Ooh, I itch!

[mysid]

Poison ivy has invaded my backyard, and being the good(ish) mom that I am, I decided that I really ought to get rid of as much as I could before my kids accidentally encountered it. I donned long plants and long rubber gloves and journeyed forth to do battle. I ripped out as much as I could find, stuffed it in a plastic garbage bag, and then immediately went inside to take a shower. (My clothes went straight into the washing machine.)

The next day, a few spots of rash appeared here and there on my arms just above where the gloves had protected. "Not too bad," I thought, and I dosed the rash with anti-itch gel when it began to bother me. The rash got worse as the days went by, but my handy anti-itch stuff always did the trick.

Today--days later--I awoke to find the tops/insides of my thighs covered with the distinctive blistery rash of poison ivy. How the hell did it get there? I was wearing long pants! And now my left breast is getting itchy too. I swear--I haven't had sex outdoors in years!

All that I can think is that when I showered that day, my washcloth spread the poison ivy oil from my arms to other areas of my body. [Grumble]
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Comments

[fantomeq.livejournal.com]

OW OW ITCH! I bet it was the washcloth. I wouldn't have thought of that either. I hope you feel better soon. *Gives you virtual Benedryl*

[mysid.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm on my way to the store to buy real Benadryl. It got me through the night last night, but it was the last dose in the bottle. [Turned bottle upside down and shook out last drop.]

(You'll love this one: My son with multiple allergies can't take Benadryl allergy medicine because he's allergic to one of the ingredients.)

[fantomeq.livejournal.com]

I like the liquid Benedryl a lot better than the pills for working fast. But then I feel like a zombie all day, but it's usually worth it.

Oh, poor kid! That *is* an off-beat allergy! We have to get dye-free Benedryl here. (Heaven help me if Elizabeth needs antibiotics again. The pink ones come up faster than they go down.)

[mysid.livejournal.com]

It could very well be the dye in it that he's allergic to. I haven't found the dye-free kind to try it yet.

[fantomeq.livejournal.com]

Does he get a rash or something else? (Elizabeth throws up.) I get all my dye-free meds from Walgreens. They have Benedryl and ibuprofen (the generic's corn free, which is great for us). Or I use adult capsules--I crack them open and give Elizabeth the powder or pellets inside (estimating the dosage. She takes 3/4 of a Prevacid each day for her reflux). Alternately you have to meds things made at a hospital pharmacy, which is a royal pain and expensive. The great thing is that there are more choices out there than Benedryl now. Didn't have too many to choose from when I was a drugged-up allergy kid. I used to sleep all summer!

Probably your guy's allergic to something other than the dye though, because it's Red 40, which is in practically everything processed, even white frosting! I hate that stuff. It's good encouragement for our family to eat fresh things though.

[secretsolitaire.livejournal.com]

UGH, that sucks! I don't have any personal experience with poison ivy myself (*knocks on wood*), but my SO has gotten it several times and he always uses jewel weed (http://www.hbci.com/~wenonah/hydro/jewelwed.htm) to clear it up. We have a little grove of trees near our apartment where both poison ivy and jewel weed grow (they tend to grow near each other in the wild), so every time he gets P.I. he goes out to pick the jewel weed and then crushes it up to form a paste.

Sounds like your anti-itch gel is doing the trick, but just figured I'd mention this as a possibility too. Hope it clears up soon!

[mysid.livejournal.com]

Good to know! I don't know of any jewel weed growing nearby, but there is a lot of it where we go on vacation in August.

I read the article and found it interesting that it's supposed to help with eczema as well. I might give it a try on my son's eczema.

[greenwitch.livejournal.com]

If you're sensitive to it, the wash cloth would definately do it :-(

Fortunately I'm not sensitive (at the rate of which I encounter it on my job, if I haven't gotten it by now...), but I have family members who are and I have to be really careful about touching things after I take off my workboots (since the oils could get on the laces), and always turn my clothes inside out before tossing them into the laundry room...

Seriously though, I know people who can just go near it and not even touch it who get it. Nasty stuff.

[mysid.livejournal.com]

My neighbor and I were just discussing that many people seem to develop a sensitivity to it only after repeated exposure, so---

I hope you remain non-allergic.

[greenwitch.livejournal.com]

Yup, that's right... I always wear gloves while working (which for some reason, almost no one else on my job does, despite them all *knowing* that they are allergic) because we're constantly dropping our tools into the stuff, even if we're not actually touching it, I wash my hands immediately, etc. just to (hopefully) prevent myself from becoming allergic. So far so good, and I'll only be at this job for another month or so, and after that I definitely won't encounter it as much, hehe.

Thanks for the well-wishes :D

[erastes.livejournal.com]

YUK! There's a very good reason to be glad I live over here!

[mysid.livejournal.com]

Yup.