My neighbor had some succulent and it was growing in large blankets across her property. In fact little shoots of it would sometimes come up on my property. She encouraged me to take some and grow it. No warning was given to me. So I put a small bit in a part of my property and it grew over the summer to 18" square by 12" high. It was crowding the coral bells next to it so yesterday I went and cut it back. I may have gotten some of the milky white sap that came out of it on my hands. I knew that milky white latex sap is prolly not something I want on my skin so I tried to keep it off my skin. After I was done with my pruning I came inside, took the gloves off and washed my hands. Then I went and ate my subway sandwich. Two hours later at 10pm I got some slight burning around my mouth. It got worse 4/10 then worse 5-6/10. By 11:30 the pain was now at 8/10 and my entire face, cheeks, mouth area were on fire. I racked my brain of what it was thinking there was something on my sandwich or I had some sort of anaphalaxis to something I ate. Finally I retraced the night and googled "white sap" and found out that I had been exposed to Myrtle Spurge or Donkey Tail spurge.. "Euphorbia Myrsinitis." I drove to the ER and they didn't know much about it. They gave me Oxycodone and had no idea what to apply topically to help it. I went home and the burning was still persistent. I took one oxy and that helped bring the pain down so I could sleep. The second day(today) as I write this the burning pain as finally subsided to just a very fried/burnt feeling on my face. Spurge is highly toxic and should be avoided in all gardens If you have this plant on your property remove it by digging underneath it and lifting it into a lined trash can. Do not break the plant up because the milky sap is a natural latex resin that carries a cytotoxin. Cytotoxins are in venomous spiders and snakes. The sap burns the skin far worse than OC/Mace/Pepper spray and takes days to go away. I got Tecnu poison ivy extreme care and oxies from the doctor for the pain. This plant is no joke. It's killed dogs, cats and children. It should not be on your property! And oddly enough it's common around central oregon where I live. It's considered a noxious weed as it grows quickly and is difficult to remove. EXTREME WARNING:!!!!! The neurotoxin of these plants is a Resiniferatoxin or RTX, and is very, very, dangerous. It is an extremely irritant agent and is the most pungent/spicy substance in the world, much more than ANY chili pepper where the spicy agent is the Capsaicin of 16 million Heat Units. Indeed this oleoresin is so powerful that it destroys the nervous pain receptors for ever! It has more than 15 Billion Scoville Heat Units and is 1000 times hotter than Capsaicin. TREATMENT: If you get this on your skin use a dish soap to wash the affected area continuously for a minmum of 30 minutes. Try not to rub the area much, rather splash the dish soapy water on affected area. The idea here is to let the dish soap break down the oleoresin which is a medium for the cytotoxin. The oleoresin is most irritating to mucus membranes and the sensitive skin around the genitals, mouth, lips, ears, nose and of course eyes. If you get this in your eyes flush your eyes with tap water immediately several times then get to the ER as fast as possible. If treated quickly one can avoid permanent damage to the eye. On skin the pain usually goes away in 48-72 hours. The pain can be minor to excruciating depending on how much got on you and where the area was affected. Dispose of all clothing, gloves, that have the resin on it. Wash all tools, garden clippers, shovels, etc that may have come in contact with the resin in alcohol. This chemical is no joke! It is one of the most poisonous resins on the planet. Most people are highly allergic to it and can even get severe welts/blisters from contact with it. If exposed to your skin in any significant way seek emergency medical help. There is not much in the way of neutralizing the after effects of the pain. Once the resin is gone from the skin by using the sudsy dish soap method and you have cleansed the area many times, relief can only come from narcotics like vicodin or hydrocodone and then you just wait till the inflammation subsides. Some suggest that aloe vera, calamine, and benadryl help relieve the burning to a minor extent. PRECAUTIONS: If you insist on growing myrtle spurge, donkey tail spurge, Euphorbia Myrsinitis then never use a weedwhacker anywhere near it. Wear disposable latex gloves, eye protection and protective clothing when handling or trimming it. You should not have this plant anywhere remotely around pets or children or adults who are unaware of it's extreme toxicity. Some report that just brushing the plant with bare skin is enough to create a painful reaction while others will not react unless the abundant sap touches bare skin. Extreme caution needs to be maintaned so that you do not have secondary or even tertiary contact with the resin in it's milky state or dried state as you can even get burns from the sap if it's on clothing or on tools and then is transfered to the face, genitals or mucus membranes. It is highly advised to keep this plant out of the yard altogether!! Simply exposing the resin to the air in confined spaces like greenhouses can expel enough toxicity into the air so that it burns the mucus membranes and the lungs. These plants should never be cut or trimmed in a confined area. DEADLY CAUTION! Never ever burn poisony Ivy, Poison Oak, Stinging Nettles, Euphorbia or spurge. You can release the toxins into the air and destroy your lungs. People have died from trying to eradicate these plants by burning them!! Eradicate these plants by wearing protective gear and putting them into lined trash cans and carefully disposing of these plants so that others are not affected.

I switched to CLEAR CARE because it is preservative free and have had no reaction to it so far. Very happy about that because most lens solutions do contain preservatives. Unfortunately, the problem reoccured about a week after I first posted my message. I had made an assumption that saline solution is just purified salted water and you can use whichever brand you like. You'd think by now I'd have enough brains to read the ingredients on anything I put in my eyes but I didn't. Lo and Behold the generic (Target) brand of Saline caused another allergic reaction and I was back on the hydrocortisone. In bold letters at the top of the bottle (on the back) it states "No Sorbic Acid and no Thimerosal". Not till you read the contents does it say "preserved with ...". So they're putting preservatives in Saline too! The only saline I found that does not contain preservatives is Unisol 4 by Alcon. Expensive, hard to find, and they only seen to come in 4 oz bottles (maybe because there is no preservative in them). My husband wears contacts too and he's never had a problem with products w/ preservatives. However, after seeing what it did to me he doesn't want them in his eyes anymore either. If you are like me (prone to allergies, excema, sensitive skin, etc) be very careful what you buy to clean your lenses. Hard to believe that such a small amount of liquid left on your lenses could do so much damage but it can. The chemicals will be absorbed into the skin around your eyes.

Hi My first time on a forum, but wanted to share my experience. I began to get acne again around 42 and thought what is going on. I went to the GP and they said (not just 1) that it is Rosacea. Ok I thought, what is the solution? Best they could do was get me to take Doxycyclin tablets, which I continued to take for 5-6 years. I went to a "specialist" who basically said that if the pills are working just keep taking them. I can be a cynical person at times but nothing prepared me for the lack of diagnosis from these professionals. Anyway I have overcome my acne issues with trial and error. I found that washing my face morning and night with Cetaphil helps and combined with using a different shampoo to the antidandruff shampoo I had been using in that period has helped my condition. Not saying this will work for everyone but it is a start. Pills are not the answer try different things. Maybe it is the shampoo??

Adienne, Could you try a special toy or stuffed animal or blanket? I know you said he doesn't need one but sometimes it really helps with kids who don't want to go to sleep. DS wasn't quit taking his pacifier when he was about 3 months old and wasn't attached to anything but at about 18 months he latched on to a baby blanket. He won't sleep without it now. I remember being the same as a child, I needed my blankie and a bear to feel comforted and then I could go to sleep. Also, I ask DS what he wants to take to bed with him before he goes down for a nap and he picks a toy to lay on his pillow or beside him. If it's the dark, get a nightlight. DS at about 2 started to say it was dark in his room even with the night light. I added some clear minature Christmas lights in his room that I plug in when he goes to bed (we have one of those that's shaped like a ball with the lights on it that we bought at Christmas for him now). He asks for his ball light if I don't turn it on. Anyway, I later go back once he's asleep and unplug it and he's fine. I remember MIL using a strand of colored lights because they weren't as bright to get my niece to sleep at her house. Maybe you could pick a cute holiday light cover set or patio lights? It may seem crazy but it's worked for us. The fact that your son is 18 months old and just got over being sick also plays a big part in this. They seem to love to try you at this time in they're lives. You just have to be consistent and figure out what works for your son. Like I know somedays I can let a nap slide and others we absoultely can't. Some days DS is just not tired until later on in the evening and then he'll take a power nap and be fine. DS is almost 3 though but he's been like this for quite a while. Good luck. ~Leslie~