Have you ever had Poison Ivy?

Yeah, I have had it. Not fun.

You really have to wash everything in sight, or it just keeps coming back...


"Wash all clothes, shoes, socks, tools, pets, and toys that may have become contaminated."

and beyond that...all doors, door knobs...anything and everything you might have touched...or, if you had it on your arm...whatever your arm might have touched.

Like I said...not fun. You just have to wash everything...and thoroughly...


from this general info article:

https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/guide/understanding-poison-ivy-oak-sumac-basics
 

One day I decided to clear weeds out of the area bordering the woods at our house. It took a long time.

The next day, the guy who mows the yard came. He said he was planning to get rid of the poison ivy, and how did I get rid of it.

I told him. I guess (not going to test it) that I am not allergic to poison ivy.
 
I've had poison ivy rash year ago, but the worst came in
2007 when I cleaned out an English Ivy bed at front of house
come to find out I am allergic to that also, and had mucho trouble getting rid of it......still it grows wild around here but
I'll never touch it again......
 
I have had it on my feet and legs. Brutal.

But just 2 weeks ago my son got it by changing the weed wacker string cartridge. He had it on his hands, arms, face, forehead and *****. (guess who did not wash his hands?)

After using calamine lotion and taking benadryl, he went to the doctor and was put on a much higher dose of prednisone than you are taking, and was to take it for 5 days. By the second day of it, he was feeling much better, and it was gone before the end of the week.
 
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I’ve never had it even tho I used to play & run around in areas that I knew had it, when I was a kid, and lots of hiking as an adult. I’m sure I’ve been exposed tho. I made up for that immunity by catching other unpleasant things instead.
 
Poison ivy has been my nemises for my entire life, when I think of some of the misery I've gone thru I about cry. When I get it between my fingers I will scissor my fingers together until they bleed. They swell so badly I can barely open and close a fist. The only relief is to stick my hands under scalding water and then quench them in cold, that gives me a short time of relief. I don't think there is a place on my body I haven't had it. At times it has stressed my immune system so badly I will break out in hives at the same time, bloody awful.

Funny thing is it's the only thing like that that affects me. I have no food or medicine allergies, also no pollen or pet allergies.
 
I was very allergic to Poison Ivy/Oak as a kid and young man. I still am, but now I'm not out in the Deep East Texas woods hunting and cutting wood, etc like back then....

Recommend you go to your Doctor and get Shots ( I think Cortisone?)

I would get it so bad that I would scratch myself during sleep so that it looked like a Murder scene with all the blood on the sheets....ha !

Again, I've had this stuff many times over the years. Best to get to the quacks and get shot up with medicines.

All the best

gamboolman....
 
I had it only once. I went to the doctor and got a prescription for something, I don't remember what. Eventually it got better.

My father told me had gotten it really, really bad. As a kid, he was having fun rolling down a hill over and over as play and got it all over.
 
If you have animals who go outside, they can bring the oils inside on their fur. You can even get it on your skin from smoke from burning yard waste including the plant.

Luckily, my cases have been very mild but I have a sister who suffers greatly from contact. She gets it so bad it involves ER treatment every time.
 
It seems I was not allergic to it for many years. I could lay down in it and not have a reaction. When I moved to where I live now I was cutting saplings for a walking stick and sure enough I got it all over my arms. I read where that is not so rare. Anyway, periodically I would run very hot water over it and it relieved the itching for a little while. It felt so good. I also used a warm washrag to wipe it gently instead of scratching. In between I used calamine lotion. It took a couple of weeks to heal up.
 
Robert59 said:
I'm going to contact a Dermatologist Monday because everything else doesn't work so far.
Click to expand...
Again, I want to assert, there is some chance that you are just getting re-exposed...by something in the house or on your jacket or clothes, that just never was cleaned of the poison ivy in the first place.

I would start there, by cleaning every single last thing in the house...and thoroughly.

No medication is going to help, if you are constantly getting re-exposed.
 
Poison oak, a relative of eastern poison ivy containing the same urishiol chemical, is common below 5000 feet on the West Coast. It often grows along overgrown hiking trails. As a kid had it bad more than once and learned my lesson. I had it bad just once as an adult in my 20s though walk near plants often as am extremely aware and careful. When bad it is so overwhelming insanely itchy that one cannot do much of anything, even watch tv. There really isn't much one can do besides laying alone totally naked in a room allowing it to take its course lasting a couple weeks.

One trick is to take as hot a shower as possible that will cause intense itching a short while, temporarily depleting stores cytokines in skin for a few hours.
 

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