poison ivy
 

I can in a night seat up my blind in a spot and on my way out i relized i had been seting in a patch of poision ivy tryed calamine loition and ivy dry ONLY one day on the ivy-dry but it still spreading anyone have any other idea on a cure ?
i had it for about 7 day's and about to carve it off my skin with my knife [:@]

RE: poison ivy
 

You may need to talk to your Doctor! Don't scratch it. Keep using the calamine it has never let me down, but then again mine didn't keep on spreading. If it was all over your clothes you might have picked up more from doing laundry. I used to have to wash all my hunting clothes b/c my Mom was so alergic to the stuff she would catch it from the laundry. Hope this helps.

RE: poison ivy
 

You need to keep "tecnu" outdoor skin cleaner, by "oak-n-ivy" in your vest pocket - you can use it in the field to remove the oil fron the poison ivy (or oak or sumac) and you won't even break-out! . This is great stuff carried by wildland firefighters. In your case now, use "oak-n-ivy" "CalaGel" it's great stuff available at most drugstores - it will relieve the itch and start to dry up the blisters. I'm using it now - even as I type! Good Luck!

RE: poison ivy
 

I usually use bleach.

RE: poison ivy
 

i use oatmeal baths and oak and ivy and i rub softly when i scratch, if i have too.......wash all of yor clothes , etc....my sister loaned me a pair of shoes to wear for 5 minutes one day...the next thing i knew i was covered.....hope you feel better soon;)

RE: poison ivy
 

These products are good when you first come into contact or to help prevent getting it, but if you've had it for 7 days it should be drying up by now. If not, go to the Dr and get a steroid shot. It'll knock it out fast.

RE: poison ivy
 

Hurry to the pharmacy and get some ZANFEL!!
It's a gritty soap you wash with and it works. It's high, but available over the counter. $35 when I bought mine last spring. It keeps poison ivy from coming up if you wash after exposure, and arrests it in it's tracks if it's coming up when you use it. Stops itching too.
It's a small tube but I've used it a half dozen times and have a half a tube left and I swear by it. Heard about it on Paul Harvey radio news show.

RE: poison ivy
 

Good advice from everyone so far. Just to clear up a misconception... The rash does not actually "spread". It may be up to 10 days before ALL the rash develops, but everywhere you get the rash, you have come in direct contact with the oil. The only way you can spread a poison ivy rash is to spread the oil -- by touching contaminated clothing, pets, smoke, ect. The fluid in the blisters is sterile and does NOT contain anything that can spread the rash. The danger of scratching is the chance of starting an infection. I know that doesn't help with your present situation, but maybe it can help the next time.

RE: poison ivy
 

If you have it real bad lotions of any kind will just not cut it. My experience about 10 years ago resulted in getting it severely over a lot of my body. When I finaly went to the doctor she told me there are 2 ways to deal with poison ivy - one is with a pea shooter (lotions) the other is with a canon and she said you (me) need the canon. I was given an injection which I believe was some type of steroid and it promptly cleared it up. Unfortunately once you get it bad you're very more supseptible to getting it again at least for a period of the next 3 or 4 years. Good luck. gg.

RE: poison ivy
 

kerr,

Yes, as most have said, if you have it covering a large portion of your skin then definitely go get a steroid shot.

Secondly, take some over the counter Claritin. It will produce antihistamine and will relieve a large portion of the itch for about 20 hours (24 hour tabs).

Third, I've found that Calagel just doesn't cut it, at least not for a long enough period personally. I prefer Benadryl gel, designed specifically for poison oak/ivy type itches. Works for about 4 hours on really bad itches.

Finally, it should be clearing up. BUT, if you take a really HOT shower or wrap the itchy spots with a very hot towel (and I mean hot, like right out of the microwave) you will induce a very large amount of histamine. Initially you will get about a 30 second incredible itching/tingling sensation from the release, but then you should be itch free for about 2-4 hours. I found this really helped before bed...

Good luck...

S&R