[rich c]

I just got off the phone with my son in CA. He was telling me that he has a bad cast of poison Oak from last weeks steelhead fishing trip. He has always had this problem ever since he was little. If he gets close to poison Ivy or Oak he brakes out all over. He has a doctors appointment this coming week ,but in the mean time it is starting to get to him. He has always taken care of it with (Zanfel $40.00 for a one oz. tube) and he has gone through two tubes and it is not helping. He has tried everthing that he knows about and it is not getting any better. If anyone knows of something that might help we would appreciate any help. Thanks, rich c

 

[Swift]

steroids


He may get some relief with OTC Pepcid or Zantac.

 

[Woods walker]

How will heart burn medicine help with poison oak? An antihistamine like benadryl pills may help.

 

[bawanajim]

I've used this stuff with good success.

http://www.ivarest.com/

 

[Tuckerman]

Luckily, I don't get poison so I can't give you personal experience. My father on the other hand gets it from the wind blowing. His soloution was to sit in a bath as hot as he could stand, then once the skin was soft he would rub the area with a nail brush until it was like a brush burn and dump a diluted bleach solution on it. He always said it burned like heck but the poison was gone in a few hours. I would still go with a topical medicine lol!

 

[buckhunter]

He probably tried this already but calamine lotion is pretty cheap. John S, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Swift is a nurse or MD. Zantac and Pepcid are both H2 inhibitors, Benadryl I think is an H1 inhibitor, long story short both will help take the edge off of itching and not make you drowsy. The steroids help with the inflammation.

 

[Dan Castle]

I'm pretty sensitive to poison ivy so Ive had a bit of experience with this growing up. my routine when I get it is to use a poison ivy scrub to try and get the oils off as quickly as possible. usually I can get it pretty quick and lessen teh outbreak. if I get the rash, the best relief from itching I've had is from hot water, as hot as you can stand for as long as you can stand. then a baking soda paste ont he rash and let it dry. I've tried bleach with limited success. Baking soda helps to dry it out I've found. That should pretty much take care of the itching for 3-5 hours. As a last resort, steroids will take care of it quickly but doctors are reluctant to prescribe them bc of the side-effects.

 

[Danesdad]

+1 on the hot water. It raises the histamines in your skin and until your body can build them up again the itch will be relieved. This is only a temporary solution, tho. You might have to take a dozen showers a day. Avoid bleach or physically sanding or grinding the rash off. Those are good routes to blood poisoning. If Zanfel doesn't work, that probably means the infection is systemic (more than 15% of the body covered, sores breaking out in places where the plant was never contacted, etc) and will probably require a prescription steroid.

 

[wis bang]

Swim in a chlorniated pool, clears it up a couple days.

Stings alot less than the straight bleach!

 

[Black Labs]

Try Zertec worked for my wife

 

[700varmint]

topical benadryl. can be seen in a er of choice if the itching becomes unbearable, you will probably get 50mg benadryl i.m. injection and 125mg injection of solu-medrol (steroid) probably wont get Rx for a dose pack of medrol and what you get in the ER should do the trick, I got poision oak in Missouri about 10 years ago, drove home and sought treatment here. solumedrol and bendryl helped.

 

[Double Lung 20]

Swimming in a chlorinated pool is great. Also try gently washing with baking soda.

 

[Birch812]

I can catch poison ivy just by seeing it on TV. Benadryl always worked for me to help with the itching and I would wipe straight bleach on the affected area to dry it up and heal faster.

 

[westernwishes]

fiind a wet area there is a plant with a littte yellow flower i think it is call jewel weed.Break the stem and put the liquad on the poison it will be gone in a day.

 

[Squid]

oral-ivy, I got off the web and it works

 

[jimsdad]

I found that houshold bleach works well for me. However, this only works for relattively small patches. I would not reccomend a large scale use of bleach to dry up poision ivey or oak.

 

[nighteyes]

I used to get it every year real bad, Got steriod shots and never got it again. I asked my doctor if the shots made me immune to it , he said no, but I haven't had it in years

 

[genxweb]

I get it real bad at least once a year.

1. Shot from the doctor usually resolves it for me.
2. Cold showers to prevent it from opening pores and spreading (don't care what doctors say this stuff spreads where ever you itch).
3. Chlorinated pool or even better the salt water ie. the ocean.
4. Ivarest helped me but the layer it builds on the wound prevents it from drying out faster.

 

[Forest County]

I get it every year during spring gobbler season and believe it or not my grandfather years ago told me to put urine on it, so last year when I got it on my fingers i [censored] in a cup and soaked them in it for 15 min 3 times a day and in 2 days it was [censored] near gone. I was amazed. If I get it anywhere else on my body I will [censored] on washrags and let them sit on the affected area.

 

[Hemry27]

Wash with ice cold water immediately after contact to close the pores and get the oil off.
genxweb...I agree COLD showers. The heat will open your pores and make it spread. Temporary relief, yes, but you will pay the price shortly after. Bleach solutions or chlorinated swimming pools used to dry it up for me in a day or two. Calimine lotion never worked. I used to cake it on as a kid and stand in front of a fan....again, temporary relief! I havent had it in 20 years and now I will probably get it just talking about it!

By the way, has anyone ever noticed this stuff doesnt grow in the ANF? At least in the Marienville/Sheffield area. Ihave never seen it. It must have been wiped out by the same thing that got all the deer.