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Poison oak and poision ivy


delanos

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I have yet (knock on wood) get into poison oak or ivy. But my family has a history of being very allergic. The worst I've had was stinging nettle plant.

So I was wondering if anybody has had any run ins with poison oak/ivy or any other nasty plant?

Do you have any cures or preventative measures we can try?

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I have yet (knock on wood) get into poison oak or ivy. But my family has a history of being very allergic. The worst I've had was stinging nettle plant.

So I was wondering if anybody has had any run ins with poison oak/ivy or any other nasty plant?

Do you have any cures or preventative measures we can try?

Yep. The best preventative measure is don't step off the concrete. Otherwise you will end up with a case. As for a cure, well, there isn't much, but smiling helps. There some lotions that do easy the itchies. But the only effective cure is time.

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I have yet (knock on wood) get into poison oak or ivy. But my family has a history of being very allergic. The worst I've had was stinging nettle plant.

So I was wondering if anybody has had any run ins with poison oak/ivy or any other nasty plant?

Do you have any cures or preventative measures we can try?

Yep. The best preventative measure is don't step off the concrete. Otherwise you will end up with a case. As for a cure, well, there isn't much, but smiling helps. There some lotions that do easy the itchies. But the only effective cure is time. Some say long pants and long sleeves help. But it is still possible to get it from the clothes and your dog.

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I have yet (knock on wood) get into poison oak or ivy. But my family has a history of being very allergic. The worst I've had was stinging nettle plant.

So I was wondering if anybody has had any run ins with poison oak/ivy or any other nasty plant?

Do you have any cures or preventative measures we can try?

Yep. The best preventative measure is don't step off the concrete. Otherwise you will end up with a case. As for a cure, well, there isn't much, but smiling helps. There some lotions that do easy the itchies. But the only effective cure is time. Some say long pants and long sleeves help. But it is still possible to get it from the clothes and your dog.

Yea well that is tough. I go for both city and trail caches. I'm hoping I'm immune because I use to hunt did a lot of hiking on primitive trails and have had ample opportunities to get it. But both my dad and uncle have gotten it so bad they were bed ridden and once my uncle was hospitalized. My uncle worked for the Phone company climbing poles. He use to get into it all the time. It was not pretty. I have been making sure I wear both long sleeve shirts and pants and change when I can put them in the wash. The only cure is steroids and I'm not so sure that would be an option for me. I would not trust that to help more than hurt me. Well in until i here better I'll keep doing what i'm doing. I also have the picture of the plants imprinted on my brain and I look it up every so often. But your right stay on the concrete and you can't get it.

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Poison oak is endemic in my area, and I'm only moderately sensitive to it. My wife, on the other hand, is extremely sensitive to it, which usually requires a visit to the doctor for a shot of cortisone and a week of prednisone therapy.

 

Lately, she's tried a product called Ivy Block before going out for hikes, and she's had pretty good success with it. Just an FYI, we've tried Tecnu in the past without much success post exposure, although I've had pretty good success personally with it.

 

Good luck!

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I have a friend who uses Tecnu with some success. I've heard of Ivy Block.

 

Personally I end up where there is poison ivy perpetually it seems. I've had 2 instances which resulted in hives on the lower part of one or both of my legs (depending on the instance). I was super close to going in for a steroid shot the first time because the hives were so bad but just let it ride and used costrizone and benadryl with some success with symptom management. Second time I had it I got some serious hives but the itchies resolved quickly. However, I also got after it right away with soap and cold water which probably limited my exposure to the oil. And the clothes always go into the wash right after caching as a general rule. Usually I'm heading right into the shower too and usually it's a colder shower in the summer which does help with getting the oils off.

 

For whatever reason the peppermint body wash I use helps with the hives and itchiness too.

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Stinging nettle is a TOTALLY different issue than poison ivy, poison oak, or poison sumac (all three of which are related). For one thing, nettle will only bother you for a few minutes (like 15-30, generally) and won't raise any blisters. It is irritating, especially when you are sweating, but it is very temporary. The other three can last for weeks, can spread, can be contracted months after contact with the stuff on your clothing.

 

For stinging nettle, look for Jewelweed growing nearby. It isn't a "cure", as some say (IMHO) but it is relieving. Some claim that Jewelweed is an antidote for poison ivy (etc) but research does not support that one little bit.

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Poison oak is endemic in my area, and I'm only moderately sensitive to it. My wife, on the other hand, is extremely sensitive to it, which usually requires a visit to the doctor for a shot of cortisone and a week of prednisone therapy.

 

Lately, she's tried a product called Ivy Block before going out for hikes, and she's had pretty good success with it. Just an FYI, we've tried Tecnu in the past without much success post exposure, although I've had pretty good success personally with it.

 

Good luck!

Cool I'm going to check it out.

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I don't have any poison oak and poision ivy stories but the simple solution would be to stick with LPC hides where spiders and bees have a good shot at you.

Yea I had one of those. A hole in the side of a small cliff. It was loaded with daddy long legs and spiders. I wore gloves. The cache name even had spider hole in it. How stupid was that?

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I don't have any poison oak and poision ivy stories but the simple solution would be to stick with LPC hides where spiders and bees have a good shot at you.

And earwigs. I lifted a LP skirt and disturbed a zillion of those little guys. I still have nightmares...

I remember a time before light pole caches. I got in in 2002 when Ammo cans and Tupperware were most of the containers. I hate those little bitty nano caches. The lids seem to stick on them all the time. I use them but I put grease on the threads. Mostly i use 35mm types and bigger. The logs fill up quick on the nano's too.

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I don't have any poison oak and poision ivy stories but the simple solution would be to stick with LPC hides where spiders and bees have a good shot at you.

And earwigs. I lifted a LP skirt and disturbed a zillion of those little guys. I still have nightmares...

I live in Texas we have diamond backs, Cotton mouths and other unsavory surprises in holes. Until I moved back to Dallas all of my caches were in parks. I hate snakes too. I have had close calls with cotton mouths here in Texas and A Coral snake and copper head in Virginia. I almost soiled my pants. I hate the dadgum things. Also had close encounters with ferrel dogs and pigs. Going off concrete is fun to a point.

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Yep, I'm from Texas also, and I've seen a LOT of poison Ivy around caches. I am very very alergic to it so I have to be real careful not to touch it and take a long hot soapy shower when I get home. I will not let poison ivy stop me from doing anything. I got stung by a scorpion last year, and it made me sick at my stomach and made me have a funny aluminum?? taste in my mouth. Poison Ivy is easy to spot once someone shows you what it can look like, vine, bush, or small tree. Even your clothes can have the oil on it for quite a time if they are not washed in Hot soapy water. I've had a rash from it in the winter when there was snow on the ground.

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I wasn't caching at the time, but I came off a horse once, breaking a couple of bones in one hand. Within a few days it was itching really bad &, once the poison ivy rash appeared above the cast & on my fingertips, it became apparent that it was UNDER the cast, as well! I ended up back in the ER, because it got infected in there. (I knew I had a problem when my fingers started getting tingly & a little blue because the swelling was cutting off the circulation!) The whole thing was NOT fun!

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I don't have any poison oak and poision ivy stories but the simple solution would be to stick with LPC hides where spiders and bees have a good shot at you.

And earwigs. I lifted a LP skirt and disturbed a zillion of those little guys. I still have nightmares...

 

Its 2230, and I made the terrible mistake to both google earwigs, and then picture "a zillion" of them. I'm gonna have nightmares too...

 

Yet another reason not to do LPCs.

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Several years ago I slept in my sleeping bad on the open ground in the woods at night. I didn't realize that my sleeping bag contacted some poison oak as I slept. Within a few days I had rashes all over me. I put my clothes and sleeping bag through the washing machine just to be safe. It took a month for the rashes and itching to go away.

 

TWO YEARS LATER I use the sleeping bag on the floor in the house. It hasn't been used since I washed it after the poison oak incident two years prior.

 

I got a poison oak rash again! Not as bad this time, but I guess I didn't wash off all the poison oak oils two years before.

 

Needless to say, I threw away the sleeping bag at that point.

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A product called "oral Ivy" can not only be used to help cure PI, but it can make you immune or your outbreaks very slight. I personally know 4 people that have used it with success. It's a homeopathic that has been around since the 1800's. B&T is the brand. Stands for two peoples names, which I forget.

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Worst poison oak story? I jumped into a creek on a hot summer day to access a cache on a branch hanging way out over the creek (normal people use a boat). Realized I couldn't get back out where I went in due to the concave bank. Got out 50 feet downstream and walked, barefoot, through a minefield of poison oak and sticker bushes back to where I had left my shoes. Found myself holding on to a poison oak branch for balance at one point while traversing the stickers.

 

My solution: Technu first. Then scratch and scratch, apply anti-itch cream and scratch some more for at least two weeks.

 

A month later, I'll start it all over again with another cache around poison oak.

 

:D

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Worse case:

 

Was raised in the east and back then never reacted to poison ivy. Was in the woods and a friend took a dump and requested "some leaves from that maple tree". Never having reacted to P.I. I handed him a handful of the first convenient leaves I could reach. He wiped then missed a week of school. Took him a while to trust me with leaves again.

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I manage to get into PI every year, usually multiple times per year. Geocaching, hunting, fishing, cutting firewood, etc, etc... I use Tecnu when I get in the house, scrub my entire body with it and also IvyDry soap. I then wash my clothing with 1/4 cup of tecnu in the laundry along with the regular detergent.

 

Doesn't always stop it, but it seems to cut down on the amount of rash and hives.

 

Now, when I do get the hives and such, I take a wash rag and soap, scrub the affected area until it bleeds, then I pour isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol on the area. I soak a gauze bandage in the alcohol and cover the area. Twice a day for 2-3 days and the itch and rash are gone.

 

I know it is extreme, and most will never do it, but it works for me. Highly sensitive to PI, so I get after it quickly or I will end up in the ER from it. Started doing this routine, the scrub/bleed/alcohol deal, in 1989 after a major case of ivy itch and rash and have never had worse than a 3"x3" rash since and never longer than 4 days.

 

Hurts like crazy, but it beats a week or much more of suffering the itchy rash, IMO

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Worse case:

 

Was raised in the east and back then never reacted to poison ivy. Was in the woods and a friend took a dump and requested "some leaves from that maple tree". Never having reacted to P.I. I handed him a handful of the first convenient leaves I could reach. He wiped then missed a week of school. Took him a while to trust me with leaves again.

Now that's an embarrassing itch to scratch, lol. :lol:

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Worst ever:

 

Went mountain biking down a trail with lots of PO. Took hot shower when home. Within days my legs were bleeding. Took doctors treatment to recover.

 

Now I have swelling when exposed, may make joints painful, legs unable to bend.

 

When exposed I us Tecnu as soon as possible. Apply liberally, scrub using COLD water, repeat.

 

If a rash breaks out then I use Tecnu Extreme.

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Several years ago I slept in my sleeping bad on the open ground in the woods at night. I didn't realize that my sleeping bag contacted some poison oak as I slept. Within a few days I had rashes all over me. I put my clothes and sleeping bag through the washing machine just to be safe. It took a month for the rashes and itching to go away.

 

TWO YEARS LATER I use the sleeping bag on the floor in the house. It hasn't been used since I washed it after the poison oak incident two years prior.

 

I got a poison oak rash again! Not as bad this time, but I guess I didn't wash off all the poison oak oils two years before.

 

Needless to say, I threw away the sleeping bag at that point.

Next time use Burt's Bees Poison Ivy soap. I hear it work. Haven't used myself yet.

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Worse case:

 

Was raised in the east and back then never reacted to poison ivy. Was in the woods and a friend took a dump and requested "some leaves from that maple tree". Never having reacted to P.I. I handed him a handful of the first convenient leaves I could reach. He wiped then missed a week of school. Took him a while to trust me with leaves again.

Now that's an embarrassing itch to scratch, lol. :lol:

Oh may I hurt just reading that. I'd be careful about stuff he hands you. May just be looking for some payback.

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Have a friend here in N.W. Calif. who is a Native American traditional basket weaver who goes out to gather her own raw materials. She suggested regular old bleach on a paper towel and let it soak for a few minutes a couple of times a day. Yepper I have had to resort to it. Yes bleach and paper towels ride along in the geo-rig now.

That was what my parents use to use for stings and chiggers. Another problem. I'll have to put some in my kit.

 

I remember in the Scouts they use to say Urinate on it for poison oak/ivy, chiggers and stings. Never tried it. Well not on purpose anyway. That would require copious quantities of alcohol.

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Stinging nettle is a TOTALLY different issue than poison ivy, poison oak, or poison sumac (all three of which are related). For one thing, nettle will only bother you for a few minutes (like 15-30, generally) and won't raise any blisters. It is irritating, especially when you are sweating, but it is very temporary. The other three can last for weeks, can spread, can be contracted months after contact with the stuff on your clothing.

 

For stinging nettle, look for Jewelweed growing nearby. It isn't a "cure", as some say (IMHO) but it is relieving. Some claim that Jewelweed is an antidote for poison ivy (etc) but research does not support that one little bit.

I've heard that the liquid from ferns is useful for relieving Stinging Nettle "stings".

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I got a really bad case of poison ivy on my arms and legs in middle school; I missed a week of school. I've got a little poison ivy in nearly 2 years of caching, but unless I fell into a field of the stuff there's no way I'll have it that bad again.

 

As soon as I notice a poison ivy rash/blister, I apply some Ivarest creme. Looks and smells weird, but works great.

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