Karin: I either didn't receive the e-mail, or I didn't recognize it as being from you, and sent it to spam (I've been getting hammered with spam, a lot of which has "phrase" subject lines...so instead of specifically saying something about viamagara or ciamaalis, they say something like, "Tony said the oven was set wrong." It makes it harder (which I'm sure is the reason) for people to immediately detect it as spam.)
I guess it's been a pretty good "finishing" weekend - I also finished (well, except for the last bit of Kitchener) the Horseshoe Crab socks. I'll post a pattern and pictures probably tomorrow.
I got into something - I don't think it was JUST the tiny bit of poison ivy I encountered - weeding my garden (good grief but it needs it; this wet summer has threatened to take over my yard with greenbriar and some kind of wild grape (but not fruit-producing wild grape) and peppervine (which might be the culprit), I got into something that gave me a nasty case of contact dermatitis. I even have some on my face, (at least THAT doesn't itch but the rash on my neck, does).
It could be that what I thought was peppervine was actually trumpet creeper (vegetatively, they look very similar.) Trumpet creeper is sometimes referred to as "cow itch" by some of the old-timers around here - apparently some people are sensitive to it and it does give them a form of contact dermatitis like poison ivy.
It could also be heavy exposure to flowering grasses; there was a lot of flowering Bermuda grass (I curse you, Bermuda grass!) in my flowerbeds and I'm pretty allergic to grass pollen.
I'm using something called Ivyrid at night to keep down the itching but it is very drying to the skin so I'm trying to limit its use. (I could go to the doctor and get prednisone or something - and I might if this hasn't cleared up in a week - but the side-effects of the medicine are almost worse than having the rash).
(In my searching, I ran across information from this book. Way too expensive but what a fascinating title - "Forensic Botany.")
(Oh, and if you go to this site and scroll down to figure 46, you will see why you want to be very careful about what you choose to be "nature's toilet paper" when you're camping...)
(and another note: figure 63 might make that site NSFW. Just so you know.)
1 comment:
oatmeal baths. tumeric (mix it with a facial scrub. it really helps, but it turns your skin yellow. you might not want to use it where it's going to be seen,lol)
and believe it or not, hot water, as hot as you can stand it. it will itch like the dickens for a while, but hwen it stops itching, that means you've burned out your skin's ability to create histamines for a few hours. it also helps dry out the rash (which is the big goal. that ooey stuff can actually cause more rash, if you're highly allergic (ask me how i know, lol))
i am so allergic to poison ivy that i have to not only take prednisone for 3 weeks, which makes me sick (i don't swell, but i can't eat for my stomach aching so much), but i end up with a booster shot in my backside to start things off. and steroid creme. small wonder i try to avoid the crap (doing good this year, cross your fingers!)
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