While visiting family in Northern California I managed to get a nasty case of poison oak. The inside of my whole right arm is covered. I’ve never lived in an area with poison oak, so this is a new and miserable experience for me.
It’s been two weeks since it started and the nasty pustules have gone away but the itching remains intense and maddening.
How long does this last? Any suggestions for some relief?
My PI wounds are finally receding, not a fun episode. A useful tip for beating down the itch is hot water, as hot as you can stand it, for just a few moments on the itch will make it cease. It also feels verra verra good. Though don’t scald yourself in search of that elusive itch orgasm.
If you’re two weeks into it, I would think you’ve got a week or so left. I’ve had good luck with the Technu line for relief of oak-related misery. Check out their Corticool, it might help out with the itching.
Well, it’s really what you get for escaping this hellhole without me, but things you can do for itch: over-the-counter hydrocortisone cream, Benadryl spray or cream, and almost any oral antihistamine, such as Zyrtec or Claritin, or your doctor could prescribe a quick round of oral steroids, although that’s somewhat like using a hammer to get a fly off your face. Sounds yucky- good luck getting rid of it quickly.
A shot of prednisone from my MD usually does the trick after all the home remedies prove ineffectual (calamine, oat meal bath, benadryl, etc., etc., etc.).
Oh yeah, one shot of Kenalog in the butt, also a good option. May be worth a trip to the doctor and a copay, if the itch is fairly bad.
I don’t think this is particularly good for your skin but I have found nearly scalding hot water will relieve the itching for several hours. I’m talking about water so hot you can’t really hold your hand in it. I do not know exactly what is going on, but the relief for me is so intense and pleasurable that I sometimes find myself wondering where the closest PO patch is after the rash has healed. The best OTC remedies for me are Benadryl and Caladryl lotion. There are a couple of other lotions and ointments that I have found that work for me.
For what it is worth I am a land surveyor in Southern California and PO is an occupational hazard for me. My sensitivity to the plant has increased over the years. The last bout I had covered my entire left arm and forced me to see an MD for the first time. He gave me a course of prednisone tablets that helped, but I still had the itch and rash for some weeks.
Oh, I am so sorry. I get a massive case at least yearly. My doc now just takes my word for it and gives me a steroid shot right when I walk in. On top of that, I use the Tecnu products religiously, go through a lot of Benadryl gel topically, and pop Benadryl on top of that. It lasts for a good six weeks anyway.
All I really have to do is look at the plant. I’m not sure that your posting about it won’t give me a touch of it right now.
I too have a bit on my ankle right now…luckily I have a doc pal with samples of Diprolene cream so one tiny dab of that powerful stuff and all is right again. Still have some pustules but no itch.
The ONLY OTC product that has ever worked for me is Zanfel. Expensive but provided relief.
I’m not really poison. A little crotchety, maybe. Curmudgeonly, sure. But not poison.…
Itch orgasm! 
IIRC the hot water draws all the available histamines to the surface, and they have to then “refill”.
I just had a nasty allergic reaction to the antibac soap used prior to my shoulder surgery–the itchiest rash I’ve ever had all over my neck and chest. (And I’ve had some nasty poison ivy, bad enough that I have a scar.) When I’d shower, the first few seconds of intense itching were so intense I saw stars. Oy.
I seem to have achieved poison ivy perfection. I currently have a small patch on my left wrist about the size of a quarter. It is not in the way of anything and is not annoying, but it has a delightful itch.
Anything larger and I’d probably be going for the shot. Large poison ivy rashes are just no fun at all.
In childhood we used baking soda. However, I don’t know that there was any proven affect. My mother once got a case to bad she couldn’t see and had to get some prescription antihistamines though I don’t know what they were. I guess they worked (after this she could see and said she’d recognize poison ivy or oak from a mile away.)
The only thing we learned about treating poison ivy or oak was “Don’t mess with that sh+t and keep your a$$ away.”
I’ve found Technu to be the best stuff ever for relief and treatment.
I used to get the itch every year. I had such a bad case one time, I stayed home from school to go to the doctor. I determined then to figure out what the stuff looks like- I haven’t had any since then…
Cortisone cream only worked for me by slathering it on and covering up the cream with a bandage overnight. I don’t know how much cortisone that puts into one’s system, but I know it couldn’t be as much as the shot the doc gave me that day.
I also suggest the hot water treatment (gauge the temperature with your good arm first). Soak the bad arm in the water 'till you can’t stand it. Remove. Enjoy hours of relief.
Poison oak is nasty, evil stuff. I think Nazis invented it. There is a scar on my right ankle from hiking in a place I never expected to find this abomination of a plant: Southern California. I’ve been zapped a few times with each new contact worse than the last and the only thing that provides relief is hot water. Holy fuck me sideways does that feel good! Hot water works very well for removing the intense itch.
My Mom gets it bad every year raking leaves. She has to go on steroids. One year my sister got it in a not so good spot after rolling around in the shrubbery with her boyfriend. We still kid her about it.
Band name - “Orgasmic Itch”?
I had a case that started at my waist on the right side, went up through the armpit, and ended near the right elbow. It came on suddenly at work one day, and the weeping mess soaked through my shirt so badly that people commented on it. The whole side of my shirt was crusted with dried… PI crust.
I went to the doc-in-the-box, and got a shot of steroids of some sort, some steroidal creme, and instructions to use it until it ran out. and it made an immediate difference. I’m convinced it took several days off my suffering.
Oh, and a product calledIvarestdid a great job on lesser cases. It has an anesthetic that helps stop the itch quickly.
How long until the pustules go away? The only other time I got poison oak was in the mid-90s, so I’ve forgotten how evil the rash is. My theory is that it must be sprouting up since we finally got rain this month, I mean, I know what it looks like and I’m not seeing it but poison oak leave an unmistakable rash so… So far the spots I’ve got it on have been there between 1 and 5 days (I think I spread it defuzzing my legs. oops). And another thing, should I continue to skip the salt scrub until it’s better? I don’t want to keep spreading it even more.
Two weeks.
I once asked an outdoorsy friend if the OTC medications worked and his response was “Well, without the medication it takes two weeks; with the medication it’s 14 days.”
Hopefully the medications have improved.