I Hate Poison...

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Wood Doctor

Wood Doctor

Edwin
. AS Supporting Member.
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Ivy, Oak, and Sumac. Just got nailed by one of these beasts on Tuesday while splitting logs, even though I was wearing heavy jeans. Can't take a picture because the big, oozing lesion is on the back of my right calf, about the size of a silver dollar and swollen like a stuffed pig.

Which one is worse and which one do I have working on me? Ivy, Oak, or Sumac? This thing is awful and LOML won't go near it to apply Calamine lotion.

And, is anything else out there waiting for us? :mad:
 
I can sympathize....... I only need to get within a mile of PI to break out like crazy. I've just had a two year battle getting rid of it behind my house....... I think I actually won this time.
 
I have a 6th sense for detecting PI now...I see it long before I get into it.
One time years ago, I got some P sumac down my work glove and it stayed there for a day...that sucked ...it came back every year in the same spot between my fingers...for years..
 
I haven't really had it this year. But in the previous years I had it so long I basically had a running tab of prednisone to keep it away. I just get the rash, but no oozing blisters.
 
Sumac is definitely the worst, oak and ivy are pretty much the same. Poison Sumac is generally found in wetland environments so I wouldn't expect to see it with any firewood!
 
Oldtimer said:
I have a 6th sense for detecting PI now...I see it long before I get into it.
One time years ago, I got some P sumac down my work glove and it stayed there for a day...that sucked ...it came back every year in the same spot between my fingers...for years..
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Um new gloves????:dizzy:
 
Wood Doctor said:
I thnk it's poison ivy. Take a look at this:
http://www.poison-ivy.org/html/poison-ivy-odyssey.htm


This stuff can hit you in various sizes and shapes and spread from there. I've always been susceptible to it. Rats!
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That's the stuff. The guy in the pics has a fair to middlin' case. The next step is massive swelling and cracking of the affected area.

I get it bad too, but am surrounded by the stuff all year so there's no getting away.

The Hot Water trick just before bed allows for sleep, and Benedryl helps a bit too.

I hate the bare vines in winter worst of all. In summer, the stuff can be dodged and worked around, it's just the secondary contact with equipment(Bruch chopper, tractor, rotovator, harvester etc.) that gets me.

Ivy shield dosn't work for beans...save your money.
Tecnu ain't bad for itch relief and Zanfel is OK too.

Bets thing I have found is plain old ETHER. If you have to work on something that has been exposed, hose it down and let it dry.
Get the crud on the skin and not near soap and lots of water, ETHER gets it off quick and minimizes the reaction.
Ether is NOT good for ya though..but it's a lesser of two evils for me.

Go easy on the Prednisone. That stuff is murder on your system and damages the liver like crazy. My Doc flat out told me that unless I'm gonna die from PI, he wont prescribe it again.

I'm fixing to NUKE(Paraquat) a clump of PI as soon as the field drys up a bit.
If it makes ya feel better, I'll post some pics of horrible suffering and pain inflicted on the enemy.:D

Stay safe!
Dingeryote
 
I'm immune!

Ductape said:
I can sympathize....... I only need to get within a mile of PI to break out like crazy. I've just had a two year battle getting rid of it behind my house....... I think I actually won this time.
Click to expand...

Roundup seems to work well against it. Somehow, I seem to be immune to it. The last time I got it was when I was a teenager, and it was a very mild reaction. A few years back, I went after a patch of it with a weedeater, juice flying everywhere, and no reaction. I felt pretty cocky about that, it's nice to have at least one thing that bugs everyone else but leaves me alone.

Hmmm. I wonder if "oil of poison ivy" could be made into a biological weapon, poison ivy bombs that explode over enemy troops and drive them crazy in a couple of days and make them wanna quit fighting. It seems that only a tiny amount of whatever it is in the plant has huge and potent effects.
 
chuckwood said:
I seem to be immune to it. The last time I got it was when I was a teenager, and it was a very mild reaction. A few years back, I went after a patch of it with a weedeater, juice flying everywhere, and no reaction. I felt pretty cocky about that...
Click to expand...



Don't push it. One of these days, it might just get you worse than ever. Sometimes the body reacts that way.
 
5% Roundup with 17% Ammonium sulfate just makes mine turn chlorotic and starts a new flush of growth unless I catch it in the spring...and then it just delays it.

I have often thought about Urishoil as a "Organic weapon".
Maybe used for skullduggery.
Like maybe incorporate it into the most popular brand of Iranian Laundry powder, and then have a friendly Mullah announce that God will set a Pox upon those who follow the Ayatollah.:D

But that's just cruel.;)

Stay safe!
Dingeryote
 
BlueRidgeMark said:
Don't push it. One of these days, it might just get you worse than ever. Sometimes the body reacts that way.
Click to expand...

Yep.
I was Immune and could pull it out of the ground bare handed.

That all ended with a case of Poison Oak that had me in the base hospital and then laid up for two weeks.

Getting old sucks!!!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote
 
Find some Jewel weed.It grows around wet areas and is all over the place in my neck of the woods. Collect a bunch, put it in a blender, rub the paste on the poison ivy. Instant itch relief and gone in a couple of days. Also, try googling poison ivy soap. It is soap made with jewel weed. I think they are out of Arkansas. I also like the super hot water treatment in the shower. Hurts so good:greenchainsaw:
 
Jewel Weed

Jewel Weed - it's natures comfort for poison ivy. It is redish orange in color and resembles the flowers on trumpet vine. Some reports say it can be found growing near P.I. patches but I never have seen any there.

Native Americans knew about Jewel Weed and used it when they contacted the pesky ivy.

Nosmo
 
Jewelweed and Trumpet Vine

Jewelweed (or Jewel Weed) is the one which helps with poison ivy and poison oak. Trumpet Vine is somewhat of a look-a-like but is not a cure for poison ivy .
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I get all types of Poison Ivy and Oak, BAD. The first thing to relief is to understand how it works. It's an oil that causes the reaction to the skin. It's about the same thickness as 10 weight motor oil. If I know I've been in it I'll wash with a dish detergent, like Palmolive or Joy, it's made to cut grease and oil. If all you have is regular bar soap, use literally a whole bar, with vigorous scrubbing. The sooner washed of the better, but you can usually go about 8 hrs and be OK. A quick wash like after you pee won't do it. Think how much it takes to wash off that nasty black burnt motor oil and you've got it.

After you have it there is one thing that works really well to releive the discomfort. If it's on your hands or arms run water that's as hot as you can stand, not burning hot, on the area for 30 seconds or so. Long enough your skin starts to turn red. If it's on the rest of your body just take a nice hot bath. I found this out as a kid because I took really hot showers. What happens is it's the Histamine in your skin that causes the itching. The hot water releases the Histamine in your skin and it takes about 8 hrs for your body to build it back up. A hot shower before bed will usually get you a good nights sleep, and the same with a hot shower before you leave for work.

Don't worry about fluids leaking from the blisters spreading, it's just your own body fluids, just like any other blister. If you have areas of break out later, it's because there was a small concentration of oil in that spot already.

If you're like me and over 50, and have to pee every hour, watch where your hands have been. The first place I always get poison Ivy is the last place I want it, Joe.
 
Interesting. I've always bin told, it's better to wash with cold water, keeps your pores closed.

I just got rid of some poison oak, that I knowingly got into on a dead shagbark. It was extremely hot and humid. After I got it down and sawed-up. I quickly jumped in the river with some dawn dish soap. I only got a couple of spots on my right arm.

I've used ether, carb and brake clean, which all work for drying it up. This time I used clorox bleach and then rubbed cement over my arm. May sound weird, but the cement took the itch away, and it was gone in three days.:)
 
I am very sensitive to PI. Ya can laugh but I have found woman's shower jell from bath & body works. Keeps me from getting it and helps to keep it from spreading when I do. I think the oils in it make a barrier on my skin. And the girls like my baby soft skin too:bang:

2-4-D works a lot better on PI than roundup. In my sprayer I put both 2-4-D and roundup what one dosen't kill the other does.

Billy
 

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