# I am NOT AN ANIMAL!!!



## kirkmcquest (Oct 21, 2010)

.....I just have poison ivy all over my face, arms, neck, and head!


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## kirkmcquest (Oct 21, 2010)

What do you think? Should heal in about a week or two right?


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## marinemomtatt (Oct 8, 2006)

So sorry, its got to be horrible.
Used to pitcrew for a guy that got poison oak in his man area. Picture 90 degree day, hot pit area, hot race car and an even hotter drivers suit...does that help make you feel any better?
What are you doing for the pain and itch?


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

http://www.herbal-home-remedies.org/remedies/poison-ivy.htm

You might want to google for other ideas to treat it, no fun at all, bummer dude!


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

I resort to steroids........ shots, creams, even diphenhydramine poured on the rash and taken by mouth if I can't get to the doctor for steroid shots. Older people say to use lye soap and rub it on the rash. I was always too afraid of the pain to try that. But, I personally have no adversity to using hormones, so cortico steroids fix it right up. Antihistamines will help too, but the steroids from the doctor work better and faster. Thank God for prednisone. One year I had it everywhere. I had to go to the doctor 3x for steroid shots then took a round of prednisone by mouth. The nurse asked me if I rolled in it naked.

One good thing the doctor told me....It lasts 3wks. NO matter what you do, it lasts 3wks. They can treat the symptoms to diminish the rash in those weeks, but it will go away by itself in 3wks. I don't know if that is true, but it's what she said.


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## kirkmcquest (Oct 21, 2010)

I'm just using calamine lotion and using hot and cold water....I also have benedryl but I haven't used it yet. I knew I had it a little on my hands so I washed them good yesterday...I woke up this morning looking like I went 10 rounds with Mike Tyson....eye's blown up. It on both eye lids and the whole area around the eyes is swollen...I'm a little embarrassed to go to the store.

Also my hands especially between my fingers is all blistered and it makes it hard to work. But I've got too much to do so I'm going to have to just grin and bare it for now....trying not to scratch because I know once you go down that road there's no turning back.


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## Fowler (Jul 8, 2008)

Since its on your face...I would just go get a shot...you can get it internally and then it's a bad deal


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## kirkmcquest (Oct 21, 2010)

Might go down tomorrow and get a shot.


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## beewench (Mar 5, 2010)

My DS9 has a lovely Poison Oak rash all over his tummy and chest right now, silly boy thought he could crawl through the bushes without touching any leaves! Anyway, so far he says the oatmeal bath was the most soothing...and got a thumbs up from his doc too! Just fill bath with water and add a couple of cups of oatmeal, swirl it around and soak in it for as long as you want! Good luck!!

-=Sarah
www.beewench.blogspot.com


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## stormwalker (Oct 27, 2004)

kirkmcquest said:


> Might go down tomorrow and get a shot.


That mignt be a real good idea- My SIL ended up in the hospital!!!!


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## stormwalker (Oct 27, 2004)

P.S.------
If it gets too bad, just lay down and wait for the lion!!! LOL


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## fffarmergirl (Oct 9, 2008)

I got it like that once when I was a kid. My earlobes were an inch thick, my eyes were swollen shut, my nose swelled twice its normal size . . . it was inside my nostrils and on my mouth. Nobody who knew me would have been able to tell it was me by looking at me.

I had it between my fingers and toes, all over my whole entire body! I had to lay naked in front of the air conditioner for days, with just a sheet. We didn't have health insurance & my mom didn't believe in going to the doctor. She finally took pity on me and drove me to the pharmacy, presented me to the pharmacist, and begged for something. After he got done laughing, he sent us home with some prednisone.

I got one milder case after that and then went and got the allergy injections. I've never got it since.


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## cathleenc (Aug 16, 2007)

RUN to the local health food store and buy some homeopathic poison ivy remedy!

I've tried every prescription and topical remedy known to science. Been hospitalized with it. Get it every year, at least 3x, sometimes more. Had skin so damaged that it would never heal and had to be cut off. BTDT.

Homeopathic poison ivy remedy helps me so so so much. Please, do yourself a favor, and try it.


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## How Do I (Feb 11, 2008)

I avoid _poison ivy_ like the plague. I got it bad, in the worst spot to get it, right before we went on vacation to Myrtle Beach when I was a kid. After one day swimming in the salt water, it was pretty much taken care of.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

How Do I said:


> After one day swimming in the salt water, it was pretty much taken care of.


My dad's family always rubbed salt on the rash to dry it up. But that was like the lye soap antidote, it burned a lot and hurt. A lot of older people swear those things work though.


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## wayne miles (Mar 13, 2008)

Homeopathic remedy = Rhus Toxicodendron......according to my chiropractor/accupuncturist/chinese medicine man....


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

My grandson woke up a couple of weeks ago with his face all puffed up from poison ivy. He went to the Dr. and got a shot, by evening you could hardly tell he had poison ivy. My advise is to get the shot.


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## HeelSpur (May 7, 2011)

I take Poison Ivy Pills to help prevent from getting it (Rhus Tox 4x). They are made from the leaves of poison ivy and I dissolve 2 pills under my tongue everyday for a week. This is good for a months worth of prevention. I've heard old timers say that they used to chew the leaves of the ivy plants and swallow the juices. Dissolving pills sounds better.


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## cathleenc (Aug 16, 2007)

Yes, homeopathy works by giving you a miniscule dose of the 'problem'.

Woke up with a small line of blisters on my hand yesterday and a telltale itching in my ear. Starting taking my homeopathic remedy. Tonight the small line is smaller, itching in my ear never 'bloomed' into anything.

I used to be hospitalized with reactions. Spend months on cortisone. The 'worst' case that anyone ever saw.

Homeopathic poison ivy remedies work great for me. Will it work for you? I don't know. But I know I was willing to try just about anything.


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## fffarmergirl (Oct 9, 2008)

HeelSpur said:


> I take Poison Ivy Pills to help prevent from getting it (Rhus Tox 4x). They are made from the leaves of poison ivy and I dissolve 2 pills under my tongue everyday for a week. This is good for a months worth of prevention. I've heard old timers say that they used to chew the leaves of the ivy plants and swallow the juices. Dissolving pills sounds better.


I remember when I was a kid somebody told me native Americans used to eat poison ivy leaves to prevent themselves from getting it . . . . maybe there's something to it. I also heard that you can get poison ivy in your mouth . . . .


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## cathleenc (Aug 16, 2007)

Yes, you can get it in your mouth, your throat, your ears, your.... every place imaginable. And then some.


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

I am in shock and awe that I've never had a poision ivy or poison oak rash. I've been in it often enough, even slept in it once.:bored: But not a rash to be had. I'm sure you are misserable. Hope you find relief soon. I did however end up with a rash from the weekend before last, where I had a tick bite. It's still red and itchy, puffy like an over grown mosquito bite.


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## ajaxlucy (Jul 18, 2004)

fffarmergirl said:


> I remember when I was a kid somebody told me native Americans used to eat poison ivy leaves to prevent themselves from getting it . . . . maybe there's something to it. I also heard that you can get poison ivy in your mouth . . . .


DON'T DO IT!!!

My mother tried that when she was younger and got it in her mouth, throat etc. Horrible!


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## TroutRiver (Nov 26, 2010)

You are in the adirondacks, there should be jewel weed near you? It's similar to aloe in its use but especially great for poison ivy and itching. I just pulled a bunch of it out of my garden yesterday prepping for planting. You use the juices from the stems, just be careful not to spread the poison ivy with it :thumb:

I got poison oak all over my entire body a couple years ago (no need to mention how that happened...:hammer I can relate... it blows big time. But jewel weed did help me to not itch as much.


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## CarolT (Mar 12, 2009)

I so wish I could lay my hands on jewelweed seeds! Haven't been able to find any plants near here (north AL) and I would love to find something to help. They say it grows near poison oak and poison ivy... Got plenty of them and no jewelweed


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## Nina (May 10, 2002)

This may be too late to help, but for future reference, peel a banana. Rub the affected area with the inside of the banana skin. It'll need to be done about 3 or 4 x a day until cleared up.


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

CarolT said:


> I so wish I could lay my hands on jewelweed seeds! Haven't been able to find any plants near here (north AL) and I would love to find something to help. They say it grows near poison oak and poison ivy... Got plenty of them and no jewelweed


I always find it growing smack in the middle of stinging nettle. It's all over here in the damper places.


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## CaliannG (Apr 29, 2005)

First: Get goats to eat the poison ivy/oak/sumac AND the nettles. Goats think that stuff is candy.

Second, the lye soap doesn't hurt. I am one of the lucky ones that does not react to the poisons, but my mother and ex-husband over react to it. Washing with a good lye soap gets rid of the oils that is causing the problem. If you wash with a strong, lye soap right after exposure, you might not get it at all!

You can also get lye soap with jewelweed extract in them. Our local co-op sells "Grandma's Lye soap" and "Grandma's Poison Ivy Soap". My mother swears by both. 

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&authuser=0&q=Grandma's+Lye+Soap&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1280&bih=659&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=13329709910781758562&sa=X&ei=_4kJTvjgIKjKiAKRmbC2AQ&ved=0CEsQ8gIwAA


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## XayInIowa (May 9, 2011)

I had to go to my 25th class reunion covered in scabs and boils from poison ivy!! (Nothing I tried has helped with either the spreading or the itch.) Who knows what they thought of me, nobody asked what I had...you have my condolences!


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## marytx (Dec 4, 2002)

No matter what anyone tells you, hot water makes it much worse and makes it last much longer. Keep it as dry as possible and put calamine lotion on it to sooth and aid in the drying.

Tecnu is a great aid in cutting the oils if you use it right at the start.


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## marytx (Dec 4, 2002)

CaliannG said:


> First: Get goats to eat the poison ivy/oak/sumac AND the nettles. Goats think that stuff is candy.


That, of course, is only a good idea if you will not be milking, or otherwise touching, the goats.


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