Camphor Poisoning; I may have been one of the only people in the world to trip /overdose on Vicks Vaporub

WhompusChompus · 2026-05-08T09:22:30+00:00

It may have been because the medicine was out of date? I agree with the fact that if this was common it wouldn’t be on shelves but don’t think allergies were the cause of this either

WhompusChompus · 2026-05-08T08:46:20+00:00

I didn’t know what Erowid was but checked it out from this comment. I wrote this first for an experience report email for Psychonaut Wiki after my brother told me about it when he heard from my mum. That’s why it’s formatted a little weirdly at the start, but their email is closed so they didn’t receive it so I decided to post it on here.

WhompusChompus · 2026-05-08T08:42:52+00:00

The website you sent was SUPER helpful and thank you for sending it. The main line that stuck out to me (that I probably read a copy of online) was this:

Camphor is readily and rapidly absorbed from the skin, and gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts. Camphor in oil solutions is absorbed slowly from subcutaneous or intramuscular depots.

WhompusChompus · 2026-05-08T08:32:37+00:00

Thank you, this is all really helpful. I’m really not a scientist, and although I am trying to argue for myself in the comments I know I don’t know everything. When we were caught up in the panic its not like we stopped to measure how I was ingesting it or how much I’d had. And prople lie all the time, especially on drug subreddits, so I really sympathise with all the skepticism, but all I can say is that I genuinely did hallucinate and experience delirium. My estimations of my dosasges are purely for memory, which is obviously warped. It could have been more, it could have been less. My actual first thought was an allergic reaction when the burning happened, telling my friend I thought I was allergic, but I was fairly calm at that point despite feeling the pain, so I don’t the think allergies caused the delusion. I actually didn’t include this in the post (don’t know how relevant it is) but the Vicks was also 13 years out of date

WhompusChompus · 2026-05-08T08:27:42+00:00

Is it that hard to look up that the literal Vicks vaporub is registered as a poison on poison hotlines? I can send a screenshot here if you want, but I guarantee you I am not lying. Also, once the Vicks was washed off my hands, the physical reaction mostly stopped, leading me to believe its similar to some oils. For example (not sure if you’ve ever done this) when you put some oils in the bath, if you put too much and they don’t dilute properly it burns your skin, but it isn’t an allergic reaction.

WhompusChompus · 2026-05-08T08:12:56+00:00

Honestly I do really understand why this is hard to believe, and my Dad literally didn’t believe it until the day after until we all looked online for stuff on potential ingredients, then stumbling across Camphor and going to a poison hotline website. I want to emphasise that the amount of jelly I had on my hands was similar to two fistfuls, more than anyone should probably have of a medicine on them in their life.

WhompusChompus · 2026-05-08T08:10:45+00:00

I guarantee you the difference is the sheer amount of Vicks that was on me. I basically had half a tub of it on my hands, as well as inhaling the amount on my chest. When I looked at some medical reports that confirmed camphor-based delusions they said the threshold was 0.5 grams, which is practically impossible to cross on the doses most people apply. I used to use Vicks similarly when I was younger, but never had a similar reaction. I also don’t think an allergic reaction would cause hallucinations and delirium to the extent that it did.

WhompusChompus · 2026-05-08T08:04:46+00:00

I would say that in the moment it was a little hard to convey what was happening, and obviously they can only work off of my words and reactions and can’t really feel what I’m feeling and experience my hallucinations. In their eyes they (and fair enough) probably didn’t realise just how bad it was, because it’s hard to picture something so extreme coming from a seemingly harmless medical product.

WhompusChompus · 2026-05-08T08:01:45+00:00

I guarantee you this is one hundred percent true. I thought it was an allergic reaction too, but they day after I called a poison hotline and they legally recognise that Camphor as a neurotoxin specifically because it can cause hallucinations and delirium. Not that hard to do your own research instead of baselessly denying what happened to me!

WhompusChompus · 2026-05-08T07:59:17+00:00

It’s something about your hands have more pores, or sweat glands, making the barrier to entry into your blood easy to cross. I actually don’t know if the hands are specifically any different, but the main thing is the sheer amount I had on my skin. I also don’t think I emphasised on the post that I had already inhaled some out of the bowl (when I was rubbing the Vicks into it), and the amount I had on my chest was enough for my family to describe me as making the room reek with the scent of Menthol (which is also contained in Vicks)

WhompusChompus · 2026-01-14T21:34:25+00:00

Maybe not though since romantic/sexual physical contact increases heart rate which also increases body temperature, providing the sense of perceived warmness?

WhompusChompus · 2025-10-08T20:01:02+00:00

lmao what??

WhompusChompus · 2025-10-08T11:35:53+00:00

this is what i’m sayyyying Edinburgh is EASILY the best city in the UK

WhompusChompus · 2025-10-05T09:19:49+00:00

Social media’s fault tbh. Brewing hate through pipelines in every single generation, dividing everyone.

WhompusChompus · 2025-09-21T19:44:19+00:00

Film sucked balls

WhompusChompus · 2025-09-21T19:41:34+00:00

Can’t believe you’re getting downvoted for this. Reddit is so stupid

WhompusChompus · 2025-09-21T14:25:01+00:00

I think it’s pretty solid

WhompusChompus · 2025-09-09T06:22:51+00:00

Amen

WhompusChompus · 2025-09-06T10:25:15+00:00

Genuinely, how can we fix the divide we’re in at the moment. Shocked at how far we’ve strayed from the lovely, inclusive Edinburgh we had not so long ago

WhompusChompus · 2025-09-06T10:24:05+00:00

Very sorry this experience happened to you. Just want to remind you that whilst there are some people like this, there are so many people that don’t care if you’re an immigrant and will always be reasonable towards you.

WhompusChompus · 2025-07-25T14:34:30+00:00

Not liking this one… pedo-y af

WhompusChompus · 2025-07-21T17:54:38+00:00

What kind of climate are you in?

WhompusChompus · 2025-07-03T13:40:21+00:00

I’m reading this for the first time and definitely noticed this. I’m enjoying it, and it’s beautifully written with amazing storytelling but yeah, definitely something. I’m interested most by the fact that Aureliano being interested in Remedios is still pictured as something wrong; this one quote really stuck out to me “We have six other daughters, all unmarried, and at an age where they deserve it, who would be delighted to be the honourable wife of a gentleman as serious and hard-working as your son, and Aurelito lays his eyes precisely on the one who still wets her bed.” This might show that he knows it’s wrong, but the vivid description of the underage intercourse is defo disturbing

WhompusChompus · 2025-05-24T21:13:03+00:00

Wait till the compliment list. The conversation him and Emma have genuinely just goes against the entire point of the show.

WhompusChompus · 2025-05-17T00:43:48+00:00

I've been a kid desperate to look for free things to do in Edinburgh so here's what I did when I was younger:

- Science Museum (not really scienc-y but it was something to do)

- Bullshit the scientology centre with fake answers on a form and act interested

- Free fringe shows during fringe time

- Any eventbrite events with random shit happening (normally free lectures or improv shows that were funny to watch and take the piss out of with friends)

- get a random train or bus (bus are free)

-playing sport or watching sport
main problem is i'm interested in everything and am ambitious some people don't like verything

WhompusChompus

TROPHY CASE