Poison Ivy should be tracked down and exterminated from the face of the Earth!

[Jay]

I have had the most miserable week in recent memory. Don't even know where I got it. Had a very small, mild rash for about a week, only to have it explode on me Sunday morning to where it got so bad I ended up having to have the bride take me to the emergency room because both of my eyes swelled shut.

The last several nights have been brutally long, this sucks.

I have been on prescription antibiotics, been using over the counter soaps, lotions, sprays, and calamine. Been taking Benadryl as well. I think it's getting worse, not better. Anyone have any ideas?

I can't take another week of this. I need sleep.

[Josh1776]

When I was a kid my mom soaked me in the bathtub with some over the counter medicine that you dump into the bathwater. The medicine was supposed to help get rid of skin irritation. I remember that it worked pretty good, but it was a very long time ago and I have no idea what the medicine was called. I do remember that it looked like oat meal.

[Dan W]

I had a bad case from Boy Scouts... Order of the Arrow ceremony, when I was required  to  make a campsite in the dark and it was full of the stuff.  Then football season came.... I still have scars on my legs from 1969.

I don't remember how I dealt with the symptoms back then.  I  hope you recover very quickly!

[Randy]

Did the ER give you a shot of corticosteroids to help bring the swelling down?

Home treatment for poison ivy is to get in the shower and run hot water (as hot as you can stand) over the affected area for 5 to 10 minutes. This seems counter-intuitive, because it will increase the itching. But after a few minutes, the nervous circuits seem to get overloaded and the itching stops for a long time. If you conscientiously repeat the hot water treatment whenever the itching returns, the whole reaction completes its cycle rapidly and your skin will return to normal.

Another home treatment for poison ivy is a simple one. Don't waste money on over the counter creams and sprays. Go to the store a purchase a large box of baking soda. Run a warm bath and put a considerable amount of the baking soda into the water. Soak the affected area(s). The baking soda will leach the poison out of you skin. There will be a noticeable difference the following day. The affected area's will begin to dry out. Continue baking soda bath daily until it is gone.
Below are just a couple of web sites. Good luck. You are one of the 15% of 120 Million Americans allergic to Poison Ivy.
http://www.chiff.com/a/poison-ivy.htm  http://www.stretcher.com/stories/990823a.cfm