I'm allergic to almost everything green. A Christmas tree is like nerve gas to me, 20 minutes near one in a closed room and I'm a basket case. So imagine my surprise when I found out a few days ago that I'm immune to Poison Ivy. The 55+ year friend of mine who bought my house wasn't so lucky. My house always has had Ivy growing on it, and over the years, I just pulled it off with my bare hands, never imagining it was Poison Ivy. I was standing next to the garage where the Ivy really gets going this time of year, talking to him, and I was yanking it off. He says, "That looks like Poison Ivy to me!". I laughed, saying, "Well, if it is, I'm screwed, since I pulled some of it off last week and yesterday too!". SO he and I pulled it all off. He calls me the next day, and says, "So, are you dying too?". "From what?", I ask. "The Poison Ivy I got from your garage!". I told him I don't have it, and he says, "How the hell can you be allergic to all the stuff you are, and be immune to Poison Ivy?". He's really miserable, so should I feel bad, or lucky?

Both.

That's interesting.

I had an idea that continued exposure to something makes you allergic to it. The reason I say this is I never had allergies before. Then I moved to a different county, and I started to develop allergies until it got to the point I needed shots.

In your case, i'd rather be allergic to poison ivy as I come across it rarely.

As I'm sure you're well aware, you can still become sensitized to poison ivy and become allergic to it in the future. For now, feel lucky but also feel bad for your friend.

Tell your friend to soap up w/ a wash cloth next time and scrub good, x2, all over. It should remove all the oils you can't see.

I'm allergic and pull the stuff but mostly don't suffer. I'll get a few spots in the neglected areas if I try to hurry in the shower afterwards. Between fingers, behind knee, the usual neglected areas when washing.

You and your friend may want to store a pair of rubber gloves near the urinal.

When I was younger, I could roll in it and not get it. I walked barefoot through patches of poison oak without thought.

In 1989, in the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo, I was cutting up some trees and ran my chainsaw through a big vine of poison ivy. For the first time ever, I got it. All over.

A few years ago I was playing golf and hit my ball over into a patch of poison oak, so I rolled it out with my iron and picked it up. Instant tingling on my hand where the ball had picked up some of the juices.

Now it seems like I can look at the stuff and get it. My dog walked through a patch of poison oak in my back yard and gave it to me a couple of weeks ago. She just jumped up on my side while I was sitting on the couch, and the next day my arm broke out.

When I was a kid, I was in the Cub scouts and later for a while in Boy scouts. Their literature was always warning about poison ivy and poison oak while camping and hiking,etc.
I am an old feller now and have never seen either one, but have never lived anywhere but the West and mostly the desert.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
You and your friend may want to store a pair of rubber gloves near the urinal.

I never used to react to poison ivy, poison oak, etc. When I was a child our class went on a class picnic, a bunch of us ran through a field, the other kids developed a painful rash. I did not. Many years later, in my early 20s, a couple friends helped me raise an antenna. Turned out what was growing at the bottom of the pole had been poison oak.

We have it growing out back. I'm careful. I know things can change.

I am apparently immune, too. "Leaves of Three, Let's Make Tea"

Not really - I don't push my luck, as I do know that status can flip and I don't want the flip to happen in the midst of doing some epic ivy-yanking.

And, that tea thing really is a joke, lame though it may be. Do NOT try that.

I get it just by looking at it, and there's plenty of it around my house. I kill it with a mixture of woody plant and grass killer. I once got it so bad on my leg that it caused a Sepsis infection in my blood. Fortunately my GP found it and treated it successfully with antibiotics. Once I climbed a tree with my deer hunting tree climber, the tree was covered with poison something vines. That was the last tree I climbed with any vines. I won't even sit against one anymore while hunting.

I am also not affected by poison ivy.

As super-powers go, it isn't any great shakes, but still . . .

Poison Ivy on YOUR HOUSE

As a kid, I ran through the smoke made when my old man was burning poison ivy. It hospitalized me.
Since then, I have never gotten it again.

From what I have read, roughly 25% of people are not allergic to the urushiol oil in those plants that causes the problem. My wife seems to be one of the lucky ones. My daughter may be as well. I am most certainly not, and neither is my son.

Washing soon after contact with something that cuts the oil (solvent works, as does alcohol, but so does dish detergent and friction with a rag) prevents most problems before they happen. Allegra, an over-the-counter antihistamine, works wonders to dampen the effect if one doesn't get it washed off soon enough.

There are many boatloads of poison oak around the ranch, but it really isn't much of a problem anymore. If I can't avoid it, I wash it off quickly and prevent problems.