Poison Ivy

[LibraryLady]

I am allergic to the evil plant.
Several years ago my sister let me know about a new product named Zanfil.
The tube is very expensive--but has a shelf life of 15 years, so I bought some.
It is used as soon as a person has an irritated area. Squeeze the "ointment looking" Zanfil in the palm of one's hand, add a little water and make a "soap."
Scrub the bee jeebers out of the irritated area--and presto!--no more itching and usually no blisters.

I do recommend it if you have a problem with poison ivy.

Generic tubes of the product are available now. I have not tried them.

[knotlazy]

Thanks for the review, LL! My hubby is allergic and so is my sister. I have never had it, even though I pulled it up out of the flower beds at my hubby's office. So, maybe that is the only plant I'm NOT allergic to!

Is that over the counter? I might get some for "just in case".

[LibraryLady]

Over the counter

[Red Oak]

Thanks for the Tip !

[Dancer]

Cumphery or Cumfery not sure of the spelling works fine.

[BillB]

We used to drink a little bottle of green stuff that immunized against poison ivy.
I think it's name was Immu-ivy.
It worked.

[LibraryLady]

http://www.zanfel.com/help/

[Bob Of Burleson]

Cumphery or Cumfery not sure of the spelling works fine.

It's comfrey, and we used to have a patch growing in our herb garden. It comes back year after year. As Dancer says, it works well on poison ivy and bug bites. Ours finally died out and now we can't find any new plants locally. Of course we can always order some.

[Gopher]

Zanfel is gooood stuff. Buy some stuff at Wally World or any of the outdoor stores called Ivy Guard. It is a wash also, but it's even better applied before being exposed to the plant. Another good wash, and even cheaper is Fels Naptha soap. It might dry out your skin, but it will remove all the oil that causes the rash and blisters and will completely remove it from your clothes if you wash them in it. Most of the folks selling homemade liquid soap on CL and Pentrist use Fels and Borax to make that soap.

Last dose I got, the doctor at Doc In he Box gave me a steroid shot, a huge dose of predisone (which is the devil) and said take two Clariden, three times a day for five days. In 35 years of fighting this stuff I have never seen the rash and itching go away so quickly in my life. He was a triathlete and said the Clariden will not hurt you. I took him at his word. I have had several little breakouts since and the Clariden cleared it up in less than a day. The generic stuff at Sam's is cheap.

[Bob Of Burleson]

You mean Claritin, the nose stuff, don't you?

[FlashM]

Thanks for the tip!

We used to use a product called "Ivy Block" applied to prevent a reaction in case of exposure, but it's not available any more.

Store brand Claritin is loratadine and 6 pills a day far exceeds the 1 tablet a day dosage. Any chance it's being confused with diphenhydramine (Benadryl)? It's commonly prescribed for allergic reactions and that would be a more typical dose.

[Gopher]

You mean Claritin, the nose stuff, don't you?

Yes sir, my bad on the spelling. It helps dry it up.

[ann jusko]

Thanks Librarylady. I don't react but my husband does so I need to get some for him. His is just an annoying rash, but my cousin's son was here and he and son were clearing brush. Oh my, Jeff swelled up, his eyes were almost closed. He was one miserable young man even after visiting the doctor. I should send some to him, too.

[ann jusko]

On further thought, his reaction was a systemic reaction. It might not help him if he's exposed. There was no burning involved when he was clearing brush so he didn't inhale any smoke.