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Poison Ivy relief

R

River1

New Member
I've been allergic to ivy for most of my life. When I was a kid and not smart enough to give it space I developed skin reactions so bad that I had to be treated by physicians. I still seem to battle it a few times a year minimal. I swear I can contract it just by being within 10 yards of it. Knowing how to identify it is not a gaurantee.



Anyhow, just thought I'd let those in the same boat know that a fairly new (at least I think it's new) prescription medication called "Elidel" works wonders on ivy reactions. The best med I've used.
 
I feel your pain brotha. I can DRIVE by it and get it. I get it 2 times a year setting up bow shoots for the local club. My problem is I think I will avoid it "this" time. Never the case. I just was getting a handle on the Poison Ivy when the Poison Oak showed up on the other arm. I get a steriod shot that helps a great deal but not a cure all. I had it so bad one time they thought I had 2nd degree burns on my legs......treated with silvadine cream and worked wonders. I will mark that name down for sure. Thanks for the help.
 
Rudd, didn't you an Vman get it pretty good down in TX or just Vman? That place never ofers releif from the darn stuff. it is out in full bore year round.
 
There is a new product out that works well for contact poison ivy/oak/sumac rashes. It is the only know substance bond to and wash the oil(urishiol) away from the skin. Often it provides relief within 30 seconds. Its called Zanfel and is over the counter. However, it does cost around 30$. The rash may begin to disappear within a couple hours.
Check it out. Worth it IMO.
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RBB-
I might add that you are only treating the symptoms (preventing/slowing the bodys immune reaction to the oil) when you use the elidel. Give this new product a try, it actually removes the irritant. I have only had a little feedback from patients, but it has all been positive so far.
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DOR, isn't that recommended by Paul Harvey? Also if I recall correctly you have something to do with pharmaceutical (yes I used spell check) sales. Sounds like you need some field testing for that stuff.
Shred, I did not get it in TX......I was to busy cowering in the corner from them Scorpions you boys terrified me with.
 
Don't know about Paul Harvey? I am a Pharmacist though. Usaully old Paul will reccommend something name brand that can be had at hslf the price generically. Don't think much of his medical expertise.
 
I'll second DOR's opinion. If you can beat it to the real reaction stage great- if not steroids, topical & systemic if really bad. I just got a bad case of wild parsnip burn from mowing & didn't realize in time I had splattered some on myself.
 
Pharmer brings up a plant that I don't think the public is well educated on. I think I have become hyper-sensitize to wild parsnip. I knew I had been in contact with it cleaning out a plugged mower conditioner on a very hot steamy day about 6 years ago. It required steriods to calm it down. If I hadn't know what I had been in contact with, the doctor would have called it ivy contact dermatitis, but I convinced him I knew what I was exposed to. He got out a textbook and it was a good lesson for the med students on his rotation that day. Didn't really matter whether it was ivy or parsnip in the end, as the treatment was the same. I'm not sure how the topical ointments will work, as the mechanism of action of parsnip is a little different from ivy. I think ivy sets off an allergic reaction, where the parsnip sap turns into a toxic compound with exposure to uv light. It seems I get into the parsnip at least once a year while having it blown on me while mowing. I can sympathize with anyone suffering from ivy OR parsnip.
 
o now you have to be kidding? another "effen" weed to look out for? what the hell is wild parsnip?
 
Yeah Teeroy, wild parsnip is EVERYWHERE! Drive down the interstate and look for a light green plant that has a yellow "umbrell" flower. Pastinaca sativa (sp) is the scientific name. Do a google.com image search for it. When you see it, you'll most likely recoginze it. Smashing the plant and getting the juice on you will cause problems. It will spread with sweat. I have heard that fewer people are immune to it than ivy. Bummer
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Wild Parsnip....yup, I learned what that plant is the hard way. I can roll around in poision ivy and not get it, but wild parsnip "nipped" me in the butt a couple of years ago. It was a hot and sticky day and I thought I would get out the big Still weed eater and clean-up the road ditch next to the mail box. VERY BAD IDEA ! Lucky for me I was wearing blue jeans instead of shorts. This stuff will bubble your skin like you had a fight with your fish cooker.
 
Ghost- Perfect description of the bubbled skin as a fight with the fish cooker.
I'd have to review old notes but I don't think it is possible to be "immune" to parsnip because it isn't an alergic type reaction. UV light combined with the juice on your skin is a phototoxic process. I think I was ok running the brush hog, it was the weed eater by the shed that got me. Didn't have the sense to be wearing jeans(shorts & work boots) but am glad I had my shirt on.
 
This spring I was runnig the weed eater wearing jeans, long sleeve shirt, totally protected I thought. Some parsnip found it's way inside my shirt. I had a trail of burns from the top where it entered, then a huge patch as it got caught at the belt line and ground around awhile as I mowed. I think I'll retire the weed eater and opt for 2-4D.
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I have good luck using tecnu skin cleanser for Poison Oak and Ivy as long as I use it within a couple hours after weed eating, mowing, putting up stands etc. This also cleanses the Urushiol from the skin. I also wipe anything I touch down with it. I also have used IVY Block before exsposure with good results but this is a clay based blocker that isn't very comfortable to have on your skin. Both can be bought at Target, Wal Mart, etc.
 
I can't help much with the relief, but I have had my share of cortisone shots over the years. I have now sworn revenge.
In the winter, when I am shed hunting etc, I carry a folding saw, and sever any vine, growing on a tree that I find. In the spring turkey hunting, any infestation I find, gets a liberal dose of "Roundup". I can't guarantee you won't get it, but I haven't gotten in the winter yet. The darn stuff must not have much of a root system, as merely cutting it close to the ground will kill it. Rarely I have had it shoot new vine. If you hunt the same area, after a few years, there should be a lot less of it around
 
I am the uncrowned king of the poison ivy sufferers. If I even think I came with in 10 feet of either poison ivy or five finger ivy (virginia creeper) I scrub the area with Go Joe or any waterless grease cutting hand cleaner. It is cheaper than the drug store stuff and it works. There are times when I get a break out of poison ivy that I swear I haven't been anywhere near the stuff. Then I get powerd laundry detergent and scrub the rash area with a thick paste and as hot a water as you can stand. Leave the paste on till it drys some and rinse it off. This does help. Doesn't clear it up immediately but it shortens the time you have the rash, plus it makes you think you are doing something to fight back. I have found that once I get the rash I'm gonna have it for around three weeks, one week to peak break out, one week of sustained maximum break out and one week of clearing up.

Last fall I has hanging a tree stand. I knew there was a vine on the tree and thought I had it all pulled down, but due to brush and small trees on the back side of the tree I didn't see the other vine. I reached around the tree to grab the strap and in so doing absolutly ground the stuff into my right forearm. My arm swelled up to twice its size, I was sicker than a dog and even got sent home from work because of the oozing. This is the one time when the Go Joe and Tide didn't help. I mean I was bleeding from where I ground the vine into my skin.

There are even cases where smoke inhaled from a camp fire has gotten into lungs and caused a reaction. There are folks who come into the ER every winter with a rash that they think is Shingles, nope, poison ivy from carrying firewood. Course they won't belive me, but I know poison ivy rashes when I see 'em.

Freakin stuff. Crossbow, 24d and/or tordon 22k, great equalizers in the fight against the ivy group.

The 'Bonker
 
For several years just pryor to the spring bloom I would get a series of 3 shots from the Doc to help prevent poison ivy. Then one year I went in to get my shot and they told me they could not give me the shots due to the fact that they were unable to get the medicine anymore. I've never found a Doc that's had the stuff since. I don't know why but I sure wish I could get those shots. They worked great.

Now it's Tecnu and doing my best to avoid the stuff.
 
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