Poison Ivy- treatment recommendations

[Labs4me]

Gang,

Been fighting poison ivy for the past month. Believe it must have been on the back side of one of the trees I was trimming out in preparation of the season. Tried the mind-over-matter approach to dealing with it for the first week. THAT WORKED GREAT, except I didn't sleep and couldn't focus on anything but the INTENSE itch for over a week.

Went to the Doc for a shot of cortisone and supplemental oral prednisone prescription. THAT WORKED GREAT, except the steroids made me want to kill anyone who looked at me the wrong way. Meanwhile the itch still persists.

Tried over-the counter topical and oral Benadryl and THAT WORKED GREAT for about the first two minutes; can't recall anything after that 'cuz I've been too busy sleeping.

So, after trying to "tough it out", and finally using cortisone, prednisone, and oral and topical benadryl, here I am four weeks later and it's as bad today as the day I went to the doc. So now I come to you to solicit your PROVEN homebrew remedies.

Did I mention it's on my,...my...pardon me while I go fall on a Wensel Woodsman.

[tim roberts]

Calamine Lotion will work.  Sounds like you got it bad.  Best of luck getting rid of it.

[the Ferret]

Feel for ya Huck. The stuff doesn't bother me, but my wife can catch it driving past it in her car.

She has gone so far to rub bleach on it.

[Shawn Leonard]

Get some chlorine that they use to treat pools and dab it on it with cotton balls, try a small area to see how it reacts to it first. Dries it out real quick, I like Mickey do not get it. shawn

[Lost Arra]

Huck:
You might try Zanfel.
Over the counter, sort of pricey but usually used early in breakout process. I don't know about 4 weeks later. Probably worth a try.

Have you cleaned everything that might have the poison ivy oil on it? Including your saw, shirt, jacket, gloves. Having it 4 weeks sounds like you are re-infecting yourself.

Get well!

[brent d.]

every tree withing 50 miles of here is covered in poison ivy. I will usually get a little a few times a year.

 Anything that dries it out will help get rid of it. Calamine, Technu, Ivy-dry, etc. but you always have to re-apply.

The BEST THING I have found at drying, getting rid of the itch and more importantly to me, blocking the oils from spreading any further (I have gotten it on my wife before and she is allergic to it) is a spray bandage called "NU-SKIN" (pharmacy band-aid section) I have since found a couple of other manufacturers of which I was skeptical, but they worked pretty well too.
I think that CURAD or BANDAID has some out now that are a little less "industrial" than nu-skin.
 Nu-skin in particular goes on cold and has A GREAT DRYING EFFECT. If I start itching again a little, (usually caused by it being hot outdoors) I spray a little more on. Puts a great shell on the affected area. The area should usually gets well in about 3 to 4 days.
hasnt failed me yet when all of the other at one time or another have.
good luck
Brent

[Stick'n'String]

I had good luck with Tecnu(sp.)  You should be able to get it at a big name drug store.  I had a real bad case of the ivy a few years ago that I got during bow season that spread to some un mentionable areas. I took a leak when I got back to the truck!  Anyways that and a shot of cortisone are the only things that kept me sane.

[rascal]

Had to look up the name of the stuff and you might have a difficult time finding it but its worth a shot all the same.  Its called Fels Naptha Soap, its an old fashioned heavy duty laundry soap in a bar form.  It dries your skin out something aweful but when it comes to poison ivy the dryer the better.  Most of the old timers Ive talked with over the years have said to leave the lather on to dry, that may not be possible in your case.  Ive had good success with just drawing a good hot bath and using the bar on my skin at least once a day.  I think you can still find it in the laundry detergent section at some stores.

Good luck, hope this helps.

(Do a search for Fels Naptha Soap you should find a dealer I found one online called Soaps Gone Buy)

[thp]

feel your pain Huckelberry.  I get it bad too.  I've found it best that once I've been exposed in the timber to try very hard not to itch to prevent further spreading the oil.  Once home I immediately wash off with either Tecnu following the instructions precisely or if I don't have Tecnu on hand I'll use bleach and a paper towel.  Very effective in getting the oils off.  Got exposed to some poison ivy Friday night and used the bleach method with great results.  But boy once I've got it... man it's hard to shake.  Best wishes Huckelberry!

[Turkey-duke]

I used to get it all the time when I was a teenager and spent all summer weedeating and working in the hay field, and I get it from time to time as I make my living working outdoors.  It seems to me there must be different strains of it because one time a certain treatment works great and the next time it won't touch it.  I have tried beach (works best if the blisters are oozing) and several of the home-remedies (white shoe polish, etc.).  Some of them work and some don't.  There is a plant that the indians and early settlers used called jewl weed.  It grows near moist areas and supposedly works as a wash or a treatment.  If you don't have acccess to anything else give it a try and let us know if it works.  Some of the OTC treatments work but I have had the best results with IVA-REST.  It is ugly but it will dry the spots up.  Good luck!

[KSdan]

Sounds like it is on some of your clothes, bed or something adn you are re-infecting.

[bearbowman]

Cement..........yes cement or mortar mix. I did a bunch of sidewalk work once around the house once with my dad when I was in my teens and my hands in two days started to crack they were so dry. concrete sucks the moisture out of your skin. What is poision ivy? It is liquid under your skin and if you get a tablespoon and mix it up and put it on half a dozen times in a day and let it dry you will be amazed how it will dry up your poision ivy and ease the itching. Other than that go get a poison ivy shot.

[sir_h_c]

I've used the benadryl otc stuff, it works OK.  The scrub is supposed to open the blisters and dry them out followed by a shield product.
Truth is I get it often and after much research and talking with my botany and anatomy profs, what oozes isn't the oil and can't spread poison ivy blisters.  The blisters show up at different times because a) skin in some areas of the body is less sensitive and slower to react or b) you are rubbing fresh oil (urushiol, had to look that one up)from clothing, etc on your skin.  
My usual practice is this: realize i have poison ivy, again;  curse, swear and otherwise lament my ills; wash everything on hot with plenty of soap; wash myself with cheap bar soap(more likely to dry your skin out) or with shop soap(definately get the residual oils off) in a cool shower to avoid opening my pores(I don't know if this actually makes a difference); spray on some barrier spray just to contain the ooze and itch; wallow in misery until it passes.
Turkey-duke: there are a number of strains depending on where you are at and may contain different versions of the urushiol

[PastorSteveHill]

This will sound kind of sissy, but go to a tanning bed...  I had this stuff once and did everything you have tried, nothign worked... Someone told me about the power of the sun's rays drying up that junk and bingo... It worked...

[captaincaveman]

dude, this is gonna sound stupid, but, scrape the blisters with a knife until they are ALL open and dump rubbing alchohol on them. It will be dried up in 2 days I promise

Josh

[tomh]

I agree that you are probably re infecting with the oils from your clothes or bedclothes. The oil is very hard to get rid of, and stays for a long time if you don't get it out of the clothes. Use Simple green or the Fels soap instead of laundry detergent.

Going in the ocean would help me when i was in the Marines. Maybe a salt bath in  lukewarm water would dry out your itch.
I would not use straight bleach but maybe some in a bath.

I feel your pain, I have had it bad in my day. The biggest thing is get the oils off you and your clothes. Regular soap won't do the trick.

[Dan Worden]

I'm with the re-infecting crowd. I am very allergic. If you've been throught the whole doc procedure, shots/prednisone and it is till around after a month (and just as bad) you have it on something and keep getting fresh oil on you.

What were you wearing and  using that day? Clothes tools boots EVERYTHING you had with you is suspect now and porbabbly is carrying the oils.  Clean it ALL.

Oh yeah my mantra since I was about 8 years old. Always pee hands free in the woods.     :p

[CJ Pearson]

Clorox. Rub it on for a couple of days and it should clear it up. Not to mention you'll smell like a clean pair of white sox.

[tecum-tha]

All too chemical, I had 2 hunting season pretty much ruined by it. Now I use jewelweed soap and concentrated spray or salve. The native americans used it too. The guys here are right, that the poison oil leads to the allergic reaction. So you have to clean up with a fat breaking soap. If you type in jewelweed into the famous search engine, you will find a page from a herbal lady in TN who produces that stuff. You will get it quite cheap and in enough quantity to make you heal much quicker and if you use the soap you should prevent major outbreaks. The chemical products might work,too, but they're are real expensive for the quantity you get. Give it a try, she has more than 3000 happy customers.
Roland

[Ed Isaacs]

To ease the itch, hold the itching area under running water as hot as you can stand for several seconds.  Will give hours of itch relief, but be careful not to scald yourself.