Prednizone and Poison Ivy

Pitter- Was the doctor a dermatologist? If not, and the rash continues, see a skin specialist.

My mom just got over a nasty allergic rash. It went away on her body first, but it took a few days longer for it to subside on her arms.

In the meantime, I would suggest that you take Benadryl, an over the counter anti-histamine, which may clear the rest of it up. Benadryl also comes in a gel, which you can smear on your skin to help the "itchies"

Thanks Phoenix-yes it was a doctor. I will try benadryl.

Bummer... Mr.P is horribly sensitive to Poison Oak, the western version of Poison Ivy. That urushiol is bad stuff. I hope you clear up soon. You know, of course, that all the clothes your wore needed to be washed really, really well?

They say that the rash will go away on its own in two weeks, but if you use a prescription med, you can count on it being gone in fourteen days.

Pitter, sozobe contends with the Mother of All Poison Ivy plants in this thread here -


http://able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=51097&start=0


There were a number of useful links mentioned, as I remember.

Thank you that is a usefull thread. I'm back in Colombia now and here the idea is to avoid at all costs Toxicodendron striatum a species locally called Caspi. It's a tree that produces a latex with an effect that is supposed to be much worse than poison ivy. I pass one on the road to my house.

You're welcome, and keep in touch.. no, not with the plant..

@#$%&!!!!
i have it.
not too bad, though -- a few spots on my wrists, forearms and knees.

Pitter, my doc put me on PREDNISONE for 7 days.
will report back next week with the results.

this weekend i go on a poison ivy hunt in the front yard.





ya know, usually i hit for a high average, and bunt a lot.
i think i'll try swinging for the fences a bit more this week...

Region- How much prednisone are you taking? Is the doctor weaning you off the drug, or are you just stopping it after the seven days? If you are on a low dose, it doesn't matter. If you are on a higher dose, you need to taper off it slowly. I know, from personal experience.

Have you noticed that you have a lot more energy since you are on the prednisone? Feel hungrier than usual???

Re: Prednizone and Poison Ivy


The prednizone will work to get rid of the worst of the itch, but you will find you will contiune to have little flare ups for weeks. Try not to scratch directly on the skin or you get an infection from small particles of dirt under your nails. The 8 day treatment sounds standard (did the pills come on a card and you take a few each day until they are gone? - that's the usual package).

Try and find a product called Tecnu. You can get it on line, try drugstore.com. This product removes the oils that stay on your skin and continue to cause itching. Follow the instructions on the label.

Each time you get poison ivy the body reacts in a more extreme way. It's not age so much as exposure. On hot humid days you should stay far away from the stuff. The oils can get into the humid air and enter your skin when you sweat.

Good luck, I've been there and I know it's not an easy road.

2 per day for a week.

i think i'll be quitting cold-turkey when they run out.

i just started yesterday -- so far, so good...




thanx for the tip.
while i was waiting to get the prescription filled, i noticed a display for a poison ivy treatment kit by Cortaid.
maybe i'll give it a whirl if i have a re-lapse...

Well now I have just recovered from my first case of Toxicodendron striatum locally known as "Caspi". Although touted in books as being far worse than poison ivy my case was fairly mild and went away in about a week and a half whereas poison ivy stays with me for weeks. When I was a kid I fell off a bicycle into a big patch while not wearing a shirt. My eyes were even swollen shut so I've been very alergic to it ever since. This last time with p i I did use prednizone but found the help to be minimal.

How many milligrams?

i don't have the vial in front of me, but they're small (3/16" diameter, 1/32" high)...

Region- I would need to know the dosage. If it is very small, there probably would not be a problem. A larger dose, stopped "cold turkey" could cause some problems.

I once took 60mg. for 5 days, and then stopped. I became completely discombobbulated, and ended up in the ER, where they gave me more prednisone to stop the effects. After that, ( I was taking the drug in on/off cycles) the doctor (who should have known better in the first place,) gave me 60,55,50,45, etc. which did not cause the same side effects.

i'll do anything -- ANYTHING!! -- to get rid of it

Bummer, Region.

Yes, I am forever grateful to CodeBorg for the Tecnu tip. Whether it is because I have been extremely careful to wash with it after every exposure or whether I'm just not that susceptible, I have had ZERO outbreaks after dealing with several huge garbage bags' worth of the stuff (removing it from my yard).

The other day sozlet and some friends were playing in a park that has a wooded and poison-ivy-prone (I surmised with a glance, just from conditions) area behind a fence. The three kids she was with went back there and I told her not to because of poison ivy. She told the kids the same, but they weren't interested. The other kids' moms were also not that concerned. Sure enough, 15 minutes later one of the kids starts crying about the horrible blisters on his leg. I told the mom about Tecnu, she went and bought it, washed him off, and he was all better by the next day.

(When the affected kids mom dashed off to get Tecnu I gave a tour to the other mom at her request, pointing out poison ivy, which she didn't know how to recognize. Sure enough, there was plenty of it where the kids went. And some enormous lush bushes of it right off the grass, where there wasn't any fence. <shudder>)

Feel better soon, Region, and I can give you tips up the wazoo on clearing out the poison ivy when you find it, just give a holler.

So far. Knock on wood. (The stuff keeps popping up, not from MOAPI who's good and dead, or any of the other major sources that I got last year, just brand-new autonomous seedlings, probably from birds eating berries from the many local areas that do have it and then pooping in my hard. Pthht.)

soz,
thanx -- i started reading your thread in Pets & Gardens, but didn't get through it yet.

the doc told me people can catch it indoors if it gets on the fur of their pets!

i looked at some pictures of it here, but none of them seem to resemble any plants we have on our property...



Phoenix,
the dosage is 20 mg a day, for 7 days.
if i start feeling discombobulated in any way, shape or form, i can always take 1 pill on the 7th day, and 1 on the 8th day...

Region- With 20mg./day, you should not have much of a problem. Anyhow, it is when a person STOPS taking prednisone, when some of those side effects begin.

If you have a sensitive stomach, it is a good idea to take an antacid while you are taking the prednisone. I used to take Zantac when I was taking prednisone, but there is probably a lot of OTC stuff that you can take. Prednisone can be hard on the stomach.