Cures for Posion Ivy...got any ideas?

[OregonSawyer]

That simply is not true. Your med school friend needs to spend more time in class before she starts meeting patients and telling them things that are blatantly incorrect.

The human immune system is very complex, but it is a VERY well known fact that people can be treated for some immune reactions to cure them completely. Dermatologists do it all the time. Conversely, some immune reactions continue to get worse with each new exposure. Bee stings are a famous example which can be treated but often gets worse with each exposure.

A rather well known exception is peanut allergies. These are so severe and life threatening that one researcher was attempting to create a treatment regime. His treatment plan was to expose a person to a very tiny dosage of a slightly modified peanut allergen while they were prepared with a full medical emergency facility to treat the reaction. One of the test subjects was killed, and the treatment plan and research was terminated as a result.


I have had several employees over the years that started out getting vile rashes and blisters from poison ivy, but after years of exposure and sometimes with the Rhus Tox pills, they either became immune or the severity of the rash was reduced to a few itchy bumps on their skin.

So.... Not to sound like a ####, but apparently you didn't read my entire post. First of all I am going to side with somebody who is in her second year at the #3 ranked Primary Care Medical School over somebody who posts on the same arborist forum as I do when it comes to health-related subjects.

My post stated that people can go a long time without being allergic (read, have a reaction to) Poison Oak. BUT once your immune system DOES see it as a threat it will try to attack it; causing a reaction. I then went on to say that once your body DOES react to the oil it would make sense that taking small dosages could start to slowly/slightly reduce the reactions caused by coming in contact with it.

Top Primary Care Med Schools

 

[pdqdl]

You are at liberty to side with whom you please. That is the great thing about the internet and forums like this. They expose folks to ideas they have never encountered, and allow an interested person to find a vast amount of information on almost any topic.

I suggest that you quit relying on other folks for your decision making, and do a little research on your own. If you can find something more substantial than an opinion from a newbie medical student that conflicts with my previous statements, then I'll be happy to argue immunology with you.

BTW: I never went to medical school, but I have taken advanced courses in immunology, microbiology, pathogenic microbiology, biochemistry, invertebrate parasitology, and quite a bit more hard science. Sadly, almost everything I learned in school about immunology has been overturned by the gigantic leaps in understanding that have occurred in the last 25 years. That doesn't mean, however, that I spend all my time arguing about stupid stuff at arboristsite, nor do I rely on other people to tell me how to think.

Also: Obama went to Harvard, perhaps the most prestigious school anywhere in the world. He graduated, too. Does that make everything that comes out of his mouth true?

 

[pdqdl]

You are right. Over the years, I have never gotten used to Poison Oak exposures. The idea that your body adjusts might be true for some but not for everyone.

Try the Rhus Tox. No one working for me that tried it has ever had any adverse experience from them. From your oral to anal orifices, the pills have not caused even a highly allergic person to have any problems, rashes, or blisters. Furthermore, they dissolve on your tongue with the taste of powdered sugar. Because...that's what they are: Sugar pills with a very small dose of urushiol.

The full treatment plan is to start out with the 6x pills and work your way up to 30x pills. Some people report stomach discomfort for a short while after they take a pill, so you are wise to start with the weaker ones. After a little while, my guys just come in and eat them like candy and I hide the bottle from them.

 

[OregonSawyer]

You are at liberty to side with whom you please. That is the great thing about the internet and forums like this. They expose folks to ideas they have never encountered, and allow an interested person to find a vast amount of information on almost any topic.

I suggest that you quit relying on other folks for your decision making, and do a little research on your own. If you can find something more substantial than an opinion from a newbie medical student that conflicts with my previous statements, then I'll be happy to argue immunology with you.

BTW: I never went to medical school, but I have taken advanced courses in immunology, microbiology, pathogenic microbiology, biochemistry, invertebrate parasitology, and quite a bit more hard science. Sadly, almost everything I learned in school about immunology has been overturned by the gigantic leaps in understanding that have occurred in the last 25 years. That doesn't mean, however, that I spend all my time arguing about stupid stuff at arboristsite, nor do I rely on other people to tell me how to think.

Also: Obama went to Harvard, perhaps the most prestigious school anywhere in the world. He graduated, too. Does that make everything that comes out of his mouth true?

My point was not that anybody who ever went to a prestigious school is right all the time. It is more a fact that I will side with somebody that I know has some of the best, most current education in that particular field. A number of the classes you listed are simply undergrad courses that students take before getting to Med School. I'm not trying to have a pissing contest via the internet but if she is a "newbie medical student" and you never went to Med School how are you more qualified in the subject matter?

I am actually agreeing with you in the fact that I think the pills could help side-affects.

I'm not trying to have a stupid argument. I really would like clarification from you in how my statement was false regarding developing an allergy (which you stated is possible) as well as the pills helping side-affects (which you also stated was possible)?

 

[056kid]

Fels Naptha detergent soap, it's in the laundry soap section. Is cold water better for it than hot water? Because hot water feels amazing on the rash. Very hot water that would normally make me jump to get out of feels crazy good. .

 

[jrr344]

I use tea tree oil once I get it, it stinks but works great to stop the itching and gets rid of it faster than anything I have used and also wash with some degreaser every chance you get to help dry it out faster.

 

[fdoberman]

I once carried the pager for the Chief of ICU.
She wouldn't let me carry the stethoscope though, said it made me look like a surgeon.

 

[cford]

Note a cure but helps .. Jewel weed boiled ... and then dabbed on .... usually found on the side of roads around here.

Jewelweed, Poison Ivy Treatment from Nature

 

[dingeryote]

Fels Naptha detergent soap, it's in the laundry soap section. Is cold water better for it than hot water? Because hot water feels amazing on the rash. Very hot water that would normally make me jump to get out of feels crazy good. .

Kid,

Once ya get all the Urishiol off, hot water is a good thing. Not so good if ya havn't gotten all the oil off, as you will just spread the crap.

The amazing and wonderfull while wierdly painfull thing with the hot water, is caused by the heat driving the Histamines from the affected tissues, and there are some endorphins involved. Just don't burn yourself LOL!!

If ya follow up with a Benedryl and, Mexican Ivy cream, Cortisone or Diprolene, it normally buys me about 10-12 hours of itch relief.
Only way I get any sleep sometimes.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[wowzers]

Used to shoot trap on Wednesday nights at a local gun club. The place had a large black lab that roamed all over the property, up into the woods full of poison oak. New guys would pet the overly friendly lab and then go to the head. A couple of days later or on the next Wednesday night they were all walking like cowboys just back from a long ride. They didn't believe the warnings posted on the doors to the head about petting the dog. Protect your goodies.

Been there and done that hound hunting as a youngster. It was pretty impressive to look at but way to itchy to use.

 

[pdqdl]

... how are you more qualified in the subject matter?
...

I never said that I was more qualified. Just that the statement listed below is wrong. There are very few absolute truths in medicine.

... but she (Med school friend) was telling me that as soon as your immune system thinks it needs to respond to that particular oil on your skin it will forever do so. ...

The "forever" part of that statement is what I object to.

When we were children, we were told that vaccination for the childhood diseases will make us immune for life. That too, has been shown to be an unreliable assumption.

 

[OregonSawyer]

I never said that I was more qualified. Just that the statement listed below is wrong. There are very few absolute truths in medicine.



The "forever" part of that statement is what I object to.

When we were children, we were told that vaccination for the childhood diseases will make us immune for life. That too, has been shown to be an unreliable assumption.

Poor choice of wording. You are correct. It should have been ".... will forever do so without treatment. And even then may still forever do so."