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Poison Ivy Prevention/Treatment

Sligh1

Sligh1

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Wondering what works really well??? (I am currently covered with the stuff as I didn't do the below!!)
Prevention:
-Can you still get those series of shots?
-I use Ivy Block and it seems to work well (most pharmacies).
-My buddy takes some herbal liquid???
-Rinsing right after exposure (certain soap is reccommended I think, I just use regular soap though.
-Also, I get it in the dead of winter when I touch the vines, some say you can't- NOT TRUE!

Treatment:
-Bleach is not reccommended but I rip up my skin and do it on rare occassion.
-Steroids/Prednisone works amazing but is my last resort because how bad they are for you.
-Cortizone cream works ok.
-Benedryl to stop itching AND Calamine are alright but don't do much in my experience.
-The best thing I have recently tried is a prescription steroid cream called Betamethasone Dipropianate: works awesome and doesn't have all the downsides - unless you use it day after day after day (thins the skin after chronic use).

Any other thoughts/solutions appreciated!
* Also, TICKS are my other battle! If you are not using permathryn/perminone (found at wal-mart and many other stores) like has been mentioned in other posts- you're crazy! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
PM Dor on here.....He knows some good stuff. I "knock on wood" have not had the stuff in 3 years...and I can get it driving by the crap.
 
As far as ticks,,,once again I have found wearing rubber boots,,the higher the better, like thigh high. I wear them in the field and have never had a tick climb up them. Few might fall from the trees on ya, but none crawl up.
 
I get down wind of the stuff and I start to itch!

It seems no matter what sometime during the year I will get it bad.

The best thing I have done for myself in recent years is when I am in the woods and I feel like I touched or got saw dust on me, I will find the nearest creek and splash that on the affected areas immediatly (hands, wrists face, neck, etc.).

I will still get it sometimes but when I started doing this it at least doesn't blister up.

Bottom line that is one of the things on this earth that I ask why did God put it here. I am itching thinking about it!
 
I have had good luck with Zanfel. Had never really had it until I basically took a bath in the oil and then went to bed without taking a shower. That did the trick. Wasn't fun. Did the old pinch and roll on the boys a couple times in my sleep to according to where the out breaks were. I was too late for shots and this stuff worked good for me. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif
 
I haven't had it yet this year but will at some point I'm sure.

I use Ivarest. They make a soap type product that you use in the shower and then a cream product. They seem to do the best for me. Man, I hate that crap.

What are the shots that you guys are talking about?
 
There were shots that were approved by the FDA about 7 years ago roughly. You could get them at an allergist or some other docs. BASICALLY, you went in for a series of about 5 shots, it made your body "used to" and "immune" to Poison Ivy.

I have heard it was pulled off the market because it did not work. I am not sure if that part is true or not?

I would get these shots in a heartbeat if they are still on the market and proven to work, I need to call the allergist sometime soon, I am so sick of itching and oozing, I am going to go nuts!
*Has anyone noticed the 1st time you get Poison Ivy (each year) it's the worst case, as you keep getting it, each case gets easier to deal with, that's how it's like for me- about this time each year I get the worst case, then by August it's a "piece of cake".
BOTTOM LINE- my plans are to go through my whole piece of timber with a flame thrower and "Napalm". Good idea?
 
My better half takes something called Rhus Tox. It was perscription up until last year, but now over the counter. You pre-treat this time of year by puttig a couple dropper fulls under your tounge for 30 sec. Treatment is once a week for three weeks, then you cut back to a much lower rate. May not always stop an outbreak, but really lessens it. Check it out.
 
Guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I can roll around in it any time of the year and I don't get it.

I did find out once that it is a real bad ideal to run the weed eater through Wild Parsnips while wearing shorts. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crazy.gif

If you have ever an encounter with Wild Parsnips, you know its not fun. It makes your skin react as if someone threw a pan of hot grease on you.
 
I use an over the counter product called Tecnu. It's a lotion that you rub on the rash for two or three minutes and then you're done. It's worked really well on me on fresh rashes...not so well on areas over a week or so old. It's pretty cheap and you should be able to find it at any pharmacy.
 
I'll second Zanfel, it will stop the reaction at any stage. It removes the allergic oil from your skin.

What's it going for now...like $30.00 an ounce?
 
You have two choices, break down the oil before your body reacts to it or stop the imflamatory response once it does.

To break down the oil after an exposure I use Go Joe or any of the hand cleaners mechanics use. I scrub any part of my body that I even think might have been exposed.

To stop the inflamatory response requires steriods, either topical, oral or injection. Betamethisone cream works well for me, triamcinalone is another. In the past a "Burst and taper" (large initial dose tappering off to a lower dose, usually 7 days) of an oral steriod (predisone) has worked, but It makes ya a little wierd. My current doc doesn't like the burst and taper and will not go the parenteral (shot) route. Steriods are not OTC, unless you are Barry Bonds, so you have to see your MD.

Once it does break out you can still use the hand cleaner in the wound, burns like hell, but it may still help dissolve the oils.

Or you can just man up and take it. I figure it takes 1 week for it to reach its worst point, 1 week to stay there and then one week to go away.

And yes, you can spread it to others by contact. Someday I'm gonna grind a bunch up in my hands and go pat somebody in the middle of their back.

The 'Bonker
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Ghost</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I can roll around in it any time of the year and I don't get it. </div></div>

I had a friend who said the same thing to me once and then helped get a bunch of poison ivy vines off a barn because he would be fine.

He ended up getting it so bad that it literally laid him up for about 2 weeks.

My dad helped me out a few years back and said the same thing then he got it real bad.

I wonder if you maybe grow allergic to the stuff over time?
 
I don't get it either but my wife and kids get it just looking at it. I always heard a wire brush and some diesel fuel will dry it up right quick. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
 
If you got a chance to see my battle with the chit last year then you would know that I don't have clue, but when you find it let me know.
 
I'm originally from the south (southern MO, not southern IA) where poison Ivy seems to be the state flower. Once I get poison Ivy, there is no OTC medicine that will cure it, I have to go get the shot. It burns like hell, and hits the top 3 list of worst shots to get, but it clears me up in a few days. My worst year is 11 shots in 4 months.
 
Here is a good friend of mine Mr. Dallas Ft. Worth who got poison Ivy while filming me last year. This is what he looked like in less than 24 hrs. Needless to say i lost my cameraman for early season last year, as he got much worse from here.

ftworth.jpg
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Best thing I've found is poison ivy bar soap made by Bert's Bees. I wash with it as soon as I get home and it usually prevents a breakout. Even if it does happen though, it seems to dry it up and take away the itch in very short order. I don't contract poison ivy real easily but I've talked with others who do and pretty much everyone so far have reported similar good luck with the product.
 
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