Hi Marie -
Breathing in airborne urushiol oil is about as bad as it gets (as you've discovered). I understand that the reactions last much longer - about 3 weeks or more - and you should expect new eruptions from time to time during this period. One thing you might want to discuss with the doctor is the possibility of rebound rash. If you are not familiar with that from the message board, take a look at my earlier response to rash duration. I am not a doctor and am only pointing to online references by physicians.
This is an allergic reaction and as such you pretty much have to take it for the duration (which varies from person to person and time to time). Sometimes the steroids work and help reduce the duration but I've read many testimonials by individuals against the steroids as a solution. If you read many of the items here in the message board as well as the treatments section, you'll see that the remedies are nearly as varied as the number of people who have contributed to this site. It seems that the success of a remedy varies from person to person.
There are things you can do to make sure that the duration of the rash does not extend. Keep the rash clean and dry. Don't scratch as that can produce histamines which might make the rash worse. Don't stress as that can produce histamines which might make the rash worse. Here is my response to an earlier message with references to sites discussing the scratch and stress issues: my earlier response.
What works for me does not work for most folks - I simply ignore it. No scratching, no stressing, no thinking about it for long stretches of time. Before I figured this one out, I tried just about every commercial product available as well as some home remedies. I've had dozens of rashes ranging from the not so bad to the pretty bad (face, chest, arms, legs - should have seen a doctor but didn't) though I can say I've never inhaled airborne urushiol oil. So I'm sure this isn't what you are looking for - it's just the best advice I have.
Hopefully others will have remedies that work for you. Good luck! |
