Poison Oak at 3rd upper launch or Waddell?

[couzteau]

I'm having a really bad poison oak experience after I kited at 3rd ave upper launch Sat 4/28 and Waddell 4/29.

The doctor also considered algae as a potential source. But given the current water temperatures I doubt that.

Anybody else?

[WindMuch]

Get some Zanfel or generic equivalent. CVS has something called "Poison Ivey Cleansing Scrub" The stuff is magic for poison oak!

http://zanfel.com/help/

There's nothing worse than a gnarly case of PO!!! Hang in there!

Kirk out

[couzteau]

Thanks Kirk - I'll save that for next time. Went to see a dermatologist last week and got cortison ointment, which wasn't strong enough. Then I had to travel to germany and went straight to the hospital from the airport. There I was treated with cortison injections and anti histamines. I think I got it under control now but I never want to go through that again.

[jbirdmarin]

There are actually some pretty good preventative measures/cremes. Poison oak only enters the system through pores - so unless you are sweating a lot, you can prevent it by putting on anti-perspirant. We put it on our legs when mountain biking and it works.

For serious remedy - your doc can prescribe antibolic steroids for increased bloodflow, healing, and also you can hit 73 HRs!

[couzteau]

After reading the product FAQ of Zanfel, I'm ordering it right away. Sounds like I will have weeks of new outbreaks ahead of me - Ouch.

[couzteau]

Thanks again WindMuch

[kitenaked]

You can get it from a dog brushing along side of you as well if they have been playing around PO.

3rd ave? Really?

could be something from mud maybe? I have some cuts on my foot from a Benicia mud experience that itches super bad, but doesn't spread anywhere....

[couzteau]

Had infected cuts before too. This is different. Allergies have a different pattern than bacterial infections. It took 3 / 4 days before the itching started (assuming I did not get IT in the office).

My symptoms are clearly systematic poisoning from poison oak ,large rashes with flaming red oozing blisters popping all over your body and incredible itching. Itching far worse than any itching I ever had before. Anything your skin gets in contact with causes an itch that you either scratch until you bleed, rip your hair out or bang your head into the next wall, srsly - not fun, torture!

Yesterday I had high doses of cortisone via IV. That finally brought the turnaround. Rashes are receding, itching stayed. Just found out that running very,very hot water over the rash stops the itching for a few hours. It really did work for me. Huge relief, but the hot water will first put the itch into overdrive. Then it fades quickly.

[WindMuch]

Oh man, I feel your pain. Like I said, there is NOTHING like a bad case of poison oak.

Way back when I was surfing a lot, I was walking to a spot with my wetsuit, inside out, over my shoulder. Apparently I walked past some PO and brushed my suit through it. A great surf session and 3 days later, I had it BAD.

I ended up going to the doctor who prescribed Prednisone (an oral steroid). It knocked back the itching and swelling/oozing by 40-50% in a few hours.

But Prednisone is a gnarly steroid - I was SuperMan for several days - sleeping little - like I was super-caffinated. I don't recommend it unless your PO is really, really bad, like covering 50% of your body.

I've found the Zanfel and/or generic really helps, especially at night. When you wake up scratching, apply/scratch with the Zanfel and the itch should stop long enough to get back to sleep.

I hope you get better soon!

Kirk out

[couzteau]

Thanks -Kirk, I had 250mg of Prednisone yesterday and I think I may actually have been getting in touch with the PO the same way, via wetsuit that is.