I've had a nasty case of sytemic poison ivy for 10 days. I've had 2 steroid shots (I'm allergic to prednisone) but still continue to break out, although not as severe.

I've tried:

Avenno showers 2 x a day
hydrocortisone cream from dr.

tried vinegar one night- think the poison ivy said yummy and was worse than ever.

Now using lye soap. It seems to calm my hands the best.

I have it:

both sides of neck- started at sides and met in the middle, right ear and side of face and around eye
left side of face at hairline
left shoulder
inside my left arm (where I draped the shirt I was wearing over my arm to take to laundry room) which is now up to my shoulder and I have stripes (like a cat scratched- 3 stripes) inside my left wrist
left hand- ring finger and middle finger, knuckle of thumb.
right hand- all over the back of the hand, index finger and middle finger are so swollen I can't close my hand, ring finger and the tops of all 4 fingers are stripes. It all started on the side of my right hand with a strip about 1/2" wide by 3" long. There was a scratch there and the poison ivy probably used that to get into my blood stream.

I also have it under the bra, around the front of my waist, at my left hip and across my fat roll about 1 inch wide by 6 inches long.

This morning I have 4 dots on the top of my right leg each about 3 inches apart. I am sure they will play connect the dots soon.

Any more ideas? I don't like to take drugs but I'm thinking I may need another shot.

(I am left handed but you don't realize how much you use the opposite hand for everything- no gardening, no dishes, hurts to handle fabric. All I did all week end was put together an adirondack rocking chair.)

Thanks!
Barb

It hurts like Heck but bleach dabbed on it......
Stay cool so you won't itch so much
I feel your pain.......I have a terrible time with it tooo:( :(
Do you have a MooMoo to wear??? the elastic is aggravating it.......

oh feel ur pain....

I had it bad one time...
The Dr. gave me shots, 2 rounds of Zithyromycin, and told me to take 50 mg of Benedyrl around the clock every 4 hrs... I didnt need to wake to take the meds in teh night but if I was awake.. take it. Yep.. I was sleepy and dopey for a few days but then my body adjusted and I finially got rid of the nasty itch....
Oh yes, they told me to wear only cotten and to wear shorts as much as possible to give it itch as much air as possible to help it dry

Wow, I sure hope you get rid of it soon. Knock on wood, I have never had poison ivy or poison oak in my life. I DO know what poison oak looks like but haven't a clue what poison ivy looks like.
What were you doing that you got the poison ivy?
I do think you probably should go back to the doctors. Good luck.

This is the very first time I've ever had it. When I was a kid my siblings would dare me to walk through it. Never got it. I guess that word paybacks comes to mind.

Dr. stopped the allegra because it wasn't working.

I live in jammies at home but must dress decent for work. I don't wear dresses because I have bad varicose veins on one leg.

The joys of getting old!

Oh, Barb, I am so sorry. I have had it several times on face, over total lower half of body from waist down, hands, legs, everywhere. It is terrible. The medical books describe the itching as extreme pain. The running sores add to the itching.

Only thing that helped me was cortisone shots & pills.
I will pray for you.
Marilyn

My DH had it pretty bad because I told him the "stuff" was Virginia Creeper so he started yanking and yanking with bare hands - not a care in the world. He did ask "are you sure - looks like PI) and I assured him I've never had a problem with it so it *must* be Creeper. I honestly did think it was creeper because I had been pulling by hand without problem for years. NOW I know that it's possible for people (apparently ME) to be immune to Poison Ivy! Whodathunk? And I've never had a prior exposure to it ... just immune. Stinging Nettles however affect me far worse than they do Hubby.

Anyway ... one of the important things to remember is that the rash from PI "oozes" (even if only slightly) and everywhere it oozes it re-infects. So it's important to "blot" it not wipe it. And whatever you use to blot the rash area, don't use on a uninfected area. Paper towels are best as they can be tossed after each use.

Also, please remember that Poison Ivy should NOT be burned to dispose! The poison will go up in the smoke, people will breath the smoke and infect their throat, nose, lungs. VERY VERY BAD.

Good luck I hope your feeling better real soon! I feel for you.

Tecnu is sold at Walgreens so should be available at the other drug chains. Don't know about Walmart, but they carry everything else in creation so they probably have it, too. It's not very expensive and is made for poison ivy/sumac/oak. I hope you get better soon. I had poison sumac and was not a happy camper for a while...literally.

Try roll-on Aspercream - it seems to numb the itch

Barb, I'm so sorry for you!!!
I hope you get better soon!!
Can you take Benedryl???