# Gonna Need an Ocean of Calamine Lotion **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 20, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonna-need-an-ocean-of-calamine-lotion/304732 "2005-05-20T13:44:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonna-need-an-ocean-of-calamine-lotion/304732/21 "2005-05-24T17:16:29Z")
I’ve taken shots which help build up an immunity to the dreaded contaminant. They helped quite a bit. Check with your Doc. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonna-need-an-ocean-of-calamine-lotion/304732/22 "2005-05-24T17:22:55Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > I don’t recall seeing any while doing yard work. The exposure seems to be on my arms. Not sure how I came into contact with it. 2 more possibilities: Did you recently change the nylon line in your trimmer? Or replace / sharpen your mower blade? ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonna-need-an-ocean-of-calamine-lotion/304732/23 "2005-05-24T18:04:52Z")
Don’t know where you got it, but I have a related story: Got me a poison ivy outbreak oh, some years back. It was vastly different than any poison ivy rash I’d ever had - the blisters got huge. One was probably half an inch long (named it Olympus Mons. Grossed out the boyfriend. 'Twas very cool.). The others were smaller. While this particular outbreak could have been shingles (as they were in a line, as I recall), it didn’t hurt, either, and itched some (but not as much as normal poison ivy), and was too like normal poison ivy (I’m pretty sensitive) to make me think it was otherwise. Went in a line down my leg about 3 inches or so. The kicker? I got it in late February in western Wisconsin. Everything was covered by snow! No idea where I ran into it. Maybe you ran into something similar. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonna-need-an-ocean-of-calamine-lotion/304732/24 "2005-05-24T18:15:15Z")
> [@JohnBckWLD](#): > > 2 more possibilities: > Did you recently change the nylon line in your trimmer? > Or replace / sharpen your mower blade? Nein to the first, and nein to the second, however, I may have picked loose a few clumps of grass under the mower. I know I did the week before last, not sure about this past weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonna-need-an-ocean-of-calamine-lotion/304732/25 "2005-05-24T20:55:58Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > And I initially read this thread title as “Gonna Need an Ocean of Calamari Lotion” I read the first sentence in the preview window as “perianal arch-foe” instead of “perennial arch-foe”. :eek: :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonna-need-an-ocean-of-calamine-lotion/304732/26 "2005-05-24T21:15:58Z")
I found [this page](http://poisonivy.aesir.com/) when I got a poison oak outbreak a while back. it seems to have a lot of good info. I started a thread about it [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=313696) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonna-need-an-ocean-of-calamine-lotion/304732/27 "2005-05-24T21:26:26Z")
Here’s a [very informative thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=254447&highlight=ogre+poison) from a while back on the subject. (Ogre is an expert on plants in The Waking and anything he says is absolutely reliable.) ---
**Author:** ![sleeepy2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@sleeepy2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeepy2)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonna-need-an-ocean-of-calamine-lotion/304732/28 "2005-05-24T21:31:34Z")
I just got over a monster dose of poison ivy a month ago. My advice: Go to a doctor immediately. I tried over the counter remedies for days and all it did was spread. I used the $40 “oil dissolving” cream, no dice. After the rash reaced my face, I gave in. The doctor prescribed me a six day pregnazone script, and by the second day I was feeling better. I helped clear a friends yard on a Saturday. Sunday I was fine, Monday night I had a small rash, Tuesday I had a full blown rash. I didn’t realize it could still spread, but Wednesday it was over my face. Thursday morning I was at the doctor’s office. Lesson learned: That crap gets much worse before it gets better. Go to a doctor! ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonna-need-an-ocean-of-calamine-lotion/304732/29 "2005-05-24T21:49:31Z")
I’ve been lucky and avoided rashes (all but once) by washing thoroughly. **Sampiro** , that’s an excellent thread you linked to. Really important information such as: it doesn’t spread, it just takes time for the rash to develop. GT ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonna-need-an-ocean-of-calamine-lotion/304732/30 "2005-05-25T01:43:12Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > I appear to have contracted a case of my perennial arch-foe, Poison Ivy. Regrettably, not the delectable redhead, but the three-leafed weed. > > It’s been a while since I’ve had it - but here’s the weird thing. Well, a couple of weird things. I don’t recall seeing any while doing yard work. The exposure seems to be on my arms. Not sure how I came into contact with it. > > The other weird thing, and the reason I placed this in GQ - is that I used to practically explode when exposed to Poison Ivy. This case seems… mild. > > So here’re the GQs : Can someone have a vastly different magnitude of response to Poison Oak, Sumac, and Ivy? Being violently allergic to one, but only mildly to another? Could my allergy to Poison Ivy have faded? > > Or is this just the calm before the storm? skip the details. Head to the nearest dermatologist/allergist/GP and get a shot. Lotions and long-term suffering are pretty obsolete now. Shots aren’t a miracle cure, but they sure do help. As for where you got the exposure, since it is on your arms, you probably picked up something (newspaper, sticks, etc) that had been contaminated with the oil. It’s no fun. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonna-need-an-ocean-of-calamine-lotion/304732/31 "2005-05-25T02:15:22Z")
I know this is controversial, but: my kids’ pediatrician told me that it’s possible to get poison ivy by being downwind of it. Yes, the oil can be carried in the air. My older daughter, having gotten horrible cases of it, once from climbing a tree that had the vine growing on it, and another time from petting the cat who had just come in from outside, learned to scrupulously avoid both the plant AND the cat during summer months. She still got the rash, and this was when the doctor said she could have gotten it through the air – we have several acres of woodland adjacent to our house. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonna-need-an-ocean-of-calamine-lotion/304732/32 "2005-05-25T12:32:22Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Here’s a [very informative thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=254447&highlight=ogre+poison) from a while back on the subject. (Ogre is an expert on plants in The Waking and anything he says is absolutely reliable.) Ahhhh… yes, that is very informative. It tells me I may not have been exposed again this weekend, it may just be a delayed reaction. Most excellent. Thanks a bunch, all. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2005, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonna-need-an-ocean-of-calamine-lotion/304732/33 "2005-05-26T05:32:01Z")
Man, I just realized how lucky I got in the genetic crap-shoot. My mom had bad allergies to poison oak, yet her mother could clear the garden of the crap by hand. I took after grandma, thank the gods. On the other hand, chicken pox took me out for close to a month when I got it at 13. Hope your whatever-it-is gets better soon, **CandidGamera** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gonna-need-an-ocean-of-calamine-lotion/304732.md?page=1)