[Magdalen] Poison ivy question

[Marion Thompson]

Well, all through my youth I seemed to be impervious to poison ivy despite
frequent exposure.  Then somewhere around 19 I had a small eruption maybe
an inch or two long.  A few years later, what started with a line of
blisters on my arm spread and spread *all over* until I looked like a
relief map.  The first week it all itched like mad.  In week two I was
almost suicidal with the itching, all day and certainly all night.  I saw a
doctor in St. Alban's, Vermont, near where we spent our summer weekends and
he suggested oatmeal baths.  Pre-cortisone, I guess. I survived the ordeal
(this was in the 60's).   It seems it can be systemic!  I also understand
that one's immunity breaks down over time and then off you go!  Typically a
line of blisters would appear on my arm or leg, say, several days after
weekend exposure, and then there would be more.  The two-week hellish part
seemed standard for me.  Of course, wherever the sap has touched you will
get the reaction.  You can pick it up off your dog's hair.  Even if it is
burned in a bonfire, the droplets of sap can affect you.

That was my experience.

Marion, a pilgrim

On Mon, Sep 2, 2019 at 12:19 AM Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com> wrote:

> I’ve never been very allergic to poison ivy, and over the years I’ve
> pulled it out with gloves, occasionally brushed against it while hiking,
> and only had a mild reaction—a few small, localized blisters, of that.
>
> Last weekend I was pulling large quantities of vines off the house and
> chimney—Virginia Creeper, grape vines, and poison ivy. I wasn’t wearing
> gloves and didn’t see the poison ivy at first, since the vines were all
> twisted together. As soon as I saw them, I went inside, scrubbed both arms
> with Tec-Nu up to my elbows, put on a pair of long leather gloves and
> pulled the rest of the vines, being careful not to grab any more poison ivy.
> Nothing happened for a couple of days, and then I noticed one small
> blister on my wrist and a group of about three on the back of my hand. I
> figured that was it, put something on for the itching and didn’t give it
> any more thought...until the next day when blisters began popping up in
> random places—the side of my foot, two fingers, my legs. But they are
> single, very small blisters, and they itch like crazy. I didn’t know poison
> ivy would produce this drawn-out reaction, and I’ve never seen this random,
> one blister at a time phenomenon. I’m wondering how long it’s going to keep
> popping up.. It’s been eight days since I was exposed, and I haven’t been
> exposed again. I’m using Ivarest to help with the itching and dry up the
> blisters. Is this a common reaction, and should I be worried about it? I’ve
> had horrible reactions to poison oak in the past and ended up at the
> doctor’s office for a round of cortisone, but this is annoying more than
> anything else. It almost seems as if it’s systemic at this point as these
> lesions keep popping up randomly everywhere.
> Thoughts? Anything more
> I should be doing?
> Thanks...