Damn Poison Ivy. Gettting stuck in thick brush.

man.........guess you had it bad......... Might I mention, I really do not like Calidryl (=calamine & benadryl). Someone with a little education figured that benadryl, used topically would be as effective as the oral form, but without the systemic effects (drowsiness, etc). Not so. Nothing beats soap & water, straight calamine lotion & 2 benadryl 25mg caps 4 times a day (store brand - diphenhydramine - is good enough - 25mg = OTC - 50mg = Rx - so take 2 x 25's). A lot of expensive concoctions are on the shelves but they are mostly a waste of money. There will be an initial flare up & then it should be self limiting. It was believed that when you scratched, the exudate (ooze) would be the cause of the rash spreading. This is no longer valid. If it is spreading (after the initial flare up) then you are being re-exposed to the oil. It could be in your clothing, the jeep, the dog, under your finger nails, on the couch, etc, etc. If you sit on the bumper of your jeep 10 yrs later & the oil is there, you will have a reaction. If so - must search & destroy.....(wash) Sounds to me like you waited too long to see your MD. If you don't see improvement after about 3 days (not necessarily gone - but at least improved) Call the MD. I'm wondering about the steroids & antibiotics. She did give you more than a single dose, didn't she? A loading dose of Keflex 1000mg is not uncommon - should also be taking about 500mg 4 times a day for 7 to 10 days. Should also have a tapering dose of steroids for 5 or 6 days.

I know what you've gone through,(literally). My legs got pretty bad exposute and I had to go to the doctor for some cortizone.

Now I know if I get into Poison Ivy, I take benedryl immediately to relieve the itching and I shower as soon as I can. I learned that the oil from the P.Ivy will soak into your skin within 2 hours and that's when the allergic reaction occurs. Lately, I had a bad case on my forearms from clearing weeds. It caused those same blisters you spoke of. I put calomine lotion on them for several days and it went away finally but now I have two scars on my from the blisters. Never had scarring before.

For some strange reason poison ivy doesn't bother me at all. I've walked through it, pulled it by hand, and never had any rash.

Then again I can turn silver rings into black goo in a day, that's probably why, higly acidic skin.

it was a good thing you didn't have to relieve yourself in the patch before you started walking. that would have been most unpleasant.

Poison Ivy/Oak/Summac all make a poor choice of toilet paper. It's also why using dry leaves to start a campfire is not smart. Poison Ivy keeps it's oil and burning it, well, itchy lungs are not good.

Don't count on it.............You are not born with allergies - you acquire them. I was able to do as you are until I was 35. I was cutting some fire wood that year & got a good case (soon found out that I had to pee while cutting - wife was rather disgusted). Everyone is different - but once you reach your personal titer - you got it. After that my response is worse each time I am exposed.

Yea. I don't push it. If the stuff gets in a scratch it will bother me though.

This isn't quite true. People do lose allergies or "grow out" of them. I for example haven't had a reaction to poison ivy since my early twenties, although I have had plenty of exposures, and people I have been with have come down with the distinctive rash. However, "Don't count on it." is pretty good advice.

Earle

For folks sensitive to the oils, "not good" becomes more like life threatening.

Keep a bottle of 70% isopropyl alcohol (a spray top is helpful) to rise down any skin/clothing that may have made contact with the leaves, but remember that the alcohol also rinses away any protection that your skin has... and the toxin will penetrate faster if you get a second dose within a short time. It's not perfect, but easy to carry in the band-aid box, and you can stop/delay any histamine reaction until you can get a "real shower"

I used to get poison ivy alot when I was a kid, shoot looking at a picture of it would give me a good case.... The best thing I found to stop the itch is to run as hot as bearable water over the affected area. Just be careful not to burn yourself. After doing this though the itch is gone for hours. Nick

Ouch!

Man I am sooo glad I am not allergic to poison ivy!

I used to go fishing at a small creek just wearing a bathing suit. My dad came down once wearing pants and a shirt to see where I was catching all the fish and he did end up in the hospital for a day from poison ivy. The stuff was all over the place.

Mike

Matt wrote:

The really cool thing about allergies is that any person can develop them, or lose them, at any time. Even though I am not currently allergic to poison ivy, I stay away from the stuff "just because."

Earle

No argument here, I had bad allergies when I was a kid and most have gone away. I sure don't want to find new ones...

Mike

Earle Hort>

On or about Mon, 1 Sep 2003, Earle Horton of enfermero_diabolico@registered...:

Pretty rare that, though, and a bit of a false hope. In general, allergies tend to get worse through exposure (from your address I'm guessing that you know that but others here might not, and we'll ignore low-dose desensitization therapy for the moment) and frequency of exposure. My bet would be that that you remain allergic but that your reaction is so mild as to be subjectively asymptomatic, and that your guard remains high enough to limit exposure.

There's an over-the-counter product named "Tecnu" that claims to bind urushiol (the active ingredient in poison ivy, oak and sumac), used as a waterless cleaner on skin, clothing and tools. It stinks rather strongly of mineral spirits but it does seem to work. It is also fairly expensive

-- the last time I bought some it was $5 for 4 fluid ounces.

Calamine lotions are pretty close to valueless -- vanilla pudding would be as useful. Their chief benefit is to discourage you from scratching the rash.

Folklore holds that Jewel Weed, a stringy, juicy, standing weed with small, bright yellow-orange flowers that tends to grow in the same locations as poison ivy, is an effective antidote to poison ivy. Crush the stems in your hand and use the pulpy mass to wash the exposed skin or the rash. Like so many folk remedies the actual effectiveness is unresearched and may -- or may not -- lie solely in the mind of the user.

I used to get poison ivy all the time as a kid... nothing now. I used to get it BAD (trip to the doctor bad). "run as hot as bearable water over the affected area" DEFINATELY a good thing. I told my wife about this trick and she uses it on bug bites, etc... works like a charm.