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| Celtic Radio Community > The Jester's Court > Poison Ivy |
| Posted by: birddog20002001 21-Apr-2004, 10:27 AM |
| I spent the last few days out in the yard working, we bought the house this past winter and the guy we got it from didn't take good care of the yard, so I have been pulling the poison ivy down off of the trees hand over fist, there wass enough to kill 4 10 inch locust trees even with shirt, hat, pants, gloves and rubbing alcohol I still got a little on my arms and legs which as long as you can not scratch it wont get you so bad. Ah I love spring |
| Posted by: tsargent62 21-Apr-2004, 10:50 AM |
| My brother is a wildlife biologist, avid hunter, the whole "Great American Outdoorsman" thing. He is allergic to poison ivy. He doesn't even have to touch it. He just walks near it and he's got it. Poor guy suffers a lot in the summer. |
| Posted by: birddog20002001 21-Apr-2004, 10:59 AM |
| i spent 6 years in the Army in the South and 4 years Surveying here in the North Carolina mountains. I got it every year several times a year. I would be in a field with it growing everywhere to above my waist. Here in my yard some of the vines are thicker than my wrist. |
| Posted by: Crowned1 21-Apr-2004, 11:54 AM |
| Yuck! Poison Ivy is terrible!! I had it all the time when I was little and would spend all my free time in the woods with my brothers. I even had it in my eye once. My one brother never seemed to get it though... lucky boy! |
| Posted by: birddog20002001 21-Apr-2004, 12:03 PM |
| When I was young I got it in both my eyes, and on my hands really all over my body, my eyes would swell shut while I slept and after being awake about 10 hours they whould start to look almost normal but soon it would be time for sleep again. My hands I couldn't close they were so swollen and the skin was pulled so tight. My mom didn't have health insurance so I just had to suffer. This was the worst that I have ever had it but not much worse. In the past few years I have learned not to scratch. But it is still best to just cut your nails short just incase. |
| Posted by: Annabelle 21-Apr-2004, 12:40 PM |
| I am so allergic to posion ivy that you can just write the words on a piece of notebook paper and I'll break out. Down in Pensacola where I grew up, the poision ivy oil was in the dirt. Everytime I tried to help out in the garden I would break out with it and mom would have to take me to the Dr and get a shot immediately or I'd swell up to the point I couldn't see. So I only cut grass on a 5610 diesel tractor now. No gardening in flower beds either...isn't worth the pain. |
| Posted by: kidclaymore 21-Apr-2004, 02:26 PM | ||
Birddog get some Ivy Rest cream, if they have it there, it works real well and I think its better than Calamine lotion. Its also clear and doesn't smell bad so you can wear it where ever you go. Poison ivy usually lasts 14 days, if you don't keep getting reinfected. I usually go to my Dr. and get a shot of cortisone and its gone in two days. good luck. Kid |
| Posted by: birddog20002001 21-Apr-2004, 02:42 PM |
| I usually don't put anything on it except a little rubbing alcohol. I don't even bother with calamine anymore unless it is really bad. I usually feel better after about 5 days or so, Alot of the old timers around here used to pick a small leaf in the spring and eat one every few days for about 2 weeks they say the body builds a tolerance to the ivy I say damn that. They aslo used to market an extract of poison ivy for consumption. I had one friend in highschool when he was young 5-8ish he got into it real bad his dad (a certifiable fool and not the good kind) told him to go out and eat a few leaves well he did and got it down his throat and ended up in the hospital |
| Posted by: Annabelle 21-Apr-2004, 03:13 PM |
| Better yet birddog go get a shot on your butt! |
| Posted by: Herrerano 21-Apr-2004, 03:28 PM |
| The oil from poison ivy is an acidic type oil, if one knows that he has been in contact with poison ivy the best thing to do is immediatly wash with soap and warm water, or even better would be wash with laundry detergent. Laundry detergent (the cheaper the better) is formulated with a high alkaline content that should help neutralize the poison ivy oil. Long ago when I was working hard and often in poison ivy my remedy was to immediatly slap on some wet concrete as soon as the little blisters would appear. They immediatly stopped itching and start to dry up, of course depending on the amount of concrete one slaps on it would be advisable not to go swimming.  Leo  |
| Posted by: Randy 21-Apr-2004, 03:32 PM |
| I used to work for the town I grew up in for the Parks Department and we used to get Poison Ivy all the time. The director of our department at the time told use there was a shot State employees could get that would prevent Poison Ivy for 1 year, unfortunately for what every reason we could not get it, so we stayed miserable all summer. Nothing worse that a 90 degree day chain sawing trees with PI all over it and you already have it over you entire body (((. Actually I would not have traded those days for anything. Maybe the shot is available to everyone now ???? Our cure when we got it was to rub it with a credit card and pour bleach on it. I did not say it was smart but it killed it in a day. |
| Posted by: Crowned1 21-Apr-2004, 03:43 PM |
| I hear that it takes 48 hours for the rash to develop, and if you wash with a strong anti-grease soap, like Dawn dishwashing liquid, after you have been hiking or gardening in the woods then you will be ok. This has worked so far for me! Also, it must be mentioned that no one should ever ever burn Posion Ivy. The chemical irritant can get into the air and be inhalled. Posion Ivy in the lungs can be very dangerous, let alone uncomfortable! ~Crowned One |
| Posted by: gettin-away 21-Apr-2004, 05:50 PM |
| Fortunately, I have never had a problem with poison ivy and considering how many years I have literally crawled through the stuff it's a good thing. And with all the years I've spent outdoors I have become immune to mosquitos also. Another plus.....but bees and hornets are my fear. I've been stung a total of three times and with each sting the results are much worse. After the last time I was stung the doctor told that I should be prepared for a trip to the hospital on the next one. I now carry an Epinephrine injector in my car and on my person while outdoors. I also tell whoever is with me what needs to be done if I'm stung. It drives my brother crazy, we were camping one year and had a bear pass by our tent so close it's shoulder was pressed against the tent side right above our heads. After it left I rolled over and went right back to sleep. The next day we were near a bee hive and I freaked. gettin-away |
| Posted by: Annabelle 21-Apr-2004, 05:52 PM |
| I know cornstarch baths and aveeno in the bathtub sometimes helps if you get it really bad. |
| Posted by: maisky 22-Apr-2004, 04:07 PM |
When we lived in North Georgia (pronounced jo ja), my 12 year old daughter hung out in the woods a lot. One day she needed to use the restroom, so she did it in the woods. Guess what the TP was......You can imagine how unhappy she was for some days after.  |
| Posted by: Annabelle 23-Apr-2004, 10:34 AM |
| Ouch! Ouch! Double Ouch! |
| Posted by: tsargent62 23-Apr-2004, 10:40 AM |
| That makes me squirm just thinking about it. YEEEEEOUCH!!! |
| Posted by: Annabelle 23-Apr-2004, 10:43 AM |
| Tsargent you like to squirm and shake it every chance you get . |
| Posted by: tsargent62 23-Apr-2004, 10:46 AM | ||
Busted. |
| Posted by: Blue_Rogue 23-Apr-2004, 01:03 PM |
| My wife was working in the yard last weekend, yep, I'm sleeping on the couch this week. But, I found this, in case anyone is interested; www.sumactin.com They claim to get rid of the rash in 12 hours!!!! |
| Posted by: PulsarianHSs 24-Apr-2004, 12:42 PM |
| During my years in England, I never encountered poison ivy (good thing, considering the first time I had it they tried to put me on steroids for it), but they have something almost as bad over there called "seven minute/year itch" or "stinging nettle". If you touch it, it puts these little stinging hairs in your fingers that act rather like fibre-glass... they itch worse than most things you can imagine, and the more you rub at them, the deeper they go. Pretty much the only antidote is rubbing the site of the sting with dock leaves, because soap and water don't always work. Once, I was working in the garden, and absently reached for some mint on which to chew. I was wearing gloves because I was pulling up a thistle, so I didn't know until too late that what I had grasped was seven-minute itch, not mint. Has anyone ever encountered poison ivy in England? If it's truly not there, one has to wonder about the shock the first non-Scandinavian explorers must have received upon discovering it. |
| Posted by: maisky 24-Apr-2004, 12:56 PM | ||
Tullamore Dew makes you FORGET about the rash in a matter of minutes!  |
| Posted by: birddog20002001 24-Apr-2004, 02:21 PM |
| I know in Texas there was stinging nettle that stuff is horible and here in NC we have what everyone calls sting weed i'm not sure if that is it's official name of not but it grows in the rocky streams with shade there are thousand and thousands of microscopic little needles that actually will sting through bluegenes but it only hurts for about 15 minutes. And at least here in the mountains poison sumac doesnt grow. It doesn't like to grow around1500 ASL that is a blessing for me that is mean stuff. Also for those in the woods that get poison ivy look for some wild touch me nots they typically grow in similar area but they do prefer swampy areas rub the plant between your hands and on the poison ivy affected area immediately this will prevent you from getting a rash, often where one plant grows that is poisonous another will grow in that same area to cure the poison the wonders of nature. |
| Posted by: Blue_Rogue 19-May-2004, 12:19 PM |
| Man, had to dig this one up Wanted to pass this along. Got a little poison ivy working in the yard this last weekend, found this new product at the store monday night. DERMAREST Poison Ivy Mousse This stuff worked very well for me. |