I got into this mess digging out some bushes in my yard. I can;t take this itch anymore. I am using Calamine lotion, taking Benadryl, and also using steroid cream. Does anyone have any good proven home remedies that might help?

Did you wash it real good to get any of the urushiol oil it left off of you? Be sure to do that. In fact, I'd shower and scrub yourself down well with a washcloth to get all oils off you anywhere it might have touched you. Get the clothes and any socks off you were wearing and wash them. Wipe down the shoes well in case the oils touched them, too. I don't know what your doctor could give you if you call them tomorrow, but sometimes chilling itchy places (the freeze it method to reduce inflammation) help me with mosquito bites (I'm allergic to MOST insect bites). Use a frozen gel pack or a regular zip-loc ice pack and keep it there as long as you can stand it. That often reduces allergic itching for me. Here's an article with some sound advice: https://www.healthline.com/hea...

I agree with using ice packs or bags of frozen veggies, anything cold. Get the oil off you and your stuff then put something cold on it. It's only temporary but helps.

I did get into the shower and wash all my clothes immediately. This is after 3 days! Its so awful. I have never been exposed to poison ivy. I emailed my doctor and asked her for a course of Prednisone. Its just so nasty. It weeps and feels almost like I got burned. If they bottled this stuff they could use it as a biological weapon I swear.

Thanks for the advice about the cold packs. I'll try that.

From the Mayo Clinic:

Treatment

Poison ivy treatments are usually limited to self-care methods. And the rash typically goes away on its own in two to three weeks.

If the rash is widespread or results in a large number of blisters, your doctor may prescribe an oral corticosteroid, such as prednisone. If a bacterial infection has developed at the rash site, your doctor may give you a prescription for an oral antibiotic.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/dis...

Ok - this is gonna sound really crazy - many people will say "do not do it" - but some people like myself would swear to it in court ....

to stop the itch *temporarily* - run water at faucet or shower-head, as water gets warmer, hold body part with the poison ivy rash under running hot water as hot as you can stand it, for as long as you can stand it ...

you might notice the urge to itch has diminished immensely ....repeat the hot water as often as necessary

also - rubbing alcohol used in the first few days or so also seems to help - as it dissolves the (now dry) poison ivy sap (if used early)

Then - there is an over-the-counter wash you can get ...its called * Zanfel *

Zanfel has worked wonders for me when the directions are followed exactly - no other wash is like this, or works as fast ....not Tecnu, Ivy-Dry, Resinol, Ivarest, Caladryl or calamine

Buy now ...use tonight ...and Your rash can be gone in 2 to 3 days

But a heads-up ...Zanfel is expensive ....big box stores from $30- to $60- .....may be cheaper at a local pharmacy ....beware of online "auctions" which may be around $20 or even less ....these are sometimes cheap because the expiration has long since past

Zanfel. It has scrubby things in ot and feels really good!

I used to use the hot water treatment all the time and it really helped. Where I live now there does not seem to be any around to bother me.

I was doing that int eh tub and shower. It does help. My doctor gave me a course of Prednisone and I started it today. Hopefully this will be over soon.

Would an oatmeal bath help?? I've heard it helps chicken pox...just a thought

I was using oatmeal soap at first but was afraid I had contaminated the bar so I started using an antibacterial liquid soap instead. This is what it looks like today. I wear a thumb ring on my left hand and it got under the ring and it looked like a third degree burn. That has dried and scabbed over and started to heal


But I still have blisters on my arms, legs and torso that haven't even burst yet. The big red area on my forearm has started to heal, the skin all peeled off and it looks like a burn





This stuff is no joke. I only slept 3 hours last night I was so uncomfortable

You poor thing. I'd stick with the prednisone the doc gave you. Wonder if any of the non-Rx lidacaine creams or lotions available OTC would help? You could ask you pharmacist for a recommendation on the OTC products they might think best.

Some of the soaps they make for it help for a couple of hours with the itching and also help dry it up.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CVK844V/

I would be careful with the lidocane treatments

It is important to note that these effects can result from excessive topical use or misuse of lidocaine as well. For example, covering a large area of the body with lidocaine or leaving it on the skin for a long time can lead to absorption of the drug into the bloodstream. This can also occur when it's applied to skin that is not intact such as open wounds, blisters, or burns. Wrapping the treated area also increases absorption.

Another serious effect of lidocaine is a condition known as methemoglobinemia. Lidocaine can impair the ability of iron in red blood cells to carry oxygen to the tissues. Methemoglobinemia is the condition of having blood that has this altered kind of iron. Methemoglobinemia can result even from normal use of lidocaine, especially in children. Because the blood is not able to carry enough oxygen to the tissues, people with methemoglobinemia appear very pale or even blue, feel very tired, and have shortness of breath. Methemoglobinemia can be life-threatening.

My doctor told me to just continue with Benadryl, use topical steroids and take the oral steroid (Prednisone). I know this rash is supposed to be self limiting but I was born with over 125 allergies to food, pollen, dust, animal dander and insects, went through years of allergy shots when immunology was still a 'new fangled' medical discipline, and endured shots of Gamma Immune Globulin every 2 weeks to bolster my sad immune system. So I tend to follow my doctor's advice LOL

@Gina I am so sorry you were ivy attacked. I know how miserable ivy attack can hurt. I was never allergic to ivy I could roll around in it and nothing happened. I had been pulling it for yrs and one yr all of a sudden my body said no more. Because I was use to not being allergic I was not careful and had it all over my body and face,

The doctor had to end up giving me antibiotics. I agree with others about the hot water and alcohol also to cut the oil I used dawn dish detergent. I also picked up a bottle of hydrogen peroxide at the dollar store, they have small bottle that has a spray. I sprayed the ones that were oozing.

Wash the area with Dawn dish detergent. It is the best emulsifier to break-up and wash away oils of any kind. When I first moved to North Carolina (from Wisconsin where it never gets more than a foot tall), I did not realize that poison ivy here grows like a vine---a LONG vine. On a dead tree in my back yard there was a poison ivy that grew to the top of the tree---70 feet up. The diameter at it's base was 8"! I used a machete and then a hand saw to cut a 6" chunk out of the lower stem to make the whole vine die. Every little piece that touched my skin caused a reaction. It was true misery that lasted about two weeks. I ended up throwing away the clothes that I had been wearing after my neighbor said not to wash it with the laundry cause that would contaminate all the rest of the clothes and the washer, too. It is impossible to walk any natural area here without contacting it. It is on every other tree---especially at the edge of the woods where it can get the light it needs to thrive. After learning that it was caused by an oil---the correlation to Dawn was easy to make, and did help to minimize it. After 38 years of living here I have become immune to it (mostly---would not bath in it). The body builds a tolerance with constant exposure. However, that first major outbreak of it was a shock I still clearly remember.

Its started to dry up really well now, today is my last day for the steroids. But my skin is reacting like it was burned. It peeled off in some places and scabbed over in others. And it is still itching like a mother even though the lesions are no longer weeping and are closing.

That is good news Gina, I remember my face peeling it can look ugly. Try not to pull the peeling off let it come off naturally.

The rash is almost all gone, I still have a a few spots that are active, but even the places that have healed STILL ITCH! I am applying moisturizers because I feel like the calamine lotion and topical steroids dried out my skin but its not really helping, have been awake the last 2 nights even after taking Benadryl. How long does the itch last even after the rash has mostly healed????