| My experience with poison ivy goes back many years ago when I would almost invariably get poison ivy every summer. My son who is extremely allergic always ended up in the hospital under watch. Both of us, through the years as we got older, escaped the annual breakout which we came to know as inevitable. And now after 30 years poison ivy free I got a real bad case of poison ivy on the trunk of my body but nowhere else. Go figure. I was all covered up. I am 4 weeks along and I have such a severe case of itching it is driving me crazy. Here is what I know: years ago I read that poison takes a week to break out, then a week of the full breakout and then a final week of drying out. But.......then the surprise......the inevitable itch comes and threatens to ruin your life. But this itching is part of the whole process. It is your body's response to the invader that has just wreaked havoc on your body. I am of the belief that it gets into your blood stream from day one and that is the problem. But my current doctor disagrees. And it does not spread topically. Years ago a doctor told me it spreads throughout your bloodstream. It has to run its course and it could be longer for some people or of shorter duration. I took two weeks of steroids and used zinc oxide on my skin. I took hot showers followed by cold which relieved the itch. There is no miracle cure. But stress does aggravate it. I take homeopathic products internally for the itch. I only took steroids because I was desperate but they did nothing for the itch. I think the rash would have gone whether I took it or not. It did give me tremendous energy along with a tremendous appetite. I don't advise steroids. I was desperate and that is why I took them but I don't think it was necessary. I know better now. |
