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Post by craftedbys on May 18, 2021 23:23:28 GMT
Back in 1978 I got poison ivy. When I say I got poison ivy I mean I was covered in a red rash and blisters from my face down to my feet, only where my shorts, tshirt and shoes were rash free.
(FYI my mom snarkily asked if I had rolled around in it, and that is basically what happened. A friend and I had been rolling down a hill and there happened to be some poison ivy in our way. Oops)
I had such an allergic reaction not only did the rash turn into small blisters, but I had blisters between each of my fingers that got so big that my hands were actually spread as wide as possible and were like that for weeks. The palms of my hands had pretty bad blisters as well.
My pediatrician told my mom that if I were ever to get that severe of an exposure again it could kill me. So we became hyper vigilant about poison ivy and only had one small breakout several years later.
Funny story, thankfully it was summer and we spent quite a bit of time at our lake house. We would go out on the boat and someone would put a ski belt around my waist and I would jump in the lake and mom would toss me a bar of Ivory soap (because it ~floats~ LOL) and I would basically give myself a bath in the lake. Then I would swim over to the boat and mom would shampoo my hair and I would duck under to rinse. No, wasn't the most sanitary method of bathing, but it was the easiest.
All of that backstory is to tell the story of my day.
On Sunday my dad and I were cleaning up a couple of flower beds out by the shed. I did not see any poison ivy, oak, or sumac and was mostly just pulling smaller weeds. However, I didn't have my garden gloves on the whole time, because I couldn't do some things with them on, so they were on and off.
Yesterday morning I noticed one tiny spot on my forearm that itched and my fingers itched a bit. Not a good sign, but didn't think much of it.
Went to bed and woke up at 3:30 this morning with my face itchy and my eyes were hurting. Holy happy hell.
Looked in the mirror and my right eye was bright red and swollen shut. Left eye slightly swollen and itching. Also had a little bit of rash along my jawline and at the base of my neck. My hands were on fire and my fingers swollen. Ut oh.
So when DH got up for work at 4 I showed him and he was like guess I will be missing work to take you to the doctor. I got a quick shower and dressed and took a dose of Benadryl.
My biggest concern was having it on my eyelids and my throat was hurting so after some back and forth we headed off to the ER.
Waiting room wasn't that crowded but had to wait two hours before they took me back.
Once we were in the back we had really great and efficient care.
Dr checked my throat and it wasn't swollen and she put some drops in my eyes and looked at them under a black light. If there was any poison in there it would have glowed green. Thankfully, nothing in there.
She ended up giving me a full dose of Benadryl in an IV push as well as a steriod and a dose of Prevacid to help with blocking the histamine. I was sent home with an RX for a steroid pack and some calamine lotion.
So all of this to say that there doesn't seem to have been any advancement in the treatment of poison ivy, oak, sumac in the last 40+ years.
Seriously? They (scientists or researchers I guess) seem to have cared more about developing boner pills for old guys than to come up with a better treatment for itchy and swelling from these types of rashes.
I have said this several times today and DH keep asking me if I am still bitter. Hell yes I am bitter.
I am also itchy to the point of pain as well as feeling bad from the benadryl and my eye still a bit swollen and itching like crazy but I can't put anything on it.
So all and all I am pretty darn miserable.
If you got this far in my saga and soapbox, thank you for letting me bitch.
Will leave you with this but of information I did not know. The oil from those poison plants can rub off onto other plants and can stay on there for up to TWO YEARS, even if the other plant is dead. So even if you don't see the actual plants you can still catch it, so any time you are working outside make sure to wear gloves, wash your hands often and DON'T TOUCH YOUR FACE! (You think I would have learned that lesson better over the last year.)
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janeinbama
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,174 
Location: Alabama
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Post by janeinbama on May 19, 2021 0:12:01 GMT
Yes and the oil can get on your pets fur too. Anytime my dh works outside and thinks he may have been exposed, he rinses with alcohol and Technu then showers.
Years ago, my BIL was burning piles of trash and inhaled some. He was a sick puppy.
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Post by jenjie on May 19, 2021 0:29:08 GMT
Owwww! I’m so sorry. Hope you heal quickly!
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breetheflea
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,903
Location: PNW
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Post by breetheflea on May 19, 2021 0:39:50 GMT
I'm allergic to something in surgical tape which has resulted in some very itchy, blistery, horrible rashes. I don't know if cold showers will help with poison ivy, but it was the only thing (until the steroids kicked in) that kept me from ripping my skin off.
Feel better soon!
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Post by revirdsuba99 on May 19, 2021 1:02:13 GMT
In the early 1950s I was given experimental Cortisone for a severe case of poison ivy on my lower legs. With the cortisone my legs dried up so fast they crusted over and skin cracked. I remember my grandfather rubbing baby oil on them.
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Post by craftedbys on May 19, 2021 1:24:56 GMT
Yes and the oil can get on your pets fur too. Anytime my dh works outside and thinks he may have been exposed, he rinses with alcohol and Technu then showers. Years ago, my BIL was burning piles of trash and inhaled some. He was a sick puppy. I have known you can't burn the vines and I have always been vigilant about nothing but actual wood going in the fire, both at home and at camp. That is something that could potentially kill you. So scary. I did not know that the oil could transfer to pet fur. Thankfully, I always washed my hands thoroughly as soon as I came inside. Every single time. So I obviously spread it around myself outside. Idiot. I am concerned that the dog could get out there and get exposed. She wouldn't rub up against the fence or foliage, but she loves to roll around in the grass and get sunshine on her belly. My bath hating dog may be getting more baths this summer. |
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tincin
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,368
Jul 25, 2014 4:55:32 GMT
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Post by tincin on May 19, 2021 1:31:26 GMT
craftedbys That sounds terrible. I hope you recover quickly. Yes and the oil can get on your pets fur too. Anytime my dh works outside and thinks he may have been exposed, he rinses with alcohol and Technu then showers. Years ago, my BIL was burning piles of trash and inhaled some. He was a sick puppy. My father did this once and he had my older brother and sister with him. They were all in bad shape. Worst of all my sister is highly allergic to poison ivy. I swear she looks at it and breaks out. Me on the other hand, I think I had a small spot of it once on my wrist. When we were young kids and my sister made me mad I would grab a handful and chase her with it. Let’s just say my Mom was not amused.
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peabay
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,610
Jun 25, 2014 19:50:41 GMT
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Post by peabay on May 19, 2021 1:37:06 GMT
Oh, that sounds miserable. When we were kids, my oldest sister rubbed herself all over with poison ivy, trying to prove to us she wouldn't get a reaction. I still remember her rubbing it in her eyes, licking it etc... I'm sure you know where this is going. She looked like a zombie the next day - eyes swollen shut, face distorted - it was nightmarish. What a misery.
Hope you feel better soon!
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Post by MissBianca on May 19, 2021 1:52:22 GMT
I get poison ivy if I look at the stuff. The thing I have found that works the best is rubbing alcohol, technu, and poison ivy soap. Then rinse in cool water. This is the soap we found that works amazingly well. www.poisonivysoap.com/ |
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Post by nurseypants on May 19, 2021 2:25:50 GMT
As if I needed yet ANOTHER reason not to leave the house...
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Post by revirdsuba99 on May 19, 2021 2:33:29 GMT
Oh and I got poison ivy allergy shots for years after my serious adventure with it.
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Post by kkrenn on May 19, 2021 2:38:06 GMT
OMG, that sounds absolutely terrible. I'm so sorry!!!!
My disease has been around since the civil war and I'm just as frustrated that there hasn't been much progress either! I think they go after what's easy or what will generate the most money. Who knows!
My oldest dd at 4 months old got chicken pox (idiot babysitter), that's how we found out she's allergic to calamine lotion! My poor baby would wail and wail, my heart broke. She still has some scars at 23 but thankfully no memory of it!
I hope you start feeling better very quickly!
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FurryP
Drama Llama
To pea or not to pea...
Posts: 6,971
Site Supporter
Jun 26, 2014 19:58:26 GMT
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Post by FurryP on May 19, 2021 2:46:18 GMT
Oh, that sounds miserable. When we were kids, my oldest sister rubbed herself all over with poison ivy, trying to prove to us she wouldn't get a reaction. I still remember her rubbing it in her eyes, licking it etc... I'm sure you know where this is going. She looked like a zombie the next day - eyes swollen shut, face distorted - it was nightmarish. What a misery. Hope you feel better soon! Ok, that is just a little bit funny. Omg, rubbing it in her eyes, and licking it? Lol. |
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 11, 2024 21:31:10 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2021 3:02:32 GMT
If it was summer our kids got poison ivy, although nowhere near as severe as OP. So Technu wash was always in the house. There was an OTC poison ivy stop in pill form too but I have no idea what it was.
I wish you swift healing OP.
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Post by malibou on May 19, 2021 4:07:37 GMT
I feel your misery. Take a look at Zanfel it helps immensely. I am also massively allergic and passed those lovely genetics onto my son. 😵 Two months before high school graduation a farmer was burning a field and it had poison oak in it. I had breathed in that smoke. The next morning I could tell I looked like a gargoyle. The poison lake oozed out of every place on my body that was warm and moist. Genitals, ears, eyes, mouth, nose, between fingers and toes, armpits, elbow and knee pits. OMG it was so awful. I was admitted, and at first they didn't know what was happening. Meanwhile, inside my body it was attacking my organs. I was in hospital for a week. And missed pretty much the rest of my senior year. I was on dexamethasone for 18 months. It's miserable stuff. Wishing you a quick recovery. |
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Post by ntsf on May 19, 2021 4:18:14 GMT
on the flip side, pbs has a great new services called extra life.. first one they talked about development of penicillin and antivirals and modern antibiotic development. super cool how far we have come.
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Post by AussieMeg on May 19, 2021 4:21:41 GMT
not only did the rash turn into small blisters, but I had blisters between each of my fingers that got so big that my hands were actually spread as wide as possible and were like that for weeks. OMG that sounds horrendous!! I agree with you, how frustrating that a better and more effective treatment hasn't been found in the last 40 years. I hope you start feeling better very soon. Thankfully poison ivy isn't native to Australia, so that's one less thing I have to worry about! |
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finaledition
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,896
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Post by finaledition on May 19, 2021 4:52:32 GMT
I’m so sorry. My son has been exposed twice to poison oak-both were severe, but the second time more so. He sent me a picture of his face and he seriously looked like he was in a boxing ring with George Foreman-his face so swollen. So I can’t to what you are going through, but my son can and I know it’s horrible.
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Mary Kay Lady
Pearl Clutcher
PeaNut 367,913 Refupea number 1,638
Posts: 3,073
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Post by Mary Kay Lady on May 19, 2021 6:23:35 GMT
I'm so sorry. I hope you recover quickly. It sounds miserable.
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Post by peasapie on May 19, 2021 11:56:15 GMT
I had the same kind of reaction probably around the same year as you: 1978; eyes swollen shut, fingers spread apart with blisters between them, etc. It's a horrible memory.
Two years ago I was exposed on some parts of my body. Fortunately it didn't spread, but I was terrified it would. I've been wondering what's new in the world for treatment. Sounds like almost nothing...
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SweetieBsMom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,610
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Post by SweetieBsMom on May 19, 2021 12:14:39 GMT
Back in 1978 I got poison ivy. When I say I got poison ivy I mean I was covered in a red rash and blisters from my face down to my feet, only where my shorts, tshirt and shoes were rash free. (FYI my mom snarkily asked if I had rolled around in it, and that is basically what happened. A friend and I had been rolling down a hill and there happened to be some poison ivy in our way. Oops) I had such an allergic reaction not only did the rash turn into small blisters, but I had blisters between each of my fingers that got so big that my hands were actually spread as wide as possible and were like that for weeks. The palms of my hands had pretty bad blisters as well. My pediatrician told my mom that if I were ever to get that severe of an exposure again it could kill me. So we became hyper vigilant about poison ivy and only had one small breakout several years later. Funny story, thankfully it was summer and we spent quite a bit of time at our lake house. We would go out on the boat and someone would put a ski belt around my waist and I would jump in the lake and mom would toss me a bar of Ivory soap (because it ~floats~ LOL) and I would basically give myself a bath in the lake. Then I would swim over to the boat and mom would shampoo my hair and I would duck under to rinse. No, wasn't the most sanitary method of bathing, but it was the easiest. All of that backstory is to tell the story of my day. On Sunday my dad and I were cleaning up a couple of flower beds out by the shed. I did not see any poison ivy, oak, or sumac and was mostly just pulling smaller weeds. However, I didn't have my garden gloves on the whole time, because I couldn't do some things with them on, so they were on and off. Yesterday morning I noticed one tiny spot on my forearm that itched and my fingers itched a bit. Not a good sign, but didn't think much of it. Went to bed and woke up at 3:30 this morning with my face itchy and my eyes were hurting. Holy happy hell. Looked in the mirror and my right eye was bright red and swollen shut. Left eye slightly swollen and itching. Also had a little bit of rash along my jawline and at the base of my neck. My hands were on fire and my fingers swollen. Ut oh. So when DH got up for work at 4 I showed him and he was like guess I will be missing work to take you to the doctor. I got a quick shower and dressed and took a dose of Benadryl. My biggest concern was having it on my eyelids and my throat was hurting so after some back and forth we headed off to the ER. Waiting room wasn't that crowded but had to wait two hours before they took me back. Once we were in the back we had really great and efficient care. Dr checked my throat and it wasn't swollen and she put some drops in my eyes and looked at them under a black light. If there was any poison in there it would have glowed green. Thankfully, nothing in there. She ended up giving me a full dose of Benadryl in an IV push as well as a steriod and a dose of Prevacid to help with blocking the histamine. I was sent home with an RX for a steroid pack and some calamine lotion. So all of this to say that there doesn't seem to have been any advancement in the treatment of poison ivy, oak, sumac in the last 40+ years. Seriously? They (scientists or researchers I guess) seem to have cared more about developing boner pills for old guys than to come up with a better treatment for itchy and swelling from these types of rashes.I have said this several times today and DH keep asking me if I am still bitter. Hell yes I am bitter. I am also itchy to the point of pain as well as feeling bad from the benadryl and my eye still a bit swollen and itching like crazy but I can't put anything on it. So all and all I am pretty darn miserable. If you got this far in my saga and soapbox, thank you for letting me bitch. Will leave you with this but of information I did not know. The oil from those poison plants can rub off onto other plants and can stay on there for up to TWO YEARS, even if the other plant is dead. So even if you don't see the actual plants you can still catch it, so any time you are working outside make sure to wear gloves, wash your hands often and DON'T TOUCH YOUR FACE! (You think I would have learned that lesson better over the last year.) It's because boner pills will make them oodles of money. It's as simple as that. My father always told me I was immune to poison ivy/oak. I guess when I was little, I was rolling down a hill with my cousins and they all had a miserable time because we were rolling thru poison ivy. I was the only one who didn't have a reaction and I was rolling the same place everyone else was. I'm not about to test the theory and avoid the stuff like the plague. I'm sorry you're dealing with this. Hope you're feeling better soon. |
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QueenoftheSloths
Drama Llama
Member Since January 2004, 2,698 forum posts PeaNut Number: 122614 PeaBoard Title: StuckOnPeas
Posts: 5,955
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Post by QueenoftheSloths on May 19, 2021 12:29:29 GMT
Back in 1978 I got poison ivy. When I say I got poison ivy I mean I was covered in a red rash and blisters from my face down to my feet, only where my shorts, tshirt and shoes were rash free. (FYI my mom snarkily asked if I had rolled around in it, and that is basically what happened. A friend and I had been rolling down a hill and there happened to be some poison ivy in our way. Oops) I had such an allergic reaction not only did the rash turn into small blisters, but I had blisters between each of my fingers that got so big that my hands were actually spread as wide as possible and were like that for weeks. The palms of my hands had pretty bad blisters as well. My pediatrician told my mom that if I were ever to get that severe of an exposure again it could kill me. So we became hyper vigilant about poison ivy and only had one small breakout several years later. Funny story, thankfully it was summer and we spent quite a bit of time at our lake house. We would go out on the boat and someone would put a ski belt around my waist and I would jump in the lake and mom would toss me a bar of Ivory soap (because it ~floats~ LOL) and I would basically give myself a bath in the lake. Then I would swim over to the boat and mom would shampoo my hair and I would duck under to rinse. No, wasn't the most sanitary method of bathing, but it was the easiest. All of that backstory is to tell the story of my day. On Sunday my dad and I were cleaning up a couple of flower beds out by the shed. I did not see any poison ivy, oak, or sumac and was mostly just pulling smaller weeds. However, I didn't have my garden gloves on the whole time, because I couldn't do some things with them on, so they were on and off. Yesterday morning I noticed one tiny spot on my forearm that itched and my fingers itched a bit. Not a good sign, but didn't think much of it. Went to bed and woke up at 3:30 this morning with my face itchy and my eyes were hurting. Holy happy hell. Looked in the mirror and my right eye was bright red and swollen shut. Left eye slightly swollen and itching. Also had a little bit of rash along my jawline and at the base of my neck. My hands were on fire and my fingers swollen. Ut oh. So when DH got up for work at 4 I showed him and he was like guess I will be missing work to take you to the doctor. I got a quick shower and dressed and took a dose of Benadryl. My biggest concern was having it on my eyelids and my throat was hurting so after some back and forth we headed off to the ER. Waiting room wasn't that crowded but had to wait two hours before they took me back. Once we were in the back we had really great and efficient care. Dr checked my throat and it wasn't swollen and she put some drops in my eyes and looked at them under a black light. If there was any poison in there it would have glowed green. Thankfully, nothing in there. She ended up giving me a full dose of Benadryl in an IV push as well as a steriod and a dose of Prevacid to help with blocking the histamine. I was sent home with an RX for a steroid pack and some calamine lotion. So all of this to say that there doesn't seem to have been any advancement in the treatment of poison ivy, oak, sumac in the last 40+ years. Seriously? They (scientists or researchers I guess) seem to have cared more about developing boner pills for old guys than to come up with a better treatment for itchy and swelling from these types of rashes.I have said this several times today and DH keep asking me if I am still bitter. Hell yes I am bitter. I am also itchy to the point of pain as well as feeling bad from the benadryl and my eye still a bit swollen and itching like crazy but I can't put anything on it. So all and all I am pretty darn miserable. If you got this far in my saga and soapbox, thank you for letting me bitch. Will leave you with this but of information I did not know. The oil from those poison plants can rub off onto other plants and can stay on there for up to TWO YEARS, even if the other plant is dead. So even if you don't see the actual plants you can still catch it, so any time you are working outside make sure to wear gloves, wash your hands often and DON'T TOUCH YOUR FACE! (You think I would have learned that lesson better over the last year.) You had my full sympathies until this snide remark. For most people, poison ivy is an inconvenience. Erectile dysfunction can be a serious problem that affects not just the "old guys" but their partners, and younger people as well. There have also been advances in treating many other diseases and conditions since 1978. Are you going to single out any other ones as less important than your poison ivy treatment? |
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Post by lily on May 19, 2021 13:57:09 GMT
So sorry you are miserable....I agree, you'd think more advances would have been made for treatment. But then again, maybe they have tried and there just aren't any.
I think if I were you I would not be doing any yard/garden work other than maybe some container gardening on my porch/deck. Hire someone to do the yardwork. If you avoid the 'scene of the crime' you will avoid getting it.
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Post by beepdave on May 19, 2021 14:38:47 GMT
Coworker kept having a breakout every couple weeks for almost the whole summer. They finally figured out that it was on his golf towel! Each time he golfed he reinfected himself wherever he was mostly healed - all in his upper body/face/neck at the time. Apparently, when he used the towel to wipe his sweaty legs in late August and got it there, he made the connection!
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Post by scrapmaven on May 19, 2021 14:57:58 GMT
I'm having horrible flashbacks of eyes swollen shut and a head to toe rash. I truly get it. It's just the worst thing. I hope that you'll find relief much quicker since you had some treatment. Do all that you can to stay comfy. Poor Poor you. I am so sorry.
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melissa
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,912
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Post by melissa on May 19, 2021 17:29:48 GMT
My husband gets systemic poison ivy.
The biggest advance is prevention. He uses Zanfel which removes the oil from the skin when he comes in from working outside. It’s made a huge difference and now I cannot remember the last time he had to take steroids for it.
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Post by craftedbys on May 19, 2021 18:45:02 GMT
Back in 1978 I got poison ivy. When I say I got poison ivy I mean I was covered in a red rash and blisters from my face down to my feet, only where my shorts, tshirt and shoes were rash free. (FYI my mom snarkily asked if I had rolled around in it, and that is basically what happened. A friend and I had been rolling down a hill and there happened to be some poison ivy in our way. Oops) I had such an allergic reaction not only did the rash turn into small blisters, but I had blisters between each of my fingers that got so big that my hands were actually spread as wide as possible and were like that for weeks. The palms of my hands had pretty bad blisters as well. My pediatrician told my mom that if I were ever to get that severe of an exposure again it could kill me. So we became hyper vigilant about poison ivy and only had one small breakout several years later. Funny story, thankfully it was summer and we spent quite a bit of time at our lake house. We would go out on the boat and someone would put a ski belt around my waist and I would jump in the lake and mom would toss me a bar of Ivory soap (because it ~floats~ LOL) and I would basically give myself a bath in the lake. Then I would swim over to the boat and mom would shampoo my hair and I would duck under to rinse. No, wasn't the most sanitary method of bathing, but it was the easiest. All of that backstory is to tell the story of my day. On Sunday my dad and I were cleaning up a couple of flower beds out by the shed. I did not see any poison ivy, oak, or sumac and was mostly just pulling smaller weeds. However, I didn't have my garden gloves on the whole time, because I couldn't do some things with them on, so they were on and off. Yesterday morning I noticed one tiny spot on my forearm that itched and my fingers itched a bit. Not a good sign, but didn't think much of it. Went to bed and woke up at 3:30 this morning with my face itchy and my eyes were hurting. Holy happy hell. Looked in the mirror and my right eye was bright red and swollen shut. Left eye slightly swollen and itching. Also had a little bit of rash along my jawline and at the base of my neck. My hands were on fire and my fingers swollen. Ut oh. So when DH got up for work at 4 I showed him and he was like guess I will be missing work to take you to the doctor. I got a quick shower and dressed and took a dose of Benadryl. My biggest concern was having it on my eyelids and my throat was hurting so after some back and forth we headed off to the ER. Waiting room wasn't that crowded but had to wait two hours before they took me back. Once we were in the back we had really great and efficient care. Dr checked my throat and it wasn't swollen and she put some drops in my eyes and looked at them under a black light. If there was any poison in there it would have glowed green. Thankfully, nothing in there. She ended up giving me a full dose of Benadryl in an IV push as well as a steriod and a dose of Prevacid to help with blocking the histamine. I was sent home with an RX for a steroid pack and some calamine lotion. So all of this to say that there doesn't seem to have been any advancement in the treatment of poison ivy, oak, sumac in the last 40+ years. Seriously? They (scientists or researchers I guess) seem to have cared more about developing boner pills for old guys than to come up with a better treatment for itchy and swelling from these types of rashes.I have said this several times today and DH keep asking me if I am still bitter. Hell yes I am bitter. I am also itchy to the point of pain as well as feeling bad from the benadryl and my eye still a bit swollen and itching like crazy but I can't put anything on it. So all and all I am pretty darn miserable. If you got this far in my saga and soapbox, thank you for letting me bitch. Will leave you with this but of information I did not know. The oil from those poison plants can rub off onto other plants and can stay on there for up to TWO YEARS, even if the other plant is dead. So even if you don't see the actual plants you can still catch it, so any time you are working outside make sure to wear gloves, wash your hands often and DON'T TOUCH YOUR FACE! (You think I would have learned that lesson better over the last year.) You had my full sympathies until this snide remark. For most people, poison ivy is an inconvenience. Erectile dysfunction can be a serious problem that affects not just the "old guys" but their partners, and younger people as well. There have also been advances in treating many other diseases and conditions since 1978. Are you going to single out any other ones as less important than your poison ivy treatment? I am sorry that I offended you with that comment, yes it was flippant and I could have used many other conditions. It was said to show, as someone else put it, it's all about the money. Pharmaceutical companies aren't going to research or develop better OTC treatments for *many* conditions when prescription medications is where the money is. (Not to derail my own post, but I truly believe that many diseases are never going to be cured because there is more money in treatment than in an actual cure. But that is for a whole other post.) However, my condition isn't just inconvenient. The doctor that treated me said I was extremely fortunate that I did not get any of the oil on my eye, that it would have severely affected my eyesight. There is a small blister in the corner of my eye and the rash is within a couple of millimeters of my eye. |
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Post by katiekaty on May 19, 2021 18:57:05 GMT
Wash you sheets and bedding daily until all your blisters have dried up. If the nurses didn’t tell you that, they should have? I am a nurse and I remember when I took DH in in the 80s and the nurses told us to do that. It cut the length of his outbreak down in half. You are fortunate that they now give me drool dose packs for that. They didn’t use to do that. Also use a beach towel wherever you sit until your blisters have dried up. Oatmeal baths help, use Averno oatmeal bath.
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Post by Zee on May 19, 2021 18:58:16 GMT
Coworker kept having a breakout every couple weeks for almost the whole summer. They finally figured out that it was on his golf towel! Each time he golfed he reinfected himself wherever he was mostly healed - all in his upper body/face/neck at the time. Apparently, when he used the towel to wipe his sweaty legs in late August and got it there, he made the connection! He didn't wash a towel for an entire summer? Or he did, but the oil somehow stayed on it? I guess I'm immune because several times while geocaching I ended up walking through it with bare legs and was unaffected. Which is odd, because I remember having a reaction once as a kid. As far as medical advances, the percentage of people needing something more than the current treatment for poison ivy vs the number of people needing Viagra is obviously not even remotely close. If I was inventing something I'd look for the greatest demand. Actually I'd be working on antivirals but that's another post. |
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Post by birukitty on May 19, 2021 19:01:41 GMT
I sympathize with your predicament and your pain. I'm also one of those that just has to look at poison ivy or oak and I get it. I had several terrible cases as a child/teen. I remember one time I had rashes down both my legs and under my feet and my father carried me into the doctor's office on his back since I couldn't walk. Another time my best friend and I were hanging out. She took a poison ivy leaf and said, "I dare you to rub this over your face". I said I'd do it if she did. Well darn if she didn't so of course that meant I had too to. And I did. We were both so miserable the next day-we were 15 and should have known better! I've had trouble with poison ivy my whole life. Horrible rashes that have covered my body, swollen parts and so much pain. In our current house that we've lived in for the past 25 years, recently in our 2 flower beds out front poison oak have taken over those beds. I don't go near those beds. DH seems immune to it so he's taking care of them now. OP I totally get why you feel frustrated that more money hasn't gone to research for a cure or better treatment for poison ivy. I always feel that way regarding migraines. Women suffer from migraine 3 x as often as men. Of the 39 million Americans who have migraines, 28 million are women. I always think if it were reversed (men vs. women) we'd have a cure by now. I wish you speedy healing and hope you are feeling better soon. If you don't feel better in a day or so I wouldn't hesitate to call my primary doctor just in case there is something the ER doctor missed regarding treatment. BTW, you weren't bitching you were venting. Here, we all get to do that. That's why we are here for each other. Sending you great big hugs-as long as they don't hurt.  |
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