Poisoned by Ivy

ITCHY!

Okay yeah, so all this yard work is really starting to pay off.  I've got my first case of really bad poison ivy.  Of course it is my own fault - I did have short sleeves on and I did suspect that there would be some residual poison ivy...

T and I both had it mildly last year.  He sprayed with round up and the plant is pretty dormant - no leaves yet - but yup alive and well. 

Thankfully I wore gloves!  I've got it bad on both forearms and one elbow and scattered patches elsewhere.  The itching is so bad that it wakes me up at night.  I went online to see if there was a cure.  I came up with a lot of conflicting information - the gist is to dry it out, but whether you do that with calamine or alcohol or saltwater or gasoline is debatable.  I even read something about rubbing a mango on it.  I haven't tried that yet, but I am about that desperate...

So I went to visit my docotor.  I thought maybe she would give me a cortizone shot or prescription strength something to stop the itch.  She told me to use ice.  She also wanted to put me on a steroid called prednisone.  She then cautioned me that some of the side effects might be weight gain and depression.  If I felt puffy I could stop eating salt (!)...

I can't help but being reminded of Jack's "Would you rather" book ...  Would you rather have skis for eyelids or buttocks made out of bologna?  Neither!  But after weighing my options I decided that I would rather be itchy than fat and crazy.  It's been a week now and I am taking my nightly epsom salt baths, washing with Burts Bees Poison Ivy soap, slathering up with hydrocortizone and trying not to scratch...