About 6-8 weeks ago, I tangled with some poison ivy. I got a couple spots on my right forearm and a couple small spots on my right knee. I went to the doc and got a couple of steroid shots, one short term, one long term, and also some prescription oral steroids. The combination seemed to do the trick and it went away.
However, now I have red, itchy, spots in the exact same spots the poison ivy was. I haven’t tangled with it again.
It’s been really hot here (N. Texas - we just started getting our 100 degree days). Could this be triggering a flare up of the inflamation and irritation? Or could it be something I ate is causing it?
Like I said, it had gone away completely (I thought) until earlier today. Is this something that I’ll have to deal with chronically?
By any chance did you eat a bunch of cashew nuts? They’re related to poison ivy and are a little hard to tolerate for that reason. For most people it’s never an issue, but if you were already struggling to heal from poison ivy that could have put you back into a flare-up.
Have you used any garden tools that have been used around this stuff? It does seem odd that you would develop a rash in the exact same spots but softer skin is more vulnerable to the poison. If these areas have broken tissue, that would make them much more vulnerable as well.
Did you put on the same clothes that came in contact with it the first time? It’s possible that all the Ivy oil was not washed out. It’s also possible that you touched things in your house and contaminated those areas, then after your itching went away, you touched those contaminated articles around the house and caused another flare up.
It is possible that I touched something that was still contaminated, but I can’t think of anything that wasn’t cleaned, and I don’t have any new itchy spots. All the spots that are inflamed and itch now are the same spots that were red and itched weeks ago but have since “healed” (in quotes, because evidently they weren’t as healed as I thought.) Same location, shape, size, etc.
My doctor said I could become hypersensitive to PI. My theory is that I got exposed to something, either a small amount of the poison or something else, that triggered my body to re-inflame the spots that were already exposed.
No, no cashews that I know of. After I heal again, I’ll try eating some and see if they cause a reaction.