I have had the rash since this past Monday from pulling the roots out with my bare hands. I had no idea the roots were attached to a little 3leafed nightmare. I went to the emergency on Monday night becasue it was so bad, they gave me a shot of Benedryl, in IV of prednezone, and steriods for the next 4 days. Unfortunately, 4 days of steriods is not enough, according to my family doctor who has had experience with this when he was in service treating the soldiers who were infected. He said it takes at least 14 days of aggressive steriod use to get rid of it and if the rash starts getting red and itchy when you are weening yourself off the steriod, you have to up the dosage. He said that this was the only way they found it would get rid of it. Taking that along with a strong antihistamine would help. According to him, there is no magic cure. I would try anything at this point. I am sending my husband to Detroit tomorrow to buy some of that Zanfel. I will let you know what happens. Bye the way, I live in southern Ontario, close to Detroit and the poison ivy was right beside my house. |