Fun with Poison Ivy

[KayakDan]

Don't know why,but I'm one of those with no reaction to poison ivy. I ripped it all out of my yard,bare handed. No rash-nothing.

Darn,now I'm gonna miss out on the hot water rash rush!

 

[KMartman]

Don't know why,but I'm one of those with no reaction to poison ivy. I ripped it all out of my yard,bare handed. No rash-nothing.

Darn,now I'm gonna miss out on the hot water rash rush!

Same here...lucky I guess...my mother gets it BAD...like hospital trip bad..

M

 

[jbrown]

All this talk about jewelweed had me confused, until Toe Cozy's post...

I've always called it Touch-me-not, but that's just the name I learned long ago.

The volleyball court at my church's summer camp has both poison ivy and jewelweed in abundance all around it, but I never knew about the silent battle going on between the two! Next time someone retrieves a ball from the weeds and contracts poison ivy, I'll be the hero when I give them the magic jewelweed to slather on their affected areas!

 

[marty]

If anyone gets really bad poison ivy, the normal doctor recommendation is prescription oral (or possibly topical) steroids. An over-the-counter alternative that worked GREAT for my wife and someone I work with is ZANFEL ZANFEL. Warning: this stuff is not cheap (around $40.00 at CVS). It is supposed to work on poison oak and sumac, too.

The only reason we tried ZANFEL was that my wife got poison ivy the day that we were going on vacation and did not have the time to see the doctor. I did some google research, grabbed that stuff off the shelf at CVS and it worked GREAT. It healed my wife much faster than her friend who was in the same poison ivy patch (her friend went the steroid route).

Regards,
Marty

 

[cbcbd]

I have never gotten poison ivy rashes and have frolicked in ivy infested woods plenty... guess I'm just lucky.

No chicken pocks for me either...

 

[DougPaul]

If anyone gets really bad poison ivy, the normal doctor recommendation is prescription oral (or possibly topical) steroids. An over-the-counter alternative that worked GREAT for my wife and someone I work with is ZANFEL ZANFEL. Warning: this stuff is not cheap (around $40.00 at CVS). It is supposed to work on poison oak and sumac, too.

Thanks--thats the stuff whose name I couldn't remember in my earlier post...

Also a url for Tecnu: http://www.teclabsinc.com/product-categories.cfm?id=1E8FDCC1-F136-4EBF-EF2DA11F1E0BAEB8

(note--many posters seem to misspell the name as "technu".)

Doug

 

[Puck]

Interesting note about jewel weed (in the impatien family) There was an informal clinical trial with a little more then 100 people with poison ivy. 97% claimed relief. The study is mentioned in the Peterson Guide to Medicinal Plants.

Seema there is even a better herb for nettles...yellow dock. Crushed plant stems/root. It breaks up the formic acid immediatly and grows in disturbed areas with the nettle.

Mixed nuts, For some uselss info; cashews are in the same family as poison ivy and poison sumac.

 

[sli74]

Seema there is even a better herb for nettles...yellow dock. Crushed plant stems/root. It breaks up the formic acid immediatly and grows in disturbed areas with the nettle.

What does this (yellow dock) look like? The jewel weed is so easy to recognize and it also grows alongside the "bad plants" . . . I am always looking for the "antidotes" to the bad ones. Thanks.

Mixed nuts, For some uselss info; cashews are in the same family as poison ivy and poison sumac.

Does this mean if you are okay with cashews then you won't be allergic to PI and PS ???

sli74

 

[Puck]

For the yellow dock

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=RUCR&photoID=rucr_006_avp.tif

(psst its also a great herb for anemic friends, however it tastes like *&%$)

Regarding the nuts...I said it was useless information.

 

[sli74]

For the yellow dock

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=RUCR&photoID=rucr_006_avp.tif

(psst its also a great herb for anemic friends, however it tastes like *&%$)

Regarding the nuts...I said it was useless information.

Thanks Puck !! I will look for them.

And, yeah . . . you did say it was useless info but intriguing . . .

sli74

 

[nartreb]

sli, ever wonder why you never see cashews in their shells (or even unroasted shelled cashews) in the grocery store?

http://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/00001269.htm

 

[sli74]

Thanks nartreb, that was a really cool read . . .

sli74

 

[daxs]

I can eat cashews with no problem. However, exposure to poison ivy sends me to the oral steriods.

 

[cbcbd]

sli, ever wonder why you never see cashews in their shells (or even unroasted shelled cashews) in the grocery store?

http://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/00001269.htm

Yep, my dad made the mistake of biting into a raw cashew nut once after eating the cashew fruit... very bad burn!

 

[KMartman]

No chicken pocks for me either...

This could be a potential issues later in life. If you contract it as an adult its much more of an issue. I think its called Rickets when you contract it as an adult. If you are around kids who have contracted chicken pocks STAY AWAY FROM THEM...

M

 

[poison ivy]

I think its called Rickets when you contract it as an adult.

You might be thinking of shingles -- caused by the same virus but in adults. However, people who get shingles had chicken pox previously. Shingles is extremely painful... or so my mom says, who was unfortunate enough to have it in her eye (as well as elsewhere.)

- Ivy

 

[trailbiscuit]

Best is to avoid it: "Leaves of three, let it be".

Absolutely. But, sometimes it's almost impossible. por ejemplo:

(That's the AT just north of Duncannon, PA. Not good times.)

Also, as jbrown said, you'll often find jewelweed and PI growing together or near each other. The antidote is found with the poison, much like Gamelon being right next to Iskandar. (If you follow that reference, you're a far bigger dork/freak than Artex could ever hope to be.)

 

[DougPaul]

I think its called Rickets when you contract it as an adult.

You might be thinking of shingles -- caused by the same virus but in adults. However, people who get shingles had chicken pox previously. Shingles is extremely painful... or so my mom says, who was unfortunate enough to have it in her eye (as well as elsewhere.)

Poison ivy (the person) is correct.

Rickets is a deficiency disease. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickets

Doug

 

[Puck]

Something to make you go hmmmm??!!!

Shingles is very painfull condition. It can make grown men cry. The common indicated homeopathic remedy is Rhus toxicodendron. Which is an old name for Toxicodendron radicans which is our beloved poison ivy. (Homeopathy is matching the toxicology of a substance with the symptoms of the disease and administering the substance in a highly diluted form.)

This thread is like six degrees of seperation, however, I don't know if Kevin Bacon had it.

 

[SherpaKroto]

I have eczema and psoriasis and am on a topical steroid called Ultravate. It seems that over the years I've gotten more and more "immune" to Poison Ivy (not the person - she's a peach!). My dermatologist said it could be due to the steroids that are in my system. Not sure if that's true or not.

Another thing to watch: cutting/mowing Poison Ivy (again, not the person ). When cut, the juices can sometimes get in the air (especially when mowed). If you think it's bad on the outside, imagine it in your lungs!