Poison Ivy cure?

[Oaktree]

Haven't come across any at my present place, though there was quite a bit of it at my previous house. Fortunately I'm only mildly affected by it.
Well, except for the one time I was using a string trimmer while wearing shorts and apparently hit a patch. Matter of fact, I think that was when I discovered I had it.

 

[dodge man]

I got it this time working in a shallow ditch helping install field tile. A lot of this was in a fairly open grassy field but it still had P.I growing in it. I was about waste deep in the ditch and got it on my upper arm, I’m not surprised.

 

[papa4fofox]

I got in some poison ivy last Wednesday. Several years ago I bought some Zanfel, it seems stupid expensive, nearly $40 for a tube of it. It’s kind of a gritty cream and they give pretty specific instructions on how to use it. I started breaking out on the back of my upper arm and usually it gradually gets worse over a period of a few days and lasts 2 to 3 weeks. The Zanfel almost immediately relived the itching and I used it about 3 times a day. It’s not quite the miracle cure the make it out to be but it’s the only over the counter medicine I’ve found that actually helps clear it up.

I’ve probably had poison ivy around 30 times and found if I was with Technu in about 2 hours I don’t get it but in this case I couldn’t was for about 10 hours after being exposed.

 

[etpm]

When I was a kid I would get sick from poison oak if I was down wind from it. No exaggeration. And I would get it bad. My eyes would swell up so much I couldn't see. My mom would wrap towels around my arms to soak up the fluid that wold weep from the rash. And don't even get me started on what would happen to my nether regions. One time I was digging in the dirt on a hill that was way below a poison oak bush. After a few hours I saw the black staining in the dirt and knew I was in trouble. The roots release the same chemical as the leaves when cut and I had cut through plenty of them . I was out of school for several days after that exposure. Now I hardly get it if exposed. I also moved out of California which helped a lot. But if I am in poison oak country I am still very wary.
Eric

 

[papa4fofox]

I grew up on a farm covered with poison ivy and I had many unpleasant episodes of severe incidents. My mother grew up with homeopathic remedies and she tried "rhus tox" on me. It gave me great relief. It wasn't a cure but it significantly reduced the severity I experienced.

Rhus toxicodendron (Rhus tox) is a homeopathic remedy derived from the poison ivy plant.

 

[ultrarunner]

When I was a kid I would get sick from poison oak if I was down wind from it. No exaggeration. And I would get it bad. My eyes would swell up so much I couldn't see. My mom would wrap towels around my arms to soak up the fluid that wold weep from the rash. And don't even get me started on what would happen to my nether regions. One time I was digging in the dirt on a hill that was way below a poison oak bush. After a few hours I saw the black staining in the dirt and knew I was in trouble. The roots release the same chemical as the leaves when cut and I had cut through plenty of them . I was out of school for several days after that exposure. Now I hardly get it if exposed. I also moved out of California which helped a lot. But if I am in poison oak country I am still very wary.
Eric

At 9 when we moved to the property the Doc said either keep the kids away from it or move… I did learn to be vigilant…

My nieces wanted to explore and brother said if they ever get poison oak they are never coming back.

They never did but their school did a California camp and many kids got it but none of the nieces…

Triox spray did wonders but no longer available so hitting it several times will RM43 or similar will kill it.

I’ve had vines coke can diameter and I cut with a lower…

One of the things I like when in Washington is have never seen it on property…

 

[John0829]

When I was a kid I could walk in sight of poison ivy and get, get it BAD! Dad was friends with the local pharmacist and told him about how bad my reaction was to the stuff. He gave dad a liquid to mix in water and drink each day, I think it was for a month but really don't remember. Bottom line is my terrible reaction to poison ivy went away. Oh, I can still get it but usually it is gone in a day or two at most and I really have to have made GOOD contact with the plant before I get it.

 

[ultrarunner]

The linemen would use a product called immune oak… they said it worked.

I called the lab that made it and learned the cost to update with the FDA was not worth it so the pulled it from the market.

 

[dodge man]

They used to give preventive shots of prednisone but the long term affects of that are bad.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

There is some suspicion that eating mangoes while growing up reduces sensitivity, but it may not be true. Mango trees are related to poison ivy, and they produce the same chemical, urushiol. It is found in mango stems and skins.

I spent the largest part of my childhood in Miami, where mangoes litter the ground in early summer and can be hard to give away.

 

[ultrarunner]

Also Cashews… I like them but they don’t like me and I get hive like rash down my back…

 

[ponytug]

Poison ivy/oak/sumac, mango skins, and cashews all have very similar chemicals, generically urushiols, but not identical. So, some folks can tolerant some of them, but not all. I used to have great trouble with green mangos, and grew out of it. Allergies can change with time and exposure to other allergens.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Tomtint]

Im fortunate that I can roll around in the stuff and don't have any reaction. My sister is not so lucky, She is allergic to it and growing up she would get the rashes. We lived near the ocean and going in the salt water always seemed to help. Probably a combination of the cold Atlantic Ocean and salt .

 

[mikester]

Never heard of using Dawn, but Tide seems to work to relieve it. I've only used the powder (don't even know if they still make it), can't speak for liquid. Other brands of laundry detergent had mixed results, though all worked to a degree.

Any cheap powdered laundry detergent works. You need to break down the plant oils. Scrub with a little water.

 

[George_B]

Has anyone tried this?

 

[ultrarunner]

Im fortunate that I can roll around in the stuff and don't have any reaction. My sister is not so lucky, She is allergic to it and growing up she would get the rashes. We lived near the ocean and going in the salt water always seemed to help. Probably a combination of the cold Atlantic Ocean and salt .

Even highly chlorinated pool would help…

I had a bad case as the family was going to snow county in December and temps in the teens brought some relief to me…

Poison Oak is the only time so ever missed grade school.

Maybe 20 years ago I was on vacation cleaning up the bush and got a bad case with one eye shut and the other partially…

There was a problem at work and I said can’t come in… said I was home and had poison oak.

CEO insisted I come in and took one look at me and said I’m scaring everyone and to come back in the evening!

 

[ultrarunner]

Has anyone tried this?

I still have Fels-Naphta soap.

 

[kenmbz]

I go out every winter along the trails and roads and cut the big hairy vines at the base.
This kills off a lot of the PI on my property, then the birds bring it back in droves.
I just cut a small vine up against the house yesterday.

I get the rash pretty bad.
A bunch of us were out in a field over one weekend, all of us got a rash.
I had both legs covered in rash.
I had a job interview, it was summer and I was wearing thermal underwear to stop my dress pants from getting messed up.
Did not get the job and I probably looked pretty bad to start with.

 

[JeepHead]

None of the poison weeds effected my dad. He would rip it out by hand and never would get a rash or itch. I am extremely allergic to it. One day a few years ago I spent the entire day cutting wood and was drinking beer too which naturally makes ya have to urinate frequently. Well, I ended up with the worst rash all over my man junk. That was the absolute worst thing ever!

 

[John0829]

None of the poison weeds effected my dad. He would rip it out by hand and never would get a rash or itch.

As a kid we had a neighbor like that, a really old farmer, when I asked him about getting the rash after watching him grab a hand full and rip it out he said after handling it he would wash his hands in diesel or kerosene. I was never bold enough as a kid to see if it worked or not.