A question about poison ivy

Thank-you all very much for the excellent information! M.P. people are the best! By the way, I think I lucked out and stayed clear enough. I only have 2 small red spots but I showered right away when I got home. =)

Jasmine Kall wrote:Yea for being the 15%

I hate you.
Signed,
The other 85%

Interesting posts and good question. I'm in Wayne, NJ and I've gotten poison ivy probably in every month of the year, as I am very sensitive to it and I live near a nature preserve. Several years ago, while surfing the web at the ungodly hour of 2am, I came upon a recommendation from a site about poison ivy. Someone had recommended to use Ivyoff and being in a "game" mood (and scratching furiously) I ordered a bottle. What could I lose but maybe $10? It was the best $10 I ever spent. I had relief almost immediately and have never looked back. I will recommend it to anyone, since this company that makes it doesn't seem to have any kind of advertising budget. I've never seen it in stores, so I have to buy it online and plan in advance. Just thought I'd share my experience for anyone who's interested (and even if you're not).

the best/fastest way to get rid of the rash from poison ivy that I have ever seen is WD40, spraying WD40 on the rash every few hours will get rid of the rash in 2 days.

chris21 wrote:the best/fastest way to get rid of the rash from poison ivy that I have ever seen is WD40, spraying WD40 on the rash every few hours will get rid of the rash in 2 days.

No way does this work on poision oak to. I'm from Michigan wich has plenty of pi and I've never gotten a rash even when everyone around me have. Now I live in califorina and seem to be highly allergic to poision oak wich is every where. 2 weeks minimum to clear up 3 if I scratch it.

Hey interesting fact about poison ivy. I work for a landscape company in CT, and my boss told me to eat cashews all winter when I will be less exposed to getting PI. Cashews belong to the same family as PI and they both contain urushiol the active chemical that gives you the rash and misery. Have you ever seen cashews sold in shells, didn't think so.
I eat cashews as much as I can(they're expensive) during the winter when I'm not tromping around in the woods in my shorts and apparently build up a resistance to PI. You do not want to eat cashews if you already have PI.

My wife got a systemic PI reaction after pulling up vines. Seems the roots are also quite full of those painful little allergens. Even after cortisone shots, the only thing that stopped the spread was a little cleanser called Zamfell or something like that. You can get it at the drugstore. It's quite expensive, but when you're itching all over for weeks, it was a bargain!

This reminds me of the time I was at a belay; I guy was just getting to the belay on a route a few yards away. He passed the belay spot and climbed into a small PI patch. I said, "careful, that's Poison ivy",he replied, "uh...I've had it before". !?!? I thought, "and you liked it so much?..."

Brian Snider wrote: No way does this work on poision oak to. I'm from Michigan wich has plenty of pi and I've never gotten a rash even when everyone around me have. Now I live in califorina and seem to be highly allergic to poision oak wich is every where. 2 weeks minimum to clear up 3 if I scratch it.

I don't know how well it will work on poison oak, I've never had poison oak, but I think its probably worth a try

From drgreene.com/azguide/poison…

"Whichever of these plants he came across while playing, the culprit is the same -- an oil called urushiol. This oil is found in the leaves, roots, and twigs of these plants. There is no difference in the rashes, since there is no difference in the cause."

Seems that if the oil is the same between plants then what works to block and/or alleviate rashes should work the same.

Another FYI, if your dogs plays in poison ivy you can get it from the urushiol oil deposited on their fur.

Hammer bars contain a lot of cashew butter, wonder if you ate enough of them would it help desensitize you to the urushiol? Years ago I saw adds for poison ivy pills. The idea was by exposing yourself to minute amounts of the oil it would help to desensitize you to the allergen. Never tried so don't really know.