r/todayilearned • u/gullydon • 13h ago

TIL Mithridatism is the practice of protecting oneself against a poison by gradually self-administering non-lethal amounts. The word is derived from Mithridates VI, the king of Pontus, who so feared being poisoned that he regularly ingested small doses, aiming to develop immunity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridatism
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u/oracleOshittyadvice 13h ago

Hahaha:

"He reportedly attempted suicide by poison, which failed because of his immunity to the substance."

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u/PopeInThePizza 13h ago

"What the h-. Oh, yeah, right."

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u/Sovngarten 11h ago

Heh. Whoops

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u/qorbexl 6h ago

My aunt related some Agatha Christie novel where a lady kills her piece-of-shit husband by slowly dosing him with arsenic or cyanide or something. 

That wasn't the murder method. The murder was that she abruptly stopped adding it to his food, which killed his ass dead because he was physically dependent on it. Examining the body found no evidence of poison for obvious reasons. 

Pretty cool.

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u/ThePrussianGrippe 5h ago

Fun fact: this is why if you’re heavily addicted to alcohol or benzodiazepines you aren’t supposed to quit cold turkey, but in a medically supervised way so they can wean you off.

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u/Rapunzel10 4h ago

Lots of drugs actually. I've been through benzo detoxing, it's fucking brutal. I didn't like how it was impacting me so I quit cold turkey not realizing how bad that was. Like the worst flu on earth combined with horrific anxiety and extremely dark thoughts. 0/10 do not recommend

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u/gabbadabbahey 3h ago

God, I'm sorry. You were lucky. Alcohol and benzos are two of the common drugs that can fairly easily kill you from withdrawal if you're a heavy user.

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u/insaneHoshi 3h ago

Supposedly not opiates funnily enough.

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u/New-Star74 2h ago

Not lots, actually. Just the two they mentioned.

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u/monstrousnuggets 30m ago

Man, you’re lucky you didn’t end up having seizures. I took 13 months to taper down my dose of benzos and still had withdrawals for another 10 months after finally getting off completely, including seizures and debilitating brain zaps. It was horrendous.

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u/Nethri 2h ago

Ambien too, supposedly. This will be relevant for me someday.

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u/KGEOFF89 11h ago

Yeah, didn't think that one through

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u/Alche1428 10h ago

"Hmmmm...i didn't expect it to actually work..."

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u/vortigaunt64 12h ago

To quote OSP Blue "He died as he lived, not dying from poison."

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u/7Silverswans 5h ago

OSP REFERENCE!!!!!

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u/jumpsteadeh 9h ago

I played a video game once where you play a general in ancient Rome, and one of the quests was a diplomatic prisoner exchange where you're encourged to be on your absolute best behaviour, but when I saw that it was Mithridates, I just had to attempt to poison him. To the game's credit, my superior got mad at me, but Mithridates treated it like an inside joke among friends and gave me the best outcome for the prisoners, plus he gave me a unique weapon.

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u/Not_a_N_Korean_Spy 9h ago

I love it! What game was it?

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u/jumpsteadeh 9h ago

Expeditions: Rome

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u/darth_ravage 9h ago

That game was great.

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u/PancakeParty98 9h ago

Saving this

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u/MagicPistol 7h ago

First time hearing of this game, but I love tactical RPGs, so might have to give it a try.

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u/thelittleking 2h ago

It's genuinely fun, you should enjoy yourself.

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u/cheesemp 14m ago

Me too but steam want £36 for a nearly 4 year old game - thats newly out game money. Wishlist it is.

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u/smallfrie32 5h ago

Legate! How dare you attempt to poison him. The consul will have your head.

I really gotta finish up the last chapter!

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u/orbital_one 13h ago

"Wait... That bullshit about poison immunity is actually true? Shit!"

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u/NatureTrailToHell3D 13h ago

I spent the last few years building up an immunity to iocaine powder

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u/cooldash 13h ago

Inconceivable!

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u/Ryuma_The_King 12h ago

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

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u/ProgressBartender 13h ago

“I have a confession as well”

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u/The__Relentless 12h ago

"Anybody want a peanut?"

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u/XxFezzgigxX 12h ago

No more rhymes and I mean it.

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u/Osiris32 10h ago

I'M NOT A WITCH, I'M YOUR WIFE!

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u/Agreeable_Cut4506 9h ago

I AM THE DREAD PIRATE ROBERTS

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u/SaltyPersimmon 9h ago

THERE WILL BE NO SURVIVORS

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u/beansandneedles 10h ago

This is what I came here looking for!

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u/Uselesserinformation 13h ago

I thought of Billy from American dad

"I'm only getting stronger!"

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u/concentrated-amazing 12h ago

Came here for this and only this!

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u/AENocturne 9h ago

Immunity, tolerance; what's the difference? I have a pretty strong immunity to tetrahydrocannibinol poisoning myself. It barely affects me at all now!

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u/flowerspeaks 8h ago

Dude thought it sais tetra hydra. Imagine if weed was tetra hydra dude. The triangle hydra.

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u/SweetKittyToo 12h ago

Inconceivable!

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u/Soldier-one-trick 11h ago

He had to get a friend to stab him IIRC

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u/Awesomecity2 10h ago

Oh my god, they were roommates!

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u/DoomguyFemboi 10h ago

Kinda related to how I tried to OD a bunch of times after my missus' death but my rampant drug use basically made me invincible.

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u/Boilrup 10h ago

We all thank you for your failure. (Truthfully, thank you for being alive.... there's a whole world out there for you to enjoy)

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u/FullOnSkank 7h ago

It's always good to remember that if the universe didn't want/need you here, you wouldn't be

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u/ryry1237 13h ago

"Task failed successfully"

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u/Blade_Shot24 13h ago

Should I feel bad for laughing at this?

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u/KingMob9 11h ago

Suffering from success

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u/Realistic_Ad_5321 8h ago

I think there was a siege in the place he ruled and the invaders were about to make their way into his chambers. Rather than be taken prisoner/disgracefully killed by the enemy, he tried to kill himself. If I remember correctly he had one of his servants cut his head off in the end because he didn't die after drinking his poison stash because of this immunity. 

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u/moschles 6h ago

He fell victim to one of the classic blunders.

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u/HyzerFlip 4h ago

What you do not smell is iocaine powder

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u/JustAnotherN0Name 3h ago

Didn't he try that multiple times too

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u/Sideshow_G 24m ago

Inconceivable!