Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

wsj.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 207 posts

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

#61

Post by nick__m »

tysam_and wrote: post #33
wholinator2 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jus fyi but the "non drowsy" antihistamines are fundamentally different or anything, they're just the same type of drowsy antihistamine but with the dose lowered so it barely works unless you take more than one, thereby making it drowsy again

This is incorrect enough as to be dangerous (IMPE, I am not a doctor). They are non-drowsy because they do not cross the blood brain barrier effectively as I understand. Second and third generation antihistamines are fantastic.

While I agree with your comment, for some peoples non-drowsy antihistamines are a myth.

I must be overly sensitive or have a deficient BBB because 10 mg loratadine transform me into a lethargic zombie for about 48 hours while providing minimal relief. A double dose of vyvaanse and a few coffees are not enough to bring me out of that state.

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

#62

Post by samatman »

taurusnoises wrote: post #57
jandrewrogers wrote: post #44

You don't need to eat it. A well-known phenomenon in the US military is that some of the sites for Basic Training of new recruits have prodigious quantities of poison oak/ivy/sumac as the local flora. As consequence of the military training, you are rolling around in those plants daily. Initially, a large percentage of people have the usual reaction but it quickly disappears after a few weeks and it never happens aga…

This is not how it works with these plants. Prolonged, sustained exposure results in worse symptoms over time as your immune response increases in intensity. https://www.pbsnc.org/blogs/science/poison-ivy-and-its-pals-...

That can't possibly be true.

East Asian countries have a long tradition of lacquerware, which is made with urushiol-containing saps. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacquerware

In fact urushi is the Japanese word for lacquer, the plant is in the genus Toxicodendron.

Like most jobs until recently, making lacquerware was hereditary, and (clearly) the people making it were able to withstand sustained and direct exposure. It's possible that there is a genetic proclivity involved in ability to do the work, but just as clearly, there is hyposensitivity gained in exposure.

Let me back that up with a citation. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1839723/

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

#63

Post by jandrewrogers »

taurusnoises wrote: post #57
jandrewrogers wrote: post #44

You don't need to eat it. A well-known phenomenon in the US military is that some of the sites for Basic Training of new recruits have prodigious quantities of poison oak/ivy/sumac as the local flora. As consequence of the military training, you are rolling around in those plants daily. Initially, a large percentage of people have the usual reaction but it quickly disappears after a few weeks and it never happens aga…

This is not how it works with these plants. Prolonged, sustained exposure results in worse symptoms over time as your immune response increases in intensity. https://www.pbsnc.org/blogs/science/poison-ivy-and-its-pals-...

That link doesn't make a claim quite that strong. I also don't know anyone that has eaten it.

Given that I know dozens of people who demonstrably lost their sensitivity to poison oak via the accidental chronic exposure regimen I outlined above, at the very least it should raise a scientific question. It would be easier to dismiss if it was an isolated case or two. No one exposes themselves like that intentionally.

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

#64

Post by wakawaka28 »

mminer237 wrote: post #31
wakawaka28 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 med…

Ivermectin doesn't work though, and we knew that then even if he did find a single quack doctor to promote it. And vaccines do reduce transmission, which is all I ever heard about it. Not sure what side effects you're talking about.

[flagged]

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

#65

Post by Anon4Now »

jandrewrogers wrote: post #44

You don't need to eat it. A well-known phenomenon in the US military is that some of the sites for Basic Training of new recruits have prodigious quantities of poison oak/ivy/sumac as the local flora. As consequence of the military training, you are rolling around in those plants daily. Initially, a large percentage of people have the usual reaction but it quickly disappears after a few weeks and it never happens aga…

As an Army vet, this sounds ridiculous. You don't roll around anywhere daily, let alone on poison oak/ivy/sumac. What's your source on this?

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

#66

Post by AlbertCory »

burnte wrote: post #52
AlbertCory wrote: post #40

Doctors are pretty much required to follow Establishment medicine. They're not going to tell you about folk remedies, because it could be malpractice for them. By way of contrast, I've told my doctor about sinus rinsing, and she was not disapproving. But she said, "a lot of my patients do this and they seem to like it." I think this is a better response than blanket disapproval. The corresponding response to urushiol…

> Doctors are pretty much required to follow Establishment medicine. They're not going to tell you about folk remedies, because it could be malpractice for them. Not in the USA. In the USA doctors can absolutely recommend non-medical treatments like supplements and homeopathy and other crap. Each doctor has their own threshold of comfort in what they will and won't recommend. But as you yourself then followed up, you…

OK. I said "pretty much" which leaves a lot of wiggle room.

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

#67

Post by fzeroracer »

wakawaka28 wrote: post #64
mminer237 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ivermectin doesn't work though, and we knew that then even if he did find a single quack doctor to promote it. And vaccines do reduce transmission, which is all I ever heard about it. Not sure what side effects you're talking about.

[flagged]

Ivermectin does nothing. Linking to a site that uses fraudulent research in order to prove an incorrect point does not help your position. There were places in the world that widely distributed Ivermectin as an experimental treatment (such as Brazil) whose health agencies have now, after the fact, said that Ivermectin does not help. You are peddling fraud.

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

#68

Post by borski »

nick__m wrote: post #61
tysam_and wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is incorrect enough as to be dangerous (IMPE, I am not a doctor). They are non-drowsy because they do not cross the blood brain barrier effectively as I understand. Second and third generation antihistamines are fantastic.

While I agree with your comment, for some peoples non-drowsy antihistamines are a myth. I must be overly sensitive or have a deficient BBB because 10 mg loratadine transform me into a lethargic zombie for about 48 hours while providing minimal relief. A double dose of vyvaanse and a few coffees are not enough to bring me out of that state.

That is definitely not the common reaction. Something is unique to you, in that regard.

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

#69

Post by pengaru »

jandrewrogers wrote: post #44

You don't need to eat it. A well-known phenomenon in the US military is that some of the sites for Basic Training of new recruits have prodigious quantities of poison oak/ivy/sumac as the local flora. As consequence of the military training, you are rolling around in those plants daily. Initially, a large percentage of people have the usual reaction but it quickly disappears after a few weeks and it never happens aga…

I doubt your claim but wanted to mention a La Honda local once gave me a ride stranded with a flat tire on Pescadero Creek Rd.

His pickup bed was full of poison oak and landscaping tools, arms and hands filthy from the work.

He warned me not to touch anything and not shake his hand etc. saying he's covered in poison oak but immune from the frequent exposure.

It's everywhere around here and I react horribly to it, but this experience lends some credence to your claims...

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

#70

Post by banish-m4 »

burnte wrote: post #52
AlbertCory wrote: post #40

Doctors are pretty much required to follow Establishment medicine. They're not going to tell you about folk remedies, because it could be malpractice for them. By way of contrast, I've told my doctor about sinus rinsing, and she was not disapproving. But she said, "a lot of my patients do this and they seem to like it." I think this is a better response than blanket disapproval. The corresponding response to urushiol…

> Doctors are pretty much required to follow Establishment medicine. They're not going to tell you about folk remedies, because it could be malpractice for them. Not in the USA. In the USA doctors can absolutely recommend non-medical treatments like supplements and homeopathy and other crap. Each doctor has their own threshold of comfort in what they will and won't recommend. But as you yourself then followed up, you…

The fact that DOs are treated the same as MDs is absurd. Osteopathy is quackery.
Post reply on HN