dad, KenC52 is a pepper growing FIEND!!!! He keep this household completely stocked with peppers from banana/bell all the way up to ghost/reaper! We are a big fan of scotch bonnets, jalapenos, and serrano. Its funny, all my kids love chilies, but cant handle much black pepper. Capsicum no problem peprin, yeah no. O
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He Ate the World’s Hottest Pepper, Then Landed in the Hospital With ‘Thunderclap’ Headaches
By JAMES GORMAN APRIL 9, 2018
If you eat a really hot pepper, you expect pain. A lot of pain.
In addition to the feeling that you have just put a live coal in your mouth, you may weep, vomit and wonder where in your life you took a wrong turn.
You don’t expect a headache so intense and immediate that it sends you to the emergency room. But that’s what happened to a 34-year-old man who turned up at Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown, N.Y., with what clinicians call a thunderclap headache.
His problems began when he ate a whole Carolina Reaper — the hottest pepper in the world, according to Guinness World Records — while participating in a hot-pepper-eating competition.
He immediately started experiencing dry heaves — not unknown in the hot-pepper-eating world. But then a pain in his neck and head came on like … a thunderclap.
It passed, but over the next few days he experienced more thunderclap headaches — that’s the clinical term — so he sought medical attention.
Scans of his head and neck showed the kind of constriction in some arteries that can cause intense headaches, doctors reported on Monday in BMJ Case Reports. The scientific term for this temporary narrowing of arteries is reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome.
Dr. Kulothungan Gunasekaran, one of the report’s authors, now at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, said that for some reason the man must have been particularly sensitive to capsaicin. The Carolina Reaper is a popular pepper, and many people eat them and experience nothing worse than the desire to cut out their own tongues.
"I was discussing the case with a nurse who had eaten three Carolina Reapers," Dr. Gunasekaran recalled.
The Reaper has been measured at more than two million Scoville heat units, the accepted scale for how hot peppers are. Measurements vary, but a really hot habanero might come in at 500,000 Scoville units.
The patient was fine, with no lingering damage, but thunderclap headaches are not to be dismissed. For one thing, there’s the pain, which seems to surpass even the normal effect of the peppers.
Dr. Lawrence C. Newman, a neurologist and director of the headache division at NYU Langone Health, said, "On a one to ten scale, it’s off the charts." And it can indicate the kind of stroke that results from bleeding in the brain.
It happens instantaneously. If that kind of headache hits you, it makes sense to seek medical attention "whether you’ve bitten into a pepper or not," Dr. Newman said.
The new study does suggest that capsaicin, being investigated for its role in alleviating pain and lowering blood pressure, can have unexpected effects on certain people.
Cayenne pepper pills and a capsaicin patch, sold in China and Turkey, have been blamed in medical reports for two nonfatal heart attacks in young men, the result of spasms in arteries.
But "we are not advising anything against the Carolina Reaper," Dr. Gunasekaran said.
The Reaper was bred to reach record levels of heat. Reached by phone at the PuckerButt Pepper Company in Fort Mill, S.C., the Reaper’s creator, Ed Currie, offered mixed advice on pepper consumption.
On the one hand, he said, "People who eat whole Reapers are just being stupid." But Smokin’ Ed, as he calls himself, also gave the impression that wasn’t such a bad thing. "We eat them all the time," he said, with no ill consequences beyond pain.
Mr. Currie indulges in other competitions of suffering. For instance, he said, he had recently taken the Death Nut Challenge, which involves eating insanely hot peanuts. He has a partnership with a company that produces them.
"I knew beforehand I shouldn’t do it," Mr. Currie said. "I was in pain for two hours."
For the average person interested in spice, not suffering, he advised using small amounts of any really hot pepper in food preparation, as they were intended.
So if you happen to go beyond your limits — having, say, entered a hot-pepper-eating competition?
"Citric acid seems to work the best to alleviate the pain," he said. "Don’t chug milk because you’ll just throw it up."
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Pirate Scott for those you grew in 5 gallon buckets, did you double them up similar to earth buckets? I just got an order with the intention of putiing drainage holes and planting. Now that I've read about earth bucket gardening, Im second guessing myself.Comment
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lemayp I drilled 1/4†holes about an 1/8†up from the bottom of the bucket to drain excess water. I kept my buckets on a rack I built to keep them easy to reach. No bending over works good for my back. One of the changes I am going to make this year is my soil, I think it was too compacted last year. I am going to add sand or Pearlite this year to loosen it up. This helps with Root Growth.
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Any idea what type of peppers these are. Grow like weeds die come alive without any attention. They are a mild hot.Comment
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@holhogg is this it? Manzano Pepper originated in South America.
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Pirate Scott Looks the part. Besides it not having black pips I would have gone with it.
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My ChilePlants.com order arrived on Tuesday, we transplanted to 6†pots today until we can get them outside into bigger containers. Last frost was supposed to be Late April, who knows this year might be Late May.
My makeshift AeroGarden. If it works I will refine it.
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Very nice, brother, ya got a head start on me. Ain't done much to git ready, since we still havin killin freezes.
Gotta light a fire, get some starts goin.
Wanna be earlier than last year's peppers (12MAY17) was when they went outside.
Had peppers up til it snowed some, though
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Mr. Bones I was late last year, Probably around Memorial Day but it was my first year. I have a solid start, now just need the Weather to turn around.
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Things are moving along nicely, I think it’s gonna be a great year.
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I don't know how I missed this thread this year, but you guys are off to great starts. BTW - here is a link to the pots I have been using for tomatoes the last 4- 5 years. They are still going strong. I use the 10 gal size for tomatoes with great results. And I have tomatoes now that are between golf ball and tennis ball size.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...0?ie=UTF8&th=1
You may have to do some research for the correct size for peppers.
I just looked at the photo just above my post. It looks like you didn't need my advise on pots...Comment
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Awesome RonB those are only the 2gallon pots, I am trying them for transplant to bigger pots instead of Plastic ones. I bought some 7gallon ones which the shop owner recommended, they are white. I also have some larger tubs for this year. I will see what works best soon enough.
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The growing season starts earlier in Florida, so our pepper garden is already productive.
Chorizo Stuffed Pablanos:
Or sweet potato sausage stuffed jalapenos, pablanos and sheepnose pimento:
Or just dried for future chili powder / cayenne flakes:
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Pirate Scott - Pepper plants can be perennials here, but if we have a freeze as we did last winter, the are killed. The ones in the pictures were planted from seed in December and set outside in late February. If they make it through the winter, they will be 4-5 feet tall next summer.
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Just got my Reapers on Monday. 3 to be exact. And my 6mo puppy eat one of them 2hrs after planting. 🤬🤯😡. Also got 3 jalapeños.Comment
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We were Transplanting our 6†pots to 5gal buckets today. Everything I started from seed is going well, but my Chiliplants.com plants are not really happy right now. I am sure they will come around, just need some time. -
Pirate Scott the ones I got last year struggled a bit at first but turned out fine after about a week.
Did you have yours shipped?
I pick mine up. It’s a 75 minute drive each way. So for me I don’t see the need for them to ship the plants to me. My thoughts are they don’t get stressed out as much.
BTW where is Clay? -
Steve B Yes I had them shipped, they looked ok when I got them but they are pretty stressed out right now. Transplant, overwater, etc... They will bounce back. I will have to up pot them again but I will wait till they look better. Clay, Ny is about 20min North of Syracuse.
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Everything is coming along as expected. Leaving everything outside except 12 that are not adapting well, and some late seedlings I am working on. They will stay in the greenhouse till they get acclimated.
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Last Nights Harvest, Smoking Some Ghosts And Orange Habenaro now.
Ghost Planted from last years Seeds, we have about 20 of these plants. I gave a few away so I lost Count.
Orange Habanero these Plants are Very Productive.
Chili Cayenne
Jalepeno, I have a bunch of these planted but they are not super productive. Some are Hot some are actually Sweet.
some Red, Orange And Sweet Frying Peppers. We have been Harvesting these all Summer several plants of each.
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Beautiful harvest Scott. My wife just picked a peck or two as well today. Roasted and bagged the Anaheim's, smoking the cayennes, jalapenos, and some wicked little monsters that she doesn't remember the name of. We're going to use the little devils for our first go at a hot sauce.Comment
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Nice! What do you do with your Cayenne’s? I have no plans for them yet. We will be Refining our BCG this Year based on some input from the Guinea Pigs I sent it to. I will be making Salts, my Wife is going to try some Jellies too. -
Pirate Scott we smoke, dry, and grind our cayennes. The wife will make jelly out of some of the jalapenos.
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Just got my first batch jalapeños picked this week also. In there are 2 cayenne’s and the first Reaper on top.Comment
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Congrats on successful seasons everyone!Comment
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