A coworker of mine was told that if you eat a poison ivy leaf you will never have a reaction to it. Is this as bad of an idea as it sounds?
Ask him if he has?
If the answer is no. Don’t eat one either.
If the answer is yes, he lied. Don’t eat one either.
This needs to be said:
>>You can die from doing this!<<
This is a very bad idea. Swollen tongue equals cannot breathe.
Weed-B-Gon. ®
I have read that you can gradually desensitize yourself to poison ivy by taking a tiny amount, enclosing it in a capsule, and swallowing that, then doing this repeatedly over time with gradually more of it. This is probably what he heard, but got the story messed up.
Don’t try any of these things at home or anyplace else.
It’s been a bad idea at least since my mother was a youngster (twasn’t she that tried it) and it still is. spingears is spot on.
Slight hijack: The best solution I’ve found for an outbreak of poision ivy? BLEACH
Soak a small amount onto a paper towel straight from the bottle (do not dilute -unless you’re a wuss) and dab it onto the afflicted area once or twice in a day’s time. Sure it burns like hell for a few minutes and is pretty harsh on your skin, but that shit stops itching immediately and drys up within a few days. Works better & faster than any OTC solution for sure. Moisturize the area afterwards to help restore the skin.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. Obviously, do not use bleach near your eyes, open sores, genitals, or on any other sensitive skin/coveted body areas.