Cure for poison ivy/oak/sumac?

[aa1911]

Remember my dad telling about when they burned a fence row when he was a kid (don't remember why), it had poison ivy in it/near it and he stood in the smoke; face looked like a swollen pumkin pretty soon! No good...

like most things, different people have different sensitivity to it. IV steroids if severe enough but most people can get relief from various topicals.

[Frogtop]

Originally Posted by 1LoneWolf75

My grandma swears that if you are allergic to get a nanny goat feed it to her then drink the milk. I like goats milk. I have never tried this as to just a couple years ago was my first case. She said she did this to my mom when she was younger and now my mom rarely gets it. Might be worth a shot if you get it really bad. Apparently somethin bout the goat makes it none poisonous and gives you an immunity.

Any idea where I could rent a milking goat? I have plenty of poison oak.

[Oldeyes]

Along the same lines as drinking the milk of a poison ivy fed goat, my entire family has used little Rhus Tox pills from the Washington Homeopathic Center for 70 years. The pills were pretty much a trade secret among telephone and power company linemen from the early 50's on. My father was a telephone lineman and cable repairmen way back in the day and often had to climb up those nasty rural poison ivy/oak/sumac wrapped poles to make line and cable repairs. He was unfortunately quite sensitive to those plant contact poisons. Those little pills saved his bacon innumerable times. The Rhus Tox pills contain a small amount of extracted and processed plant poison and served to boost the body's natural healing immunity. Check the Washington Homeopathic Center's web site for the Rhus Tox pills and a number of highly effective anti-poison ivy/oak/sumac topical lotions. In our rural area the Washington Homeopathic Center products are also available in many of our smaller independent drug stores.

[Zane71464]

Originally Posted by Rocketman1

OK, I happen to be the expert on poison ivy and poison oak. The reason I'm calling my self an expert is because I have always been allergic to it, and for me it is deadly. I was hospitalized on two occasions when I was younger.

First let me say that there is no cure. Once you have it, plan to put up with it for about two weeks. Do not scratch it, and stay in a cool place. Wash gently with soap and water and then apply Hydrocortisone cream as needed to control the itching. For get about calimine lotion. Years ago everyone thought that it helped dry it up, but when the lotion drys, it makes it itch worse.

You can get shots that help you build up immunity to it, but they have never worked for me. I found a local pharmacist in my area that has made a tea from poison ivy roots, that has helped me build up immunity. I start drinking it in the winter, prior to poison ivy season, and it has helped me to not get it so severe.

The best remedy is to learn what it looks like and stay away from it. I'm so allergic; that I do not have to touch it, all I have to do is walk near it.

I used to get it from time to time as a young child, but seemed to "out-grow" being allergic to it. Until, the past two years!
Now, seems all I have to to to get it, is be in the area it grows.
Been putting up with it all this summer around my ankles. Seems just as I get it under control....back again.

[Rocketman1]

Originally Posted by Zane71464

I used to get it from time to time as a young child, but seemed to "out-grow" being allergic to it. Until, the past two years!
Now, seems all I have to to to get it, is be in the area it grows.
Been putting up with it all this summer around my ankles. Seems just as I get it under control....back again.

That’s kind of what happened to me Zane. I got it bad from a child through my twenties. I caught it a few times in my thirties, but nothing very bad. Now I'm in my fifties and I can get it almost as bad as I did when I was young. I think part of it is that I have leaned to stay clear of it. The more of the oil you get on you the worse you get it. If you know you have been exposed, you have to wash as soon as possible to get the oil off.

The oil can stay on your cloths, gloves, shoes, boots and tools for months, so you have to wash those as well. I got it two years ago after using the weed whacker behind our fence. My wife doesn’t catch it, so I had her clean my weed whacker with alcohol. After she was done with it, it looked brand new.

If you have been fighting it all summer, perhaps the oil is on your shoes. You can also catch it from the smoke if someone is burning it. I caught it in January one time. I was loading logs into my pickup, and did not realize that poison ivy vines were on the sides of the logs. (Left there when they were cut.) The wind was blowing and I got saw dust in my eyes. My face swelled up to about twice its' normal size, and my eyes were swallon shut for over a week. I couldn't even eat.

[fordtrucksforever]

I am surprised no one has mentioned a simple way to live without the itch. All you need to do is put infected area under hot water. Increase heat slowly until hot as you can stand. I have my heater set at only 120 degrees and can build up to it under faucet. This causes your body's natural histamine blockers to kick in. Whats nice is you can sleep all night without any itch. It is good for about 8 hours. Also works on many itching problems, including mosquito and some ant bites. Doenst work so well on fire ants tho. Its going to take about a week after being infected if bad. Make the best of situation without the itch.

When first applying water, increase heat slowly until you can adjust to it. You will know its close to working when the need to itch is nearly unbearable, but amazingly it then stops. Only takes a minute or so and cured for the rest of day.

Another option that works. I used to take poison ivy/oak drops. It was concentrated oils from leaves you mix in water. Sold over the counter at Skillerns Drug stores back in the late 60's. The ivy was darker green that oak. It was more olive in color. This stuff was very strong. One drop in an 8oz glass would ruin the taste of water. You add one more drop each day for one week. After that is one glass a week with one drop. I was horrible allergic growing up. The drops kept me from scratching myself to death with blisters all over my body. My grandfather, who supplied me with the drops had it so bad his eyes would break out. I was a little more fortunate than that. Nowadays I dont get it much at all. I can identify it easily and dont freak out if exposed. The water trick saves me from misery I had growing up.

You need to always keep your eyes open for three leaf clusters growing in vines and from small stick looking plants in shaded areas around trees. When those white berries are present, its time to keep well away. Easiest to get when you see them.

[rosierita]

Originally Posted by Gabob

Hydrocortisone cream.(non-prescription) If real bad a steroid dosepak(prescription only)

the dosepak & atarax was given to our son earlier this summer. he is highly allergic to poison oak/ivy/sumac. (& as soon as we got him over it, he got it again. )

[Gabob]

My buddy. J.D. attended a fish fry one night and on the way back to his camper broke off a twig for a toothpick. Wound up in the hospital. Toothpick was poison Ivy

[jay3534]

Acetone will dry the pustules / it will burn like heck OR wash area with Clorox
After applying either was the area with soap and water
Learned the acetone when I was welding / Clorox from mother in-law