I can't be near Tecnu--stuff'll trigger a migraine faster than DH'll catch poison ivy from looking at a cat that walked through that corner of our yard. 

We buy old-fashioned lye soap from the hardware store and find that it does a darn good job.  Sometimes I buy the kind with jewelweed added. 

DS had a weird case of poison ivy this year.  Enough of an odd, non-localized reaction that I'm not pushing kiddo to undergo challenges for the mango family until he wants to do it.

Quote from: CMdeux on July 24, 2014, 12:15:17 PM
yet.

Your outer dermal layer is often THICKEST on the hands, and the skin turnover rate is highest in those areas, too-- plus, if you're like most FA families, hand-washing is a frequent feature of your life.

All of that combines to mean that the hands are probably one of the last places you'll see rashing.

This is the answer to that particular riddle. 

To my3guys, I'm curious, what is the answer to the poison ivy riddle on page 1?

Me, too, Mac.... me, too.

LOVE me a city vacation.

(And this is why I am absolutely crazy to think that even with a tecnu shampooing, that my DH can take our Brittany out hunting and not get ME into trouble... but it was a Really Really Big Deal for him.  A Marriage Breaking Kind of Big Deal.   So he will see for himself, I'll get a round of steroids and a trip to the ER out of things, and then we'll have a dog we can both live with.)

I am less scared of this plant, lol.

The Little Shop of Horrors (1986) - Feed Me, Seymour (Git It) - FULL

More powerwashing, total avoidance on DH's part, and then rebuilding it when I woke up one morning to find it listing to one side.  Yep, carpenter ants took care of it. 

This was during my "CAN WE JUST WALK AWAY FROM THIS HOUSE AND ABSORB THE LOSS" period, because I was ready to shoot myself due to the constant house-related disasters.

See, the way my phobia has developed, I avoid hiking altogether. give me NYC as a vacation option anytime. Any city or beach.  I used to be a Mountains person but am not anymore. Too scarred of poison plants.

GN how did you get the oil off your garage?

DH got it not from touching the plant itself, but from (and I swear this is true) touching the walls of the garage months after poison ivy vine had been removed from it, including a power wash.  The  previous owners liked the way it looked so they let it vine up and climb the garage.  You can't make this stuff up.

That's when we got our education on how long the oils can last.  That was DH's first and nastiest case.  He's had others since then, but has finally learned his lesson about covering up, then slathering himself in Tecnu and getting into the shower after yard work.  And listening to me when hiking when I tell him to avoid a particular area of the trail.   

I end up getting a steroid shot because the oral steroids aren't string enough right away.

I also end up throwing out a lot of clothes.  Ive found out the hard way that if something is not 100 percent cotton, the oils stick even after washing. So I just toss stuff instead. Terrible, but I've had cases where I was reinfecting myself because of a pair of pants.

Tecnu and domeboro astringent are your friend. Good luck!

CM, I think I have posted this somewhere here before, but my poison ivy history is similar to yours, but not quite the same.  When I was a kid, I got it worse and worse each time.  When I was in sixth grade, I woke one morning thinking I had gone blind.  My eyes had swollen shut. I had gone to bed with no symptoms, woke with it all over my body, face horribly swollen.  My parents rushed me to the doctor.  Looking back, they must have thought I could die, because my father took off work.  He never, ever did that because he did not get paid sick time, and was in danger of losing his job if he took and unpaid sick day.  The reason I had antihistamines is that I remember getting a benedryl shot at the doctor, and taking it orally until I recovered. 

This was in spring, and there were no leaves on the vines yet.  The doctor said that he frequently sees poison ivy cases at that time of year, because people don't recognize the vines, or don't realize they are as bad as the leaves. 

I was out if school for a while, and still looked horrible when I returned.  I was also still very itchy when I returned. 

The twist is I was exposed many more times as a child after that.  Pre-teen to teens are not always known for their good judgement, so I did not get as paranoid as you did.  But after that I never got it again for years. The only time after that in my life I got it s when I was using the weed whacker and hit a buch of poison ivy leaves.  I got the juice all over me, and broke out in those spots. 

yet.

Your outer dermal layer is often THICKEST on the hands, and the skin turnover rate is highest in those areas, too-- plus, if you're like most FA families, hand-washing is a frequent feature of your life.

All of that combines to mean that the hands are probably one of the last places you'll see rashing.

Yikes CM and Mac that sounds brutal!  While he has gotten more patches, it hasn't gotten out of control.

Here's a poison ivy riddle for you: he touched the leaves with his hands, but didn't get any on his hands???

And really-- second-gen antihistamines may not be the best for this particular job.  My best results are actually with the short-acting first gens that are not as common now; chlorpheniramine is THE BOMB for me personally with urushiol-induced reactivity.

Like Mac, I have a genuine phobia of the stuff-- I've had (no, really) systemic reactions to it-- requiring steroids and even epinephrine once as a kid.  The example of the "really, really awful" rashes on this site?  Yeah-- I've had those covering as much as 80% of my body.  I'm SERIOUSLY phobic.  I spent my sixteenth birthday looking like a scalded pufferfish, and it wasn't the worst case I'd ever had.  I regularly develop rashes on the 'mild' side just from community contact with the oil-- it's the reason why I am super-aware of where I rest my bare arms/legs and why I never, ever use pens provided at the grocery store/doctor's office.  I carry my own.  I'm that paranoid (er-- or maybe it's just that I'm that sensitive).



http://poisonivy.aesir.com/view/fastfacts.html

http://poisonivy.aesir.com/view/welcome.html


I have scarring on my legs from that case when I was 16.  I even had a black spot from a location of oxidized lacquer (urushiol) the size of a quarter, which is evidently so unusual that it has been featured in medical journals.    The ONLY way that I could sleep for nearly three weeks was to wrap myself in a damp sheet like a mummy. 

I began breaking into the rash about 2hr after exposure-- and the problem is that once the oil is locked onto the skin cells, there's little that can be done to get it OFF.  Great, right?  Yay!  I have a super-potent allergen fused to me...  EEK!!    That's why these reactions can last SO darned long-- basically, the effected skin has to turn over.   If you are one of the truly unlucky (like me), then you tend to react systemically, with angiodema and other bells and whistles of anaphylaxis.  Let's just say that "protracted anaphylaxis" was nothing new to me.   


(See the rash photo of the man's lower leg and ankle toward the bottom of the page? Yeah-- like THAT.  THAT is what any urushiol exposure means for me, personally.  Phobic?  Well, I think it's just prudent.)

You ladies are good!  I did find the Technu at RiteAid, and used the soap and the anti-itch spray on him last night.  Now going through trying to think of all spots to decontaminate. Yikes! It started over a week ago (she types while starting to develop a twitch).  I didn't realize or know this info on poison ivy.  I didn't think of the booster seat, another place, thanks for mentioning that.

After Technu, it doesn't seem any worse today. No new spots so far. Fingers crossed, Clorox wipes out!  Thanks again!!

I agree with washing everything that may have the oil on it.  Oatmeal baths may feel soothing.  Also, if he is not already on an antihistamine, that can help as well.