Poison Ivy

I have spent the last two weeks or more in itch-ville! After waking up scratching for many many nights, and feeling uncomfortable in my skin while I'm awake, I am finally on the mend... I can finally go out in public without worrying that people will fear that I'm contagious, and shy away from me!

I have only ever had a reaction to poison ivy once... five years ago, in the spring of 2003. Indeed, I believe that until then, I was not susceptible to poison ivy. During my years in the bush, I had several occasions where my mind was obviously off wandering when I suddenly realized that I was smack in the middle of a patch of this nasty shrub, and yet, I came away unscathed. My first reaction was actually much more severe than this time - the reaction went systemic and I was a real mess! (A reaction to poison ivy is actually called Urushiol-induced contact dermatitis, and is caused by the oil urushiol present in the entire plant; 85% of humans are sensitive to this irritant)

This time, since I couldn't get in to see the doctor for several days after I realized what it was, I tried a few 'home remedies': washing with sunlight soap, scrubbing with bleach, cleansing with rubbing alcohol, applying a hydrocortisone cream, and good old calamine lotion... (not all at once, of course). None of them really worked very well, and the rash was really bad by the time I got to see the doctor (with oozing blisters), so he prescribed oral prednisone. It had me up, down and spinning in circles, but it certainly decreased the allergic reaction and increased the rate of healing! This photo is from one day after I began the prednisone.



The story of the way I got poison ivy this time is really quite embarrassing... I was out geocaching, and enjoying my time outside, when I came upon this unique plant which I thought I'd never seen before. I actually admired it, wondered at it, PICKED it, and brought it home to identify! I had never seen poison ivy in the FALL, apparently, and didn't know that its characteristically green, waxy leaves do turn (red, yellow and orange, with brown spots), and that it gets little cream-coloured, slightly greenish clusters of berries.



I won't be making that mistake again!