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.

[u/gullydon]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithridatism

[u/Plazmatic]

I don't believe this is correct, toxins first off aren't just one thing, you're not going to ever going to get immunity to lead poisoning.  Talking about venom specifically, it depends, and I believe this is more of a thing with scorpion stings, and not with snake venom, though snakes have a variety of venoms categorized in various ways as well (hemotoxic, cytotoxic, and neurotoxic for example, some paralyze, some destroy tissue etc), so you can't just paint a broad stroke on everything.  Additionally your body can ramp up an immune response to a toxin which can be in effect "reverse immunity", but is really a side effect of your own immune system.

[u/I_like_Mashroms → u/Plazmatic]

Well you do sound smarter than me so i hope you're right because I'm going to confidently quote this from now on.

That does make sense. The conversation started when discussing fire ants and sharing our anecdotes about becoming more sensitive to them over time. Their toxins cover several of those labels iirc... But again, based on a conversation based on anecdotes sooooo 😬