[MR] ingested poison ivy

[Becky McEllistrem]

Ingested Poison Ivy

Since we use public areas that might have poison ivy etc so much....



Well a new trick for me this past week was ingesting poison ivy.  I knew I'd come into contact with it because I was down on all 4s digging up dandelions and I brushed up against it.  Near as I can figure, It spread towards my eyes quickly and I had a couple spots near my eyelid and it came in through that way.

If you don't know, typical poison ivy rashes are taken care of with a salt bath of some sort.  Poison ivy, oak etc creates problems by spreading oils into your skin and system.  Epsom salt baths (actually any salt is OK but Epsom salts are stronger) help drain the excess fluid.  (Typically pop blisters with something sterile first and then soak affected areas.)

In my case, this worked on the poison ivy on my face but then it showed up on my shoulder and then it started breaking out around my waist.  I was confused since the whole body had been in an epsom salt bath, not just my face.  I described this to my doctor who said "I want to see you now!"  My symptoms were typical of a serious case that could have gotten much more serious if it had gotten to lungs etc.

They put me on Prednosone which I never experienced that makes you pretty hyper but did the job and for it was a medication that did not upset my stomach.  I'm dealing with the hyper part which is messing with my sleep right now but my outbreaks were stopped in 48 hours and 4 days later have really cleared up.

I still haven't gone back to swimming yet because I have visible rash looking areas but I probably will in the next couple days.  The nice thing is how quickly it worked.

My doctor said it's very common now in areas especially now where you can burn brush because people are clearing out brush, burning it with poison ivy and not even knowing they are burning poison ivy.  Neighbors inhale the smoke and those sensitive to it have just ingested poison ivy.

The rule of thumb is if a poison ivy, etc outbreak stays in one location or spreads from one location, it's a typical outbreak that should be resolved with empsom salts and visible improvement should happen in 48 hours or less.  If it's outbreaks that are "hopping" it could be ingested and you SHOULD call a doctor.  Because the way kids scratch and then spread oils, it might be harder to tell with them depending on the child.

Might not be news to you but it's been a new experience for me!  I was back out in the yard about 3 days after it happened but the first two days were pretty irritating!!  The hair has definitely been up in pony taile when it usually isn't!! <grin>

Rebecca