Wild Lettuce
Energetics:
Bitter, Cool
Common Names:
Wild Lettuce, Acrid Lettuce, Bitter Lettuce, Lactucanum,
Poison Lettuce, Poor Man's Opium, Prickly Lettuce
Latin Name:
Lactuca altissima
Family Name:
Asteraceae - Aster / Sunflower family
Functions:
Analgesic, anodyne, antitussive, diuretic, expectorant,
galactagogue, hypnotic, hypoglycemic, sedative
TCM Functions:
- Relieves pain
* headaches, muscular pain, visceral pain, colic - Calms the mind and relieves anxiety &
irritability
* insomnia, anxiety, irritability in all conditions, esp. Heart Yin deficiency
* floating yang: headache, muscle tension, spasms - Cools the Lung, activates the Qi, stops cough and
relieves pain
* Lung heat with Qi accumulation, with wheeze, dry cough, chest oppression
* cough and pain in general - Promotes urination and drains water-damp
* Spleen damp with edema
Therapeutics:
Used for anxiety, bronchitis, cough, hyperactivity,
insomnia, pain, restlessness and whooping cough.
Notes:
Wild Lettuce is an excellent pain reliever in that it is
safe, effective and non-addictive. Wild Lettuce or "Lettuce
opium" was widely used before the advent of synthetic pain
medications and still has an excellent place in our
pharmacy today. Many modern pain medications have a host of
side effects running from constipation and insomnia to
long-term liver damage. Clinically, Wild Lettuce is most
effective in pain conditions that are accompanied by heat
and excess, patients that are hot to the touch and respond
negatively to heat. Wild Lettuce has an affinity for the
respiratory system that makes it a useful remedy for
long-term painful coughs with yellow phlegm.
Contraindications:
Avoid in cases of Allergic Hypersensitivity to plants in
the Asteraceae family. Avoid use with sedatives and drugs
with sedative effects including alpha-blockers,
beta-blockers, anesthetics, analgesics and tricyclic
antidepressants. Excessive doses may cause insomnia.