I got into something - and it ain't good

I have some fence mending to do this fall and yesterday I was out sizing up the situation. Tall weeds, blackberrys, green briars, poison ivy, and poison oak everywhere. I always wear long sleeves, long pants, tall socks w/workboots, hat, and gloves when I do fences. Yesterday was perfect weather for it as we finally got the effects of the cold front.

As soon as I came in from the field I jumped in the shower and scrubbed thoroughly. We use a product called Technu wich is a strong soap with granules in it. It comes in a fat plastic tube and you squeeze it out like toothpaste. This stuff is great for poison ivy, oak, etc. I think it may have some anesthetic in it too. By 9:00 PM I felt like my face was on fire. I thought it was wind and sun. I had red blotchy areas all over my body. I had a few small itchy places but not bad at all. Typical summertime itchies.

This morning I woke up itching everywhere. I have something that looks like pimples on my arms, neck, and belly. The pimples are hard and itch like crazy. Some of the bumps look like tiny blood blisters. At about 6:00 AM I scrubbed the areas again with the Technu Soap but it does not seem to be helping at all. I also have Calamine lotion on some of the places but it's not doing any good either.

Any ideas on what it could be and what to do about it. I have lots of work to do and I'm miserable. Hmmm I think there is some Benedryl tablets around here somewhere.

Chiggers?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002309/

The blistering does sound like poison oak or ivy. The problem is the oil, some soaps won't cut it out, use Dawn dish liquid to cut the oil from your skin. Then make a baking soda paste with a bit of water, and put it on the areas to draw out the oil that has already gotten down into your skin. Leave it for a hour or so, then wash with Dawn again. DON'T SCRATCH, it spreads easily through scratching. Those "granules" in the other soap, may have scratched your skin just enough to help it spread already.

Jewel weed is a great home remedy for poison ivy. You break the stems at the roots and squeeze the juice out and rub it on your skin. It's not the best relief, though...if what you have is poison ivy or oak or sumac it sounds like you need a steriod asap.

Hope you get better!

Yes, ditto on what Free said. Use the Dawn right away, or some other grease cutting soap you have. Good luck!

SMALL POX OUTBREAK---RUN



for any itchies, we soak in a vinegar bath. I hate the smell, but the vinegar just seems to calm every darn thing down that can happen to your skin.

rubbing can make the poison spread also.



hang in there....it will go away but yikes....I hate itchies. Benedryl is a good one...that stuff does help...get some into you!

I was just thinking about this again. It might be too late to do anything other than crisis control since you actually were in it yesterday. I had a very mild experience with it years ago, just a bit on one hand that I transferred to my face wiping sweat. Just that much wasn't pleasant.

Wifezilla said:

Chiggers?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002309/

Click to expand...

Not likely unless he is one of the few that have a extream reaction to their bite, Besides he should have found a few that were digging in his skin when he bathed. Wifezilla I slowly have learned to respect you, one of the things I learned new today is from your link.

'Itching usually occurs several hours after the chiggers attach to the skin.

A skin rash may appear on the parts of the body that were exposed to the sun. It may stop where the underwear meets the legs. This is often a clue that the rash is due to chigger bites
I usually manage to get bit up at least once a season and never had the reaction on the parts of the body exposed to the sun so maybe I am more resistant than normal. Even though I wear a hat for sun protection I am usually bitten on my balding head [just enough thin hair for the buggers to hide] and my neck down to my crew neck underwear. I keep RID [usually for head lice] to kill the ones I can't see and a generic corticosteroid cream [I think the big brand name is CortAid] to help deal with the itch at the bite site.
I use DEET on my clothing but not on my skin or hat

One little known fact is that you don't have to touch poison oak or ivy to get the oil [active agent] on you. My father got a real bad case from burning it and it even got to his throat and lungs. Trip to the hospital where they knocked him out for a few hours on assisted breathing gear and steroid injections to treat the internal organs.

Wifezilla said:

Chiggers?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002309/

Click to expand...

Ditto!

we went blackberry picking this year and we all got ATE UP!!!! but my youngest daughter is allergic to the bites and they looked like pimples or chicken pox... You can tell it's chiggers if the majority of your bites are in sensitive areas... they like warm soft skin like under your arms, behind your knees, belly or ahem.... down below... but they do bite everywhere as well...

We just gave her frequent baths and loads of anti-itchy cream... it started clearing up in a few days...

(we love that technu stuff too! when you have the itchies that stuff is like gold!!! just won't work on the bug bites though...)

Thanks for all the suggestions. I just stopped in here for a break and a slug of iced tea and found 8 responses already. You guys are awesome.

I have had chiggers hundreds of times and this does not act like my past experiences. They do tend to bite mostly in sensitive skin areas and I don't have any of that.

The Technu soap is a powerful de-greaser that is like Dawn only industrial strength. The granules in there are to scrub away the poison oil down deep in the skin. It also has a mild anesthetic to relieve some of the itch or pain. It usually works miracles. We were turned on to it when we volunteered and lived in the FL Everglades for 6 months one winter. Not only do they have all the typical poison ivy type weeds but they also have poison wood plants. This stuff is like poison sumac x10. The first day or two there is no itching only swelling and deep pain. After a few days the skin begins to break out and the itching begins. It seems to last forever, too.

I took a Benedryl a few hours ago and I feel a little better. These little bumps are hard as rocks. Very strange. I've been out working all morning and it's driving me crazy.

I have only used Jewel Weed for Stinging Nettles and it works (somewhat). I haven't seen any growing around here this year - but I haven't looked either.

When I was 11 I had poison ivy very bad. I spent four days in the hospital. I had it in my mouth, in my ears, on the inside of my eyelids, and up my butt. My tongue swelled up to the point that I had trouble breathing (that's how I ended up in thew hospital) and my vocal chords were swollen, too. It was obvious that I had it in my bloodstream. Our neighbor was burning weeds that day and I was his helper. My body must have developed an immunity to it after that because I have not had poison ivy for many years, until I hit my mid 60s. And I'm the kind of guy that is always in the weeds for one reason or another.