I used to pull Poison Ivy out of the ground 18 years ago because by stupid neighbor refused to kill it on his side of the fence. "It keeps burglers away, or at least makes them never come back!" he would say. My daughter was 4 and had to get a shot once because of it, but it never gave me more than a mild rash for a day or two.
Now (in a different state) I just bought one of those old-time lawnmovers without an engine. The kind with spinning blades that throws clippings into the air. Seems that under the playground equipment was a big batch of poison oak and it went all over my bare-footed sandels and ankles (yea, wearing shorts). 4 days later the skin around my eyes made me look like I had two black eyes, only red. Then a small rash developed on my ankles. Two days later the ankles blistered and I went to the Dr. 7 boxes of bandage wraps and 9 days of Prednisone later, it seemed to be clearing quite well, but I crashed like a bear in winter because of the insomnia. Two days after the Prednisone ran out (over the weekend) it came back very strongly, but only where my socks were. A nice sharp line. Tecnu CalaGel burned like hot-lava, and oatmeal mud-pies were the only thing to quite the itching. Over the counter Hydrycortozine cream (.01%) did nothing.
Finally Monday rolls around and another Dr. prescribes a Methylprednisoline 6-day tablet pack and Diprolene AF cream (.05%). Now its back under control and I'm washing everything in sight with Tide w/bleach alternative, Bleach and Tecnu Cleanser. The insomnia is so bad I fell alseep for the first time in my life at my desk at work. The rash moved up my legs a bit, to where the cotton tube socks stopped.
Now I am home, reading the web sites. This is a good one for the PI community feed-back and pictures. American Academy of Dermatology (http://www.aad.org) a reliable source, and Waynesword (http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0802.htm) a real education.
The one thing that puzzled me greatly was, why did it take 4~6 days to appear, and then one lister gave me a hint; I've been taking Zyrtec for alergies for about a year now, but quit taking it when I got the first dose of Prednisone. Now I think I will start taking Zyrtec again, maybe that's why it took so long to start and why the first dose did not fully clear it up (although AAD says ".. prescription cortisone should be taken for more than six days, or it may return").
WARNING: Also the Dr. said "...it didn't matter if I wrapped in bandages", until I read what the Diprolene cream documentation says "The treated skin area should NOT be bandaged or otherwise covered or wrapped as to be occlusive." Socks and shoes must be occlusive as well, because the rash looks as if it was painted on for socks. Thanks for the other lister who pointed out Tecnu Cleanser should not be used on your skin in conjunction with Hydrycortozine cream. READ YOUR MEDICATION'S DOCUMENTATION!
Regards,
-- Don
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