One of the most common questions about poinsettia plants regards whether or not they are toxic (see yesterday's blog post). But after viewing my article on poinsettia plants, reader, Rebecca sent me the following email, in which she addresses a different concern regarding poinsettia plants:
"Did you know that poinsettia plants contain a latex protein? People who have a latex allergy can get very sick even being in the room with them. I have a latex allergy and found this out the hard way. A member of the family brought a poinsettia plant into the house. I noticed that my throat started to itch and then, by the next day, I was really having trouble breathing. It just so happened that, that night, on our local news they were warning about it. We took the poinsettia plant outside and I started to get better. If you notice, well, around my hometown anyway, public places no longer put them on display. It's really too bad because they are really beautiful and so much a part of our holidays."
Comments
i am very glad to see that you have posted the info that rebecca provided to you about natural rubber latex allergy. i don’t beleive i know rebecca, but i too have natural rubber latex allergy. this is a disabiling & life threatening allergy. the pointsettia is only one of 40,000 items in everyday life that contains one or more of the 53 identified latex proteins at this time. many gardening tools and gloves have rubber. many gardening shoes do as well. insecticides contain the chemicals used in latex glove production which make them lethal to any of us with natural rubber latex allergy. there are many plants whose DNA makeup is so close to latex that we have severe & life threatening reactions.
i appreciate all that i have learned thru about, & i’m thankful to give this comment.
connie
I never knew that others were allergic. Although I have never had any trouble with latex (as far as I know), poinsettas (or poisonettas as my son used to call them) make me dangerously ill. I have to carry an epipen because if I walk into a building with one anywhere in it, I will have an anaphylactic reaction.
Unfortunately, if I run into one and have to take my epipen, then I am supposed to go to the hospital which is full of them, making it the WORST place I can go.
Further, when I tried to contact my congressman about it and its relation to the ADA and my employment, he snubbed me saying it was so rare, that it wasn’t a big enough problem for him to make an issue. The ACLU turned me down too and we know how litigious they are.
What kind of help is there?
Donna,
That’s horrible! I’m so sorry.
I’m not familiar with the legal issues or ways to get help, but it wouldn’t hurt to email a link to this blog post to your congressman, the ACLU, or whomever else you have to deal with. At least it would show them that you’re not alone!
Best of luck.
Thank you so much for starting this dialoque. I first learned I was allergic to the poinsettia when I was 12 years old. Whenever I tell someone I am allergic, they look at me like I am nuts! I develop breathing problems, from which I once passed out……right next to the poinsettia. Fortunately, someone was there with me. This can be a very dangerous, life-threatening allergy. Please continue to spread the word. Thanks.
I, too, have never had any trouble with latex that I am aware of, but am deathly allergic to poinsettias. I just got back from lunch at a restaurant where they were everywhere. My system almost shuts down when I am around them. My lips start tingling, my throat feels like it’s closing up, my insides start crawling, and I feel terrible for days afterward. . It’s awful. I have the same problem when I tell people I am allergic. I end up being embarrassed to say anything and then suffer for it.
I wondered why we don’t see more infromation from allergists or MDs on this topic. Has anyone been tested for this allergy?
I only learned of my sensitivity to poinsettias after a friend gave me one as a housewarming gift five years ago. I was so ill, and so convinced that the home I’d move to had some crazy toxin. Our landlady happened to comment that a relative had similar symptoms – itchy, blood red eyes, hoarseness and throat closing, breathing distress, heart flutters, dizziness – and discovered poinsettia allergy. I removed the plant and improved within 24 hours.
I’ve had some difficulty with disbelieving coworkers and a boss who insists on giving a poinsettia to every person in the office. The plants arrive, and I have horrible symptoms, lose my voice, and usually have to retreat to work from home.
This year our workgroup moved upstairs, ostensibly away from the plants, but alas, our passive air circulation system meant that I was still ‘enjoying’ all the effects of the seasonal allergy. I thought for two weeks that I had flu, until I happened to notice a plant as I passed by the downstairs window. Even so, no action to remove plants happened until after Dec 25 – more than one month after I had identified the problem. I was able to acquire a hepa filter for my own office, but I am still suffering symptoms. I will have to pursue a medical diagnosis in order for the office to respond to my needs. I also wondered how long the pollen or particles can remain in the air system, as I nearly passed out in the mailroom yesterday, and the plants went to other homes a week ago…
I was born with Spina Bifida and I understand many people suffer from Latex allergies. I have never really noticed anything to the extent of some of your allergic reaction. But the past few months when I go to my office I have felt terrible – headaches, foggy feeling, extremely tired and just cannot function properly. I have had a poinsettia in my office since December. A co-worker today suggested the plant could be the problem. I just removed it from my office and then googled poinsettias and came up with this site. This may have been the problem and I’m anxious to see if I feel better. I should probably remove it from the building.
Thanks for the input!
I appreciate all of the above comments relating real life stories concerning poinsettia plants and latex allergy. If any one else out there has similar stories, please don’t hesitate to comment.
I have allergies and asthma, lactose intollerant and allergic to latex. I cannot be around a poinsettia either as I cannot breathe, throat swells up and my chest hurts. I cannot tolerate them even in the hall outside of my apartment. Poinsettia is related to the rubber tree plants so makes sense for me that its part of the latex allergy.
I had my first reaction to latex in a nursery at Christmas time. My girlfriend and I walked and within minutes my eyes were swollen shut and I was having trouble breathing. I love Christmas, but just going to a church service can make me sick for days. By the new year, I am always ill. I also can not wear band-aids. They leave my skin raw and itchy. What I do not understand is why most of the allergy meds out there can help me long term? I sympathize with everyone with this. Did you know dandelion stems have the protein in them? Good luck!
It’s the most horrible feeling when you have a reaction to poinsettas,you actually feel like you might die from it.And although I have known for at least 6-7 years that I react to them I have not been successful in avoiding them altogether,with the result that I now can not go anywhere near them at all as I feel every time my reaction gets slightly scarier… I was diagnosed with asthma this year,and have known for a long time that I’m very allergic to latex,but didn’t know the connection to that dreadful weed. I now make sure anybody I know don’t have them in their house (If I don’t know them well enough to ask I just don’t go!) and the local supermarket have given me vouchers for home delivery as there is no way I can go there this time of year.
Also-did you know that most sanetary pads have latex in them!? I struggled with that one for years until I found out the connection between painful rashes and unbearable itching and changed to organic cotton ones,problem gone there and then.
Last Christmas season my work was filled with poinsettias for sale and I broke out in hives. I suspected the newly placed poinsettias, but the nursery manager asked if I was allergic to latex and when I said no, not that I am aware of, he told me then it was not the poisettias that was causing my hives, I must have gotten into one of the chemicals or something. I still removed all of the poinsettias from the registers. All was okay after that.
So here we are another Christmas season and once again the whole front of the store is filled with poisettias and once again, my throat is itchy, my nose it stuffy, I am sneezing……it has to be those poisettias! I have kept my arms covered and not handled the plants. I guess here we go again, for another month of miserY.
I just wanted to make a mention that it is possible to be allergic to poinsettias without the allergy to latex, I am proof.
It’s good to know that I’m not alone in this! I sweat like crazy, get light headed, have breathing problems, and my hands swell up painfully and turn bright red. I can usually last about an hour in the stores at this time of year. Pointsettias also affect my mum and one brother to varying degrees.
wow, sure glad i googled this. i loved the ‘poisonetta’ post.
i work at a lobby desk that is currently surrounded by large white Poisettia plants – dozens of them. I’m so sick by the time my shift is over I spend my whole night recuperating enough to go back in again. This has been going on for several weeks and I finally made the connection. I experience horrible headaches during my shift and for hours afterward. My sinuses, eyes, teeth and glands are all very sensitive during this and I’m fine except for cold symptoms for the 4-5 hours before my next shift starts. So thanks, now I know I’m NOT allergic to work – just to Christmas!
Thank you so much for your article. I was getting sick from a poinsettia delivered just before christmas. I suspected the plant when my throat got a tickle around my kitchen area. My Blood Pressure spiked and I knew it was from something chemical, I am latex allergic. I never suspected a plant could cause chemical like symtoms. I am a chemical sensitive victum recovering from a diesel fuel leak. I thought I was doing very well until the this plant incident. Thank you so much
I have been experiencing a strange lightheadness for about 3 weeks. This has been happening only when I’m in church. I get clammy and feel like I’m going to pass out. My roommate and I have been wracking our brains trying to figure out what’s different… the only thing we came up with is that the church is filled with poinsettias for the holiday season. After reading everyone’s stories, I’m pretty sure that must be it! We’ll see for sure next week when they take all of them away:)
I have only had difficulty with Poinsettias for about the past 5 years. It all started with smelling a Sun Flower. Even though they are not related, I did not notice a problem before then. I had a CNA give me a sun flower at work and my throat got itchy and felt like it was swelling. The Christmas season after that every time I went in a store my sinuses would start running, I would constantly clear my throat and my throat would itch. This year was the worst. I made sure that I took Allergy medicine 1/2 an hour before I left home. I would still get the itchy feeling in my throat, a metalic taste in my mouth, sometimes it would feel like something was stabbing my throat and I would almost loose my voice. People do not believe me most of the time. I even had a person bring one into the school I work in this year and she said I would be fine as long as I do not touch it. That is so far from the truth. I started loosing my voice instantly and my throat started feeling like it was closing. It is terrifying that people will not listen and do not care if it does not affect them. People need to be more aware of this and my hope is that some day stores will have to put up warning signs if they have poinsettias in them.
My world just got smaller again today. It has been happening for the last 4 years. Poinsettias are now in my church. I left and will return after service to pick up my husband and daughter.
At work we have a “pointsettia plan” where when they appear on my unit in a resident’s room, they get another nurse to take over and I report to occupational health and go on the rtw plan. Then I go back to work to a ventilated room without poinsettias and work there for the next 6 weeks until they convince the resident to let them get rid of it as the holiday season is now over.
As for shopping, I usually stock up on foods before the season starts and then my husband picks up the milk, eggs and breads.
Gift giving is regulated to gift cards.
For all those who have to deal with this, you have my empathy. Thankfully, it only lasts 6-8 weeks of the year.
I’m glad I actually came across this site. I am so happy to hear from other people who understand. I feel like I am dying right now and want to cry. My building had a tons of them in the hallway I tried to hold my breath as I got to the elevator and the doors closed but I haven’t been able to catch my breath and its been 45 minutes. Its complete torture and because its so rare people think I am crazy. I used to have asthma as a premie and was deathly allergic to poinsettias. But as i grew older the asthma and the allergy went away. Then 3 years ago I went to my aunt’s house and she had them in every corner of her multi story house. Then it hit me and I couldn’t breath and since then its just gotten worse. I really wish I could do something.
I am also very glad I found this site. I couldn’t believe it the first time I reacted to the poinsettia at my parents’ house. I’d never shown any sign of a reaction to them before. That was 9 years ago. 1 year ago I started reacting to latex as well.
My reaction is certainly not deadly, but it is uncomfortable. My sinuses fill up, my eyes get puffy, my throat constricts, and I itch all over.
I am always intrested to know the wonder of Latex, it has both properties medicinal and allergy, really it is very good for learn some specific thing of plants.
Last year a family member had a beautiful poinsettia plant delivered to us. I put it on display on our dining room table. For a whole month, only at night time- from about dinner until morning, I would break out in large hives all over my body. I went to the doctor (during the day of course when I didn’t have the hives) and showed him pictures of all the hives. He just wrote me a prescription for prednazone and sent me on my way…never did any tests. We couldn’t figure out what was causing the allergic reaction. After Jan 1st, we threw our poinsettia plant away and that night was the first night I did not get hives anymore. I had never heard of an allergy to poinsettia plants before, and I am not allergic to latex. So weird!
It is very nice to hear that there are many others with this same allergy. When I tell people about my allergy the typical reaction is disbelief because it is seldom talked about. Over the past few years my allergy has gotten progressive and last year when “it” arrived in our office, within 2 hours I was having difficulty breathing and went home where I stayed for 3 days. I too now carry an epipen, and unfortunately will not be able to enjoy the Christmas services at church I have always look forward to. I pay close attention to going into stores where they are on display and have learned my symptoms and know when one is near.
48 years old and I have almost zero known allergies. Never been allergic to latex either. About one month ago I acquired 2 large poinsettias just like I always have for the last several years. Shortly after I got these I thought I had gotten poison ivy or oak from cutting firewood that had vines growing on it. I never thought much about it but it took a long time for it to clear up. I kept getting re-infected and attributed this to gloves that contained the poison’s oil. I washed everything but the problem continued.
About one week ago I began to notice respiratory problems. I thought I was getting a cold or something. Finally after coughing non-stop all night and the next morning I couldn’t take it anymore and decided to seek medical attention. I got into my car and started driving to the DR office. About 10 miles down the road the coughing stopped, my lungs began to clear up and I started feeling better. I instantly recognized this as being an allergic reaction to something. I started researching on the internet and I finally narrowed it down to the poinsettias. I removed them from the house and I am almost back to normal.
In hind sight I now realize the rash I had was caused by the white milky substance from the poinsettias coming in contact with my skin. I also had a very mild case of hives one night after watering the poinsettias and moving the leaves. The respiratory problem it caused was terrible. Its no wonder the term “poison” has been used with this plant for years.
I know that this is an older post but I have developed an allergy to poinsettias within the last few years. I have discovered that I break out into hives and my skin turns pink in color. I did not know that others had this problem. My problem is that I will be working in a church and during Christmas season I will be around them all the time.
First time ever I’ve had real poinsettias in my home. About a week later I broke out in hives all over my face and both forearms. There were times my face would burn and be swollen as well. Couldn’t figure it out! I recall having a sore throat and one night complaining “I feel like it’s swelling shut” but I assumed I was getting sick so I kept gargling with lime juice (works wonders, btw). Now I’m still with hives another week later and with upper respiratory symptoms. Still not sure if I’m getting sick or not but it sure FEELS more like allergies. I just now removed the plants from my house and really hoping that was it. I have noticed when I go to work a few mornings a week I am better but today leaving the house did nothing for me.