I am not sure I would believe the idea that nobody is immune to PI. I,
personally, have always reacted to it, but my brother has never had a
reaction, and been exposed far more frequently.
More to the point, I WAS far more reactive to bee stings than I am now,
having been stung repeatedly for years. Other beekeepers have been forced to
give up their bees, because they became more sensitive to the stings. This
tells me that different people react differently to repeated exposures.
You should also understand that there is a difference between sensitivity
and allergy. When I was stung by a wasp, my hand swelled up, it looked like
I had a softball under the skin, and I couldn't bend the fingers due to the
swelling. While serious, this is sensitivity, not allergy. The allergist
that spoke to our beekeeping group explained that an allergy involves
breathing difficulty, hives in places not directly associated with the
exposure, and potentially cascading shut-down of your bodies systems. A
sensitivity involves localized swelling, redness, itching, and possibly a
rash at the site of the injury (though not with stings) When a bumblebee
stung me on top of the head, I experianced symptoms that resembled the flu.
The allergist called this a systemic reaction, which would be caused by the
venom being directly injected into the blood stream. Not so likely with PI.
Now, I have heard that you can build up immunity to PI by carefully exposing
yourself to a daily dose of the leaves over the course of several weeks in
the spring. I have never been willing to try it, as it sounds like a
particularly miserable form of suicide to me, but if it really works, it is
proof positive that immunity is possible.
Joyce in Tulsa, zone 6/7 gardener, soapmaker, machine embroiderer,
beekeeper, Grandma to be!
~~~ORGANIC AND GREEN, for a healthy future.~~~
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I had heard that through drinking milk from goats who had been eating PI
built up an immunity to PI.
Sharie
It can and does work. When I was young, I could get down wind of PI and
break out all over with rash. I was deadly allergic to the stuff. My
stepmother took me to a doctor who had a new way to treat people.
He gave us a bottle of PI extract {sap from PI} and I had to take it every
day. One drop in OJ first day, two drops second and increase by one drop
each day till I got to 10 drops and then keep taking 10 drops till all of
the extract was gone. That was when I was 12 or 13 years old. I'm now 66
years old and have only had a few bumps show up on my hands from time to
time and that has only been in the last few years. So YES it does work, at
least for me. I have never found anyone who had this type of treatment
because I think it was ruled BAD by the medical community because it WORKED.
Wayi
Subject:poison ivy immunity
I am not sure I would believe the idea that nobody is immune to PI.
Now, I have heard that you can build up immunity to PI by carefully
exposing
yourself to a daily dose of the leaves over the course of several weeks in
the spring. I have never been willing to try it, as it sounds like a
particularly miserable form of suicide to me, but if it really works, it
is
proof positive that immunity is possible.
Joyce in Tulsa,
~~~ORGANIC AND GREEN, for a healthy future.~~~
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GardeningOrganically
Subscribe: GardeningOrganically-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
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My son tried something similar.
Oh ma.. yeah right posion ivy(rolled eyes), I guess I shouldn't rub it on
my arm then huh?
When will kids learn to listen to Moms?
He certainly knows what it looks like now though!
Sharie
I think some people are naturally immune to it. One of my brothers,
for instance, could roll around in the stuff and not so much as
break out. And did, on more than one occasion! My other brother
could get near it and get hives. (I avoided it like the plague, so I
don't know about me.)
--- In GardeningOrganically@yahoogroups.com, wayi wayi@... wrote:
It can and does work. When I was young, I could get down wind of
PI and
break out all over with rash. I was deadly allergic to the stuff.
My
stepmother took me to a doctor who had a new way to treat people.
He gave us a bottle of PI extract {sap from PI} and I had to take
it every
day. One drop in OJ first day, two drops second and increase by
one drop
each day till I got to 10 drops and then keep taking 10 drops till
all of
the extract was gone. That was when I was 12 or 13 years old. I'm
now 66
years old and have only had a few bumps show up on my hands from
time to
time and that has only been in the last few years. So YES it does
work, at
least for me. I have never found anyone who had this type of
treatment
because I think it was ruled BAD by the medical community because
it WORKED.
Wayi
Subject:poison ivy immunity
I am not sure I would believe the idea that nobody is immune to
PI.
Now, I have heard that you can build up immunity to PI by
carefully
exposing
yourself to a daily dose of the leaves over the course of
several weeks in
the spring. I have never been willing to try it, as it sounds
like a
particularly miserable form of suicide to me, but if it really
works, it
is
proof positive that immunity is possible.
Joyce in Tulsa,
~~~ORGANIC AND GREEN, for a healthy future.~~~
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GardeningOrganically
Subscribe: GardeningOrganically-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: GardeningOrganically-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
List owner: GardeningOrganically-owner@yahoogroups.com
We had goats that loved PI, and I never noticed any improvment in my rashes.
The goats loved the PI, and also loved me, so they nibbled at me after
browsing. I usually had some rash all summer when we had goats.
Joyce in Tulsa, zone 6/7 gardener, soapmaker, machine embroiderer,
beekeeper, Grandma to be!
~~~ORGANIC AND GREEN, for a healthy future.~~~
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GardeningOrganically
Subscribe: GardeningOrganically-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: GardeningOrganically-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
List owner: GardeningOrganically-owner@yahoogroups.com
