i hate poison ivy and its relatives... poison sumack, poison oak... et al...

they make life miserable. the plant itself grows quietly on trees, fences and the like...
until you brush it. or walk by it. or live on the same property as it does. or write a frigging snail mail letter to a relative who has some on their property. heh. at least everything but the last.

i can just get near the plant and im broke out horribly. or my dogs/cats gets into it... they are not bothered by it... but boy i sure am!

in winter the plant goes dormant... but just because it has no leaves on it does not mean it is still looking for victims. if you crush the stems/vine and get the oils on your skin, you are in for the same problems as in summer.

right now i have it all over both arms and on my ear and neck. it is unplesant to have to put on a jacket every time i need to go outside... starts the itching all over again.

i have found out 2 things that makes it somewhat bearable...
wash your effected areas with dawn dishwashing soap... dawn (or its equilivants) are designed to break up oils and the oils from a poison ivy are very similar...
the other thing is to take a hair dryer... and use it on the effected area... heat up the rash and you will start to get the sensation of scratching it... sooooo gooooo and it drys out the rash too!!
really good thing to do!!

--rex

OMG Take it from someone that has had it so bad they almost made me a textbook case. Seriously. I went to the emergency room. (I am never sick unless it's on a weekend.) Lol Anyway the doctor prescribed me Benedryl. Oh yeah that will work. Next day 90% of me was covered with it. I went to the other Hospital. That doctor was so shocked by how I was previously treated. And by my condition. He called all nearby staff to come and take a look. Yes, I was embarrased. He prescribed me Predisone. Voila! By the next day it was already drying up. The only thing that has ever worked since. Though knock on wood. I have been Poison Ivy free for 3-4 years. Some Doctors will give u a shot too. It is worth it. Hope you feel better soon. I feel your pain.

Burning brush or campfire wood, the pollination of it in the air, someone elses clothes. I contacted it in early March once. You are right the season does not matter.

Sounds like a malware problem to me! We should name an infection after it, huh? Mosquitoes are the bane o' my life everytime I come across 'em. I know how ya' feel.

forgot to mention... the hairdryer thing feels sooo good...
i actually toyed with the idea of getting poison ivy on myself
again (last year) just so i could use the hairdryer again...

(is that stupid or what?)

--rex

LOL Good news I got one bad case when I was 6 and am now not even alrgic to it! I might break out if I get the sap in a cut but not on the skin or not yet after a few years lol!

Out here on the farm its everywhere and I walk in the woods often with it all around me.

I still be very carefull!

O and im also not too bad allergic to wasp stings I found out. I was loading hey up in the barn one day and a nest of about 100 of them (I had 5 nests just like that in the same barn)

Me like a dummy knocked them down before we finished loading up the hey. I got bit twice at the same time 1/2 a inch away from the other sting on my arm. It swelled up not much at all and went back down within 5 mins.

I guess I found out the hard way!