# Poison ivy problems



## EmyAcres (Jul 3, 2013)

This is my first summer having my girls and I have pretty much kept poison ivy all summer long because they LOVE to eat it and then I pet them.... So I was wondering if any of yaw have any tricks for keeping it away or is this going to have to be something I have to accept? Thanks for any suggestions!


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## Bella Star (Oct 27, 2007)

I know what you mean !!! I keep "refills" on the steroids pills and I milk in the mornings BEFORE they go out and eat ivy. I never touch them in afternoon unless I have too. Wear long sleeves and if you have came in contact with them ,then take a bath within an HOUR or alcohol down as it will break down the ivy oil and put your clothes in washer before you take a bath because the oil is also on your clothes from their fur.
Good Luck


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## EmyAcres (Jul 3, 2013)

Thanks! We don't have insurance and my doctor wants me to come in every time and then just tells me to use calamine lotion! So but my pediatrician gave my daughter a big tube of steriod cream with a refill! But still isn't as easy as the pills! My does are 7 months and 4 months so no milk yet but I do handle them alot! I will do try the alcohol. Thank you VERY much! I went to the beach for a weekend and still had outbreaks without even coming in contact with it!! Very annoying!


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## a4patch (Oct 7, 2009)

Alcohol can be poured into a container of baby wipes and THEN sealed in a gallon zip lock bag. Put this near your barn or back door so you can wipe the oil of asap.


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## doublebowgoats (Mar 6, 2008)

Yes, alcohol works great, but you need to get the poison ivy oil off your skin within 45min or an hour to prevent the reaction. another thing that works well is the orange pumice soap mechanics use for their hands. I used it to scrub off the oil. I used to be extremely allergic, needing steroid shots several times a year because I reacted so badly to the poison ivy. Now I have a more normal reaction, a little itching and then it goes away. I think I finally developed an immunity to it!


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## EmyAcres (Jul 3, 2013)

I have both the orange mechanics soap and the alcohol so I am going to try both I am desperate at this point! I wake up scratching!! Thanks!


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## hurvinek2010 (May 29, 2010)

Very hot shower on the itchy spots will stop the itching for several hours,so you can sleep and not waking up scratching


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## Blackberry Farm (Jul 7, 2011)

Our son is very allergic to poison ivy. He has gotten it systemically, which meant a ton of steroids. (I think poison ivy seeks him out!) Then we heard about Zanfel. It is a small tube of stuff you use to treat poison ivy externally. OMG, it saved us sooo much trouble. His leg was terribly swollen and weepy. I was sure we were in for more steroids. He was absolutely miserable. Anyway, we used this stuff and it turned the poison ivy off like magic. The swelling was gone and it was totally dry the next day. It healed very fast. No exaggeration. You can even use it on your face.

It is expensive, about $35 a tube, but cheaper than the doctor's office. And I can keep it on hand for right when it's needed. I get it from Walmart. I tried it on Ebay, but it was an imposter and didn't work as well. 

So, try to stay out of the poison ivy, and get this stuff for when the poison ivy found you anyway!


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## EmyAcres (Jul 3, 2013)

I feel like I am the same way I look at it and get it!!! I have don't have any outbreaks of it this week so the washing and alcohol must be getting it before it can 'get' me! Lol. I will try to get a tube of that to keep on hand just in case though! Thanks!


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## JN (Nov 4, 2011)

I have heard that washing with jewel weed soap before contact with poison ivy will prevent break outs/irritation/rash from poison ivy. I've not tried it but heard that it works. It is also supposed to treat poison ivy if you already have a reaction to it. I've heard you can also rub on a jewel weed tincture instead of using the soap. We're supposed to have jewel weed growing wild here but I've never seen it. Or I just don't know what I'm looking for.  I've read it actually grows near poison ivy. Thought that was kind of neat.  Also...Heritage Essential Oils sell a spray called Tender Tissue. I know someone who uses this on Poison Ivy and said that it dries it up immediately.


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## informative (Aug 24, 2012)

15% of people are mostly immune to ivy (like lucky me). Get an immune person to act as interface for ivy situations. I am always called upon to weed the ivy because even with direct contact it just makes me slightly itchy for a day or two max and I simply put a little $1 tube of anti-itch cream or hydra-cortisone cream from dollar tree and I'm fine. I've seen what it does to others and it horrifies me. From blisters to drippy sore raw skin - scary.

Yeah so even when I plan to interface with the ivy I wear long sleeves and gloves and long pants and boots and then the itchy places are usually like the little open holes next to the sleeve buttons or my ankles because I stood in it and didnt tuck my pants legs in or wear high socks. Then I always put my clothes right in the wash after so it doesnt get around the house to bother other people.

Yes JN is correct "Jewelweed typically grows not far from water and has a juicy stem that is almost translucent. The juice helps alleviate the pain and itching from Wood Nettle and Stinging Nettle and can be used as a pre-treatment for Poison Ivy exposure. it is good for breaking down the oils from poison ivy.

The orange or yellow flowers (depending on which species this may be) are distinctive and produce seed capsules that explode when touched, shooting the edible seeds several feet. Rain or dew beads up on the unwettable leaf surface and produces tiny "jewels" which sparkle in the sunlight. Type "Jewelweed" into Google Images to see more photos of the plant and to view pictures of the flower." - citing from Facebook Plant Identification group.


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## informative (Aug 24, 2012)

*Poison Ivy immunity*



doublebowgoats said:


> Yes, alcohol works great, but you need to get the poison ivy oil off your skin within 45min or an hour to prevent the reaction. another thing that works well is the orange pumice soap mechanics use for their hands. I used it to scrub off the oil. I used to be extremely allergic, needing steroid shots several times a year because I reacted so badly to the poison ivy. Now I have a more normal reaction, a little itching and then it goes away. I think I finally developed an immunity to it!


I think 15% of the people can have this lesser reaction and build some mild level of immunity. I am like that. Got some on my boots and pant legs because I was tracking through it at our farm and then removed my boots but laid down in bed briefly with my pants on and it transferred to the sheets and for a week I was wondering why I kept waking up with itchy ankles till it finally dawned on me I had ivy'd the sheets via transfer. Over the weeks time the itching became less and less but persisted till I changed the sheets (the immunity building no doubt).


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Ray, I really think you are wrong. With poison ivy, according to doctors that I have gone to, you don't "build" immunity. The more you are exposed to it, eventually you will get a reaction. I did not have a reaction for many, many years. None. Then, in my 40's, it came on full-bore! I tried every commercial product under the sun. Some helped, some didn't. I eventually would have to go to the doctor's and get steroid shots. 

After joining DGI and finally finding the soaping forum, I learned about jewelweed, thanks to Barb. Not sure if it got lost with the DGI buyout, but there was a whole section on jewelweed. It is the ONLY thing that has helped me these last few years. THE ONLY THING. No more going to the doctors for steroid shots. 

Thanks to Barb, I make soap (which I use every other day from spring through fall, just in case), a spray (which helps to dry it up and relieves itching up to 6 hours after spraying) and a salve (haven't perfected that yet) that also helps bites of any kind.

Jewelweed IS the key to curing poison ivy. I will swear by it.


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

Picture of Jewelweed here: http://hikersnotebook.net/file/view...174544/538x423/Spotted_Jewelweed_09_21_03.jpg 
This is the orange spotted version. It also comes in yellow. The seed pods are interesting in that if you touch them when they are ripe, they will explode, shooting seeds everywhere. This gives the plant its other common name: Touch-Me-Not. More info and pictures at this link: http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Jewelweed.html


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## Caprine Beings (Sep 19, 2008)

Jewelweed always grows around Poison Ivy, you have to look for it.

A bath in this will help heal the abrasive spots:

1 part oatmeal
1 part nettle
2 parts comfrey
1 part chamomile 

Place in coffee filter and put in filling hot tub. Enjoy a 20 min soak and then wash off.

All the steroids in the world only bring temporary relieve, same as herbal home remedies, I choose the later...less expensive and no doc needed.
Tam


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

Not always, Tam. Poison ivy has a much larger range than jewelweed. (ie, you can have the poison ivy without there being any jewelweed nearby, unfortunately. Heck, we have a poison ivy invasion going on in our woods and there is no jewelweed anywhere, and it's even native to our region. I have to get it from elsewhere.)


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## EmyAcres (Jul 3, 2013)

Yes I have to second that I have been looking and I have been unsuccessful in finding anything that looks like jewel weed here!!! Although I sure do wish we did!


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## Caprine Beings (Sep 19, 2008)

Do you have nettle and comfrey in your areas? Also Plantain has medicinal purposes as well as oils.

Here too is a shortage of jewelweed. One of our long time friends is a poison Ivy/Oak magnet. I make him up these herbal bath packets and he uses them. 

Tam


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## informative (Aug 24, 2012)

They have special very expensive roundup especially for poison ivy. Instead I use regular roundup mixed with 20% vinegar and seems to do the trick at eradicating it.

http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Wisdo...381862768&sr=1-3-catcorr&keywords=20%+Vinegar

Not sure where to buy this locally I found a gallon at the local city recycling hut for free where someone else had dropped it off. Works great. Common vinegar can kill most plants but is normally only 5% acidity. The 20% works better on tough plants.


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## informative (Aug 24, 2012)

I'm 53 and still no reaction. That is not to say that dancing in it for an hour and grabbing it with my bare hand (yeah do that too) will not cause the slightest of itch it does. I have itch cream and hydrocortisone tubes from dollar tree and slap a little on the itchy spot and maybe a second time at bed time and within a day the slight itchiness is gone. It has not gotten any worse over time.


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