The Best Natural Painkiller that Grows in Your Backyard

[Achilles]

Similar to Morphine: The Best Natural Painkiller that Grows in Your Backyard

By Jacki Andre March 20, 2017 15:09


From injury to disease, pain is a very common ailment or symptom that can take down the toughest of the tough. It’s so prevalent that we are seeing a major epidemic with opiate dependency. Unfortunately, with so many needing to find relief, it’s leading to a large portion of our population becoming dependent on a chemical bandage, often just masking the problem, rather than fixing the cause.
Unfortunately, it’s getting so widespread that the medical field view many of those in real need as “seekers”. So, instead of getting relief from tangible pain, people are being turned away. As a result, they are finding it illegally, and pain clinics and rehabs are popping up all over, trying to combat the addiction.
Wild Lettuce as a Healthy Alternative

Wild Lettuce (Photo Source)
Lactuca Virosa is the scientific term for it, and many people have used it in place of addictive prescription pain medicine. It’s a leafy and tall plant, with small yellow buds, and could be grown right out your door. More commonly found in North America and England, it’s a cousin to the lettuce we typically see at the grocery store. It’s also referred to as bitter lettuce, or more appropriately for the purpose discussed here, opium lettuce.
The reason it’s referred to as opium lettuce, is due to the pain relieving and sedative effects that it has been known to produce through a white substance found in the stem and leaves.
This milky substance is called lactucarium. And, while it doesn’t contain any opiates, it has similar side effects when used – it acts directly on the central nervous system (CNS) to lessen the feeling of pain, just like morphine.
Even though it seems to be the best kept secret, it has a history of being used as an alternative to pain relief.
Historical Use

Back in the 19^th century, wild lettuce was already being used by some as a substitute to opium. But, it was in the 70’s that it started to gain significant popularity by those wanting a more natural remedy. Individuals were starting to use it for both pain relief, as well as recreational purpose.
In the earlier days, people using wild lettuce prepared it a couple different ways. One way was to cook the plant in a pan of water and sugar mix, until it reduced to a thick syrup-like consistency. While this was an effective form, it was quite bitter even with the sugar added. The most common form however, was drying the stem and leaves to use as an herbal tea.
The tea remains popular today. But, it’s also being dried for smoking, or vaporizing. If you don’t care to grow it yourself, it can also be purchased as a dried herb, extract, or resin substance.
Related: Lost Remedies from Our Forefathers
Other Benefits

Here are the more popular reasons people are gravitating towards this natural pain killer and medicinal plant:

• Migraines – People who use it for this purpose claim that they experience fewer migraines than they did prior to starting the herb.

• Insomnia – A frequent use of wild lettuce is by people who have trouble sleeping. It produces a relaxed and euphoric feeling, helping a person fall asleep easier, without the addictive qualities of commonly prescribed sleeping aids.

• Anxiety – Wild lettuce can act as a mild sedative, allowing people with anxiety to find a reprieve from the stress it causes.

• Asthma and Cough – Wild lettuce has antitussive properties, which alleviates or suppresses a cough. Also, asthmatic patients who have used opiates notice more episodes if they go through opiate withdrawal. So, the use of wild lettuce instead of prescription opiates, could be a better option for them.

In addition to the above benefits, wild lettuce produces a euphoric state, similar to opiates, even though it does not contain any actual opiate… so it’s perfectly legal.

https://www.askaprepper.com/similar-...rows-backyard/

[Tundra Gypsy]

We were just discussing this in our last Emergency Preparedness class. Thanks for the info; I know now what it looks like.....

[Lenno]

I don't think it grows here but I'll keep my eyes open

[obleo]

It grows all over the place here...got lots on my property and early this spring, Iooked for them when they were small and transplanted a bunch in one location. Sent my sister in CO a few plants for her garden. I experimented with this last year and was pleasantly surprised at it's effectiveness.

I live on a limestone plant and a very rocky soil and they grow just fine all by themselves. No special watering, amendments, nothing. They just grow no matter what.
This year I will be dryng the leaves for tea at a later use, if needed.
This was a great find for my med set up.

[Sherree]

This is good to know, since we go the natural route, before we turn to doctors and their meds.

We have it growing wild on our property, but always considered it a worrisome weed. Actually, until this article, I didn't know what it was. Will it take over a raised bed if I were to transplant some into mine?

What's the best way to use it as a pain reliever? How much do you use?

[obleo]

I meant to say I live on a limestone PLATE, not plant...for goodness sakes...dyslexic fingers, oh well, I'm old.
Just do a search on Wild Lettuce and look for the info on how to use it and what for. Everyone's different and when my knee was really, really bad, I'd just go out and pull about 4-6 leaves off the stem and lick the juice off of them and then use my finger to get the rest off the stem. It lasts about 1/2 hour or so for me, enough to dull the pain long enough for me to breath. I haven't dried the leaves yet and use for tea. That experiment happens this year.

Gathering the latex from it is quite laborious and in small amounts but I'm going to try to get enough for a 1 oz bottle this year...and then experiment with that. I'm the guinea pig in the family and I like finding new things to add to the prep's, especially in case of emergency.

[Sherree]

Thanks obleo. I will do a search on it. It's not listed in my Medicinal Herbs book. I'll Google it. I just thought you could give your hands on experience, since you have used it before. I appreciate what you did share. Guess I can just go out in the back yard and graze if I'm in a lot of pain! LOL.......

[obleo]

Sherree.

Personal experience: I started out by only taking the "goo" from one leaf and waited. Nothing. So I did two leaves, waited. Um, I think I'm feeling something. Then 3 leaves and a slight euphoric feeling but nothing enough to make me stupid. For me, age: uh, somewhere around 65, and 10 lbs overweight, two bad knees, one worse than the other, it took 4 leaves of goo and I could actually feel the pain letting up. I was not acting drugged or stupid, I just felt the pain dull in my bad knee that day. With the 6 leaves that I tried, it lasted longer and relaxed me but not "drunk" relaxed. It just dulled the pain very well and for about an hour or so. I could still walk, talk, and had no other problems. If your wanting to try this, do the same thing, take one and wait about 15 mins. Nothing? then try two and wait and so on. Everyone is different and I'm thinking body weight has alot to do with this and you will know how your own body accepts medicines. Some people it takes two aspirin to relieve a headache, some only one. Adjust to your own body's temperment.

When you try to save the goo from the fresh plant, and air gets to it, it turns dark brown and starts to dry up, so gathering the goo is going to be a challenge and interesting, but I just gotta try, that's me. Oh, a btw, the fresh goo is very bitter, in fact, nasty bitter but I'm thinking with the tea, honey could be added to cut that.

Last year I overworked myself and that's when I decided to try this. I don't use it everyday as I don't need it everyday. It lasts about 1/2 hour or so, for me. This year I'm going to try drying the leaves to save for tea later on and experiment with that.

I was real interested in this as my dad has migraines and I was looking for something that could help him when he couldn't get his prescription filled. Fortunately he didn't have one last year but if he does, he's more than willing to try it, so I'm going the leaf route for him.

So another year of experiments await as all the plants on the property and in my Wild Lettuce bed are only about 8 inches or so high right now, but when it comes harvest time, I'll pop back in and let you know what I did and how it all turned out. And I'd appreciate anyone else experimenting with this to let us know what y'all did too.

PS: I am NOT a doctor or Pharmacist. Rule of thumb: Everyone's different, use at your own discretion.

Does that help you Sherree? Lemme know. As I do more reading about this, I'm bettin' I can come up with other ways to use this on down the road.

[Sherree]

Yes, thank you. It helped a lot. As soon as it grows more, I'm going to try it as you suggested. CaryC has already started mowing it down in our yard, so I have to give it time to get bigger. Like I said, I didn't know what it was, and always thought of it as a weed, not knowing I had a pain reliever going wild in my backyard.

I do have lots of joint problems from Lupus, so I'm willing to give it a shot along with all the other great remedies over the years from folks here at TTOL. One can't have too many good, natural, medicinal alternatives to modern medicine, IMHO.