Help! Poison Ivy

[Iowa Roo Mom]

... Yip. I'm covered. So, aside from seeing the doc, what's your cures? I'm up for suggestions.....

 

[1_FnkyFrm]

SCRATCH IT

No just kidding.

 

[debilorrah]

Where have you been!!!

Calamine lotion.

 

[RoninComputing]

Antihistamine cream and oral benadryl or similar otc anthistamine tablets.
and if all else fails... alcohol..... not externally..internally, sufficient to make you forget about the itch

 

[SillyChicken]

Do a search here... there were several posts earlier this spring about ivy and lots of suggestions... me personally, I have to go to the Dr and get shots or it gets really bad.

 

[Kansaseq]

I've had a plethora of but bites, rashes, etc, probably some from poison ivy. I bought some generic 'Severe Dry & Itch Medicated Lotion (Compare to Gold Bond) that has menthol in it. I just put it on all over, and it really helps the itch, for me, anyway.

 

[The Chicken Lady]

You can get an Aveeno Oatmeal Soak to bathe in. I have been using this at night this week since I had an unavoidable contact with a lot of mosquitoes this past weekend and I am very allergic to them (more than most people; I actually get hives and the bites turn into dark red welts that last for days). Children's Benadryl also helps me with mosquito bites, and I saw in the list I copied and pasted below that it is recommended for poison ivy, too.

Change your sheets on your bed. You may have gotten some of the oils from the ivy in the sheets (depending on if you showered and washed the ivy rash before going to bed or not), so you'll just keep giving yourself poison ivy if the oils are there.

Clean anything that may have been exposed to the poison ivy (such as your shoes or tools), with rubbing alcohol and water (to get rid of the oils).

I found this list of medicines online:

Poison Ivy Treatments
Typical treatments for poison ivy are going to be directed at helping to control [the] itching, and can include non-steroidal topical medications, topical steroids, oral antihistamines (Benadryl), and/or oral steroids (prednisone) or a steroid shot.

Wet dressings, compresses, or soaks with Domeboro solution mixed with water (modified Burow's Solution) or Aveeno oatmeal baths can be especially soothing for itchy rashes.

Examples include:

* Atarax (hydroxyzine, a prescription oral antihistamine)
* Aveeno Anti-Itch Cream with Natural Colloidal Oatmeal
* Aveeno 1% Hydrocortizone Anti-Itch Cream (OTC topical steroid)
* Band-Aid Anti-Itch Gel
* Caladryl Clear Topical Analgesic Skin Lotion
* Calamine Lotion
* Cortizone 10 (OTC topical steroid)
* Cutivate cream 0.05% (prescription topical steroid)
* Domeboro Astringent Solution Powder Packets
* Gold Bond Maximum Strength Medicated Anti-Itch Cream
* Itch-X Anti-Itch Gel with Soothing Aloe Vera
* Locoid cream 0.1% (prescription topical steroid)
* Triamcinolone acetonide 0.1% (prescription topical steroid)

Newer medications that are supposed to target poison ivy symptoms include:

* Burts's Bees Poison Ivy Soap
* Cortaid Poison Ivy Care Treatment Kit
* Ivarest Medicated Cream
* IvyStat
* Tecnu Extreme Poison Ivy Scrub
* Zanfel Wash For Poison Ivy, Oak & Sumac​

 

[turney31]

Lye soap

 

[sgtmom52]

My sister who is a swimming instructor says that the chlorine in the pool dries up her poison ivy and stops the itch.

 

[key west chick]

I have found that when I have a rash, a VERY HOT shower helps. Something about the hot water releases the histamines in the skin. It will itch like crazy for the first few minutes, but then it quits itching and I get out of the shower. It helps me for several hours. But dont do this right after you have been exposed, it just causes the oils to disperse easier on your skin. It has to done after you already start to get the rash.