# Any harm by giving a scurvy patient one huge blast of Vitamin C? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 7, 2020, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-harm-by-giving-a-scurvy-patient-one-huge-blast-of-vitamin-c/917470 "2020-08-07T04:20:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-harm-by-giving-a-scurvy-patient-one-huge-blast-of-vitamin-c/917470/21 "2020-08-07T20:07:12Z")
Oddly if you go on mega doses on Vit C for a extended time, then stop, some symptoms of scurvy occur. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-harm-by-giving-a-scurvy-patient-one-huge-blast-of-vitamin-c/917470/22 "2020-08-08T03:39:34Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Maybe it was just the reaction to eating a slurry of raw potato? > > I’ve never tried raw potato, but I envision that might make me gag. eh, basic raw potato can run from dead bland to quite bitter at the green spots- which are toxic to varying levels with iirc solanotoxin. i would imagine the cause of the pain wad the raw and inflamed tissues, imagine the whole inside of your mouth being like that spot you accidentally bit until you broke the sin on the edge of your tongue. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-harm-by-giving-a-scurvy-patient-one-huge-blast-of-vitamin-c/917470/23 "2020-08-08T05:14:57Z")
As **aruvqan** said, potato juice is bland, though high in vitamin C. Try it for yourself - eat a small amount of raw potato. Surprisingly, it’s almost pleasant, no worse than a raw carrot. Any attempts to explain this away must account for “an acute pain, which ran through _all parts of his body_”. In the book _Scurvy_ by Stephen R. Brown, he mentions that in Anson’s voyage in 1741, “Some of the mariners reportedly shuddered and convulsed when they sunk their wobbly teeth into the juicy fruit.” This is not just a reaction to the taste, or a burning sensation in the gums. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-harm-by-giving-a-scurvy-patient-one-huge-blast-of-vitamin-c/917470/24 "2020-08-08T05:28:31Z")
They probably fed it to him by the teaspoonful because that was all he could keep down at any one time. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-harm-by-giving-a-scurvy-patient-one-huge-blast-of-vitamin-c/917470/25 "2020-08-08T08:58:12Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Maybe it was just the reaction to eating a slurry of raw potato? > > I’ve never tried raw potato, but I envision that might make me gag. I tried one out of curiosity once. It’s not that bad. Not nearly as good as cooked, but not horrific. Mostly bland, slightly “earthy” (dirt) flavor. If you study what ship’s rations were like back in the day raw potato sounds downright tasty, even gourmet. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-harm-by-giving-a-scurvy-patient-one-huge-blast-of-vitamin-c/917470/26 "2020-08-08T08:59:14Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > They probably fed it to him by the teaspoonful because that was all he could keep down at any one time. If he could hardly open his mouth that might be all they could get into him at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-harm-by-giving-a-scurvy-patient-one-huge-blast-of-vitamin-c/917470/27 "2020-08-08T17:57:14Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > It actually takes a very small amount of vitamin C to prevent scurvy, and not much more to treat it. Don’t have exact amounts. Number I recall are - it takes about ~10mg of vitamin C a day to prevent scurvy - human body stores about 1-2 grams of vitamin C - when body stores drop below ~300mg, you develop scurvy - body can only absorb about 200mg vitamin C at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-harm-by-giving-a-scurvy-patient-one-huge-blast-of-vitamin-c/917470/28 "2020-08-08T18:03:56Z")
LittleNemo has it right. If a vitamin is soluble in water your body can detect and dump excess amounts. Most vitamin deficiencies are chronic and could be gradually corrected. A big dose in the setting of deficiency might be okay but it depends on the above. Emergency departments routinely give alcoholics an injection of thiamine to prevent some nervous system problems; on the assumption alcoholics might not get enough in their diet. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-harm-by-giving-a-scurvy-patient-one-huge-blast-of-vitamin-c/917470/29 "2020-08-09T06:02:58Z")
Thiamine deficiency in particular can lead to Wernicke-Korsakoff’s dementia, which is irreversible and also preventable. People who experienced long-term starvation may also develop this, if they don’t die from scurvy, pellagra, beri-beri, or outright direct starvation first. The detox protocol, regardless of what they were detoxing from, usually included thiamine, iron, and a multivitamin - all of those, 3 times a day for the first 3 days, and then daily afterwards. We also made plenty of “banana bags”, so called because they were banana-colored due to the riboflavin in the multivitamins that were mixed in the bag. They also got extra magnesium because it raises the seizure threshold. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-harm-by-giving-a-scurvy-patient-one-huge-blast-of-vitamin-c/917470/30 "2020-08-09T06:57:33Z")
GreenWyvern is thinking that the instantaneous reaction was from the minute amount of vitamin C present in a teaspoonful of potato juice, instantly affecting the scurvy _before it was even swallowed_. That’s just not likely. Vitamin C deficiency/scurvy causes a breakdown of tissue from inability to synthesize collagen (among other things). The C has to be metabolized in more time than a second or two. More likely it was a physical response to the liquid stimulus itself after days of total starvation. Something such as a vagal syncope response - a well-known, common response to stress, cold oral stimulation, etc. I know a child it happened to from a single spoonful of ice cream. [http://www.rscdiagnosticservices.com/blog/similarities-between-vasovagal-syncope-fainting-spells-and-epilepsy](http://www.rscdiagnosticservices.com/blog/similarities-between-vasovagal-syncope-fainting-spells-and-epilepsy) > [@](#): > > Vasovagal syncope can mimic epileptic seizures and be difficult to diagnose at first look. > There are about 3 million cases of vasovagal syncope in the United States per year. Vasovagal syncope is characterized by simple fainting spells. However, these fainting spells can be accompanied by confusion, jerking movements and loss of consciousness much like an epileptic seizure. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-harm-by-giving-a-scurvy-patient-one-huge-blast-of-vitamin-c/917470/31 "2020-08-09T14:06:21Z")
Let’s not discount the psychological effects of being sunk in despair because you’re dying of scurvy in a horrible way on this shit boat in the middle of the goddamn ocean surrounded by all these assholes, then suddenly being offered an elixir that you believe will save your life. Especially if everyone is standing around staring at you to see how much mojo the potato juice has. There are a whole raft of psychosomatic effects that act faster than the absorption, delivery, and target action of pharmaceuticals would allow. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-harm-by-giving-a-scurvy-patient-one-huge-blast-of-vitamin-c/917470/32 "2020-08-09T16:13:30Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > GreenWyvern is thinking that the instantaneous reaction Why do you think the reaction was instantaneous? That’s not said or implied. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-harm-by-giving-a-scurvy-patient-one-huge-blast-of-vitamin-c/917470/33 "2020-08-09T20:52:22Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Why do you think the reaction was instantaneous? That’s not said or implied. You cited a source that said “Some of the mariners reportedly shuddered and convulsed when they sunk their wobbly teeth into the juicy fruit.” and you said that that wasn’t a reaction to the taste or mouth pain. Shuddering and convulsions _when teeth are sunk into a fruit_ sounds pretty close to instantaneous. You then mention flavor and mouth pain, which are themselves near-instantaneous as well. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2020, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-harm-by-giving-a-scurvy-patient-one-huge-blast-of-vitamin-c/917470/34 "2020-08-10T05:26:41Z")
The source I’m talking about is Dana’s account, because it’s a primary source. Stephen Brown was retelling Anson’s account in his own way. I only mentioned it because I was looking for something to back up Dana’s account, but I wouldn’t rely on Brown, because he wrote a popular history book without proper references, and it’s better not to rely on secondary sources. I’ve searched through Anson’s book, but I can’t find anything like Brown claims. Anson’s account of the scurvy and landing at Juan Fernandes can be found from [page 100](https://archive.org/stream/voyageroundworld00walt#page/100/mode/2up) onward. It’s very interesting, but there doesn’t seem to be anything about the point we’re discussing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-harm-by-giving-a-scurvy-patient-one-huge-blast-of-vitamin-c/917470.md?page=1)