Poison Ivy

[dodge man]

I consider myself an expert at poison ivy, mainly because I’ve had it so many times, maybe as much as 30 times. I was cutting firewood and there was a vine on the tree, the kind about as big around as a finger and I knew this was poison ivy. So I worked on two trees like this at two different times. A friend was working with me that is immune to it, he took the vines off but I knew I was exposed to it. I washed afterwards with the Technu Ivy Extreme Wash. I got a very minor case, not bad at all. Then a couple of weeks later I split some of this wood and then it got me. This wood had sat outside for a couple of weeks bucked up and had been rained on 3 times.

So a couple of thought/questions. The bad case I got is on my back and side, one area about the size of your hand or bigger. How the heck did I get it there? The doctor was worried it might be shingles but there is no pain and I’m almost sure it’s poison ivy. Second question, anybody have a miracle cure? They don’t want to give me prednisone because of the side affects and I’ve used it several times over the years. I do have a prescription strength ointment that helps some. I have tried about everything. The hot shower helps but only for awhile.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

My Dad was very allergic to poison ivy; all he had to do was get close to it to have a reaction. This was in the early 50's, and they gave him a vaccine that cured him 100%. Now I heard that they don't give it any more, why, I don't know, but I heard that it only worked for a few people. Might be something to check out.

 

[ning]

I can't speak to poison ivy, but I used to be very sensitive to poison oak (same irritant uroshiol), like I'd look at a plant and get a rash over 50% of my body.

My experience is that you can get a very small amount on you and get a rash, like from your dog's fur, and the level of reaction you have is related to the amount of exposure - at first. Once the reaction sets in, though, an autoimmune response can occur which is more like a feedback loop, it gets worse and worse.

Break the inflammation with at least 72hr of benadryl (oral) and your body will start to calm down about it all.

FWIW, my reading indicates that you get more reactive as you get older, but I'm no longer particularly sensitive - I'll pull the stuff and wade through it in a tshirt and barely get a reaction any more (part of why my land has almost none of it any more - pull it out because it spreads via a barely sub-surface root network and is easy to pull once and be done).

It's possible that using lots of highlands homeopathic poison oak remedy helped me, but I personally have little faith in the concept in general (homeopathy) but when I started using it my poison oak was so bad I'd try anything, and here we are.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

It is called a systemic reaction, it gets in your bloodstream. I've had poison ivy so bad I was covered head to toe; it was in my eyes as well. Doc gave me a few shots over a few days to knock it out. I had it so bad on my forearms once I rubbed the blisters open under hot water and then poured chlorox over them to dry them out; a friends mom told me that one. It worked too....

 

[dodge man]

They used to give you a prednisone shot a few times during the summer. Then they learned of the long term side affects of them and only give it to you if you get poison ivy.

 

[dodge man]

The place I got it badly this time I had a very minor case and I had two spots on my side, about like a mosquito bite, then bam I got a bad outbreak in the same area. I don’t know if I had it on my hands later or my gloves and was scratching that area or what.

 

[Captain Dirty]

As you have discovered the irritant, Urushiol, is very persistent, and sensitivity generally increases over time. I have used a product called "Zanfel" with some success. Two "Young folk" remedies from my youth: Spend a day (several hours) in a chlorinated swimming pool. Fill a saucer with salt, soak a cotton ball (or several) in Calamine Lotion, dip the cotton ball in the salt, and scratch. (Perhaps the pain was a distraction.)

 

[Xfaxman]

I consider myself an expert at poison ivy, mainly because I’ve had it so many times,--------------------------
So a couple of thought/questions. The bad case I got is on my back and side, one area about the size of your hand or bigger. How the heck did I get it there? The doctor was worried it might be shingles but there is no pain and I’m almost sure it’s poison ivy. ------------

I had shingles on my right side and didn't know it until I saw it in the mirror.
Absolutely no pain or itching at all. Still have the scar on the right arm at the shoulder.

I get mild cases of poison ivy, so I know what that is like.

 

[dodge man]

I will have to try the Zanfel. It seems like once I start to break out it’s to late to do anything. I suspect this area I got it was hard to reach for me so it didn’t get washed as well early with the Technu.

The doctor and I had a fairly long talk about the possibility of shingles. I’m pretty sure it’s poison ivy but not positive.

 

[MoKelly]

I HATE poison ivy. I will probably get it reading this thread!!!

MoKelly

 

[oosik]

For this old fart it's poison Oak. Never been around poison Ivy. This thread makes me itch.

 

[ericm979]

It's poison oak in the west, poison ivy in the east. Two different species but both contain the same active "poison" urushiol.

I get the allergic reaction pretty bad. But the stuff is all over in my area. The most important thing to do is to wash all exposed skin HARD when you're done. I keep a small container of Dawn dish soap in the shower and use lots to scrub with a washcloth, two or three times. Scrub like you're covered in the stickiest grease you can imagine. If in doubt scrub more. If I have been anywhere near any PO like today I throw the clothes in the washing machine before I hit the shower. I had to deal with an oak that fell because the PO in it was so heavy it pulled it over. The PO stem was bigger than my wrist. Yuck yuck yuck.

Zanfel didn't do a thing for me. Tech-Nu is only good for cleaning the oil off your skin, it doesn't help the alergic reaction. Dawn works better and costs less. When I get an allergic reaction I use a steroid cream that I got my Dr to prescribe- Mometasone Furoate. That stuff works, though it can take multiple applications over days. I have had to take Prednisone a few times. It's got nasty side effects so I try hard to not get it that bad.

 

[/pine]

A natural remedy that works very well for almost everyone is "Jewel weed" aka "Touch Me Not's"...they are a type of wild Impation...it's a little too early for it right now but there may be an extract available...

 

[newbury]

I came from northern Vermont, couldn't find poison ivy until I was about 20, then found it on an island in Lake Champlain. Didn't affect me.
Then a few years later I was in the Army as a biologist and doing field studies in West Virginia. Got the rash BAD.
And continued to get it bad for many summers. For me the only sure cure was 2 weeks.
About 1986 I did find that taking "poison ivy drops" would lessen my reaction. Then about 1990(?) I couldn't find where to buy the drops so I started looking for early growth poison ivy in the spring and deliberately get some oil on a SMALL part of me, usually an upper forearm. Once "infected" I don't get further rash. Now is the time to start looking.

 

[dodge man]

From what I have read the more you are exposed to it the easier you get it. If you are sensitive to it you will not get it the first time you are exposed but from then on you will get it.

 

[ericm979]

There's a threshold of exposure. Get too exposed much and reach the threshold. From then on you'll get it. But the threshold is different for different people. About 1/3 the population will never reach it. About 1/3 hasn't yet but they will. I never got it doing field work or working in the woods in my 20s. I only started getting it when I moved to my current place 25 years ago.

The local tree services hire guys who are "immune". I had three guys spend a couple days clearing about 300' of an old road that was totally covered with PO. They chipped it! OMG! I stayed WAY the heck away from that. A friend who works at a local farm supply told me of a guy from that company who came in with a bunch of saws for repair. He was totally covered with the rash and really suffering. His "immunity" ran out so he got assigned to maintenance.

 

[ning]

For this old fart it's poison Oak. Never been around poison Ivy. This thread makes me itch.

The one time I've seen poison ivy was along the Spokane River just upriver from the city. My then-8yo son ended up covered...

 

[ning]

From what I have read the more you are exposed to it the easier you get it. If you are sensitive to it you will not get it the first time you are exposed but from then on you will get it.

my wife used to laugh at me, but now she's the sensitive one

 

[ultrarunner]

The elixir is called immune oak and was issued to Bell System and Utility workers... no longer available when I checked... still have a vial.

Zanfel helps as dose swimming in a HIGHLY chlorinated pool.

Just had a case on my wrist... one of the kids picked up a stick and grabbed my hand... sure enough the stick was rotted poison oak vine...

For me any exposed skin is at risk when Dozing just from the dust... insidious bane to mankind!

 

[oosik]

When I was a junior and senior in high school - worked summers for the forrest service. Worst ever case of poison oak - fighting a brush fire that burned thru a patch of poison oak. Spent two days in the hospital - swathed in bandages soaked in something. Probably Caladryl or the like.

My father was totally immune. Unfortunately - I'm just the opposite.