I Itch......

[DianaB]

All spring while I worked on my flower bed I had to deal with mesquitos, biting flies, and slimy slugs! UGH!! Lately it's been chiggers!! Reuger and I have both been eaten up with chiggers! I absolutley HATE them and I'm planning on spraying the yard to get rid of them.

Now on top of the chigger and mosquitos.......I have poison ivy!!! I have spots of it on one ankle and across both wrists with spots here and there on one arm and I've got a few more than I had yesterday! I don't have any idea where I've gotten it from. I mowed the yard a couple of days ago and we do have a little bit in the yard but I don't know how it would have gotten on my wrists.......or sometimes I get it off of Glen's clothes if he's been in it really bad, but he says that he hasn't been in it lately. It itches just awful!!! I have little blisters of it and if they break open it can spread! Bummer!!!!! So I guess that I'm going to be lightly scrtach, scratch, scratching!!!!!!

[Janet]

Don't scratch at all, just lightly rub, but not with finger nails. You poor thing. I had poison oak once on my wrists and it was awful. I was pulling weeds and had long sleeves and gloves on but got it anyway. I know how miserable it can be. Take some Benedryl and put some Calamine lotion on it and DON'T SCRATCH!!! I'll be thinking of you my friend.

[judy]

Poor Diana! I feel for you. They say you're supposed to pee on it.

Maybe this will make you feel better.

You Tube

[Dobie]

Have you ever tried Apis Mell? It's a holistic itch release medicine - I swear by it whenever I have a bite or any type of itch.

[teri88]

Ouch! Thanks for reminding me why I never do yard work!

[DianaB]

Thanks for the song, Judy!! I can scratch while I'm listening to it!!! I'm certainly NOT going to pee on it either!!!! Actually, I haven't been scratching it because it's in the blister stage and if they pop it can spread.

I've never heard of Apis Mell. I'll have to check into that one. Thanks for letting me know though. I've been using Benedryl on it and it works for awhile.

I've had poison ivy twice really, really bad but when I was younger. They were both bad enough that I had to go and get a shot to help clear it up. At least I don't have it on my face. I usually make a swipe at my hair and end up with it on my face. I'll probably get it there before I'm finished though. I'm pretty good at spotting it so I really don't know what happened this time. I'll just blame it on hubby anyway!!!!!

Ok, I was wrong! I have it on BOTH ankles! It must still be breaking out! Bummer! Rub.......rub.....................rub............. ....

[gja1000]

GOJO hand cleaner (yes, the kind mechanics use) is great for poison ivy or any other kind of itchy thing! Sounds weird but true. Just rub a bit on - they make some GOJO with pumice. Rubbing the kind with pumice feels soooo good!

[Gina]

Diana hope that you feel better soon ..

[Janet]

Diana...could this be a Kodak moment????? You know how we...including yourself....love pictures.

[Forgivenmom5]

Hope you feel better Diana.

[Emmsmom]

ok Please don't laugh! LOL I had some kind of a skin rash that itched like crazy. It was all over my arms and my legs. I took everything under the sun for it and not much helped. I ended up taking benadryl and it helped out but then the doctor also told me to take Zantac (Ranitidine tablets) the acid reducer. She said that it also blocks certain antihistamines that other meds don't. I bought the walmart brand because it was so much cheaper. You can take the 75mg once or twice a day or you can take the 150mg once a day. I was surprised as to how well it worked!

I know this kinda sounds like a commercial LOL but it really did work for me! I hope you feel better soon.

[judy]

Diana,

Just googled poison ivy and prednisone seems to be the treatment of choice if it is bad enough. Cortisone cream also, if it's not that bad.

...and then, there are these cures: (I really do feel bad for you, but I thought a good laugh would cheer you up)

When I was growing up in Oregon, my buddies and I were always getting poison oak rashes. My father's "cure" was to "wash" us thoroughly in a blast of oxygen from one of his oxyacetylene cutting torches. (Did he burn it off?)


Every summer as a kid I always had a bad reaction to poison ivy. The one year I had it really bad all over my forearms my mother took me outside, sat me in a lawnchair and broke open all the blisters by scraping them rapidly with a wooden popsicle stick. She then poured rubbing alcohol all over my arms and made me sit in the sun for half an hour. I've never forgotten that horrible experience - but it worked.

Most might think this crazy but I have a friend that channels an angel. The angel Karael karael.com told me that when you get poisen oak etc. not all remedys work for everyone, because it depends on your body type acidic or alkaline. Myself he told me I was alkaline so to not eat rice, vinegar type foods,lemon juices,cider drinks, because these would increase itching.

I have had many rashes 14 16 in my lifetime. The only thing that I found that helped the itching was sleeping and crying.

This may sound realy gross but it works. Once poison ivy forms on your hand or forearm, pee on it. After the sting leaves wash with soap and water. This will prevent the itch and spreading of the ivy. If it starts to sting thats a good sign because that means that the urine is neutralizing the oils and itch. You maybe thinking "What a nut" or "Where did he get that idea?". Well when you're in the Armed Forces you can't run to a drug store or your doc. I thought that when the medic told me this he was on drugs or something. Believe me it does work. If you have any question ask your doctor.

A friend of mine recomended wd-40 on Poison Oak rashes so I tried it and the rash was gone within a day. He said the wd-40 has oil leaching properties which is why it works

I think I figured out how to help heal it. Vinegar and pennines. Place 40 pennies in one cup of vinegar and let sit for a day. The chemical reaction of copper and vinegar forms this liquid that drys it up very well. Works well!! (?????)

If your poison ivy is itching really bad, here is what you do. Grab a piece of steel wool and rub it vigorously until the rash starts to bleed. The irritant oil is embedded in the upper layer of skin, so if you remove that, problem is solved.

[Emmsmom]

Hun if you itch try to just rub around the area. It you pop the blisters it won't spread. I had 2 doctors and a pharmacist tell me the same thing. It all depends on where the oil touched the skin that will determine where you break out. So be sure and wash all shoes and socks and clothes that you touched when you caught it. You can get poison ivy months later if you touch somehting like a shovel or old gloves that still have the oil on them. About a year or so ago my husband and I got into a nasty patch of it and didn't realize it. I saw the oils and my skin and thought I had gotten into some kind of oil. Every place that the oil touched I broke out. As much as I scratched and as many blisters that I popped it never spread.


Here is a link with some F&Q's
http://www.poison-ivy.org/html/faq.htm

[Tink]

You can get the oil off clothes, so be sure to wash what ever you were wearing before you wear it again... jackets and such are often the culprit and the darn stuff stays on them for a year or more!

I use tea tree oil to get rid of the itch. Straight out of the bottle. It smells kinda funky, but is better than ripping my hide off itching. My allergy to the sun looks and feels VERY much like poison ivy rash, so I deal with it every spring/summer. Right now my nose and left forearm are broke out. I hate it!

[DianaB]

Wow! You guys came up with some really interesting remedies for poison ivy. I'm still gently rubbing and still have the blisters on some of it. I've just been keeping Hydrocortisone plus on it and it really seems to help. I just put it on when it starts itching again. If I had it a lot worse I'd be trying a lot of your ideas, except for the peeing on it! I'm not sure about that one!

As far as having poison ivy spread if a blister breaks....I have had it spread when I've had it bad enough and that's no fun! Poison ivy is also more potent at different times of the year. There are times that the oils are more likely to get on you than at other times.

The birds eat the berries and then they poop the seeds out. That's how it's getting started in my yard and around. I'm going to have to fill a sprayer and go after it!!! Maybe I'll wrap up like a mummy first.........