We recently bought 2.5 wooded acres in Virginia on Chesapeake Bay
for weekend use. When we started clearing away brush, I ran into
dense poison ivy that worked itself inside my clothing and I had
the rash on arms, legs, belly, etc. After a week, I went to my
doctor. He put me on Prednistone which is a steroid. Stopped the
itching in an hour and the rash was soon gone. I have had to go
back three more times for new contacts as I fight the ivy but
thanks to health insurance, my out of pocket for the Dr. And the
medicine runs about $5 - well worth ending the itch. And the
steroids don't make you look like Mark McGuire. I appreciate the
comments on getting rid of it - many thanks for the warnings about
not burning, I got that one just in time! I have finally got it all
cut down out of the trees and am mowing the field area often. I
tried Roundup but couldn't see any results. Next I will try
Brush-B-Gon. It's slow going but I also use a Troy roto-tiller to
tear up spot areas. The roots eventually bind up the tines and you
must remove them by hand very carefully. It is slow going but does
seem to be effective. Thanks for all of the suggestions - at least
I now know I am not alone in this battle.
--"Ron Humphrey" ([email protected]) submitted 30/Jun/2003
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