Poison Ivy Vaccine

There's gonna be some cranky participants in the placebo group.

I can't wait!

I'm getting itchy thinking about it....poison ivy that is...

Doctor told me early on that the best treatment was to avoid exposure...at the time I think I laughed at him (thinking along the lines "if you only knew what I do for a living"). Now as I am older --> that Doc. had some darn good advice.

If it was within 80 miles, I would risk the 50/50 chance of getting the placebo.

I get poison ivy extract pills at the health food store. I used to be so allergic to it that I spent time in the hospital with my eyes swollen shut. The extract has made me non allergic now. I can even handle the stuff. I highly recommend it!

Timberwolf, post: 346593, member: 10599 wrote: I get poison ivy extract pills at the health food store.

I didn't know there was such a pill. I used to take shots until the FDA made them quit making the serum. Supplements are not as tightly controlled.

I had an Uncle many years ago that said if you eat about one inch square of a poison ivy leaf each week, you will become immune to it. I never had the nerve to try it.

James

When I find myself in an area that it is plentiful, I take an alergy pill and something along the line of a deterrent to get ready to take more.
Wash with soap and water asap and/or when I get back to the truck and every time I feel itchy.
Most of the time it does not bother me and then one day wham, its an epidemic.
At one time I purchased a bottle of liquid that was to be taken one drop in 8oz water on day one and increase each day till you had taken x amount of drops per day and it built up an immunity.

In my truck I keep a bottle of Fast Orange hand cleaner that a lot of mechanics use. It cuts oil pretty good and works on poison ivy. Three weeks ago I remembered to wash my hands but I didn't take my watch off. I ended up wearing my watch on my right wrist for a couple of weeks.

Timberwolf, post: 346593, member: 10599 wrote: I get poison ivy extract pills at the health food store. I used to be so allergic to it that I spent time in the hospital with my eyes swollen shut. The extract has made me non allergic now. I can even handle the stuff. I highly recommend it!

Do you know the name of the pills?? I deal with PI every day..

I have used the pills and the drops. I was very allergic when I first started surveying and after years of getting it bad I finally developed a little tolerance to it. I still get it but just not bad. The extract seemed to help.

Worst I have ever had it from contact was in the dead of winter digging out an iron that was surrounded by ivy roots. I didn't know what it was until my hands swelled up like balloons.:-O I know a few people that have had to be hospitalized from the smoke of a brush pile too.

Yes, Fast Orange will cut the uroshi oil of the skin. I even wash with it before getting into a heavy pacth. The oil will stick to the residue and not your skin.:-)

JaRo, post: 346630, member: 292 wrote: eat about one inch square of a poison ivy leaf

No way! If a chance contact makes your skin break out, would you chance what that could do to your innards?
I can see why people might try the very weak and increasing doses, although I don't understand how they work, but this is crazy.

Andy J, post: 346649, member: 44 wrote: Do you know the name of the pills?? I deal with PI every day..

Andy, there is a good distributor in Berkeley Springs WV called Washington Homeopathic. They farm their own PI plants, and blend the urushiol oil extract (as every plant produces a unique toxin). Good stuff, and I have bailed myself out many times with it.

It is a process of desensitization. (I think I spelled that correctly). Basically, you expose your body to tiny exposures to the allergen and you slowly build up a tolerance to it. I did it for years with my hayfever. I got these "pollen pills" from the health food store. They had small doses of the various pollens that are common around my area. After about 6 months, my sneezing and itchy eyes reduced significantly! I've also heard that eating honey from local bees will have similar results. So the process works, but it can be tricky because if you are highly allergic to something, even the tiny doses can cause bad reactions.

The firefighters in this area that fight forest fires will often get nasty cases of poison oak due to the smoke from burning poison oak plants.

I'm always a big skeptic and I tend to doubt how effective the homeopathic stuff is, even though people swear by it.

The shots they used to give you was just prednesone (sp?) a steroid. It would prevent it but then they realized the long term side effects of it so they stopped giving it to you until you actually had a case of poison ivy.

David Livingstone, post: 346844, member: 431 wrote:
The shots they used to give you was just prednesone (sp?) a steroid.

The shots I was getting was a vaccine made from the oil of the poison ivy plant. When I found out I couldn't get them any more, I asked why. I was told the manufacturer (drug company) quit making it. I called the drug company and was told the FDA forced them to quit. I called the FDA and was told they could continue to make the product but it must be a standardized product.

A standardized product means each dose, year after year, has the same potency. When I called the drug company back, I was told you cannot make a standardized product from a natural oil like poison ivy. Kinda like one pepper will be hotter than another.

My understanding of this current vaccine is that it's a synthetic oil that is very similar to the natural oil.

James