poison ivy

[ga>me>ak]

Simva, (or anyone else)
I see that you are a pharmacist and maybe you can answer my question. I'm posting it here rather than a PM as it may help others. In Boone,NC I ran into a pharmacist that gave me some small white pills ( supposedly it is small doses of the poison itself) that you take to combat this. You start with 1-2 pills and then take 2 every couple of hours. Takes about 1/2 day to get into your system. I used it for my son and it really worked great. I plan on taking him hiking this summer and would like to be prepared so he can enjoy the trip to the max( hope to get another one hooked on hiking):D I lost the bottle and have no idea what is was called... any help would greatly be appreciated

[Mala]

Jewel weed or Virginia Creeper is all you need for Poison Ivy, stinging nettles, etc.

[MedicineMan]

Could write a book about this, in fact many have..if indeed the 'small pill's' did indeed have small amounts of poison ivy in them then the concept is one that has been practised since antiquity--homeopathy and the science of dilutions--in fact we do the same thing (even now we have a patient in the hospital) who is being desensitized to penicillin...same approach, give the patient succeedingly larger and larger doses of the antigen (that which is causing the allergic reaction) and we are talking about beginning with infintesimally small doses here, for the penicilin example we start with 100u/ml whereas a normal adult dose would be 5,000,000u.....this concept is also done for us by certain animals such as the goat who eats poison ivy with impunity, we then drink the goats milk and are at the same time ingesting very small amounts of the antigen (urushiol in this case, on of several catechols that stim. the allergic reaction only after entering the skin and binding to keritin and the combo illicits the reaction--so def. wash your skin as soon as possible, if the urushiol can be removed in that hours time much suffering can be prevented)..
I cant tell you what was in the bottle-might even have been an antihistamine to alleviate the signs/symps of the allergic reaction.
Me personally am blessed, in fact the weed eater spread the stuff from head to toe on me with no ill results and I dont drink goats milk.....
Listen to Mala, this week has been used as well for millenia....my advice is to avoid the plant-easier said than done I know.

[MedicineMan]

Hey Ga>Me>Ak, see if this sounds familiar to what you might have gotten:
"One of the most popular in this case is RHUS TOX, which is made from poison oak itself, encapsulating completely the homeopathic philosophy that "like cures like." Similar to all homeopathic remedies, the claims of which are not substantiated by research, take caution and keep your health care provider informed of what you are taking."
I was thinking it was only liquid but may be out there in pill form.

[ga>me>ak]

Kinda sounds familiar, just can't remember. I, like you ,am bleesed and don't have to worry about it. However, your body can change at any time and next thing you know your also allergic to it. Can you buy this at any pharmacy Eckerds, the Worm( Walmart),etc??

Mala..... Jewel Weed, Creeper Weed, this IS for topical use;)
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
Where can you get this and how is it applied? Liquid, herb, pill??

Thanks for all your inputs and info, as usual, this site and it's members are great.



LONG LIVE WHITE BLAZE

[RagingHampster]

I thought that homeopathy only worked for nasties biological in nature, and not for chemical baddies?

I second the the before-said "avoid the plants in the first place". Be careful of completely covering up though, unless your just day-hiking. The more clothing you wear, the more oil can get all over it. I'd rather wash my legs after coming out of a patch, than my legs and clothes. But the best way is to be aware of your surroundings and avoid it in the first place. Worse case scenario is washing everything and struggling not to scratch :D

I had a poison ivy rash on my arm once, and it does itch like hell.

[DebW]

There places on the trail (always low-lying areas near roads, it seems) where poison ivy grows along the trail and hangs into the trail itself. Sometimes it's really hard to avoid. I try to push it aside with my poles, but then I sometimes rub my legs with my poles and get a mild case. But secondary contact poison ivy generally seems to be much milder than primary contact poison ivy.

[Mala]

The great thing about Jewel weed and Va creeper is that they are plants that grow within 50 fet of poison ivy. What i do is take some of the "weed" and roll it up and you don't have to deal with the pain and itching. No seriously, I take either plant and roll it

[Mala]

between my fingers and spread on my skin the juices that come out of the weeds and apply to my skin. VA creeper is easy to find, it looks just poison ivy except it has 5 leaves instead of 3.

[Hikerhead]

Mala or anyone else. Can you post a link to a pic so that we can see what Jewel Weed and Virginia Creeper looks like. I've never heard of either one.

Thanks

[Mala]

HH I must have been about a half a second ahead of you LOL

Posting a link is beyond my computer abilities.

[MedicineMan]

Ga>Me>Ak,
you're 100 right about sudden sensitization...might be the 1000th exposure that you sensitize and on the 1001st you could go anywhere from mild allergic reaction to anaphylaxis....it is said that the western firefighters greatest fear is to inhale poison ivy that is burning into the smoke they are breathing...the inflammation of the lung is often fatal and a way to go that is as bad as mustard gas....

[Hikerhead]

No problem Mala. I'll search around for it and see if I can post a link.

Where is DebW when you need her........

Thanks

[DebW]

Originally posted by Hikerhead
Mala or anyone else. Can you post a link to a pic so that we can see what Jewel Weed and Virginia Creeper looks like. I've never heard of either one.

Thanks

I had trouble finding a pic that does the plant justice. Here's the best I could find.
http://jaxmed.com/articles/Diseases/jewelweed.htm

The plant is usually 2-3 feet tall, with many plants growing together forming almost a groundcover. Leaves are a light green color, stalks are non-woody. It has yellow flowers, but they're not very showy. After you get to know the plant, it's easy to recognize. Sorry this description isn't more helpful.

[Hikerhead]

Here's a link that tells some about Jewel Weed.

http://ncnatural.com/wildflwr/obnxious.html

Also some good info about Stinging Nettles which would concern me maybe more than Poison Ivy.

Stinging Nettles is bad news. I got into it my first and only time a few years back beside the James River. I thought I stepped into a mound of Fire ants, but they haven't made it here, not yet anyway. No lie, within seconds of coming into contact with it me and my buddy were running and jumped into the river. The water didn't help but my bug juice did, for some reason.

[Hikerhead]

Deb I knew you would come thru. Better pic than the one I found.

Thanks.

[MedicineMan]

Believe it or not we eat stinging nettle, after par boiling for a few minutes of course...just wear gloves while picking...extremely nutritious plant....

[MedicineMan]

Hikerhead, that was a good link......the section about 'not finding any good use of Poison Ivy' reminded me of an untoward us of the plant....it seems that murders have be met by using the oil of PI and placed where an intended victim will touch it-the murder I recall reading about found the concentrated PI placed onto the steering wheel of a car......eivdently the assailant took the leaves of PI and concentrated the urushiol in a condensing column.....

[jlb2012]

link for Virginia Creeper: Virginia Creeper (http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/pquinquefolia.htm)

[steve hiker]

Does Virginia Creeper work as well as Jewelweed as an antidote? The five-leaved Virginia Creeper is very easy to identify, but I'm not sure I could identify Jewelweed even after looking at that pic.

[Mala]

Better

[Mr. Clean]

I know all of you have seen this plant at one time
or another. It grows in low, damp, and shady spots,
and water will roll off the leaves when it's raining. I
use this all the time for PI - crush leaves and stem
and rub/scratch the PI with it, then leave the juice on
there and let it dry. It works, but I never heard of Virginia
Creeper, does it really work? I'll have to try it.
Greg P.

[ga>me>ak]

Great info, thanks again. Hope this also was of use to others.