[pct-l] Poison Oak Immunization

[Thomas Jamrog]

This is not good advice, and should not be posted, as it encourages  
others to do something that could cause severe distress and physical  
harm.
I was hiking with someone who tried doing this same procedure with  
poison ivy  in 2007.  He had been coached in doing it by a fellow who  
was an "expert in native American " medicine.  He did the same  
procedure, ingesting a small leaf of poison ivy, waiting a day,  
checking, taking another one until he was ended up in the emergency  
room with a severe reaction, all over his body, inside and out. I  
never saw him again.   It happened after he ingested three times.  I  
can verify this was true.
It was characterized as one of the  the dumbest things that anyone had  
ever heard of.
Uncle Tom



On Jan 27, 2009, at 4:01 PM, George Wysup wrote:

>> - - - and poison oak leaves. Start with a very small leaf. Using  
>> the tweezers, carefully pluck it from the branch and looking in the  
>> mirror, carefully place it in the middle of your tongue.  
>> Immediately swallow it with two glasses of water. Whatever you do  
>> don't chew it or allow it to mix with your saliva. You could get  
>> P.O. blisters on your lips. I had a little of this the first time.  
>> Now wait three days and see if you have any reaction. If not,( I  
>> did'nt ) then do it with a larger leaf and wait three days again.  
>> If still no reaction continue this until you have swallowed five  
>> leaves. By then you will, most likely be immune to P.O.<
>
>    Is anyone actually going to try this? When I was growing up in So  
> Cal, around 1949, some MDs actually made money trying to immunize PO  
> sufferers using a technique similar to the above (only more  
> controlled). They don't do this any more. Guess why not. IT DOESN'T  
> WORK! Most folks understand that repeated exposure to an allergen  
> actually increases the sensitivity. Think about it. Have you ever  
> heard of bee sting immunization? Peanut butter immunization? Hives?  
> Psoriasis? Celiac disease? I suspect you have not - and for good  
> reason. Your body's immune system does not build antibodies for PO  
> allergen.
>    It may not be harmful to try this. Id guess that the digestive  
> fluids actually digest the rhus oil before it can cause a reaction.  
> [Maybe what you need on the PCT is a gallon of stomach acid.] If  
> this trick seems to work, it's likely because the "experimenter"  
> has, by now, learned to recognize and avoid the PO. Better you try  
> using Skunk brush as a placebo instead of the real thing.
>    Maybe accupuncture or chiropractic will do the job.
>    Yep; the dead-looking branches can be as deadly as the leaves,  
> and they are harder to ID as poison oak. Helpful hint for the guys:  
> after possible contact with PO, clean your hands before peeing. I  
> learned this the hard way.
> George
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