Are You Allergic To Poison Ivy, Poison Oak Or Poison Sumac?  

Yeah, I don't really think that mine is Poison Ivy, either, but I know that I got into something that I should stay away from. I put Desitin on mine, and it took the itch away. You need to be careful if you are sensitive to laundry detergents, though. My brother had a really bad reaction to one kind, so now he has to be very careful about what he uses.

It's good that you are not allergic, and I hope you stay that way.

Your reaction to Poison Ivy is the same as my mom's reaction - she gets it all over, it itches like crazy, and she needs to take medicine to get rid of it. The spots that I had, on the other hand, were in one small area, and they did itch but not that bad. I put Desitin on them, and it stopped the itch.

I think that if you are allergic to Poison Ivy, then you will be allergic to Poison Oak and Poison Sumac as well. From what I have read, the components that make them "poisonous" are similar in all three, but I think that Poison Sumac is the worst. They said NEVER burn it, because it releases the oil into the air and it can get into your airway and kill you (the airway swells from the blisters and can suffocate you).

That is awful, Hatley! I hope you are doing better now. Shingles can be very serious, especially in older people. It is not something to be taken lightly.

Yes, my mom is severely allergic to poison ivy, too. We have to get her to the hospital at the first sign that she is starting to break out or the results could be unthinkable. She has to stay away from cashews, too, since there is an oil in cashews that is similar to what is in poison ivy. It generally won't bother you, but if you are severely allergic to poison ivy then it can also cause you to have an allergic reaction to cashews.

Yes, sitting in a field of poison ivy would definitely not be a good way to find out whether or not you are allergic to it. I'm not sure what a dock leaf is, but it must be something that soothes itches. I would need an awfully big dock leaf if I found out that I was allergic to it.

Seasonal allergies can be a pain. You are lucky if you only suffer from them one week per year! Wanna trade? I usually have them in Spring and Fall.

It's good that you haven't had any instances in years, but the one incident that you had sounds quite unpleasant. I think I would check into what they looked like, because I don't think I would want to go through that once let alone twice!

I am not 100% sure, but I think that if you are allergic to one, then you are probably allergic to all three. That is what I have gathered from doing some reading on the subject, anyway. I don't think I'll be going out and testing that theory any time soon, though.

i agree, i am certainly not going to go out and experiment to find out if i have reactions to the other two. It is makin m itchy just thinking about it!!

LOL! Now, I'm itching, too. Isn't it funny how just the suggestion and the memory of a past experience like that can make you itch now?

Yes, it is really difficult to avoid these type of plants while you are hiking through the woods. All I can say is "Be careful!". I'm glad that you haven't had a reaction in years, and I hope that you are lucky enough to avoid them in the future.

Hi, Alice. I'm not sure whether or not you even have these plants yonder across the ocean. I know that we are loaded with them here in the States, though. I don't think it is possible for you to take a proper trek through the woods and not encounter at least one, if not all three, of them. From some things I've read, though, poison sumac is not very common and you have to really be looking for it to find it. That's probably a good thing, because they said that allergic reactions to poison sumac are severe and life-threatening, even if you only have a mild reaction to the more common type. There apparently is another kind of sumac, though, that is extremely common throughout the US, and that one is the one most people think of when they hear "poison sumac", and it can cause allergic reactions similar to that of poison oak and poison ivy.

I know the nettles you are talking about. They might not be the exact same ones that you have, but they are similar. My arms and legs would be all cut up from them after a hike, but it didn't stop me from going on them.

Oh, man! I came across those stinging nettles... once. That's all it took. It's unbelievable how much they sting with only a slight touch!

They're horrid Marti aren't they? congrats on reaching 4000

After looking at some images I'm none the wiser PA, but apperently it is found in the UK. it was introduced as an ornamental plant in 1640, whoever thought of introducing it... dirty rat!

lol @ Alice - "it was introduced as an ornamental plant in 1640". Apparently either somebody didn't like you guys or they wanted to share the "joys" of this plant with the rest of the world.

Seriously, though, who would want it as an ornamental plant anyways, even if it weren't poisonous? It is neither colorful nor pretty. If this is what an ornamental plant looks like, then just about any old weed would serve the same purpose.

Yeah... what a plonker! Didn't he know ornamental plants are plastic?

Oh, oh this is the perfect opportunity to use my new word! The person that introduced poison ivy as an ornamental plant was a real wanker!

I can see James has been an influence on you!

James? Who might this "James" be that you are speaking of? I am sure that I don't know about any "James" to whom you might be referring.

I can't remember lol

Thos horrible itchy spots sounds like what we called heat spots/heat bumps marti, so maybe it was the effects of rambling among poison ivy! I remember mum was always treating them with calamine lotion and after googling that I see it's used for poison ivy.
After reading up on it I see it has it's use too (bird food), and some ...person, said that the British Isles is now blessed with it!
http://www.wildmanstevebr...

Blessed???? What is that person, a masochist?

I'd have to use a different word than 'blessed'. Let's hope he was using a bit of sarcasm there, huh?

Have you noticed something?.... we're all assuming it was a man that wrote this article

I am still not convinced that it was a reaction to poison ivy, but I won't be rolling naked in a field of it any time soon just to prove my point, especially since the consequences, on the extremely slight chance that (dare I even admit it as a possibility?) I might be wrong, would be rather unpleasant to say the least.

While I like your thought that the person referring to the "blessings" of poison ivy was a masochist, I am guessing that it was more probably a bit of sarcasm or perhaps it was public relations "spin" tactic.

What is the name of the spray that you use to get rid of the poison ivy? I think my mom just uses regular weed killer, which doesn't really work. If you tell me what you use, then hopefully we can find it around here. That would be wonderful, because then we wouldn't have to worry so much about mom accidentally getting into it when she is gardening. She loves gardening and won't give it up, but we worry because each year she manages to get into poison ivy at least once, even though she is very careful to try to avoid it, uses gloves, washes her hands and gloves as soon as she is done gardening, etc.

Hey, hey there Alice. Speak for yourself about assuming it was a man that wrote that article, because I am an "equal opportunity" masochist.

As long as they don't bring any more crap over to Scotland I don't care who wrote it