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Long Term Poison Ivy Suffering

Subject: Long Term Poison Ivy Suffering
Author: Jim Dunphy
Date: 3/19/2003 10:26 pm
Views: 8250
Status: Approved
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I broke out with poison ivy -- definitely diagnosed by a dermatologist -- 5 weeks ago. I had a shot and three weeks of prednisone (concurrently). I've been off the prednisone (yes, I tapered) for a week. There has definitely been some rebound reaction, but I don't want to go back on the prednisone if I can avoid it, and the rebound hasn't been as severe as the original reaction. But I'm not getting clearly better, even after all this time. I'm pretty sure there is some adrenal insufficiency after the prednisone, as I'm still fatigued and dizzy some of the time. But even so, shouldn't the urushiol be wearing off by now? I'm still getting itching, redness, and bumps in several of the old places.(Doctors have shown that they are clueless, and it would be a long wait to see the dermatologist again, since it isn't an "emergency" now.) Have you heard of somebody who had a poison ivy reaction for longer than six weeks? What's the longest? Did taking the cortisone just delay what I have to go through? Might I have itching in the affected places for months or even indefinitely? What does the adrenal slowdown after prednisone have to do with the length of total reaction time? By the way, I'm certain that I'm not re-exposing myself. I've been obsessive about washing everything I could possibly have touched when I was first exposed; I've thrown away the shoes I was wearing. I'm spending most of my time indoors. And many of the current problems are the actual original bumps just rising back up again, so that doesn't look like re-exposure. Thanks for any information. I hope I don't get either spam or notes from clueless people after sending this query! Lydia
--McGrew ([email protected]) submitted 05/Sep/2001

SubjectAuthorDate
Long Term Poison Ivy SufferingJim Dunphy3/19/2003 10:26 pm
  Re: Long Term Poison Ivy Suffe (Approved)becky4/17/2003 10:45 pm