bea@alice.UucP (Bea Chambers) (09/12/85)
This is the 3rd time I've gotten p.i. messing around with our garden/yard. Yes, (after the first time), I do what it looks like and I manage to avoid it most of the time. We have a lot of back yard and there is just too much to kill. Most of the time, if I shower with brown soap within 1/2 hour of gardening, I am ok. But a few times, I get going into exciting things like weeding, taking clippings to our local dump, etc. and I don't get to the brown soap cure quickly enough. (or I miss a spot and that pesky p.i. oil finds it!) I use one of the cortisone creams for the itching and that helps a little. Once, when I managed to get it 4 days before a trip to Europe, I went to the doctor who gave me prendisone. Worked fine but I am a little nervous about wonder drugs. Does anyone know if you can be desensitized to poison ivy? That would be the easiest way for me. I hate the thought of giving up gardening and stuff but I don't care to have several bouts with p.i. either. Thanks a lot.
jrm@cbuxc.UUCP (John Miller) (09/13/85)
> This is the 3rd time I've gotten p.i. messing around with our garden/yard. > Yes, (after the first time), I do what it looks like and I manage to > avoid it most of the time. We have a lot of back yard and there is just too > much to kill. Most of the time, if I shower with brown soap within 1/2 hour > of gardening, I am ok. But a few times, I get going into exciting things > like weeding, taking clippings to our local dump, etc. and I don't get > to the brown soap cure quickly enough. (or I miss a spot and that pesky > p.i. oil finds it!) > > I use one of the cortisone creams for the itching and that helps a little. > Once, when I managed to get it 4 days before a trip to Europe, I went to > the doctor who gave me prendisone. Worked fine but I am a little nervous > about wonder drugs. > > Does anyone know if you can be desensitized to poison ivy? That would > be the easiest way for me. I hate the thought of giving up gardening and > stuff but I don't care to have several bouts with p.i. either. > Thanks a lot. I have a terrible memory for things like this, but it might help to stimulate someone else in netland who has heard of this. I read an article recently (shows you how bad my memory is) that indicated that your immune system responds to PI because it is being introduced into your body through the skin (touchs a group of cells that decide whether or not an immune response should take place - Langerhan cells?). Anyway, experiments showed that if the PI sap (which is what causes the immune response) is injected directly into the bloodstream then subsequent PI contact with the skin will not cause an immune response (e.g. inflamation, itching etc.). It was further stated that children who are treated in this fashion could be protected for life, however, us adult gardeners would probably require treatment each year or so. I don't know if this is currently available or not, but I do recall hearing from a different source that there is an immunizing treatment available. I wonder if it is the same? My own observations indicate that if I am infected with PI (note again that it is the sap - and that the sap leaks out of the leaves when tiny bugs chew on them) it is always worse in hot, humid weather. In cool weather, it may cause a little redness - that's all. In hot weather, it itches bad! Air conditioning has helped alot! If you find any additional info out, I am interested. itching in sympathy, john miller
jcp@osiris.UUCP (Jody Patilla) (09/16/85)
> I read an article recently (shows you how bad my memory is) that indicated > that your immune system responds to PI because it is being introduced into > your body through the skin (touchs a group of cells that decide whether > or not an immune response should take place - Langerhan cells?). Anyway, > experiments showed that if the PI sap (which is what causes the immune > response) is injected directly into the bloodstream then subsequent > PI contact with the skin will not cause an immune response (e.g. > inflamation, itching etc.). > I believe this was in a recent issue of "Smithsonian", related to the dangers of exposure to poison ivy for forest fire fighters. -- jcpatilla "At night, the ice weasels come."
tankus@hsi.UUCP (Ed Tankus) (09/16/85)
> This is the 3rd time I've gotten p.i. messing around with our garden/yard. > Yes, (after the first time), I do what it looks like and I manage to > avoid it most of the time. We have a lot of back yard and there is just too > much to kill. Most of the time, if I shower with brown soap within 1/2 hour > of gardening, I am ok. But a few times, I get going into exciting things > like weeding, taking clippings to our local dump, etc. and I don't get > to the brown soap cure quickly enough. (or I miss a spot and that pesky > p.i. oil finds it!) > > I use one of the cortisone creams for the itching and that helps a little. > Once, when I managed to get it 4 days before a trip to Europe, I went to > the doctor who gave me prendisone. Worked fine but I am a little nervous > about wonder drugs. > > Does anyone know if you can be desensitized to poison ivy? That would > be the easiest way for me. I hate the thought of giving up gardening and > stuff but I don't care to have several bouts with p.i. either. > Thanks a lot. I get it a lot too and just got over a VERY(!) bad case. I get poison ivy that looks more like burns with extensive(!) areas of bubbled and red skin. I was given Atarax for the itching and initially, prednisone. However, my doctor switched me to a Medrol (tm?) dosepak which consists of decreasing dosages of steroids. He also suggested I use Domeboro. This is a powder that you mix with water and apply in cold compresses. It dries up the blotches. There are allergy shots that you can take which consist of some form of poison ivy. However, some individuals (myself) become increasingly sensitized after repeated exposures rather than immune. Maybe the best thing to do is see an allergist or at least go thru an allergy test to determine your sensitivity to poison ivy. No, there is no cure. -- " For every word there is a song upon which inspiration lies ..." Ed Tankus Net : {noao!ihnp4!yale!}!hsi!tankus Snail: Health Systems Int'l, 100 Broadway, New Haven, CT 06511 Bell : (203) 562-2101
piety@hplabs.UUCP (Bob Piety ) (09/17/85)
The more-or-less current issue (Aug or Sept) of SMITHSONIAN magazine has an excellent article on poison oak/ivy/sumac. Bob
dawn@prism.UUCP (09/17/85)
My mother collected antique bottles, and was forever dragging me
out into the woods to old "bottle dumps" to dig for treasures. I
would inevitably get covered with poison ivy. I took shots for
a while in the spring-time that were supposed to desensitize me
to poison ivy, but they never worked. I was allergic to calamine
lotion, and cortisone creams weren't available at that time -- so
we hit the libraries in search of a "folk" remedy...
I don't know whether this will work for you, but it does for
my family... Go into the woods, and gather bunches of ferns --
preferably young "Boston" ferns (called "fiddle-heads" in my neck
of the woods) -- bring them in the house and boil them down, like
spinach. Cool this mixture, and apply it to the affected areas. For
me, this takes out the itch, stops the rash from spreading, and it
usually heals up within a week.
My mother once observed that you can not find poison ivy growing near
these ferns in the woods-- maybe planting some of them in your garden
would kill off the poison ivy! :-)
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Dawn Stockbridge Hall {cca, datacube, ihnp4, inmet, mit-eddie, wjh12}...
Mirror Systems, Inc. ...mirror!prism!dawn
"Imitation is suicide!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------jca@drutx.UUCP (ArnsonJC) (09/17/85)
The August issue of "Smithsonian" has a long article on poison ivy. -- jill c. arnson ihnp4!druky!drutx!jca AT&A IS, Denver (303)538-4800 May the hair on your toes grow ever longer.
render@uiucdcsb.Uiuc.ARPA (09/18/85)
I went through a recent bout with the stuff, and I can only mention what worked for me. I used calamine lotion (yup, the ol' pink stuff) to dry up the rash, along with occasional baths with baking soda in the water. To keep the itching at bay, I used a product called rhulicreme, a topical analgesic whose active ingredients are benzocaine, camphor, menthol and zirconium oxide. The calamine is unsightly, but it cleared up the rash in short order (3-4 days for a major case). One note of caution: for the first few days, I used a hydrocortisone product to combat the itching. It helped a bit, but the rash kept spreading and I gave it up. I then phoned an expert on the subject (my mother :-)) and switched to the calamine and rhulicreme. A friend of mine who was less cautious kept using the same hydrocortisone product and ended up with a very severe case.
steiny@scc.UUCP (Don Steiny) (09/21/85)
> > I used a product called rhulicreme, a topical > analgesic whose active ingredients are benzocaine, camphor, menthol and > zirconium oxide. "Rulicream" is a brand name. My favorite is "Rulispray." It has a bit of ether in it and it is COLD. When you spray it on there is instant relief. It has calomine in it. I used to get poision oak often, but my family doctor was a hypnotherapist. I can't claim that I have never gotten it since, but the few time I have gotten it was much less sever than it was before. I do not test my luck though, I avoid it when possible and wash up if I am. I used to use brown soap, but it is not really necessary. Any strong soap will do. The point is to wash off all of the oil. Soaps with oils in them to keep skin soft just spread it around. -- scc!steiny Don Steiny @ Don Steiny Software 109 Torrey Pine Terrace Santa Cruz, Calif. 95060 (408) 425-0382