[pct-l] Poison Oak - - - Why not immunize yourself?

[Scott]

>
> MendoRider/Ed Anderson - Writes
>
> Last Sunday Dianne and Julian loggedin with some good advise.Today Tortise
> did. For what it's worth, I will contribute my method of immunization.
>
> Background: Growing up in So. California I often came into contact with
> P.Oak. Once, when I was about 12 I had it so bad that my face became so
> swollen that I could no longer see. I was to learn to identify it and how to
> wash off the oil with soap and water. This works well if you do it withen an
> hour or two after contact - assuming that you know that you had contacted
> it! So,I did'nt have it bad again for a long time. Trouble is, I niavely
> thought that you get it from touching the leaves. Not quite so. You can also
> get it in the dead of winter from the bare branches. While serving in the
> U.S. Army, stationed at Fort Bragg, Ca. and living off-post in Carmel
> Village I learned another lesson the hard way. Jereen and I both picked up
> bad cases. We had'nt paid enough attention to those bare branches.
>
> Now, what follows is a method that I have come up with to immunize myself:
> I had read that you can't get P.O. internally except that you can get it in
> your lungs if you inhale smoke from burning P.O..Having it in your lungs can
> be very serious, even fatal. But, except for your lungs, you can't get it
> internally. So, here's what I did back in the mid-1970's: You need
> tweezers,a mirror,and a couple of glasses of water - - - 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..It worked for me. I used to renew this every spring while
> we lived in Mendocino - Lots of P.O. in that area. Now I seem to be immune.
> One very important bit of advice if trying my method is that you wash your
> rectum with soap and water after a bowel movement. It would be possible to
> get P.O.there - thats external. I once told a dermatologist about this
> method. He informed me yhat it would not work.
>
> To Tortise: People do vary in their sensitivity to P.O.. And our body
> chemistry can vary over time. Some lucky folks seem to be born immune. I
> have a friend in Comptche, where we had a ranch, who could pull it up with
> his bare hands and not get it. I would'nt try that.
>

My thoughts - I catch Poison Oak from the pollen on occassion (fortunately
it's been a few years).  Typically this happens in my nose, then mouth and
throat when it happens and I have to get a prescription to calm the swelling
so that it doesn't stop my breathing.  SO, I'm saying, that's fantastic that
this method has worked for you, but be careful cause this advice WOULD
ACTUALLY KILL ME if I followed it and others may want to be very careful
about it.  It's too bad to, because (except for the possibility of a
sphincter rash), I like your idea and it kinda makes sense, in the same way
that allergy shots work, and I wish I could try it.



-- 
-Scott
-Trailcat if this message is hiker related.

Disclaimer: Trailcat should be taken to imply no actual cat-like ability
including but not limited to the ability to land upright or show any kind of
grace in motion whatsoever.  Scott should be taken to be my name and no
ability to play the bagpipes should be inferred.