Poison I eye-eye-eye-eye VEE....
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- Inez
- LadyB
- Carol Wallace
- chuckn
- LadyB
- Barb_Dorsett
- Carol Wallace
- LadyB
- KeithK_2
- LadyB
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» Inez - Great article, Barbara, but I'm kind of hesitant to dive into th
Great article, Barbara, but I'm kind of hesitant to dive into this topic; there are still a few people under the illusion that I'm sane. As a child and young adult working in the woods, I had poison oak poisoning all year round. You're right; those dead looking winter vines are fierce! At 10, I spent 2 weeks in the hospital on IVs because I looked like raw hamburger, and I seeped!I still spend a lot of time in the woods, but haven't had PO or PI problems for 5 years; now I only have credibility problems. An Indian medicine woman told me to go to the strongest PO patch I knew, and talk to the plants. Explain that they were powerful and beautiful, that I admired and respected them, but contact with their oil hurt me. Then ask permission to work near them without harm. I promised to try not to step on them or break branches, scattered an offering of tobacco, then went about my work, trying desperately to believe I was safe.
It wasn't long before I tripped and sprawled face first in the PO. I got up, apologized, and went on working. I still hunt mushrooms and darlingtonia blooms in the poison oak, and I haven't had a single spot of it since. So, am I nuts? Maybe, but it works for me.
On a purely practical level, when you wash your clothes after exposure, add a little Fels Naptha to the wash, and you won't end up putting the oil, which isn't dissolved by usual means, back on your body.
-- posted by Inez
» LadyB - Yes, indeed Inez, that's a JUICY story! It was the one part my a
Yes, indeed Inez, that's a JUICY story! It was the one part my article was getting too long to include: the fact that this plant can have a talk had with it. Whenever I approach the idea that it is an earth-healing plant, someone will moan that it's taking over a part of their YARD which those folks don't consider a 'disturbed' area. I've seen it stubbornly 'guard' a garden that someone had hired me to care for. So yes, I'll have a talk with it, and assure it that I am there to take over, and I'll care for this piece of land with respect. Then I find it can be easily pulled out and it doesn't come right back.There were times when I was free-lance gardening for a living that I had become so sensitized that my fingers would tingle if I were weeding near some poison ivy. I hadn't gotten a case in a whole bunch of years until I helped with a real land-clearing project two years ago. The first part was done with respect, taking out some trees so other things could grow, but the second part was real land-clearing and that's where I got a hideous case all up and down both arms. Go figure.
Thanks for contributing! So let's hear from some MORE of you!
Lady Barbara
-- posted by LadyB
» Carol Wallace - Barbara, Neither my husband nor I have ever had either poison i
Barbara, Neither my husband nor I have ever had either poison ivy or poison oak, both of which grow on our property, although we wander through the uncultivated areas of the garden sockless all summer. In fact there are people who swear we have poison ivy growing rampantly in front of the wall in front of the house, which I wade through every morning to get the mail. Are you *sure* that some people are simply not susceptible to it?? Carol virtually gardening-- posted by Carol Wallace
» chuckn - Yours truly came close to DYING once -- scratched the livin' day
Yours truly came close to DYING once -- scratched the livin' daylights out of my ankle and ended up in the hospital and the penicillin and tetracyline had me sayin' my goodbyes at the ripe old age of ten.That's why I love weeds and wild things so much.
Here's something frightening: Pretty soon I'll be visiting a FARM with LOTS OF STUFF GROWIN' AROUND IT. Scares me more than a midnite ride on a NY subway. Ya REALLY gotta be careful out there in the boonies. Those PLANTS are AFTER YOU ....
-- posted by chuckn
» LadyB - Well, Carol, guess you and hubby are walking PROOF that such thi
Well, Carol, guess you and hubby are walking PROOF that such things can be! I've just seen a few overly-confident souls ANNOUNCE that they NEVER get it, only to have that very day be the one when they go over the edge.I think just the way ANYBODY can at some time be allergic to ANYTHING, it has to work the other way. Some folks are just not going to be susceptible to what plagues the REST of us!
And for you, Mr. Nyren, it's nice to see you branching out into the wild! Now, all you need is a good FIELD GUIDE and a few dozen GARDEN FAERIES to watch after you and I'm just SURE you'll be fine. Keep us posted!
-- posted by LadyB
» Barb_Dorsett - Carol, You could be not succeptible--or maybe you're just not
Carol,You could be not succeptible--or maybe you're just not intolerent--yet. One friend boasted of immunity and floundered around in a poison ivy patch...to a chorus of cringing friends...and spent the next two weeks uncomfortably abed with a masterful rash.
Barb in Southern Indiana Midwest Gardener
-- posted by Barb_Dorsett
» Carol Wallace - Well, just so as not to let people think I am so silly as to tem
Well, just so as not to let people think I am so silly as to tempt the fates, the patch I was wading through to fetch the mail was, I thought, Virginia Creeper, which also grows wild all over. I just never really paid any attention to it, since it isn't really on my property and didn't look bad. I've been somewhat more careful of it ever since, because I know all too well of people developing a sudden susceptibility to things they had used comfortably all their lives. Carol virtually gardening-- posted by Carol Wallace
» LadyB - Plenty of us who have gotten Poison Ivy badly have gone into lea
Plenty of us who have gotten Poison Ivy badly have gone into leaping scheeves upon seeing Virginia Creeper which, for the most part, has 5 leaves per cluster. The newest leaves emerging from the tip of the stem very often only have three leaves and these two vines often spend a lot of time hanging around together. The more common story is of the folks who are confidently pulling Virginia Creeper off their stone walls only to discover just a BIT of P.I. hiding within.So Chuck may indeed be right, be careful folks, it's a JUNGLE out there (but a fine and interesting one that we clumsy humans may someday learn to manuever through with grace and respect)
Lady B
-- posted by LadyB
» KeithK_2 - Keith Kreger Great article, you and I have a lot in common.
Keith KregerGreat article, you and I have a lot in common. I too have had numerous run-ins with this most wicked of weeds, starting when I was but 5 yrs. old. My latest case started early this spring when I was stacking cut logs that have been in my back yard for TWO YEARS!!! I never noticed the dead vines on them until I came down with a four alarm case of P.I. (Guess I'll be wearing gloves in the yard from now on.)
I got it on everything that I touched with my right hand (wink-wink, nudge-nudge). I also got it in my eyes since I wear contacts; I guess I was unknowingly infecting them for two days till the symptoms occured. Since then I have gotten it again since I don't remember which clothes I was wearing when I was working in the back. Have you ever tried washing everything you own? What a chore!
This just goes to show that even dead vines (even those dead for years) can still affect people who are sensitive to P.I. It is when I come in contact with the dead or dormant vines that I get the worst cases of P.I., since I am oblivious to my contact and go about my day without scrubbing it off.
The last two times that I have had P.I., my dermatologist has put me on Predazone (sp?), but I think the side effects are too damaging to try this too often. I have used jewelweed in the past, but it's only available in the summer. I'll be making up a batch of your ice cubes as soon as I can find all the ingredents.
Thank you for your help.
-- posted by KeithK_2
» LadyB - OK, Keith gets the wow-ouch award. But you're quite right that t
OK, Keith gets the wow-ouch award. But you're quite right that the worst cases come when we don't know we've gotten into it. One of my 'favorites' was from back a bunch of years ago before I became allergic to cats, I had a big, VERY cuddly horse of a cat named Poozik. He just LOVED to be carried around and I recall coming out of the shower and scooping him up and flinging him over my naked shoulder. Precisely a week later I began to develop an itchy rash and only when I picked him up again did I notice that he pretty much matched the shape of the rash over my shoulder and down my chest. He must have been hunting chipmunks in the stone wall again..... It was TRULY horrendous. Bad enough that you have this X-file skin, but on top of it you just feel so STUPID.......I have the WORST nightmares that I may ever come across someone BURNING the stuff...........I wouldn't recommend Prednisone as a regular thing, but you might want to keep some homeopathic Rhus Tox around and give it a try along with any or all of the FIVE BUDDIES IN A BLENDER. I would imagine after the experience you've recently had that you assume the worst and get those gardening clothes right into the washing machine! Thanks for stopping by!
Lady Barbara, Weeds and Wild Things
-- posted by LadyB
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