Subject: Poison Ivy/Oak FAQ

From: Ron Rushing <[email-masked]>
Date: 19 Feb 95 20:30:28 CST

I've complied a small collection of information on poison ivy/oak-- info
about the plants--info about treatment for exposure.

So as not to post large files here (20 or so pages of text), if you're
interested drop me a note and I'll e-mail you a copy.

Ron Rushing
College of Education
S.F.A University
409.468.1424
[email-masked]
"Personal Opinions Only..."

---

From: PATTIBELLE <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 95 02:50:01 -0500

Ron:
 
If you have any information on the use of Procardia to stop an attack of
poison oak, I'd sure appreciate it!  Also, have you heard of Domeboro?
I used it for the first time last November, but not soon enough.  The
stuff was all over my arms from cutting brush.
 
Pat in Napa, CA
(afraid to go cut brush because of poison oak possibility)

---

From: [email-masked] (Carrie Blesier)
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 1995 01:19:01 GMT

> >
> >oooooooooooooooooh man!!  i'm just getting over a SEVERE reaction to what i
> >believe to be poison sumac.  i never actually saw it, but after i broke
> >out, a friend returned to where i made contact with the evil stuff and he
> >recognized it as what he grew up knowing to be poison sumac.  can you tell
> >me *anything* about poison sumac...description of plant, how to KILL it,
> >what to use to wash it off if contact is made, etc?  i got it all over my
> >arms and face while making room for a vegetable garden on five acres of
> >wooded land that i plan to move to this summer/fall.  any information you
> >can give might help make the aftermath of further clearing (just enough for
> >the mobile home and some fruit trees) a little less agonizing.
> >
> >gina
> >
first of all please bear with me as this is my first posting and I may
have screwed up, but I guess if you're reading this I did it right...
   OK, as far as irradication of poison ivy/sumac/oak goes I don't know
but a couple summers ago I had a severe poison ivy reaction all over my
arms and legs. Every town I stopped in I was told another folk remedy and
tried it in a desperated attempt to releive my pain. Bottom line is
calamine and other over the counter salves don't really work if your case
is so severe. The only sure fire way to get rid of the rash is to either
pour bleach on the effected areas, let it sit for a few minutes and rinse,
or apply, get this, nurse's shoe white. I learned these from a friend in
Alabama whose entire back yard was pioson ivy and who also had several
cats that came in and out at their leisure, which is a whole 'nuther thing
to worry about. I know you're thinking you don't want to pour bleach on
your open sores but I swear you will feel better almost immeadiately, just
do it a couple times a day and within three days you will be fine.
                        -mike

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: 4 Mar 95 19:45:40 -0600

>> >the mobile home and some fruit trees) a little less agonizing.
Gina--
Whatever you do, don't burn poison oak, ivy, or sumac to kill or clear it from
your land!!  The poison fluids in it can get into your eyes and lungs and
actually cause blindness or severe respiratory distress.  (You probably already
know this, but just a reminder.)  The only safe thing I've found to kill it is
a systemic spray -- you spray the leaves and it is absorbed into the root
system, killing the whole plant.  It works pretty well if you treat the same
vine several times.  It is rather expensive.  If you have another reaction like
the last, the quickest thing I've found is a Medrol dosepack (steroids that
have to be prescribed by an M.D.).  My husband used the bleach method, and it
worked for him, but I'm not into pain.  Good luck.  We cleared 7 acres of
Louisiana land that had been overgrown for a dozen years, and I suffered with
poison "something" three summers in a row.  It's no fun, that's for sure!
Pattie

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: 4 Mar 95 19:45:40 -0600

Gina--

---

From: PATTIBELLE <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 8 Mar 95 00:40:46 -0500

Mike, glad the bleach worked for you; I tried it quite a few years back
and it didn't help me one bit.  In fact, I think it helped spread it
via irritated skin.  Anyway, to each his own...(what GOOD does pi, po or
ps do anyway?).
 
Pat in Napa, CA