(*!@& $(_!@! Poison Ivy stories...

So here I am... at midnight, after being woken up after only 3 hours of sleep from the itching. I've been around a ton of people that have gotten poison ivy over the years, but it has never affected me... until now. I was outside last wednesday, developed a rash on my knee saturday that has now grown to consume my entire right lower leg, right forearm- wrist to elbow, left forearm, and left ankle.

You would think, luckily for me since I work in an emergency room that I could get this taken care of. I've been taking antibiotics since monday, and oral steroids since tuesday still with no relief and the rash seems to be growing a bit still. From what I understand the rash can take up to 15 days to completely develop in severe cases and last for up to 30. I've used an entire tube of hydrocortisone ointment today, and half a bottle of caladryl, all with no relief. I've also been taking benadryl around the clock. Last night I got a whopping total of 3 hours of sleep....

Anyone have any similar stories or home remedies?

Bummer dude! Had it many times. Not that bad in years as I'm super careful now! You will be too!!!

Ice helps a bit on the bad spots. Don't do that hot shower BS some people say. As you know watch your fluids with those steroids, kidneys are working over time now to clear all that shit out. My BP would go up when I was on them heavy.

Oh, yeah i really liked getting a sheet damp and running a fan. Just lay in bed with the sheet over you and the fan running. Gives you chills but really felt good to me.

Sorry to hear you lost your super powers. Everyone loses them with enough exposure.

Good luck.

Sorry to hear about that man, poison ivy/oak/sumac SUCKS! Never really heard of taking antibiotics and steroids... unless it's in your eyes/lungs I guess. Make sure you get some probiotics for after your antibiotics or your sh!t could get all out of wack.

I had pretty bad poison oak a couple years ago and I read that making a poultice out of the root of false solomon's seal and applying it for 20-30 minutes would help. I found some growing in my backyard and crushed up the root and pressed it onto the biggest spots of the rash, attached with climbing tape for the prescribed time. The spots I treated went away within a day or two and the other smaller spots I didn't bother to treat stayed for at least a week longer.

Not sure if it grows in Colorado, but I think it can be found throughout North America in semi-wetland areas. Good luck.

use some 80 grit sand paper, apply moderate pressure, and rub the affected area down.

pour hydrogen peroxide, iodine, or alcohol (preferred) on affected area after 30 seconds of sanding.

rub baking soda on the affected area and let sit for 2-3 minutes and rinse

I'll be honest... its probably going ot burn like a mofo but I guarantee that it'll be dried up within 12 hours.

cheers

and please get back to us and let us know how this miracle cure worked. thanks

Dude, i've had that shit many times, not as bad as you describe. I've tried just about everything on the market for the itch, and nothing works, at least not for me. I use some shit called technu, sorta like a body wash, if i've been exposed. Thats stuff works REALLY well, it washes of the PI oil, oh,and if you miss a spot you will DEFINATELY know, 'Cause you will itch like a mofo. Oh, and get the poison Ivy soap also.

I avoid ointments as they can spread the rash. Claritin and IBU seem to work the best for me.

Try a cool bath with Aveeno oatmeal bath powder. Really works for me to help with the itching. It will attract bugs, though, so seal up the remnants for next time!

Here's a blurb from the web:

For itchy, irritated skin, this soothing bath is made of 100% pure natural colloidal oatmeal - an ingredient long recognized for its ability to relieve itching - that Aveeno mills into a fine powder. When dispersed into water, this powder forms a soothing milky bath that works as a natural cleanser to provide temporary skin protection and relieves itching and irritation due to poison ivy/oak/sumac, rashes, insect bites and eczema. It also soothes prickly heat, chicken pox, hives or sunburn.

Jake Jones wrote:They say the invisible Urushiol oil is the only thing that spreads the rash, not the infectious ooze that comes out of the rash. I call bullshit.

dude i feel the same way. hoping today the prednisone starts working or I'm going to take a belt sander to it..

I feel your pain, that damn itch is INSATIABLE.

Jake Jones wrote:They say the invisible Urushiol oil is the only thing that spreads the rash, not the infectious ooze that comes out of the rash. I call bullshit.

idk man i've always wondered but i think thats true, i had a lot of my body and face covered as a teen from digging snow forts in a ditch that was solid poison ivy. Who'd of thought you could get it in the dead of winter huh. Anyways, I lost control one day and took a fine tooth comb to it, was covered in that puss shit, but it didn't spread at all, I think because I had already gotten all of the urushiol oil off. I can remember the relieve of scratching was something akin to ecstasy... makes me shudder thinking about it

i usually pop the blisters after a week or two, then keep'em covered. I've also heard "relax, it's not going to spread" But, NEVER believed it. It's funny because i never , ever got poison ivy until 10yrs. ago.

Dude bro I feel your itch!! I took a header of a mountain bike once, landed in a ditch full of poison oak(I think the effects are quite similar to ivy). After a week of taking everything to steroids to try and make the itch go away I finally got my buddy who cares for his places hot tub, to let me use the hot tub late one night. We put a whole bunch of chlorine in, cranked the temperature on that thing, and I crawled in. I remember biting my tongue to keep from screaming it felt so good but hurt so bad. Anyways a day later it was mostly dried up. I was not taking chances sp every night I woulda go soak for 30 mins till all of it was gone.

Good luck!!

It sounds like your Poison Ivy is the same as what we call Poison Oak. Sets of three leaves with each having three lobes and covered in a light oil. It also turns red in direct sun.

I get it and when I do it's pretty bad. For the first ten years with this stuff I never itched it and have tried everything OTC and prescription. The only thing that worked till recently was the steroids.

I tried the hot showers without itching and it is amazing! However it makes the oak worse. What's amazing is what's called Oakgasm. Progressively putting hotter water on affected areas in the shower is better than sex. Especially over large areas of skin. This will ensure a visit to your physician however as the blisters enlarge to gargantuan proportions.

This was just starting to get large. The blister above popped itself when it was nearly golf ball size. Oozed for days and left a scar for a few months.

That all changed when I met a guy who got oak worse than me and had a different approach to treatment. He waited till the tiny blisters formed up then scratched with his nails till he was a bloody raw mess. I was in disbelief and horror but his results spoke for themselves. He was a crusty poison oak free person within three days with only a memory of oak.

So the next time I tried it with a green kitchen scouring pad in the shower with lots of soap and hot water. I emerged from the shower with a few layers of skin missing but oak free. Subsequent showering revealed a lack of oakgasms (much to my dismay) but my oak symptoms during the rest of the day were minimal and all I had was mild abrasions everywhere the oak used to be. Those abrasions cleared up faster than the oak ever has and required no visit to the doctor.

Keep in mind everyone has a different theory on treatment and YMMV but if your reaction seems worse than a mild scuffing of the first layer or two of skin, you may want to try a scouring pad next time. I haven't tried sanding the stuff off once it gets big. Also, if your reaction isn't a huge blistery crawling out of your skin in the middle of the night then disregard this entire message and be glad that you don't get it very bad.

So I found this stuff online called "Zanfel" and the local walmart pharmacy had it. It's a pretty small tube and it's $38. It's a wash you scrub on and rinse off. I put it on at noon and I haven't itched since. Well worth the $38!!!

Also, hot water is BAD. Hot water opens your pours and allows the oil to get in deeper. I tried the oatmeal bath too, didn't stop any itching and made me feel like a retard lol

Spent 2 months doing masters research field work, crawling through poison ivy and measuring wetlands plants, taking soil moisture samples. It was July and Aug, swealtering hot and also eaten by mosquitos. Not sure how much of my forearms were covered in bites or ivy itch. Soaked nightly, then went back to crawling the next day. Ivarest was a good product at one time for relief of itch. Nothing seems to work very well though.

All about treatments of poison ivy rash on this page:
http://poison-ivy-oak-sumac.com/reactions-treatments/treatments.
You can use homemade remedies (compresses) and itching relief creams (All Stop Poison Ivy Healing Gel). Also, try to recognize and destroy the poison ivy plants. It's better to prevent than cure. Good luck.

Steve Best wrote:All about treatments of poison ivy rash on this page: poison-ivy-oak-sumac.com/reactions-treatments/treatments. You can use homemade remedies (compresses) and itching relief creams (All Stop Poison Ivy Healing Gel). Also, try to recognize and destroy the poison ivy plants. It's better to prevent than cure. Good luck.

Talk about a zombie thread... anyway your link got messed up:

poison-ivy-oak-sumac.com/re…

ex arborist here. Highly recommend tecnu. You find yourself in the ivy and when you are out of it rub down the areas that were touched by ivy with the tecu and bam no itch!

Just pray it doesn't spread to your balls.

Although I suppose there are worse things, like this: