Some of you may be wondering how the poison ivy case turned out. Well, it’s not over yet, but it does seem to be dying. Finally!


My husband contracted the worst case of poison ivy he’s ever had in his life early this spring. He and my son were digging barbed wire fence out of our ditch and . . . there ya have it.

The man I love has been in agony over this itchy fiend since the 16th of March. It is now the 29th of March and it is just now coming under submission.

First he went to Redimed to see if he could get a steroid shot to jump-start the drying process. But they wouldn’t give him the shot they said his case “wasn’t severe enough”. (At the time it was on his face, in his ear, & on his wrist.) SO, they gave him a prescription steroid pill. This wasn’t good for him. The prescription made him jittery, sick to his stomach, didn’t do anything about the itchiness, and he could not sleep at night. This was just not acceptable, so he stopped taking the medicine and thought he would just have to tough it out.

To stop the itching we tried all manner of “Itch relieving/Drying” creams, gels, and soaks. Nothing gave lasting relief. So, he tried Benadryl. That stopped the itching, but it made him depressed, tired, and his mind foggy.  The poor man just couldn’t win.

After about $180.00 spent on one trip to Redimed, 1 prescription, Benadryl, gels, creams, and soaks. We decided he’d better go back to Redimed and see if they would give him the shot now. (By this time it was all over his body. No, seriously ALL OVER.) Turns out they decided it wouldn’t be a good idea. (We think it has to do with a Kidney Disease that he has.) But they did give him a prescription for the strongest topical steroid for drying that they could. (Needless to say, it does nothing for the itchiness.)
(This means it's drying up and though it looks bad, it's really getting better.)

But we have discovered something that is working and we’re winning the battle! Three times a day he puts on the topical steroid and then an anti-itch gel. The gel has to be re-applied every two hours roughly, but it’s working without loss of sleep or foggy mind.

SO, what have we learned from all this . . .

1. The Lord is faithful no matter what is going on in our lives, He is in control.
2. Cutting Poison Ivy roots is not good! (Bad, bad, bad!!)
3. Next time there is fence work to do hire someone!