Poison Ivy

[kalli007]

Well after a long weekend working in the yard I am now waiting for a 3 oclock Dr appt to get a steroid shot for my head to toe poison ivy.........

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[Earth_First]

1. Ivy Dry

As someone who works in the landscape/forestry industry; I am never without a readily available supply of this stuff.

As somoeone who goes through 3-6 nasty bouts with Poison Ivy annually; I swear by this stuff.

Usually I can knock out a good bout of it within 3-5 days.

on edit: I use the pump spray formula

http://www.ivydry.com/

[kalli007]

2. I have some! Left over from the last bought of poison ivy...

Woke up at 2 am and sprayed myself......does it actually help cure the rash or just stop the itch?

[Earth_First]

3. Both, actually...

It contains benzyl alcohol, camphor and menthol and dries out the rash pronto!

Good luck with the injection; I've only had to have it once when I was much younger.

[bluedigger]

5. Used to be good stuff.

I found a couple of new products that worked better for me. Teknu works pretty well. http://www.teclabsinc.com/store/poison-oak-ivy/tecnu-extreme

My favorite product lately has been Zanfel. http://www.zanfel.com/help/
It's pretty expensive, but worth it.

[Earth_First]

6. I'll have to look into Zanfel...

I'm always on the lookout for a better poison ivy treatment.

So far, the aforementioned has been the best solution for me anyways...

Thanks for the suggestion!

[bluedigger]

7. It's OTC but you may have to ask the pharmacist for it.

It's too expensive to put out on the shelf in a lot of drugstores - $30 for a small tube. But worth it.

[Earth_First]

8. There's no cost too great in this department. n/t

[bluedigger]

10. + 1,000,000

[LiberalEsto]

4. Get better soon!

[Arkansas Granny]

9. I have to stay far away from that stuff. It's been about 3 years now since my last bout.

I learned an old folk remedy from an old man who had lived back in the hills all his life. The first time I met him I had a case of poison oak. He told me that I needed to apply some "white clay mud" to that and it would take the itch out. I was a little skeptical, but a few days later he brought some to me that he had dug up at a place he knew. According to him, you mix a little bit of the clay with water until it forms a thin paste and then apply it to the infected area.

Well, I tried it and it worked better than the medication I had gotten from the doctor. I continued to take my prescriptions, but I used the clay to relieve the itch. It had to be reapplied several times a day and it looked like I had used calamine lotion on it, but, hey, no side effects (most no-itch medication makes me sleepy). I have given little chunks of that clay to other people and they got the same results.

[talkingmime]

11. I don't recall poison ivy ever affecting me, but my wife and kids get really bad reactions.

When one of my daughters was little, she got it so bad that her face looked Mongoloid - to the extent that we took her to the emergency room. It was a little scary. The only thing that really makes me swell up is barberry thorns. I had to rip out a row of them that a previous owner had planted. They're pretty, but nasty.

[dr.strangelove]

12. I feel your pain

I get it bad at least once a season. I have the doc call in a 7 day steroid program for me. It usually does the trick. Never had the shot.