OMG - poison ivy!

[rainbowgardener]

How did I get so stupid!? Usually I know better. We are getting our house ready to sell and there is so much work to do inside and out. So I was feeling rushed and charged in and started ripping out a bunch of ivy. I knew there was poison ivy near there, but some how didn't manage to think about there being poison ivy where I was. So I was working bare handed, bare legged (shorts) and bare armed (short sleeved t-shirt) and I was working in the hot afternoon sun Mon and sweating and mopping my face with my t-shirt. I must have gotten some of the urushiol (poison ivy oil) on the shirt, and mopped my eyes and face with it.

So by yesterday my face was swelled up like a balloon, eyes swelled shut and poison ivy rash ALL over, legs, arms, hands. My lip was swelling, my nose was starting to swell inside, making it harder to breathe, I felt like my face had been burned in a fire.... I've now been on prednisone for two days and starting to feel half way human, though I still have places on arms and legs that I have scratched until they bleed and half my body still itches like mad.


This is just a little reminder of what NOT to do!!

[applestar]

Oh no! I amd SO sorry to hear this rainbowgardener. I am also sensitive to poison ivy and can get them from even secondary contact. I've had pretty bad rashes. I hope you are able to get through this without the worst effects.

I remember there was a thread a while back in which cynthia_h posted a comparison on several different plant rash over the counter and a very effective but expensive prescription medicine. I think something that started with a "z" maybe or maybe "x"....

If you have plantain and jewelweed growing already (I'm starting to see new shoots and seedlings) try covering them with witch hazel and using that on the rash. For closed rash, rubbing alcohol tincture is even more effective, but it will burn on open rash. Transferring to personal atomizer will make it easier to apply.

[applestar]

This might actually be what I'm thinking of... Not prescription? But I remember she said it was expensive elsewhere....
Subject: Please help me ID this plant - Are My Actors Endangered?

Speaking as someone who is HIGHLY sensitive to poison oak, I would say that Tecnu is useful, but Zanfel is a life-saver. Zanfel, like Tecnu, is available over the counter at drug stores, takes effect more quickly once you begin to apply it to your skin, and relieves itching from a number of causes.

However, Tecnu can also be added to the washing machine when washing exposed clothing, and Zanfel cannot. So I have both of 'em on hand.

How sensitive am I?

Here's the story from Spring 2000, when I didn't know I had been exposed until it was much too late...

Doggie went to daycare on Wednesday, March 15, 2000. Daycare was in a converted warehouse; no plants anywhere.

Doggie and I fell asleep (awwww...) on the couch that evening.

Thursday afternoon: I felt warm all over. Thought perhaps it was yeast or some vague spring allergy and went to M.D. She prescribed an anti-fungal, which I took.

Friday morning: I walked Doggie around the block prior to going to my teaching position.

Friday lunch: I began to have alarming thoughts about what was going on.

Friday afternoon: blisters began appearing. Naturally, the doctor's office was closed.

Saturday morning approx. 0300: woke up with full-scale attack, heart racing, full sweat, full itch, etc. Broken out in hives from hairline to hip, front and back. Ran 4 inches of cool water in tub and just lay there for hours, until DH woke up. Called M.D. We started prednisone. I spent several hours puzzling over an exposure pathway.

Saturday afternoon: The *only possible pathway* was this:

1) X dog, who also went to daycare, walked near or in poison oak.

2) Doggie (mine) brushed up against X dog at daycare.

3) My doggie laid on the couch.

4) I laid on the couch.

5) I was exposed.

This case of poison oak took four weeks to resolve. My doctor started prednisone at 40 mg/day. Didn't touch it; the inflammation was systemic by then and I really should have been hospitalized.

We restarted the prednisone several days later at 60 mg.

Cynthia H.
USDA Zone 9, Sunset Zone 17

[sweetiepie]

Praying for a speedy recovery. We have poison ivy here but you usually have to look pretty hard for it.

[PaulF]

A prescription of prednazone takes care of the worst cases of poison ivy in no time.

[rainbowgardener]

Yup. I've had three days of prednisone so far and am much better, though still look a bit like someone punched me in the eyes and lot of itchy spots all over. Worries me that it seems like new ones keep popping out, though I haven't had any new exposure.

I know about some of the natural remedies, but at the point where I can't see and I can't breathe and I can't go to work, I go for Western medicine. I am real sensitive. This is probably not the worst case I've ever had, but it's the worst one in a long time. I had gotten more careful about it, but that lead me to over - confidence. I actually had Technu on hand and didn't use it - like I said stupidity.

Today I stuffed all the ivy I had pulled into yard waste bags, but did it right -- gloves, long sleeves, and lots of Technu afterwards. I always feel bad using the yard waste bags (but hopefully the city composts it), but the ivy is too green to burn, tangles up my chipper too much, and has been known to sit in the compost pile for two years unchanged. It is so tough!

Thanks so much for all the kind words and sympathy.