Who gets poison ivy this time of year besides me? I look like I've rolled naked it the stuff. Actually I got it from the dogs when I put their walking collars on them. I need some advice on what you do. I take Benadryl at night, it keeps me awake. Bathe in oatmeal. Spray with Ivy Dry. Use Silver Salve, use some perscription DH got for me. Today I felt like a slob going to church. I wore boots, a very long skirt bc I couldn't wear pantyhose. Couldn't wait to get home and take everything off. I been in a sweatshirt and jammie bottoms. Once you come in contact with the stuff you can break out from 2 to 14 days. Saw my Dr SIL Friday, but I hate to bother him all the time. Now I wish I had let him give me a shot of something, anything. You guys are so good with advice I know someone can come up with a great suggestion.

My dh had the worst case I have ever seen last year~~~he picked it up in NC. So bad that he had to go to the Dr here only to find out that our doctor had never seen it!It's very unusual to get it West of the Rocky Mts (which, of course, he didn't, he just brought it back with him.) Dh HATES to take drugs, so filled the prescription but didn't use it. He did a bunch of research on the internet (he's a research scientist by trade so he loves to self diagnose) and found that many places recommend taking the hottest shower you can possibly stand. He started doing this and found that he could get relief for several hours. He got to the point he took 4-5 showers a day, but pretty much had no itching in between. Try it!

Go get that shot -- NOW!!

I am one of the few people who is not allergic to this stuff and as a kid I've been known to walk barefoot and even sit in it. But my mom was highly susceptible to it and suffered greatly if she even LOOKED at it!!

So take good care of yourself and call your SIL -- NOW!! :D

Wow!!! I never thought about getting it from animals this time of year...

Baking soda baths...used VERY liberally followed up with Calamine Lotion maybe?

better call the Dr SIL

I'm not allergic to it either. My DH will have me remove it from our yard (we have woods around us) when he finds it growing. He is very allergic. My oldest inhaled smoke from a fire that had poison ivy on the wood. We had to rush her to the ER, she swelled so bad she couldn't breathe. But she has never been allergic to it since. Weird.

Oh I hate poison ivy and because we typically don't get very cold here in the South, poison ivy is something you cant catch year round.

I have had it many times, growing up in the countryside. My mom would always make me take a bath as hot as I could stand it. Then she would rub me down with Calamine lotion. And it wouldnt itch hardly any.

Now if I come into contact with it I just use me some Aveeno anti-itch cream with the natural Colloidal oatmeal. ( it is a permanent part of my 1st aid kit) Works just as good as the Calamine lotion.

I have gotten in the middle of the winter also, from my cats. If it's not so bad, I can get away with Claritin and a cortisone anti-itch cream. If it's really bad, I need the steroid-type stuff (something called a Dosepak) from the doctor. Sounds like you need one of those Dosepak type things.

Good luck!

As a teacher I just cringed at this part of my post....

And it wouldnt itch hardly any.

Did not realize I wrote it that way. :shock: :oops: haha

You're from the south, it's OK :-D JUST KIDDING!!! I'm allowed to say that since I'm from the south too!!!

You can also get it from firewood, and from the smoke produced when burning wood that it grew on. At least it goes away after a while! Hang in there!

Henry, you're as human as all the rest of us. I think it's funny that you called yourself out! :lol:

:) Force of habit. :)

Hot bath with some oatmeal in a cheesecloth, calamine lotion, benadryl and some mittens. Oh, and some quilting mags...or a trashy novel. :)

I read some where that the inside of a banana peel rubbed on the affected areas will work wonders.

If you have a severe case, sounds like going back to the doc is the thing to do. When it is so bad you can also wind up getting a secondary infection. Hope you feel better soon!

strange how that stuff works. My grandmother was allergic, Mom is not, and I am. When I would get it as a kid Mom put me in the bath and :shock: used a scrub brush and a bar of lye soap. Once she broke the blisters and scrubbed me with the lye soap...it cleared up. I really wouldn't recommed this today....the lye soap really burned. Years later when she moved, Mom found that old bar of lye soap and asked if I wanted it. Ummmm...NO THANK YOU!!! I still have enough vivid memories of those baths.
You do, however, need to clean the dogs collars and anything else that they have come into contact with.
(If nothing else...someone got a chuckle out of this I'm sure.)

I've never had poison ivy, but I am very allergic to poison oak. I can get it within 20 minutes of contact. Whenever I get it I have to go to the DR. and get a shot of steroids and oral steroids. I also up the inhalers and only take cold showers. One time I got it so bad that I had to have my sister take me to the ER and when I went in the blisters were so bad that all the nurses came running out in a panic because they thought I had been badly burned. After I told them it was poison oak they started laughing at me and brought everyone else out so they could see. I had to take a month and a half off work till I got rid of all the blisters and swelling.

Yea I have gotten it in winter, from my dog. He loves going up into the woods. Then in the evenings, he lays on the floor in front of me, and I rub him with my feet. Yup, you guessed it, poison ivy on my feet. I am very sensitive to it, you mow it near me, I have it. I once got it from a camp fire so bad I had to go to the emergency room twice. My eyes swelled shut. My dad could eat the tiny leaves, he said that was his immunization for it. But I refused to try it, I always had it bad.

I know Aveno makes a great oatmeal bath that works for chicken pox (which I caught at 30). It is extremely soothing if nothing more than the few minutes you can lay down in it. Wish I could help we dont have poison ivy here and I have been thus far able to avoid poison oak.

I call everything poison ivy. I really don't know which "poison" it is. Thanks for all your advice. I have been doing the Aveeno bath and its seems to help, (yes with the trashy novel, it's hard to read a magazine in the tub). I think the Silver Salve I got from the Herb Shop is helping the best. I use the lye soap. I also wash my face with lye soap. I didn't notice any new breakouts this morning so maybe I'm through breaking out. This is not the worse case I've had. I went to my Dr with such a bad case one time that he sent me straight to a derm(?). I've had to miss work several times bc the breakouts are so bad. I get it several times a year. Got it one time from sitting on DH's lap through his clothes. DD and DS get it real bad too. DH hardly ever gets it. I just felt like whinning. I might try the bannan peel. Thank for the help. I knew you ladies would come through.

last time i got an outbreak i went to the clinic the doctor me to use dawn dishwashing liquid to dry it up. She said it takes an oil to cut an oil. It worked for me now when i get the first spots i head for the dawn

PS needs to be the original blue dawn.

Why the blue, I have the green?

not really sure just blue seems to wrok better

I think there is some kind of vaccine available for poison ivy now. Since you get it so often, you should check with your SIL MD on that. Glad you didn't have any new outbreaks today. :)

I live in the NC woods as well, I get poison ivy, poison oak, any vine that grows will break me out. I was on steriods so much year before last that I had a great moon face for the year. But I digress....my doctor told me to get Zanfel from Walmart. I did and waaala, no more steriods.

It's expensive but a little goes a long way. I use it when I see the first sign of a break out (in the shower) and I'm saved. It's wonderful stuff. I have to take the shots immediately usually to keep breathing. It's much easier than lye soap on your skin, too.

Bless your heart, I know the itch is impossible. I've got the urge to go take a shower right now after reading about your breakout.
Hugs,
Sharon

Both my eldest son and I get it anytime of the year. I swear it's airborne or something. Always in the same place too. My right wrist. My son gets his on his right ankle.. So you're not alone...

my good friend has it too.

A banana peel and the trashy novel may just help spread it. I get it really bad, got it so bad during a winter here in Lake Effect territory that my face was swollen and people asked if my husband beat me! Never! Back then I took the steroid pacs. Now, I have diabetes and steroids just wreaks havoc on sugar control. So I have a regimen. As soon as I realize I've made contact with poison ivy, I take a hot bath with dish soap in it (couple tablespoons full) to remove oil. Then the calamine lotion and Benadryl. Try not to scratch anywhere where it isn't showing (or where it is) because Doc said since the histamines are already revved up, anywhere you scratch, they'll run to and you'll have a new eruption! Good Luck!

Wait a minute I was looking forward to the trashy novel. :lol: I've been using a silver salve that I got at the Herb Shop and it seems to be working. I am going to get the Blue Dawn and there was another med recommended that I'm going to get tomorrow. It does seem to be drying up. When I get hot it itches and I excerise several times a week. I can ignore the itch during the day, but at night is when I itch the most and scratch with out thinking.

Loggers, surveyors, hikers, etc swear by a product called TecNu. It washes away the oil. It use to be very hard to find in the store but now most pharmacies have it.

I didn't get it as a kid, but do as an adult. The only thing over the counter that I have found that works is bleach. This hurts really really really badly--so only try if nothing else works. You scratch open the rash and put bleach on it. Make sure your bladder is empty so you don't have an accident and a box of tissues close by, it will probably bring tears to your eyes. But it works.

Is there something you can wipe the dogs off with when you handle them so not to get infected? I'm thinking Lysol wipes or something?? I know you have to be careful since dogs groom themselves.

So sorry for you! Poison Ivy can be miserable.

Rose

I can get it in the winter by walking past a vine and barely touching it. I had an environmental engineer tell me that when he works in the field he takes baby wipes. The wipes take the oil off immediately. Cortizone cream and antihistamines help me if I get the rash. If it is real bad I get a cortizone shot. Also try cold water or a bag of ice. The doctor told me it calms the histamines.

I have never had it. Heaven saw fit to give me Eczema instead. That is poison ivy for life.

have you been tested for food allergies??--that is often a sign.

Rose

Actually Eczema is hereditary, but I put up with it.

One of the problems I have is knowing when the dogs have rolled in the poision ivy. I do wash my hands after handling them, but it's after the walk. I keep sanitizer in my car so now when I put their collars on I can use it on my hands. I have heard of NuTec I think my oldest DD keeps it on hand for her DH. I just never know when the "beast" will attack me. I have it several times a year. I usually just fight through it. I hate to get the cortisan (sp) pack very often bc of the side effects. My Dr doesn't like to give it out often. Thanks for all you tips and advise.

There use to be a vaccine available to keep you from getting it because I had the shot every spring, however, I was so allergic to it I had to have the one shot in 4 doses because a full shot made my arm swell like there was a baseball under the skin. They no longer have that shot here in Michigan but have one they give you that is suppose to help dry it up. I get a bar of Fels Naptha soap (anyone remember that) make a paste of it and let it dry on the blisters. Kinda ugly but seems to help. A couple of years ago I rubbed my face in my cat's fur after she had been outside and ended up missing two weeks of work. The cat is no longer allowed outside!!

Good for kitty. My DD got poison ivy from her kitty one time. My kitties don't go outside. Dogs don't come inside.

No one mentioned Calamine lotion! Wonderful! Speaking from someone who has had a couple of bad bouts with it. Cheap and almost immediate relief from the itching..