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I couldn't escape poison oak, so I started eating it

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Re: I couldn't escape poison oak, so I started eating it

#11

Post by wakawaka28 »

SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #3
corinroyal wrote: post #2

Please don't do this. It's a great way to get urushiol poisoning of your GI tract.

This sounds very much like something that someone might hear on Joe Rogan's podcast and think it's a good idea because someone who knows how to put two sentences together sounded like they knew what they were talking about.

Gradual exposure to allergens like urushiol has been a legitimate recognized treatment plan for decades. Animals are able to eat poison ivy and poison oak. It's a brave strategy to eat the stuff, but nobody including smug netizens like yourself knows if it will work for someone else. Everything that works in medicine was probably thought to be ridiculous by someone at one point.

Joe Rogan isn't the best source of medical advice, but he has been smeared by the media on behalf of big pharma. His approach to treating COVID came from a doctor and was not "horse paste"... CNN was proven to have edited video of Joe Rogan to make his skin look off-color. Also, never forget that the mainstream media said the "vaccines" would stop transmission of the virus when all the experts knew it wouldn't do so, from the start. They also lied about side effects.

Re: I couldn't escape poison oak, so I started eating it

#12

Post by Ekaros »

wakawaka28 wrote: post #9
phoronixrly wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same with vitamin d self-medication here on HN

There is lots of research saying that vitamin D deficiency causes problems, and the deficiency is more common than you'd expect. Other health conditions and habits can lead to a deficiency.

There is fixing deficiency and then there is "hyper dozing". Also lot of it is seasonal, northern hemisphere is entering summer so there should be plenty of sun light even with short exposure to light.

Re: I couldn't escape poison oak, so I started eating it

#13

Post by wakawaka28 »

PaulHoule wrote: post #5
corinroyal wrote: post #2

Please don't do this. It's a great way to get urushiol poisoning of your GI tract.

It’s not the first time I’ve heard about it. I can’t condone it but I can’t rule out that some variant of this might work. The reaction to urushiol is an allergic reaction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urushiol and a vaccine is under development https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDC-APB Some people just don’t react to it while others do. I had hay fever as a kid which developed into asthma in my 30s, I had immune therapy…

I've heard of this desensitization stuff before too. For all the mixed reviews of it, maybe success simply depends on individual factors that nobody has identified yet.

Re: I couldn't escape poison oak, so I started eating it

#14

Post by skepticalmd »

Absurd that there is zero mention of Mithridates in the article.

As always, Chesterton's Fence applies to medicine.

Be very wary of anything outside of healthy diet, sleep, exercise, and relationships.

If you don't know why your body is fevering, don't lower the fever. If you don't know why your blood pressure is high, don't lower it.

We in the medical field vastly overestimate our understanding of human physiology.

Re: I couldn't escape poison oak, so I started eating it

#15

Post by Sebb767 »

skepticalmd wrote: post #14

Absurd that there is zero mention of Mithridates in the article. As always, Chesterton's Fence applies to medicine. Be very wary of anything outside of healthy diet, sleep, exercise, and relationships. If you don't know why your body is fevering, don't lower the fever. If you don't know why your blood pressure is high, don't lower it. We in the medical field vastly overestimate our understanding of human physiology.

> If you don't know why your body is fevering, don't lower the fever. If you don't know why your blood pressure is high, don't lower it.

And if you don't know why you have cancer, don't do anything about it?

Like, I get the point with fever (which is a known defense mechanism), but high blood pressure is a big problem in the long run and even if it's just a symptom, not doing anything about it is not likely to be the best move.

Re: I couldn't escape poison oak, so I started eating it

#16

Post by wakawaka28 »

Ekaros wrote: post #12
wakawaka28 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is lots of research saying that vitamin D deficiency causes problems, and the deficiency is more common than you'd expect. Other health conditions and habits can lead to a deficiency.

There is fixing deficiency and then there is "hyper dozing". Also lot of it is seasonal, northern hemisphere is entering summer so there should be plenty of sun light even with short exposure to light.

I don't think exposure to light is enough to overcome an actual deficiency. When you're exposed to light you get kind of a huge dose, until you get a tan. Then your skin won't produce much more for a while.

You're right about overdoing it. There is such a thing as vitamin D poisioning. I think it draws calcium out of your bones or something. On the other hand, not enough vitamin D is bad for your bones too.

Fortunately, there are tests for vitamin D. If you think you have a problem with it, you ought to get a test.

Re: I couldn't escape poison oak, so I started eating it

#17

Post by OJFord »

phoronixrly wrote: post #4
SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds very much like something that someone might hear on Joe Rogan's podcast and think it's a good idea because someone who knows how to put two sentences together sounded like they knew what they were talking about.

Same with vitamin d self-medication here on HN

It's not a prescription drug, so I'm not really sure what 'self-medication' means; I self-medicate with caffeine, might eat an orange and self-medicate vit C later, etc.

NHS (UK) guidance:

> Government advice is that everyone should consider taking a daily vitamin D supplement during the autumn and winter.

> People at high risk of not getting enough vitamin D, all children aged 1 to 4, and all babies (unless they're having more than 500ml of infant formula a day) should take a daily supplement throughout the year.

(People at high risk = for example darker skin, or indoor jobs.)

Re: I couldn't escape poison oak, so I started eating it

#18

Post by michaelbuckbee »

Several kids in our family's social group have successfully undergone desensitization therapy for severe nut allergies.

It was much more rigorous than the author's approach, with weekly doctor visits and taking increasingly large amounts of whatever they were allergic to (starting with micrograms of nut powder).

I think my niece had the best time as she eventually was advised to start eating daily measured amounts of nutella.

I mention this mostly because I do think the author was a bit cavalier in his approach (mostly because it's hard to accurately judge dosage from wild plants) but also to just spread the word that the allergy desensitization therapies are out there and quite effective and life changing.

Re: I couldn't escape poison oak, so I started eating it

#19

Post by wetpaws »

skepticalmd wrote: post #14

Absurd that there is zero mention of Mithridates in the article. As always, Chesterton's Fence applies to medicine. Be very wary of anything outside of healthy diet, sleep, exercise, and relationships. If you don't know why your body is fevering, don't lower the fever. If you don't know why your blood pressure is high, don't lower it. We in the medical field vastly overestimate our understanding of human physiology.

[dead]

Re: I couldn't escape poison oak, so I started eating it

#20

Post by FLT8 »

My first introduction to urushiol was as a kid... there was a Japanese rhus tree [1] near my local bus stop and I happened to play with some of the seed pods while waiting for a bus one day. I ended up looking like the elephant man for a few days, and it took a bit of time to figure out what was going on.

It turns out that Urushiol shows up in some surprising places, including mango skin, which I discovered later in life after peeling a bunch of mangoes to make a mango salad. Apparently the husks of cashew nuts are notoriously bad for the workers who deal with them too (although the nuts themselves are perfectly safe)..

I don't think I'm likely to deliberately eat anything with urushiol in it, but I must admit, the idea of being able to train my immune system to deal with it is kind of appealing.

1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxicodendron_succedaneum

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