I drink sufficiently and eat fiber-foods."

06/19/2011: Diamond from Salisbury, Usa replies: "Kelly from Ohio; I usually do a complete cleanse before introducing my system to some thing new or different;so if the charcoal does block you up, you have enough time inbetween bowel movements to do the charcoal then again work on your bowel movements. I use one of the very best cleanses ever for the past fifteen years, it's a twin pack of multi-herb digestion & detox support the other bottle is multi-fiber cleanse;you take one of each herb(2), morn. Noon & night and this herb will let you know it's time to go potty haha because it's Dynamite, but it's bought in an herbal store & very affordable. Good luck"

[YEA]  01/16/2006: Odilon from Palm Coast, FL: "Raw Activated Charcoal, works like a dream for diarrhea, in hours not days."

[YEA]  12/14/2011: Cameron from Brisbane, Qld, Australia replies: "Yes, works very fast. Mix some Activated Charcoal in some juice, about a Teaspoon, let it fall to the bottom before mixing and drinking because it floats and any vigorous mixing bfore it sinks will have it all over the place. Also works for stomach upsets, gas and vomiting. Vomiting may take up to 3 doses but it will work, be prepared as black Charcoal Vomit is awful if you miss the bag or toilet."

[YEA]  05/22/2011: Ngok Ti from Busan, South Korea: "Last may 10, I accidentally drank tea from a restaurant which might not have prepared it clean. Within 30 mins from when I finished drinking, my stomach started churning painfully and I had severe diarrhea for 3 days. Since I was already alarmed that the condition didn't get better even after taking loperamide, I turned for help from the Chinese drugstore which advised me to take 3 activated carbon capsules before bedtime 3 hours after dinner. As soon as I took the first dose that evening, the diarrhea stopped. My stomach was still a bit painful so I took another dose the following evening. That worked great."

08/18/2010: Yoda from Dubai, Uae replies: "Charcoal is very effective against food poisoning and diarrhea. It stops the vomiting and trips to the toilet in a matter of hours. Several years ago I had food poisoning and diarrhea after having salad. The cream in the salad had gone bad in the summer heat. Soon after having the salad I started vomiting and after an hour diarrhea. I visted a doctor who prescribed me medicine for the food poisoning. However, I was in the same condition the next day and had become severely dehydrated and weak from the diarrhea. I remembered an article I had read in Readers Digest about a certain Canadian doctor Ben Wheeler. He had saved countless lives in a Japanese POW camp by giving the prisoners charcoal made by burning bamboo sticks and water from boiled rice. I found a piece of wood lying in the shed and burnt it on the kitchen stove to make charcoal (much to my mothers dismay). After having a teaspoon of the wood charcoal, my diarrhea stopped in less then an hour. Then I boiled some starchy rice and and drank a glass of water from boiled rice with some salt. In the evening I repeated the treatment and totally recovered in less than 12 hours. In food poisoning and diarrhea, the intestines become inflamed and cannot absorb any nutrition. The rice water contains simple starches which the body easily absorbs and gets nutrition. It is therefore able to fight the illness and recover much more quickly. The salt in the rice water helps in replacing a part of the electrolytes."

10/24/2011: Cameron from Brisbane, Qld, Australia replies: "I must comment on and correct the previous poster. Charcoal works by ABsorbing poisons and is effective from the moment it gets to the stomach, it does not stop ADsorbing poisons until it exits your body through your anus. Charcoal works in the Colon just as effectively as it does in the stomach and for the same reason as an enema. It prevents any toxins in the gut from being reabsorbed by your body from your gut due to a slow or blocked bowel. There are no better alternatives for ERs than charcoal, medical research shows charcoal as the most effective primary treatment for poisoning or drug overdose and is effective until at least an hour after poisoning/overdose. Do not administer Charcoal to a person who is unconsious except in the most dire circumstances.

My daughter has Leukemia and we were forced by Authorities to submit her for Chemotherapy, she had a severe reaction to a Chemo drug during treatment and eneded up in ICU, then a regular ward for 3 weeks recovering. I use Charcoal to detox the Chemo drugs out of her now to avoid side effects. Recemntly though she had some Doxorubicin an extremely dangerous Chemo drug along with Pegaspargase, we did not get home to administer the charcoal until at least 4 hours after her dose, all of a sudden she was suffering from severe abdominal pain, nausea, joint, bone pain and vomiting. I gave her 1 tablespoon of charcoal in juice and she was in bed asleep less than 5 minutes later with no more syptoms. I am the biggest fan of Charcoal, I have a lot of experience applying it and have done extensive reading about the most amazing and under rated substance I have ever discovered. I never ever leave home without it now.

Charcoal is still the treatment of choice at virtually all ERs that I am aware of, current 2011. Charcoal is the most effective remedy for poisons and toxins of all sorts, it has no known side effects of any sort except to make your Poo go black. Charcoal is not known to ADsorb Nutrients from the body! Charcoal is effective for anything except Solvents, Acids, Highly Alkaline Products or other petroleum based products. Ruling out those few things, it leaves us with an effective remedy for bites and stings of all sorts including spiders and snakes, please seek urgent medical attention for snake or spider bites. To use Charcoal as First Aid for snake or spider bites, apply as a wet Poultice, covered in plastic wrap to stop it drying out. Change as often as possible until you recieve medical help. You can also use Charcoal in a bath, it relieves pain almost instantly.

Diahhrea, Stomach Pain, Nausea, Topical Ulcers and a host of other conditions all can be treated with Charcoal. Nausea can be stopped in as little as 1 minute, vomiting stops in less than 5 minutes, retake charcoal if the charcoal slurry is vomited until vomiting stops, usually less than 3 times. Diahhrea, take a tablespoon in water or juice after each runny stool, your next firm stool will be quite black but do not worry. For Topical Ulcers, make a Poultice with 3 tablespoons Charcoal and 3 tablespoons Starch or Ground Flax Seed (keeps moisture in) and apply this to the cleaned Ulcer site on the back of a clean dressing. Cover the dressing with Plastic to stop the poultice drying out, change every 4 hours to 6 hours.

You may also try Charcoal as a Poultice for Kidney or Liver problems as it will help detox these through the largest organ of your body(skin) quite easily and effectively, change every 4 to six hours, you will notice a urine smell, this means its working."

05/21/2012: Julie from Sacramento, Ca replies: "No, our E.R. told us they don't use charcoal anymore."

[YEA]  06/30/2008: Al from Opelousas, USA replies: "I too had food poisoning so bad that I was sent to the emergency room, during which time, I was given 2 liters of Sodium Chloride(??). Of course the hospital wants you to pass (diahrrea) the poison, so nothing was administered. I sent a relative to the drug store for Activate Charcoal capsules and followed the recommended dosage; 1gm/hour...within 6-7 hours I could eat small amounts and not experience nauseau or diahrrea(sp?)You should keep a bottle in the refrigerator (safely)."

08/24/2011: Scott from Brisbane, Queensland Australia replies: "Hi All,

Despite what you read everywhere on charcoal being used in the emergency department, it went out of use about 6 years ago. It showed no benefit to using in drug overdoses as most poisons are absorbed within 20-30 mins from the stomach. This is usually the time frame before the person gets to treatment I.E. In ambulance transport so keep that in mind if you are trying to use it for this purpose. While we still keep it around it was found that the risk of gastric problems GIT blockage / constipation or rupture was too great to any beneficial effect it may have. So in systematic reviews on the topic, the use of charcoal for this purpose is contraindicated.

Also, about 10 years ago they started packaging the charcoal in sorbitol which is a lubricant / apperient that helps with moving the charcoal through the system. I have just been looking at this site as I have just started using it for flatulence control from IBS so will let you know how this goes, but I think as long as you drink plenty of water then it shouldn't be a problem. I remember the patients I used to have to look after in the bad old days who were given charcoal and not much water and they used to have to strain to "shit black bricks" lol. Just wanted to clear this thing up about the emergency room thing. :-)"

[YEA]  01/18/2006: Adrian from Sydney, Australia: "When my friends and i used to drink a lot in our early twenties, to avoid hangovers we would eat charcoal after having drank a lot of alcohol. Must be taken with food to work properly. The charcoal would absorb the toxins (i suppose colours and preservatives in the scotch, bourbon etc) and we would not get the slightest hangover!"

[YEA]  08/04/2008: Annabell from Bakersfield, California: "Irritable Bowel Syndrome: I am 33 years old female with a sensitive stomach..Almost everything I consume always result in heavy gas and bloating. A friend recommended to take Charcoal pills..I have tried almost every prescription medications there is and was excited that charcoal is an old asian alternative medications. I take 1-2 capsule 1-2hours prior to eating..I make sure to have water intake at least 8 glasses a day. Within 1wk I felt immediate results, less bloating, irrability and back to having a regular bowel movement.

Happy stomach."

07/17/2012: Isabel from Edinburgh, Scotland replies: "Activated Charcoal Tablets worked like a miracle for me last night. Thank goodness I had them in the cabinet.

For the first time in ages, I landed up with such a painful, swollen, distended stomach, tender and painful to the touch all over so much pain and gurgling noises. Then diarrhea, then feeling sick and woozy. Don't know if it was too spicy a dinner, food poisoning, just an allergy/intolerance or what. But at midnight, what can you do?

These trusty, simple, old-fashioned charcoal tablets (made from coconut shells, I have read) sorted me out COMPLETELY in less than ten minutes. What a miracle cure, when used to treat the right ailment."

[YEA]  03/23/2013: Lucy from Santa Cruz, Ca, Usa: "Kidney pain for me is the worst. When I get this pain I open 4 capsules of activated Charcoal mix it in water drink and within minutes the pain is gone. I've always used this with lemons. If I have blood in my urine I do the juice of 4 lemons, the Charcoal, and drink lots of water."

11/05/2011: Organicqueen from Chandler, Az, Usa: "Hi...was curious to see if taking the charcoal in powder form or capsule? Also, if taken in powder, what is a good method to mix it in?"

[YEA]  09/29/2006: Elizabeth from Woodbury, TN: "We've used activated charcoal many times in our family and friends for the brown recluse spider bite. Even a couple of doctors here were amazed at what it did! We would make up a paste and change the first day about every 2 hours and then the next day just a few times and would keep watching it. Usually the bite was shrunk and just a little scab after a few days. Usually we would also drink some so that we would have any poison from the bite eliminated from our system."

[YEA]  07/12/2008: Sandy from In the sticks, Nevada replies: "A huge thank you to Elizabeth from Woodbury, TN, for posting the charcoal remedy for spider bites. I was sweeping webs off my house & must have been bitten, but didn't notice the bite until the next morning. It itched like a mosquito bite, but felt hot & was beginning to swell. Long story short, I went away on business and could not treat it until 36 hours later. It had swollen up terribly and had been weeping off and on -- it was also very hot. When I got home,I treated it with activated charcoal mixed with colloidal silver as a paste applied to my arm, changing every 30 minutes or so. At bedtime, I covered it with a thick paste & then with a bandage. The next morning, the heat & the swelling were almost completely gone. I continued to apply fresh paste to the bite throughout the day & bandaged it again at night. The recovery from this bite was just short of miraculous -- I wish I had taken photos. Also, I did take several activated charcoal capsules each day along with the application of the paste. I never found out what bit me, although I suspect a hobo spider or brown recluse. Activated charcoal is my new favorite remedy! Thank you earthclinic for providing this information."

[YEA]  07/30/2009: Anonymous from Denver, CO: "I had two mosquito bites that swelled to little eggs on my arm. I mixed a little charcoal with water and dabbed that on. The itch stopped immediately and I kept putting it on several times. The swelling went down as well.

My husband cut some tree branches and got three spider bites on the back of his knee. Two of them had already started seeping by the time he showed it to me and one especially looked pretty scary. We put some charcoal on mixed with water and then covered everything with bandaids. We changed this several times and after about three days one bite is gone and the other two look like they are healing nicely."

[YEA]  10/05/2006: Keith from Orlando, FL: "Was reading the remedies and just wanted to add the following: I am a medical missionary that uses natural methods of healing. I encounter several different diseases and sickness in my line of work.

One remedy that I have never seen fail for toothache pain, is charcoal. It will stop severe toothache pain in about 20-45 minutes in most cases! I will give you an example with my wife. She begin to have tootheache pain last year (2005) around the time of thanksgiving. She began to call dentists for an appointment; however, the soonest that she could get an appointment was 2 weeks! To make a long story short, the pain became unbearable. It radiated all the way to her temple on the side of the bad toothe.

So I took activated charcoal, added a little water, stirred to a paste consistency, placed it on a gauze(a piece of cotton t-shirt could also be used) and placed it directly over the toothe. I had her press down very gently. I then offered a prayer.

In about 12-15 minutes the pain that was radiating up to her temple begin to subside. In about 20-30 minutes my wife, who had been in such great pain, that she was in tears, and was unable to even sleep, dropped off to sleep.

The next day we also started her on a program of drinking 2-3 glasses per day of a table spoon of the charcoal mixed with a glass of water. She did evidentally go to the dentist only to find that a small cavity had exposed a nerve, and infection had set in.

The charcoal worked on the infection because it is the inflammation that causes the pain. So by pulling or drawing the poisons from the infection(the underlying cause) the inflammation is addressed.

A friend of mine, who is also a very experienced medical missionary, with more than 30 years of hands on experience, even running a natural clinic in Tennessee for a long time, and having a 45-50% success rate with 4 stage cancer, (conventional success rate with 4th stage cancer is about 5%" gives the following alternative for toothache pain and abcess.

These are direct quotes: "Mix 3 tablespoons charcoal,1/2 teaspoon clove oil, 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper, ½ teaspoon olive oil (enough to make a paste), and 1 teaspoon of golden seal. He states: " This remedy is strictly for pain in the jaw or tooth pain. Pack this around the tooth that is giving you problems. If you can cover the tooth up it will generate heat. That will remove the pain faster than any toothache remedy. Try it. You will feel the heat and you can go wash your mouth out. If you are in a lot of pain the heat is comforting. The pain of the poultice drawing is less than the throbbing of the toothache.[The mixture] should be quite thick, about the consistency of natural peanut butter. You want to be able to mould it around the tooth, so that it will stick."

The next is for an abcess specifically.

His words: "If you have an abscess with a lot of swelling, you cannot get that tooth pulled until you get the abscess under control. This recipe is famous for getting that abscess down 3 parts Slippery Elm, 2 parts baking yeast, 4 drops cloves, 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Add a little water, enough to make a paste. It will be gummy due to the slippery elm. Then pack this mixture around the gum. The slippery elm, like charcoal, draws the inflammation, the cayenne stimulates the cells around the tooth to release toxins and the cloves are added for the reputation as a pain remedy, especially in toothache."

08/17/2009: Anna from Houston, Texas replies: "You mentioned a clinic in Tennese were your friend recommends charcoal treatments for cancers. If possible can you e-mail me the name or how to contact him? Thanks"

09/16/2009: Deanna from Greenville, Sc replies: "In making the paste for the tooth pain, how long do you keep the poultice on the tooth...and do you use the entire mixture or just part. That would make enough for at least two I would think...Thanks"

[BETTER BUT NOT CURED]  02/28/2010: Jenlyn from Colo Springs, Co replies: "Had severe tooth pain like Keith described for his wife. Actually identical; had charcoal on hand and tried a paste with water and 4 broken capsules. The pain when I applied the guaze definitely lessened. I still plan on seeing a dentist, but it is a Sunday and at least it is temporary relief."

[YEA]  07/08/2011: Patricia from Las Vegas, Nv, Us replies: "Thanks to some other posts about making a paste from either charcoal or slippery elm and applying to your tooth, I've come up with another strategy. I took a paper coffee filter and cut it in strips a little more than an inch wide. I fold it so there is room to fold a small section over the top like a long, skinny evelope. I add either the charcoal or the slippery elm then fold over the top. Wet the strip with water. Then I cut it into smaller strips- about an inch and place between my lip and gumline.

Dealing with a dental infection and cavitation issues- this was a miracle. I could feel it start to draw immediately. I make a few long strips up at a time, wet them to seal it and cut them to the size I want as needed."