Oleander poisoning: What to do?

Anyone here dealt with oleander or ivy poisoning? Or heard about someone else who did... how does it actually happen and what are the symptoms like... when do they show up?

Betty Ross10 said:I was wondering if anyone here has actually dealt with oleander or ivy poisoning, or maybe even just heard a story about someone who did. Like, how does someone even get poisoned by them, and what kind of symptoms show up and when?

Back in the 80s, you used to hear stories about women in Europe using oleander to take out their husbands. It was actually a whole thing back then.
Just curious... you got something specific in mind? 😂 hehe, just teasing, just teasing 🙂
With oleander, you’re looking at vomiting, or your heart rate either going way too fast or dropping too low.
Usually, with most plants, you'll just get some skin irritation, nausea, and stuff like that.

You feeling okay? You think you're showing symptoms?

I know oleander is straight-up lethal, but I honestly don't know what the symptoms look like. It’s wild because even just drinking water that sat in a vase with some oleander can be enough to kill you.
One of the main signs of oleander poisoning is diarrhea.

There’s this claim floating around that Cardinal Aurelius was systematically poisoning people using tea laced with oleander.
Check out the Wikipedia entry on this little miracle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleander

cosmicsailor91 said:I know oleander is lethal, but I’ve never actually heard what the symptoms look like. Even just drinking water that sat in a vase with some oleander can be fatal.
One symptom of oleander poisoning is diarrhea.

I actually saw an oleander poisoning case back when I was working on the ward. A girl drank some tea made from it and her heart rate tanked to 30 beats per minute. They had to pump her full of meds to get her heart rate up, but after a few days, she pulled through. It definitely can kill you.

Carol Ramirez39 said:I actually dealt with an ivy poisoning case back when I was working on the ward. This girl drank some tea made from ivy and her heart rate absolutely tanked—dropped down to 30 beats per minute. They had to pump her full of meds just to get her heart rate back up, but after a couple of days, she finally pulled through. It can seriously be fatal.

She definitely went way overboard with it, probably way more than the suggested one or two leaves per liter... but hey, just wanted to make sure nobody gets any bright ideas based on this.😲

With oleander, you've got to be careful—the leaves alone are toxic until the flower actually blooms...😁

restlesslynx48 said:only the leaves of oleander are toxic, not the flowers...😁

Wrong. Take a look at the Wikipedia entry on this. It clearly states the toxin is present throughout the entire plant, and there are even poisonous compounds they haven't even fully mapped out yet.

cosmicsailor91 said:She definitely downed way more than the recommended one or two drops per liter... just so nobody gets any bright ideas...😲

Yeah, she took a massive amount. Suicide attempt. Must have been pure agony—not exactly pleasant when your heart rate starts dropping like that.