Calm My Poison Ivy Woes

Well, I'm week 2 into Poison Ivy. I had to get the cortisone shot twice and I'm on steroids for the second time. I knew I might have been exposed while working in the yard, but did not do research washing etiquette prior.

Supposedly you are suppose to spray your exposed body with rubbing alcohol, then take a cold shower, then wash with dish soap.

Anyways, I took a cold shower using regular soap. Then I put on a new pair of jeans.

Unfortunately, I am wearing those "new" jeans today. I don't think I ever washed them. I'm praying that it does not have any more of that awful urushiol oil on it.

What are the chances that I still had oil on my skin that came off on those jeans?

Yeah. I'm freaking paranoid. You would be too if you had it as bad as I did. For the record, the poison ivy was worse on my arms than my legs.

Mike

This isn't going to help...

If you're as sensitive to poison ivy as it sounds, those jeans were probably a bad idea.

I would think that you'd be itching and swelling up like crazy by now if there were any oils on the pants. RDWDSYS

I have no reaction to poison ivy.

Does that help?

Srsly, that sounds like hell. Sorry dude...

It's finally getting better too. I was half way in on the 45 minute commute when I realized.

EvilTOJ said:

I would think that you'd be itching and swelling up like crazy by now if there were any oils on the pants. RDWDSYS

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RDWDSYS? I don't know that one.:cross:

Relax, Don't Worry, Don't Scratch YourSelf.

Or in Evan!s case, Relax, Don't Worry, Don't Scratch Your Scrotum.

I just got over about 4 weeks of infected poison ivy, and I know it sucks. My leg was swollen, blistered, and red for what seems like forever. I don't think the jeans after that amount of time should be a problem.

Hermish said:

I just got over about 4 weeks of infected poison ivy, and I know it sucks. My leg was swollen, blistered, and red for what seems like forever. I don't think the jeans after that amount of time should be a problem.

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Unfortunately, I don't think time has anything to do with it. From what I read, oil can remain on a surface for years. I'm starting to think that I'm overly paranoid though. If there was any oil that got on the jeans after the shower, it would be so small, that it would not be enough to cause a reaction. We'll see in 24 hours unless the reaction is instantaneous like some have suggested. Heh.

Buy this stuff called Zanfel (sp?) it is about $50 for an ounce and they sell it at most RX stores. You rub it in and it feels like sandpapper scratching your skin. After you let it set for a minute then your rinse it off once again it feels like sandpaper. This stuff draws the poison out of your skin and it works great. :rockin: I get poison ivy every year and keep this stuff in the rx cabinet all the time. Anytime a med tells me to rub my poison ivy and it feels good I am going to stick with that stuff for years!


SD

*snore*

Huh, wha>? Did someone say "Poison Ivy 2"?

njnear76 said:

Well, I'm week 2 into Poison Ivy. I had to get the cortisone shot twice and I'm on steroids for the second time. I knew I might have been exposed while working in the yard, but did not do research washing etiquette prior.

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I'm in your shoes too. Just had a shot on Mon to calm down some PI.

Here's the truth;

1. Urushiol is absorbed in minutes. After 15 minutes, the damage is done. Further measures are only to remove the oils so as to prevent further spreading.
2. Forget the alcohol. It will thin the oils and spread them deeper/faster.
3. Cold water is good. It does not dissolve oils as well, but causes the skin to contract and close the pores.
4. Use a good soap, work quickly from top down, and lather up/rinse several times. Think like you got doused with motor oil and need to get it all off before putting on a nice tuxedo. Throw away the soap and the rag.
5. If you showered well, your new jeans are fine. Your infection was a done deal before you ever showered. (see #1).
6. Forget all the calamine, bleach, bluestone, etc. Fast acting antihistamines (benedryl) are your friend.
7. If the oil is gone, scratching does not spread the infection. Contrary to popular belief, the blisters DO NOT contain any oil.
8. If it's bad, go ahead and get the shot. It can cut the misery time to 1/3
9. Only humans and some primates are allergic to PI.

And Big #10: Non-allergic people should avoid PI as well. Being non-allergic to PI is NOT a lifelong condition. It can change at any age and often does with life changes like puberty and child birth (it's an immune response). Each time your body is exposed, and depending on how much exposure you get, your bodies level of sensitivity rises. When it passes some invisible threshold, you become allergic. i.e. You may not get it this time, but next time you may. IMPORTANT: Many of the worst cases of poison ivy recorded are people who were once immune and waded into a big patch without fear. Only to find that they have passed that magic threshold and are now in the hospital unable to see.

pldoolittle. Great information. PI is the worst. My wife does not even want to touch me.

The only thing good that came out of it is that I'll never have to pull weeds out of our flower beds again. Wait.... Who am I kidding? My wife rarely keeps her promises.

Anyways, I can't believe how much PI was growing on our .15 lot. It's everywhere. Under the deck, along the fence, growing on the house. I sprayed most of it and uprooted the stuff growing on the house. That's how I got it. Even though I was wearing gloves, and I hosed myself off, it was already too late.

I'm wondering though. Is there any product that will dissolve the oil on the plant so that it would be safer to uproot. I plan on letting the wife remove it since she claims to be immune using the garbage bag trick along with wearing long sleeves, pants, gloves, and rubber gloves. Most likely, this would involve pruning shears, which would need to be cleaned off.

I dont think this is the right thing to do but when i was a kid i was mildly allergic to PI so when i would get it on my legs or arms i would go into the shower and take a hot shower and just scrub the holy living S#it out of it. nothing feels better. maybe that gets the oil out but it would never itch after that or spread. But in your case i think that would be crazy... its probably crazy anyways!

njnear76 said:

Anyways, I can't believe how much PI was growing on our .15 lot. It's everywhere. Under the deck, along the fence, growing on the house. I sprayed most of it and uprooted the stuff growing on the house.

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Birds eat PI berries and poop little ready made PI pellets (fertilizer and all) Keep some roundup mixed and kill it as soon as you see it sprout. If you EVER see a fuzzy/hairy vine on a tree, know that's its probably PI. If you see a large PI vine up a tree with berries. That's the mothership... Kill it even it its in your neighbors yard. I don't even ask anymore. If I see PI, it dies.

njnear76 said:

That's how I got it. Even though I was wearing gloves, and I hosed myself off, it was already too late.

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Wear double gloves. Take off one set, then the other. Also, get some "Ivy Block" and use it. Wear disposable clothes or don't let it touch your clothes. If it does, wash in hot water with lots of soap and bleach. Run an empty load (soap and bleach) before washing clean clothes. If the clothes get it bad, trash 'em.

If you make contact, stop what you are doing and go wash. You only have 1-3 minutes before it's a done deal. For what I understand, Urushiol is actually good for the skin and it absorbs it readily (like lanolin). Once absorbed, the cells break it down into stuff they need, and waste products. The particular waste products make the cell look like some particular invader (virus, bacteria) and your bodies immune systems attacks the cells. The rash and subsequent itching is the battle.

njnear76 said:

I'm wondering though. Is there any product that will dissolve the oil on the plant so that it would be safer to uproot.

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No. Urushiol remains active on any surface for 5+ years. Round up will help as the plant withers and dries up as it dies, but the dead plant is still capable of getting you.

njnear76 said:

I plan on letting the wife remove it since she claims to be immune using the garbage bag trick along with wearing long sleeves, pants, gloves, and rubber gloves. Most likely, this would involve pruning shears, which would need to be cleaned off.

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Remember what I said about immune people. Even immune people should take all precautions to help maintain their immunity.

Don't cut it. Poison it, let it died, and pull it out whole. The less breakage the less oil is released. When I find a plan in a weird spot (i.e. playground) I use a plastic bag and put it over my hand and pick it, turning the bag inside out (like it's dog crap)

When I was a kid I was doing some tree work which involved shimmying up a tree and cutting off some vines. Well I found out a day later that those vines were old dead poison ivy vines. My whole body was covered for over a week, and when I say my whole body, I mean it. It even got in my mouth.

I used to get it real bad as a kid. So my dad took me to get a vaccination for it (they actually make (made?) this). Only problem is the shot was almond-oil based, so the needle was as thick as a pencil (well, not really, but it was thick!). I hardly ever got it since then. My Great Grandmother nearly died from it as a girl (like 100 years ago) by burning a pile of weeds, etc. that contained a fair amount of PI (inhalation). She actually got the poison ivy rash in her respiratory system.

Hope you have a speedy recovery!

I used to get what I thought was poison ivy, and even doctors mis-diagnosed me and told me I had poison ivy. We have a ton of wild or "poison" parsnip. Its nasty stuff and I have been getting into it for the last 5 years, never knowing what it was and always thinking it was poison ivy that was getting me. I am getting over my 4th case of it this year and only found out 2 days after I got it this last time what it was. Now I know what it is, its EVERYWHERE around here! Sounds like someone is pulling your leg when its called poison parsnip, but its definitely no joke!

Man my FIL handed me a pair of work gloves a few months back when we were doing a project. Turns out (I theorize anyway) that those were probably the gloves he was using when he cut down a vine that was about 4" thick. He got it really bad. Anyway, a few days later I had it all over my hands and I am wicked careful to avoid Poison Ivy. I am in the woods all the time and don't get it because I am constantly looking out for it.

PT934 said:

I used to get what I thought was poison ivy, and even doctors mis-diagnosed me and told me I had poison ivy. We have a ton of wild or "poison" parsnip. Its nasty stuff and I have been getting into it for the last 5 years, never knowing what it was and always thinking it was poison ivy that was getting me. I am getting over my 4th case of it this year and only found out 2 days after I got it this last time what it was. Now I know what it is, its EVERYWHERE around here! Sounds like someone is pulling your leg when its called poison parsnip, but its definitely no joke!

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I think you can also get Photosensitivity from that iirc.

zoebisch01 said:

Man my FIL handed me a pair of work gloves a few months back when we were doing a project. Turns out (I theorize anyway) that those were probably the gloves he was using when he cut down a vine that was about 4" thick. He got it really bad. Anyway, a few days later I had it all over my hands and I am wicked careful to avoid Poison Ivy. I am in the woods all the time and don't get it because I am constantly looking out for it.

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Wait a second... Do you get along with your father-in-law? That's evil!

njnear76 said:

Wait a second... Do you get along with your father-in-law? That's evil!

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Actually we do quite well, but he was convinced he didn't get the stuff and was touching the vine and all. I know he didn't realize the oils can stay in the clothing.

I was on a hike with a friend once in early spring and we were walking through this 'field of branches'. I looked down at one point and realized it was a field of Poison Ivy plants, thigh-high as far as the eye could see! They hadn't leafed out yet, but you can still get the oil off the vines, especially if you cut them.

When I was on a friend's property in Abaco, Bahamas I was out on a hike and noticed some 'trees' that had cuts in the side and were darkening. I was curious and must have touched one because well the next day or so I got a very similar reaction to Poison Ivy. Turns out they were Poison Wood and the gardener had made cuts in the bark to kill them. The messed up thing is that they don't hurt you until the bark is damaged. . My friend wasn't happy with the gardener (he hadn't told anyone). But it was my own fault for wandering around in the jungle though.

I hope you recover well! I'd rather have plenty of stitches, the Flu or several other things rather than get Poison Ivy. I am on a quest to eradicate it from my property!

zoebisch01 said:

I hope you recover well! I'd rather have plenty of stitches, the Flu or several other things rather than get Poison Ivy. I am on a quest to eradicate it from my property!

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Thanks. I'm almost recovered now. I felt so good yesterday that I even brewed.

Brew day went well until I discarded my spent grains in the trash. Flimsy trash bag broke and I had to dump the garbage can into a new trash bag. Guess what was at the bottom of the trash can? Freaking poison ivy; Discarded there by my loving wife.

I nearly lost it. I covered it was a trash bag and continued scooping back into the new trash bag. Then I scrubbed myself down head to toe with the hose and some dish detergent. My words were not kind to the wife.