Dear Cassie, we all feel your pain here. Here is the scoop about Prednisone shots, creams, and other corticosteroids. First of all, a poison ivy rash is an immune reponse by your own body's cells to the Urushiol irritant. As awful as it feels, it is nature's way of fighting the poison absorbed by your skin. When you get a shot for the rash, what it is doing is SUPPRESSING your immune response, thus you break out less and your rash looks as if it is clearing up. In reality you aren't actually healing but it is stopping your body from producing histamines, etc. that cause the misery. That is why I am not a fan of Prednisone for mild to moderate cases of PI, UNLESS it is very severe or a life threatening situation, (such as your bronchial airway closing up or extreme facial PI where the eyes are affected) as it offers temporary relief not a cure. Almost everyone who takes them has a return of the rash (which in reality it is not a new rash, just that when the meds wear off, the symptoms come back as you have seen.) I am not knocking the drug, but I find that doctors dole it out to appease people for a quick fix when they should be taking a more natural approach for long term treatment in PI cases. Cold water or ice treatments and Ibuprofen can work very well for swelling & itching like Prednisone, yet without side effects or delaying the healing process.
Rarely does a doctor tell you that your rash may reoccur from these shots & creams but I see so many posts here saying they have the same problem as yourself from these meds. You are just going to have to wait it out, and since you took the Prednisone shot, in retrospect this has lengthened your recovery time. Please read my posts on dealing with the itch with cold water cloths or ice cubes when possible as that is safest and it works so you can sleep. Noxzema is good and soothing for the PI and it feels even better if you keep it in the fridge. If you feel these remedies are too mild or not bringing you enough relief, there is Zanfel o.c. treatment (but it is expensive), and Burt's Bees makes a poison ivy soap made with Jewelweed to relieve itching that have good reviews. No hot water treatments as people suggest here--they are bad for your rash! I would discontinue the alcohol treatment also as it is too drying to be used continuously and you can make your rash worse (dry cracked skin rash on top of PI) I really doubt your bed linens, etc. need to be washed anymore. I hope you feel better soon..keep us updated & if you need further help feel free to contact me. [email protected] |
