Scattelogical ramblings and desultory humor XVII

Guess what woke me up during the night? I'll give you a hint - it itches and it's on my arms!!! Eleanor

I used to like the rolling stones until now.

Oh no Eleanor! Sorry to hear that. hat's why I never try to remove it by hand anymore. I get it bad.

...and that ain't good.

I'm itching just thinking about it!!!!!

Sometimes I get it good and it ain't bad.

Hurts So Good - John Cougar

(i'm going to whisper this so as not to jinx myself...) (i've never had poison ivy. neither have either of my kids. their father used to get horrible cases of it.)

I remember that line about the ocean of calamine lotion but not the tune - yet.

Victor what can you tell me about black mondo grass? (Your picture in PF)

xx, Carrie

Don't have much of it. Three small clumps which have never grown that much. It grows in an area that just gets some morning sun. Looks great next to a lighter color, of course.

My pot (from Hem aka Thom) is sitting next to my pot of dianthus from Amy. They look nice together - now.

xx, C

I can't believe Poison Ivy was by the Rolling Stones! Hmmmm, you learn something new every day!! Eleanor, tea tree oil is great for the itchies of PI. Hope it gets better soon.....nothing more annoying!!

Donnie - I thought the same thing when I saw who sang it. I think some other group did it also. Eleanor

The Coasters made it famous. Are you very itchy Eleanor? How big an area was affected? If it's bad, get a prescription for a Medrol pack (Prednisone relative).

Coasters did the version played the most.

Artist: The Coasters (peak Billboard position # 7 in 1959)
Words and Music by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller

(Thought by some to not be about a plant at all, but rather a young lady with a social disease)

She comes on like a rose but everybody knows
She'll get you in Dutch
You can look but you better not touch

Poison iv-y-y-y-y, poison iv-y-y-y-y
Late at night while you're sleepin' poison ivy comes a'creepin'
Arou-ou-ou-ou-ou-ound

She's pretty as a daisy but look out man she's crazy
She'll really do you in
If you let her under your skin

Poison iv-y-y-y-y, poison iv-y-y-y-y
Late at night while you're sleepin' poison ivy comes a'creepin'
Arou-ou-ou-ou-ou-ound

Measles make you bumpy
And mumps'll make you lumpy
And chicken pox'll make you jump and twitch
A common cold'll fool ya
And whooping cough can cool ya
But poison ivy, Lord'll make you itch!!

You're gonna need an ocean of calamine lotion
You'll be scratchin' like a hound
The minute you start to mess around

Poison iv-y-y-y-y, poison iv-y-y-y-y
Late at night while you're sleepin' poison ivy comes a'creepin'
Arou-ou-ou-ou-ou-ound

Measles make you bumpy
And mumps'll make you lumpy
And chicken pox'll make you jump and twitch
A common cold'll fool ya
And whooping cough can cool ya
But poison ivy, Lord'll make you itch!!

You're gonna need an ocean of calamine lotion
You'll be scratchin' like a hound
The minute you start to mess around

Poison iv-y-y-y-y, poison iv-y-y-y-y
Late at night while you're sleepin' poison ivy comes a'creepin'
Arou-ou-ou-ou-ou-ound


la da la da la da
la da la da la da
la da la da la da
la da la da la da

jinx - gotta buy me a Coke.

No - I was first!

I have better documentation

Sun rises here first.

What if we honor you both and you share the bounty??? Can you tell that I am a middle child??? We have a compulsion to make peace at all costs! LOL

So am I.

I'm also a middle child - 3 younger and 5 older - but I never thought about "keeping the peace". I'll think on that one for awhile.

Neither did I. I just tried to use the middle child thing for a guilt trip - 'big bro. is the first and little sis is the baby'...

The books on birth order are quite interesting. My family fits many of the classic factors, so there must be at least something to the theory, in my opinion. My DH and his brother also exemplify the distinctions.

I'll have to check that out - maybe I'll learn something about myself.

It is interesting, if nothing else!!

Thanks Al for the info on the Poison Ivy song. Victor - the rash is mostly on my arms and it's not too bad. I can live with it unless it gets worse. Considering I pulled out a big trash bag full of runners, I think I did fairly well. Since I pulled out poison ivy in the spring and didn't get a rash, I thought I'd be able to do it again. This patch was much more extensive and the runners were harder to pull out!! Eleanor

Sorry about your poison ivy Eleanor - I'll think of you the next few days as that song is now stuck in my head!

grammyphoeb the antigens in your body are becoming familar with the irritant (poison Ivy). The more exposure to the irritant the greater the response. One of Prednisone's effects is to surpress the imuno system's response but it is a very powerful drug with many other side effects which has to be watched carefully. Benadryl can help in some instances. The best advise is to avoid contact with the irritant. Your body is developing an imuno response to contact with it. The more episodes of contact the greater the response.

WaterCan - thanks for the advice!! I have been using a Benadryl cream and I take the tablets when I go to bed to help with the itching at night. It does help some with the itching!! Eleanor

WC - that's only partly true, unfortunately. If the exposure is regular and measured - ie., increase the amount of toxin slowly, then the body can get used to it and improve resistance. When you're blasted with it at irregular intervals, that's not the case. Same with bee stings. As I have gotten stung, the reactions have gotten worse, not better.

Medrol is a strong agent - any steroid is - but it's given in a strict regimen, decreasing the dose each day. As I said, it's only for real bad reactions. It's widely used. Last year I had a very bad one that required two doses! But of course, as you say, best thing is to avoid. That's why I advised the spray.

I'm itching just reading about it!! Ooops! That's a mosquito bite.

Hooray!
It's time for Sesame Street!

I don't thing WC was implying her reactions would LESSEN over time; rather that, exactly as you experienced, Victor, her body will learn to recognize PI right away and remember how to react loud and strong right away.

x, C

Your right about Medrol VG. But carrielamont hit the nail on the head. Your reactions get worse not better. The problem becomes not the toxin but your allergic reaction to the toxin. That lasts even after the toxin is removed from the body. Some people are less sensitive than others. That's why in very severe cases as you noted the regularly prescribed medication is a drug which numbs the immune system to a certain extent. As you said your bee stings get worse each subsequent time. ( I did'nt mean you were telling her to take a bad drug - you just don't want it to get that far.. she may go out and pull some more ivy and I'd feel bad knowing and not saying anything.) ☺

Thanks for the further explanation WC. However, I was only talking about my bee stings getting worse, not my PI reactions. It's difficult to know if my PI reactions are getting worse or not because the amount of toxin exposure is an unknown, unlike with a bee sting where the amount of toxin from one bee is going to be in the same ballpark each sting.

I recently had a little PI - thought I got away without having it for this year - but it was small and no major problem. In that case I obviously was not exposed to much of the oil. To my knowledge, use of Medrol does not make you more sensitive to the next exposure. And of course, underlying all of this, a physician would presumably be involved.

Cool VG but listen... i got to get some lunch, - did you see Anita got a weather station! That is so Cool!... ☺

Yes - I asked her which one.

Sorry I have not been around much lately. Promise to try to do better. I think I will ask Santa for a weather station too, any suggestions on which ones are best? Oh might not be too wordy tomorrow, doctor run with me mom again. :)

Here's a useful site. WC and Anita can weigh in on theirs. I'm still researching them.

http://www.weathershack.com/weather-station-comparison-chart.html

Finally went to the doctor - arms felt like they were on fire and I was put on the Medrol dose pack. I've had the medication before - this is not the first time I've been stupid!! Years ago I got into it in the back yard and was pulling on this underground vine and I didn't know what it was until after. I had no protection on that time and I was a mess with a really bad reaction. I've learned my lesson - I will never, ever try to pull out poison ivy again!! I promise!!!! I don't know which is more stupid - not knowing the different stages and parts of poison ivy or trying to pull it out??????? Any way I really want to get it off my property so no one else gets into it!! Victor - I will spray only - but how do you get the runners out of the ground or just leave them when you want to plant other things?? Eleanor